NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: NYC Council Presses for More Cooling Tower Tests, Hearing on Bronx Housing Plan for Formerly Incarcerated, and NYPD Says Hate Crimes Against Jewish New Yorkers Remain High

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

New York City Council members are pushing for more frequent testing of cooling towers following this summer’s deadly Legionnaires’ outbreak, though some public health experts warn that testing alone won’t prevent future cases. Meanwhile, the Council is holding a hearing today on a proposal to build specialized housing for formerly incarcerated people on a Bronx hospital campus, but Mayor Eric Adams has withdrawn his support for the project. Plus, while overall hate crimes have declined from their peak two years ago, NYPD officials report that crimes targeting Jews remain higher than pre-2023 levels.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Thursday, September 18th. Here's your morning headlines from Michael Hill. New York City Council members want the city to test cooling towers more frequently after a deadly legionaire's outbreak this summer. But some public health experts say testing alone is not enough. WNIC's data reporter, Joe Hong, has more. A proposed law would require building owners to test for Legionella bacteria every 30 days instead of the current 90 days. But there's a loophole, according to experts on waterborne disease like Janet Stout.

Many owners test after cleaning their cooling towers. Stout says that can mask problematic cooling towers that routinely develop dangerous levels of Legionella. If you do it after, all it does is confirm that you've cleaned the tower and treated the tower accurately. She says the law should require testing before cleaning and weekly monitoring for Legionella. And the New York City Council is set to hear testimony today about a plan to build specialized housing for formerly incarcerated people in a Bronx hospital campus, but the project has lost a key ally since it was introduced. Mayor Adams, WNYC's David Brand reports. The project is called Just Home, and it's supposed to have 58 apartments for people leaving Rikers Island with severe medical problems. like late-stage cancer.

Top city officials announced the plan over three years ago, and Adams defended it against fierce opposition from residents and leaders of the surrounding Morris Park neighborhood. But now, Adams is backing down, and his top deputy Randy Mastro is maneuvering to block or change the plan. City council members have criticized the mayors about face, even though they have delayed a hearing for nearly two years. Despite overall hate crimes dropping from their peak two years ago,

NYPD officials say crimes targeting Jews are still higher than before 2023. Robert Delaney leads the NYPD's hate crimes task force. Despite these gains to cite being in the right trajectory, 56% of all hate crimes are committed against the Jewish community, more than all other protected classes combined. The NYPD says extra officers will patrol Jewish neighborhoods during the high holy days next week. We're in the upper 60s now with Cloud.

We'll have some patchy fog out there this morning, so be careful. Mostly cloudy today. It will turn sunny and warm, a high near 82 degrees. Tonight, mid-60s. 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.