NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Mayor Adams Rejects Calls to Resign, Coast Guard Ends Search for Missing Boater, State to Address Rising Insurance Costs for Affordable Housing, and NYC Unveils High-Tech Flood Gates

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams is pushing back against calls for his resignation amid ongoing controversies. Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a missing boater after a vessel capsized near the Ambrose Channel off Breezy Point on Sunday. Also, New York City property owners of taxpayer-funded affordable housing developments say soaring insurance costs are threatening their ability to operate, prompting new state efforts to rein in costs. Plus, city officials unveil high-tech flood gates as part of a $349 million coastal resiliency plan to protect Lower Manhattan from rising sea levels and future storms.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Tuesday, February 25th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has lashing out at critics who are calling on him to resign or be removed from office. If you can bypass the will of the people based on what people don't like of an action, that's not democracy. Mayor Adams held his first City Hall news conference yesterday

since four of his deputy mayor said they would resign and federal prosecutors protested the Justice Department's order to dismiss his corruption charges. Last week, Governor Hockel said she's not prepared to remove the mayor. Instead, she's proposing state legislation to place guardrails on the mayor's power. The mayor says he doesn't think that's necessary. Mayor Adams has yet to announce his new deputy mayor, First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer is among those who say they plan to leave.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it has suspended its search for a missing boater after a vessel capsized near the Ambrose Channel-offreasy point on Sunday. W.N.C. Julia Hayward has more. Officials say 52-year-old Vernon Glassford of the Bronx was among six people on board when the boat overturned. Rescue crews pulled five people from the water, but Glassford was never found. The Coast Guard says it called off the effort after searching for more than 30 hours and covering 842 square miles. At least three of the rescued boaters later died. The cause of the capsizing remains under investigation. New York City is making a big push to build affordable housing that's funded in part by tax dollars.

But the owners of those properties say they're now facing a threat, the rising cost of property insurance. See's David Brand reports on a new state effort to help rein in those costs. The Empire State Development Corporation is providing a $2 million loan to help a group of affordable housing owners ensure themselves as part of a collective. The seven members of the group own around 3,000 apartments. They say their insurance premiums on the private market have more than doubled since 2019, and they say that's made it harder to cover maintenance costs and repairs. The collective is saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, they told WNYC, and they hope funds from the state will give more landlords the confidence to join them.

New York City officials say high-tech floodgates will play a key role in defending Manhattan's two bridges neighborhood against coastal storms and rising sea levels. City leaders demonstrated the new technology under the FDR Drive at the Manhattan Bridge yesterday, showcasing a system that flips into place at the touch of a button. The project is slated for completion in 2026. It's just one of many launched in the aftermath. of Hurricane Sandy. The barrier is part of a broader $349 million coastal resiliency initiative, all designed to protect New York City's waterfront. 42 with clouds. Now we have a slim chance of some mid-afternoon showers today. We'll have more clouds

today. A high in the mid-50s, 56, as a matter of fact, than a slim chance of showers by 9 o'clock tonight. We'll dip down to 40 degrees. And then tomorrow's sunny, and here we go. Low 50s, Thursday, showers likely, mainly after one of the first. o'clock and then clouds in mid-50s. We cool off starting Friday. 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.

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