NYC NOW - September 6, 2023: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: September 6, 2023

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: City Hall is promising action after the Electric Zoo music festival descended into chaos on Randall's Island over the weekend. Meanwhile, Brooklyn public housing leader and longtime climate activist Karen Blondel is getting a 200-thousand dollar prize to honor her advocacy work.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, September 6th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. City Hall is promising action after the Electric Zoo Music Festival descended into chaos on Randall's Island over the weekend. WNMAC's John Campbell explains. The NYPD says the three-day festival oversold its capacity by more than 7,000, thousand people for Sunday's finale, which led to hundreds of concert goers crashing the gates.

Mayor Adams criticized the organizers of the event, which brought some of the world's biggest DJs to the city. It's unfortunate that the organizers wanted to turn our city into a zoo, and we was not going to allow that to happen. A festival spokesperson released a statement saying the vast majority of attendees had a, quote, great experience. Electric Zoo's owners also run the avant-gardener events complex in East Williamsburg. Internal Monitor reports obtained by WNYC show they've oversold concerts there, too.

A Brooklyn Public Housing Leader is getting a $200,000 prize to honor her advocacy work. She says she plans to put the money back into the community. Karen Blondell is a longtime climate activist and the Tenet Association president at the Red Hook West Houses. She earned one of the five David Prizes, a local equivalent to a MacArthur Genius grant. Juan Del says she'll put the money into the Public Housing Civic Association. She says she founded the group to give tenants a voice when it comes to policy and planning. We have not been speaking for ourselves in public housing in the last 40 years. I think if we teach basics to communities, they'll be better able to advocate for themselves and their needs.

The David Prizes are named after a New York City developer, and they're awarded each year to New Yorkers serving their communities. Taking a look now at the air quality, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation says the air quality is moderate today. Moderate air quality is normal for New York City in the summer. It's considered safe unless you are unusually sensitive to particle pollution. The National Allergy Bureau says weed pollen is also moderate, but grass pollen is high today. 78 and clear in the city right now, still under a heat advisory. Sunny and 93 today, but the real feel will make it feel much warmer or a lot.

hotter than that. We don't cool off all that much overnight, and then tomorrow, back to the low 90s, Real Field, 95. 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 podcasts. See you this afternoon.