NYC NOW - September 1, 2023: Midday News
Episode Date: September 1, 2023A planned wind farm on the South Jersey coast is on hold due to supply chain issues and rising interest rates. A surge in activism opposing offshore wind maybe another factor. Also, New Yorkers are in... for a treat this Labor Day weekend: The weather forecast promises clear skies and pleasant temperatures. Finally, Eater NY’s Melissa McCart discusses the evolving vegan dining scene in New York City and shares her top food spots.
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Welcome to NYC now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC.
It's Friday, September 1st.
Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.
A wind farm plan for the South Jersey coast is on pause.
The comedy behind it blames supply chain issues and high interest rates.
The move also comes in recent activism against offshore wind.
Here's WMYC's Nancy Solomon.
The Monmouth University poll finds four and ten residents think wind farms could hurt the tourism economy,
and half believe recent whale deaths were caused by wind development.
But whale deaths are caused by ship strikes and plastic in the ocean, according to marine scientists.
Alison McLeod of the League of Conservation Voters says disinformation is coming from the oil and gas industry.
We know that the number one threat to our marine life is climate change,
and that offshore wind is one of our solutions, and in fact, one of the largest solutions.
And so it's disheartening to see this misinformation start to have an effect.
McLeod says environmentalists are working in communities at the Jersey Shore to build support for wind energy.
Mother Nature is giving New Yorkers one last summer gift, picture perfect sunny skies,
and warm weather for the Labor Day weekend, meteorologist Brian Ramsey.
So that's going to be kind of the peak warmth for us.
and because of those conditions, we should be able to keep the dry sunny weather with us as we go past Labor Day.
Rip currents from the hurricanes are expected to calm down by tomorrow,
but beachgoers have been advised to stay on the lookout for any warnings from lifeguards.
72 and sunny now. Today's sunny and 76 for a high.
Tomorrow slightly warmer under sunny skies and even warmer on Sunday and Monday.
It's WNYC.
On WNYC, I'm David First.
It's never too early to start thinking about lunch.
And today we're bringing a vegan menu to the table.
During our last few chats with the writers at Eder, New York,
the focus was all chicken and roast beef,
so it seemed like a good time to hear about some of the latest vegan dining options in the city.
Melissa McCart, the editor of Eater, New York, joins us now.
Welcome back.
Thank you so much for having me.
It's great to be back.
Eater has been looking at the changing landscape of vegan dining in New York City.
How has it changed over the years?
Oh, my gosh.
It's pretty significant.
And there is actually a book that's coming out on August 15th called No Meat Required by
former New Yorker Alicia Kennedy.
She talks about how there used to be two kinds of vegetarian restaurants.
There were sort of the pious, hippie restaurant that was sort of.
of lots of unusual grains and what have you.
And then there is sort of the punk rock vegan restaurant that was sort of hypermasculine
and might have had a lot of like fake meat and fake chicken wings and things like that.
Today's landscape looks totally different.
Places from fine dining chefs like Jean-George von derision, ABCV,
superiority burger, which opened in the former Odessa space,
which had been there forever.
So now it's like a vegan vegetarian diner with fantastic desserts.
A place to open up in Englewood, New Jersey that used to be on the Lower East Side.
It's called Fat Choy.
And they have a vegan burger, but they also have a lot of dishes that are Chinese influence.
So you might have like general tater tots or fries with sishuan spice, you know,
baby bok choy with like a tofu meatball or something like that.
So, you know, you lure people in with something that's familiar, but then you keep them there with the other dishes.
I mean, General Soes, Tater Tots, how can that be bad?
I know.
I know.
And, you know, I just went there last week.
It just opened and they were out of it already.
So I'm definitely going to go back.
Well, Mayor Adams has famously said that he follows a plant-based diet.
It later came out that, yes, he also orders fish at restaurants.
But does having a mostly vegan mayor done anything for the city's food scene?
You know, I think it's basically helped mainstream vegan dining and put into the forefront
restaurants that have vegan and vegetarian tasting menus. I do think it's becoming much more
mainstream. I know you already mentioned a couple of places, but where should we go now for
vegan dining in New York? What are some of your favorite places? Okay. If we're talking about
the super casual, I would consider newly open superiority burger if you can get in considering it
just got a three-star rating from the New York Times. That is in the East Village on 9th Street.
So it's across from Tompkins Square Park. We have an import from Atlanta. There's one in Fort
Green and there's one in Harlem called Slutty Vegan. Okay. That has a wildly enthusiastic fan base.
It's really, really over the top in terms of like its offerings and the names.
of the dishes, some of which I couldn't say on the radio.
I get the feeling that that's where we're headed, yeah.
Exactly, but it's really fun and totally worth a visit.
Opening day for the first one in New York, which is in Fort Green, had lines and lines and
lines and a real party atmosphere.
So it's definitely a fun place.
Robert Seesema's favorite vegetarian place.
Robert Seitzima, who, of course is a food critic with Eater, New York and
joins us many times here on WNYC.
Exactly.
And one of his favorite restaurants, period, is called Sri Ganesh's Dosa House.
And it is in Jersey City on Newark Avenue.
And there are 70 kinds of vegan or vegetarian dosas.
It's on a strip of Indian restaurants.
It's sort of like a little India neighborhood.
It is a wonderful lunch or an easy dinner.
Okay, so what about the mayor? What does he eat? And where does he go? You know, I've actually written about this and researched it. And I feel like he's going to places that are like mom and pop bodegas and getting a vegetarian option. But he has not weighed in and essentially embraced one of the big vegan restaurants that are in town. Okay, this seems like a missed opportunity. It really is. But that's a good segue to say that you don't have to go to
a vegan restaurant to eat vegan and vegetarian food because so many diners, you know, have
embraced his diet that everyday restaurants have plenty of options these days too.
Melissa McCart, the editor of Eater, New York. Thank you for joining us again.
Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoy it. And if you didn't catch all of that
information today, we have Eater's list of vegan restaurants along with links to maps and other
vegan restaurants in the area at WNYC.org.
listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day,
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