WNYC News

If you go out for coffee, you've probably noticed that prices keep going up. According to our friends at Eater New York, the average price of a specialty coffee drink is between $6 and $7 these days. Melissa McCart, the editor of Eater New York, joins us to talk about some of the reasons for the increase. Speaking with Weekend Edition host David Furst, she says while prices are up across the board, New York City brings a few extra charges to the table.

The latest attempt to diminish OPRA is opposed by 81 percent of the public, according to a recent poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University. Lawmakers are pushing it ahead anyway.

The New York City mayor's race doesn't kick in until next year. We still have a presidential election to deal with between now and then. And at this moment, Mayor Adams is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. But the list of people who might be ready to challenge him continues to evolve. This week, New York state senator Zellnor Myrie said he's exploring a run. Elizabeth Kim covers the mayor for WNYC. She joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to discuss how the campaign is already starting to take shape.

Lawmakers in New Jersey are moving ahead with a bill that would revise the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA). The controversial measure could be voted on by the full state Senate and Assembly as early as Monday. CJ Griffin is a media and public interest attorney whose legal work focuses on OPRA. She’s also a fierce opponent of the new bill and spoke about her objection to it with WNYC's Sean Carlson

The five-week course called Culinary Career Pathways for New New Yorkers was launched in April by the nonprofit group Hot Bread Kitchen, which trains New Yorkers for jobs in the food industry. But the benefits and possibilities extend far beyond the individuals in this classroom.

A victory for safe street advocates in Albany and the surge in for-hire EVs in New York City headline this week's On The Way roundup of transit news.

All New York State high school students are now required to fill out a financial aid application for college or submit a waiver opting out by the time they graduate, under recent state law sponsored by State Senator Andrew Gounardes. It comes after the Education Department redesigned the FAFSA or “free application for federal student aid” with the aim of making applying for tuition aid easier and more accessible. But students and colleges reported many delays. Senator Andrew Gounardes, and Adiba Salbia, a high school senior at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, talked with WNYC's Sean Carlson more about "universal FAFSA" and the new FAFSA rollout.

Columbia University canceled its main graduation ceremony planned for May 15, saying it will instead devote resources to smaller, school-level ceremonies.

As we inch closer to Election Day in November, WNYC is turning some laundromats in the New York metro area into hubs of civic dialogue. We’re calling the project 'Suds and Civics.' George Bodarky, who leads our Community Partnerships Desk, joins Morning Edition to share some of what he and his team have been hearing from people between loads about the candidates and the issues that matter most to them. Your voice matters! Even if you won't be joining us between washing and folding, we want to hear from you. What questions do you have about the election process? What would you like to hear from the candidates as they seek your vote? Working with our partners at America Amplified, we've made it quick and easy for you to share your thoughts. Just fill out our brief form and tell us what's important to you. We'll dig into the answers and share them with you -- maybe even on air and online!

NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell continues to use social media to attack judges, reporters, and now other city officials with whom he disagrees. Chell recently posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that councilmember Tiffany Caban "hates our city," after she criticized the NYPD arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University and City College last week. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is demanding an independent probe into the NYPD’s use of social media following the posts. Council Member Tiffany Caban, who represents parts of Queens and serves on the Committee on Public Safety, joined WNYC's Michael Hill to talk about Chell's posts on social media.

Barbara Thomas stood in the middle of a busy underground hallway entering the New York State Capitol last month, one of roughly a dozen older activists in yellow T-shirts who handed out coaster-sized stickers of yellow roses to lawmakers and lobbyists whizzing by. More than a decade ago, her husband was diagnosed with brain cancer. Thomas said he was bed-ridden and couldn’t so much as turn over on his own. After a 15-month struggle, he died. “He really wanted me to shoot him,” said Thomas, 77, who lives north of Albany. “I didn’t feel like I could do that.” Now, Thomas and some fellow civic-minded activists are fighting for the right to die. For the last nine years, Thomas has been part of a group of mostly older adults who have made regular trips to the Capitol to push a bill known as the Medical Aid in Dying Act. It would allow terminally ill patients over the age of 18 to seek doctor approval to take prescribed medication to end their life. Read the full story on Gothamist.com

