NYC NOW

Federal immigration agents detained several people in a dramatic morning raid on Canal Street in Chinatown, sparking confusion among vendors and bystanders. Meanwhile, WNYC co-hosts the final New York City mayoral debate Wednesday night, as Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo look to close the gap against Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani. And upstate New Yorker Christopher Moynihan, who was pardoned by President Trump for his role in the January 6th insurrection, has been arrested and charged with threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

School bus companies are warning they may stop service for 150,000 New York City students next month if emergency contracts with the Department of Education aren’t extended. Meanwhile, a new report shows a record 154,000 students in the city experienced homelessness during the last school year WNYC’s Jessica Gould has the latest. Plus, Governor Katy Hochul is weighing a bill that would allow doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives. WNYC’s Jon Campbell reports on the emotional debate surrounding New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act.

A new report finds expenses are climbing sharply for owners of low-income apartments across New York City even as rising rents and affordability dominate the mayor’s race. Meanwhile, chain restaurants are beginning to post new labels warning customers about high-sugar items under new city health rules.  Also, a  jury has convicted one former correction officer and acquitted two others in the 2024 killing of prisoner Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility. Plus, with two weeks until Election Day, New Jersey’s race for governor between Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill remains neck and neck. Historian Kristoffer Shields, director of the Eagleton Center on the American Governor at Rutgers University, joins us for this week’s Campaign Catch Up.

A fight over New York City school bus contracts is intensifying with a coalition of bus companies threatening to halt service next month unless their contracts are extended. Meanwhile, mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani is confronting questions about his age as his campaign weighs revealing key appointments before Election Day. And in New Jersey, Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli is calling for more rooftop solar panels even as his top supporter, President Trump, rolls back federal incentives for renewable energy.

MTA officials are inspecting hundreds of subway cars after a train carrying passengers decoupled and split apart Sunday night in the Bronx. Plus, a new Mexican restaurant in Jackson Heights has a name that's prompted a bit of a neighborhood backlash. And finally, the Trump administration will begin implementing new work requirements for people receiving food stamps.

With just over two months left in office, Mayor Eric Adams is urging federal officials to fast-track the long delayed reconstruction of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway’s triple cantilever in Brooklyn Heights. Meanwhile, former Congressman George Santos says his 84 days in prison were “humbling” as he defends President Trump’s decision to commute his sentence. And the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s rooftop has closed until 2030 to make way for a new contemporary art wing.

Twenty years after a Bloomberg era rezoning transformed Greenpoint’s waterfront, the neighborhood stands as a case study in both growth and displacement. As housing costs dominate the mayoral race, WNYC’s David Brand reports on how the lessons from Greenpoint’s boom are shaping the city’s next big housing debate.

Judge Lewis Kaplan is ordering the Trump administration to release $33 million for counter-terrorism to the MTA. Plus, a pop culture historian is pushing to name part of Essex Street after Jack Kirby, the co-creator behind some of the Marvel characters we know and love. And finally, you've probably already noticed an abundance of brassicas at your local market. We’ll share recipes that include kale, broccoli, bok choy and more.

New York City’s three mayoral candidates, Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa faced off last night in the first of two general election debates, sparring over their experience, the city’s affordability crisis, and how they’d work with President Trump. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has ordered the city to halt work on a new 34th Street busway, warning it could withhold funding for other projects if New York doesn’t comply. Finally, WNYC’s Brigid Bergin joins us with a recap of the mayoral debate.

Attorney General Letitia James says she’s ready to defend herself against fraud charges filed by President Trump’s Justice Department. Meanwhile, domestic violence complaints in New York City have jumped 18 percent since 2019, with advocates warning that arrests alone aren’t solving the problem. Also, the City Council is weighing the future of Hart Island, the city’s public cemetery, where officials say burial space could run out in less than two decades. Plus, on this week’s transit segment, WNYC’s transportation team breaks down what President Trump’s decision to cut funding for the Gateway Tunnel project could mean for rail service between New York and New Jersey.