NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Mayor Adams Joins First Primary Forum, Cuomo Faces Law License Review, Shelter Food Complaints, New 7 Train Passageway Opens, and WTC Memorial

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams will participate in his first mayoral forum of the primary season Wednesday night. Meanwhile, a New York state panel is reviewing former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s law license over a 2022 complaint. Also, New York City Council members are raising concerns over poor food conditions in city shelters, citing moldy meals and a lack of halal options. Plus, the MTA has opened a new passageway to ease congestion on the 7 train platform at Grand Central. Finally, memorial ceremonies are being held today to mark 32 years since the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, February 26th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. Mayor Adams is taking part in his first mayoral forum of the primary season tonight. Adams will be among seven Democrats set to appear at the forum. The city's largest municipal unit, DC-37, is hosting it. The organization backed Adams in 2020.

but has not committed to a 2025 candidate just yet. Hundreds of union members plan to attend the forum. It's the first step of the endorsement process. The event begins at six tonight inside the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center. It'll live stream on DC37's YouTube channel. A New York State panel is looking into former Governor Andrew Cuomo's law license. Documents that WNYC has obtained show the Attorney Grievance Committee has been exploring a complaint first filed in 2022.

The court-appointed panel investigates ethics complaints against attorneys. Hofstra Law Professor Ellen Yaroschowski says it can pursue a variety of actions. It could be a private admonishment where no one gets to see it. It could be public. And then it could be more than that in terms of a disciplinary consequence, such as a suspension. The sexual harassment of working group filed the initial complaint and says the former governor should be disbarred for harassing women, which Cuomo's repeatedly denied Cuomo right now is weighing a run for New York City Mayor. New York City Council members are sounding the alarm over moldy meals, insufficient food, and lack of requested halal meals at city shelters. Chair of the Council Contracts Committee, Julie Wan, held a hearing on the issue yesterday.

It was pathetic. It's been more than a year now and you still have no accountability process. And it's not streamlined. It's not uniform. You should be ashamed of yourself. Juan says she's received numerous complaints about three major food contractors who've taken over and take more than $200 million in city contracts. And they still continue to get more city contracts. The mayor's office of food policy says some of the complaints Juan received might not be reaching proper channels. There was no comment from the food contractors. Commuters who take the seven train at Grand Central now have a new way to access the notoriously crowded platform.

The MTA is opening a new passageway meant to ease foot traffic. MTA construction chief Jamie Torres Springer says the new passageway was built without disrupting service by doing small control blast the Manhattan bedrock. It's an idea, he says, came from one of the sound hogs. Those are the construction workers who built the tunnels under the midtown. We looked at that. We made sure it was safe. We made sure it was vetted, but we adopted the technology. He says this helps shave costs off the $75 million project. Springer says the MTA also wiped 25 years of grime off the ceiling of the station. New escalators are still being built at the station. Officials expect them to be completed later this year. Today marks 32 years since the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. WN.YC. is a man.

Madozon has more on Memorial Ceremony Plan for this afternoon. Six people, one of whom was due to going maternity leave the next day, were killed when a truck bomb was detonated in a garage below the North Tower on a Friday afternoon. Today, their friends and family will gather at the September 11 Memorial and Museum to read their names out loud. John Di Giovanni, Robert Kirkpatrick, Stephen Knapp, William Maco, Wilfredo Mercado, and Monica Rodriguez. Smith. Their names are etched on the memorial's North Pool, alongside the names of victims of the September 11 attacks. The Port Authority will hold a memorial mass at 10.30 this morning at St. Peter's Church. 43 and clear right now, increasing clouds today, mid-50s, so still a very early spring-like and gusty, and then tomorrow, late morning showers likely, cloudy, upper 50s, and still gusty. Friday,

we begin to see a cool off there, sunny and mid-40s, warm again on Saturday, mid-50s, and then cold, a big temperature drop Saturday into Sunday. 43 and clear now. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.