New York City is known for its iconic cultural institutions like the Met and MOMA, but it's also home to many neighborhood gems. WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk is highlighting some of these treasures across the five boroughs. In this segment, we pay a visit to a center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn that's built around one of America's first free Black communities during the 19th century. The transcript of this segment has been lightly edited for clarity Dr. Raymond Codrington: I'm the president and CEO of Weeksville Heritage Center. And I've lived in Brooklyn for 17 years. Weeksville Heritage Center is both a historic site as well as a cultural institution. Weeksville was the second-largest free Black community in the pre-Civil War era. We have houses from the mid-1800s in combination with a very contemporary arts, education, and culture building, as well as a beautiful green space. What you're able to learn about Brooklyn history, about Brooklyn's Black history, about free Black communities is actually incredible. And then, for the same institution to be able to offer contemporary arts, culture, and education programming, it's very unique. We also have an opportunity to meet the community's needs in different ways, and engage the community in different ways, whether that be acting as a polling site, COVID vaccination, and flu vaccination site. It's always been a place where the community has sought refuge. The neighborhood is changing, so I think for us, we're thinking about ways in which we can create more access. As people become displaced, as fewer Black spaces exist, you know, people are being pushed out. So, I feel Weeksville can be that resource. You can come back, you can come home, you can have a space where you can experience firsthand Black history, art, culture, education, in a safe space. For me, Weeksville is not only changing, but it's also reflecting the very reasons that it was created, and that was to allow access to create a safe space and an oasis for Black folks.

30 years ago, the Knicks and Rangers treated New York City to an unforgettable spring. The 1994 Knicks pushed the Houston Rockets to a 7 game NBA championship series. And the Rangers won their only Stanley Cup since 1940. This spring has been giving us some flashbacks. Both teams have moved on to the second rounds of their respective playoffs. And the city's sports scene has reached a fever pitch. Priya Desai has been covering sports in the city for decades, for NY1, Sports Illustrated and HBO. Speaking with Weekend Edition host David Furst, she remembers the glory days and assesses the current excitement level at Madison Square Garden.

In late March, a federal judge ruled that New Jersey's unusual county line ballot system was likely unconstitutional, and couldn't be used in this June's Democratic primary. The 'county line' is the way 19 of 21 county political organizations in the state, displayed their preferred candidates on the very ballot voters see in voting booths. But now Essex County, home to the largest number of Democrats in the state, has laid out a ballot for this June that looks strikingly similar to the county line. It also gives preferred ballot positions to the party's endorsed candidates. WNYC's Nancy Solomon joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to explain.

Experts say glass eels, which have long been endangered, are making a “bumpy comeback” in the river after decades of population decline.

This week, Mayor Adams signed a bill into law that requires body armor and safety training for all fire department EMS workers and paramedics. But not all EMS workers think it will solve problems facing their workforce. Anthony Almojera is a lieutenant paramedic with the FDNY EMS, and vice-president of AFSCME DC37 Local 3621, the union that represents the New York City Fire Department's EMS officers. He joined WNYC's Morning Edition host Michael Hill to talk about what he believes EMS workers actually need, in order to be safer on the job.

This week's roundup of transit news in New York City features the latest on -- what else? -- congestion pricing.

The flitting fiery orange and black wings of the monarch butterfly, which once signaled the coming of spring, have become an increasingly rare sight. The majestic insect's populations on the East Coast dwindled roughly 90% from 1996 to 2013, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife estimates. Since then, their numbers have declined even further. But a new effort on Governors Island is a small part of a nationwide effort to help the monarch recover. Gardeners are planting as much milkweed as they can fit on eight sites around the 172-acre island south of Manhattan.

New Jersey has ambitious goals for plug-in vehicle adoption. But many drivers and industry experts say there just isn't enough charging infrastructure even for current owners.' Read more on Gothamist.

One year after homeless New Yorker Jordan Neely was choked to death on the New York City subway by a fellow rider, homeless advocates are pushing to reinvigorate a long-dormant bill that could make targeting homeless people a hate crime. The Homeless Protection Act would make homeless individuals a protected class in New York, awarding them the same status as different racial, ethnic and religious groups. The legislation would also require that crimes against homeless people be included in the state’s annual hate crime report. “Homeless people are, a lot of times, just walking targets,” said Cynthia English, 60, who spent 10 years bouncing between the streets and homeless shelters and was the victim of several violent attacks The measure, she said, would “humanize homeless people, give us more equal protection under the law, and show that the things that are done to us that are unlawful and jeopardize our lives will no longer be ignored.” Though the bill has languished in the state Legislature for more than a decade, the aftermath of Neely’s death and the upcoming trial of the Marine Corps veteran charged with killing him are bringing new urgency to the proposal. It also comes as Mayor Eric Adams has put renewed emphasis on subway safety by adding more police to stations and expanding homeless outreach efforts to get people into shelters. Read the full story on Gothamist.com