NYC NOW - September 4, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: September 4, 2024

Airbnb is urging New York City to reconsider its strict short-term rental rules, arguing they have little impact on the housing crisis. Meanwhile, a report from the Partnership for New York City shows the fashion industry has lost 50,000 jobs over the last decade, with economic output down nearly 14%. Plus, Newark public school students returned Tuesday to noticeable changes. WNYC’s Michael Hill speaks with Chalkbeat Newark reporter Jessie Gomez about what’s new for parents, students, and teachers. Finally, new data shows New York City’s business districts are rebounding post-pandemic. WNYC’s Arun Venugopal reports on new data and what this means for the city.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Wednesday, September 4th. Here's the midday news from Lance Lucky. Airbnb wants New York City to reconsider its sweeping rules for short-term rentals in the five boroughs. The company says the rules put into effect last September have had little effect on the citywide housing crisis. The year-old city law mandates that short-term rental rentals. owners register their properties with the city. Entire apartments cannot be Airbnb's.

Though housing advocates claim that short-term rentals take valuable housing off the market, Airbnb says rents in the city remain high, and the vacancy rate in New York City is unchanged. New York City's status as a global fashion capital is at a crossroads. A new report from the partnership for New York City says the industry has bled 50,000 jobs as its economic output has dropped nearly 14 percent over the last decade, and it forecasts even more job losses in the next four years, the group attributes the decline to several factors, including industry consolidation and the proliferation of e-commerce and direct-to-consumer sales. The partnership makes several recommendations, including establishing a coalition of industry

leaders and state economic development agencies, deepening industry partnerships with schools, and reinvigorating New York Fashion Week, which starts this Friday. 73, now sunny and near 77 this afternoon. Sunny and 75 tomorrow. Stay close. more after the break. On WNYC, I'm Michael Hill. It's back to school for students in New Jersey's largest public school system. But yesterday, Newark Public Schools, home to roughly 40,000 students open to some noticeable changes. Joining us now to talk about what's new for parents, what's new for

students and teachers is chalkbeat Newark reporter, Jesse Gomez. Hi, Jesse. So the school day is now longer for Newark Public School students. How have the hours change? And why have they changed? Yeah. Hey, good morning, Michael. So this year, like you said, nearly 40,000 kids return to public schools across Newark. Lots of excitement, but also a lot of sleepy eyes. So students have to arrive at 8.15 in the morning now, which is 25 minutes earlier for high schoolers and 20 minutes earlier for elementary school students than this year than last year.

So, again, lots of sleepy eyes, lots of students who were very excited, very nervous. But Superintendent Roger Leone says that the new hours basically extend the workday for teachers to seven hours. It also guarantees teachers a 45-minute lunch and some transition time as well, which is something the union last year had raised concerns about. So that's probably the biggest change for students this year. How is the student population, Jesse? How is it changing this year? Yeah, so this year, the enrollment, obviously, it's grown just a bit, just under, 40,000 students this year, but most notably, the biggest change is with English language learners.

There are just over 11,000 English learners enrolled in Newark Public Schools. That's 822 more than last year. And there's also another 7,000 students with disabilities entering the districts, which makes vulnerable students just under half of district enrollment this year. That means this district has to ramp up specialized services like speech therapist, occupational therapist, and of course, bilingual teachers for those English language learners. So lots of needs there. This will be academic year five of the district's 10-year strategy to improve schools. What else are district leaders hinting at for the near future? Yeah. So like you said, year five of Superintendent Roger Leone's next decade plan,

they're also managing a $1.5 billion budget. That's a lot of money. And they're also facing the end of the federal COVID relief funds. That's about $287 million. that the federal government injected into New Jersey's largest school district. Superintendent Roger Leon also said that that money helped fund things like tutoring, summer program, Saturday school. And so if they want to keep those services up, the public school district obviously has to find new ways to keep those services and those tutoring efforts in the long run. So lots of stake at this school year and lots of financial decisions that the district has to make this year.

