NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Record-Low January Shootings, Teachers Union Pushes Back on Trump’s Education Plans, Correctional Officers Fired Over Strike, and Landmark Status Considered for Old Whitney Museum Building

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Mayor Adams and NYPD officials say New York City recorded the fewest shootings in January and February since record-keeping began. Meanwhile, the head of the city’s teachers union is urging lawmakers to oppose President Trump’s education policies. Also, New York State’s corrections commissioner says the wildcat strike by correctional officers is officially over, with more than 2,000 officers fired for not returning to work. Plus, New York City is weighing landmark status for the former Whitney Museum building on the Upper East Side, known for its Brutalist design.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Tuesday, March 11th. Here's the morning headlines. I'm Junae Pierre. New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD officials say the city recorded the fewest shooting so far this year of any January and February since they started keeping records. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch says an effort to get illegal guns off the street is helping drive down the numbers. She says in the first two months, officers seized a thousand illegal guns.

And across the city, we continue to break records, and the results are quite clear. January and February combined saw the fewest shootings for the first two months of a year in recorded history. Tish says other major crimes in the city are also on the decline down more than 14 percent compared to the same period last year. Since Adams took office, City Hall says more and 20,000 illegal guns have been seized. The head of the New York City Teachers Union is pushing lawmakers to fight back against President Trump's education agenda.

Michael Mulgrew is the president of the United Federation of Teachers. He says the union and other chapters across the state have been meeting with New York's congressional representatives. You like to come to our school. You like to do the ribbon cutting. You like to go to the kindergarten play

and take all the pictures. Well, you need to be able to stand up for our schools. And if you don't stand up for then we're going to let everybody know about it. Trump has said he wants to abolish the Federal Department of Education. Mulgrew says he also wants Governor Hokel to coordinate with other states to push back. Hundreds of union members traveled to Albany yesterday to lobby state lawmakers on the union's priorities. New York's corrections commissioner is declaring an end to a wildcat strike by correctional officers.

He says more than 2,000 strikers who haven't returned to work have been fired. The state and the guards union struck a new deal to end the strike this weekend, but it was contingent on at least 85% of staff returning to work by yesterday morning. Commissioner Daniel Maudicello says although the number of staff returning to work fell short, the state will honor the deals overtime and some other provisions. Guards upset over working conditions began illegally walking off the job on February 17th at several state prisons. New York City is considering designating the Upper East Side Building that served as the former home of the Whitney Museum of American Art, a landmark. The city's landmark preservation commission is holding a public hearing on the issue today.

The rural building was built in 1966 in a brutalist style with granite and raw concrete. The Whitney moved downtown in the meatpacking district in 2015. The public hearing will be held in the Manhattan Municipal Building and live streamed on the agency's YouTube channel. 47 degrees, clear skies right now. It'll be a beautiful sunny day with highs around 65. 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.

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