NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Mayor Adams Says Biden Told Him to “Be a Good Democrat” on Conservative Talk Show, New Cancer Center for Queens, and Rare Corpse Flower Blooms in Brooklyn

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams says President Biden and his aides told him to “be a good Democrat” when he raised concerns about the migrant crisis during an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Meanwhile, a state-funded program will bring a new cancer center to a Queens safety-net hospital. Plus, a rare corpse flower, which emits a foul, rotting odor, is blooming at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for the first time in years.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, January 22nd. Here's the morning headlines from David First. Mayor Adams says former President Joe Biden and his aides told him to, quote, be a good Democrat when he complained that migrants were hurting the city. Adams made the declaration in an online interview with conservative former Fox News host, Tucker Carlson. One of his age told me that, listen, this is like a goldstone.

It'll pass. Reached for comment, a former spokesman for Biden, says he's reviewing the mayor's comments. Adams, who is facing federal corruption charges, tells Carlson that he was politically targeted by prosecutors for his criticism of Biden's handling of the crisis. The interview aired after Adams accepted a last-minute invite to attend Trump's inauguration. Trump has said he would consider pardoning. A new cancer center is coming to Queens, thanks to a New York State program designed to upgrade so-called safety net hospitals. WNYC's Caroline Lewis reports.

The state is dedicating up to $188 million to the Cancer Center, which is one piece of a new clinical partnership between Jamaica Hospital in Queens and Memorial Sloan Kettering in Manhattan. It's one of seven projects funded so far through the state's Safety Net Hospital Transformation Program. The program was launched with $800 million in last year's state budget, and Governor Kathy Hokele already wants to expand it. She included another billion dollars for the program in her executive budget proposal. Hockel says it's part of a broader effort to support the state's financially struggling hospitals. A very large and very rare flower is getting ready to stink up a section of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It's a type of course.

corpse flower that blooms once every two to ten years. The unfurling of the petals comes with a rotten odor. Eric Scheler studies the species of plants at Dartmouth College and says the stench serves a purpose. Oh, they do smell bad. Yeah. So what they're doing is they smell like rotting flesh so as to attract their pollinators. And the native pollinators are probably carrion beetles, which basically eat dead flesh. Well, be prepared.

The Botanic Garden says the plant could start blooming. by the end of this week. The event will only last a few days. You can check out the plant during the garden's opening hours Tuesday through Sunday from 10 in the morning to 4.30 in the afternoon. 12 degrees right now, sunny today with a high of 21. This is WNYC. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your See you this afternoon.