Jesse quickly, tell us what about artificial intelligence in the district in the classrooms this year? Yeah, so very exciting. And, you know, we talked with Superintendent Roger Leone a couple weeks ago, and he says that he is furthering artificial intelligence technology, specifically by supporting teachers in the classroom. There's a new program called Con Migo, which was created by the Learning Giant Khan Academy. So this program is basically serving as a tutor for students in class. classrooms and an assistant for teachers helping them with lessons, brainstorming classroom activities, that sort of stuff. And what we're also seeing is the district is currently installing artificial intelligence cameras

across all district schools, which the district says is meant to keep students safe. So lots of AI in schools, lots of technology happening and good stuff this year. What's taking place in Newark Public Schools? Our guest has been Jesse Gomez. She's a reporter for a chalkbeat. New York, Jesse, you've got to come back. see us again. Thanks for joining us. You got it. Thanks, Michael. There's new evidence the city's business districts are indeed bouncing back after the pandemic.

Debbie MECA, Zerun Ben and Gupal reports on the new data and what it all means. Moritz-Masberg is an attorney who practices international law out of a building on 53rd Street, right next to the New York Hilton Midtown. He shows up at the office every day, as do some of his colleagues. Maybe 20, 30 percent do the same thing. It's workers like Masberg who are supporting local businesses in Manhattan. And in that sense, he likes what he sees. The lunch places are full. I don't see many empty stores anymore.

So I think that the city recovered quite well here in Midtown. His take is supported by some new data. According to Placer AI, a company that measures foot traffic using cell phone data, activity in Manhattan office buildings in July was the highest, been since before the pandemic. In fact, Placers data says New York and Miami lead the nation in office foot traffic, recovering about 90% of the volume from pre-pandemic times. And if foot traffic in offices is up, that likely means good news for a wide range of businesses. There's certainly a lot of good indicators here that's pointing towards the road to recovery.

Danny Mangru, who studies office real estate in the city for Avison Young, says the first half of 2024 shows a lot of growth over the same time last year. Leasing activities up almost 20%. So there's a lot of optimism right now. Not everywhere, though. The number of property owners who've defaulted on Manhattan office buildings has risen sharply. And the sales prices on other buildings have plummeted. James Metham is the president of the Flatiron Nomad Partnership, a business improvement district serving Midtown South. He says what's at stake is more than just occupancy rates. It's like, also trying to combat in whatever way we could, the whole kind of New York doom cycle narrative. That's a narrative that took root during the pandemic, that the city would feel so desolate and

eerie that office workers would never come back, starving the government of revenues that it desperately needed. A report from the city controller's office says that worst-case scenario now seems unlikely to unfold. But Metham says there's still an air of uncertainty, and it affects organizations like his. If they want employers to move into the area or to expand their existing businesses, they need to convince them the customers will actually be there. In many cases, sometimes we took it for granted how Manhattan in particular was just bustling and you didn't have to always make the argument that it was vibrant and that people were working here. But even experts who think the city is headed in the right direction don't expect it to return

to its pre-pandemic self anytime soon. The now nostalgic version where the sidewalks were clogged with workers, all trying to get from point A to B. Nice. Thank you. New York City before, before pandemic? Oh, it's very busy. Willie Hanif is a street vendor who remembers those days well. He was preparing an egg on a role for an office worker on a recent morning.

But increasingly, he says his income comes from tourists rather than workers. Now it's not bad, but 20% is down. because the economy in the world is down. God bless America. Of course, many professionals don't want to go back to the office five days a week. Brittany Benson works at an insurance company in Midtown. She likes her hybrid lifestyle. It lets her spend more time at home with her family.

But she says it has changed the nature of her job. I work in an industry where you entertain, and it often is hard to find the time. People are just not coming into the city. as often or when they do come into the city, they're leaving right at the end of the day. And this worries Stuart Saft, a lawyer who heads the New York real estate practice group at Holland and Knight Law Firm. He says Manhattan feels measurably less busy than it was prior to the pandemic, judging from the ease in getting a same-day restaurant reservation or a cab to head home from work

in the evenings. It is significantly quieter. Saft has been fighting that in his own small way. He requires every attorney he supervises to show up at the office four days a week, something that Placer says is happening with increasing frequency. Saf thinks the work product is simply better. And he wishes more of the city's workers did the same thing. As someone who's born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, he thinks the status quo is concerning. There's a chance that you could really change what New York is all about. New York City is a gift that has been given to us from prior generations. But he says that if New York City really wants to bring workers back into offices, it needs to make housing more affordable so that people don't

just work here, but live here too. Arun Van de Gaupal, WNYC News. 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.