3 ways NYC is trying to stop deadly e-bike fires

Plus: 90,000 packages get stolen daily. Will public lockers help? [View this email in a browser.]( Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( [NYC is trying to stop deadly e-bike fires with these 3 approaches]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☁️ Cloudy, with evening showers possible, wind gusts up to 30 mph and highs in the mid 60s. It's Thursday in New York City, where the FDNY says lithium-ion batteries have caused 48 fires since the start of the year, resulting in 29 injuries and one death. Here's how the city is using e-bike charging stations, e-bike trade-in programs and a crackdown on unsafe bike sellers [to try to curb these fires](. And here's what else is happening: - About [90,000 packages are reported stolen]( every day in New York City. Mayor Eric Adams is trying to change that by opening seven parcel storage lockers across town. - [In response to a Gothamist investigation]( the Bronx district attorney’s office assembled a team of prosecutors to review claims that Rikers Island guards sexually assaulted former detainees. - The city has about 2,000 supportive housing apartments for at-risk people currently sitting vacant. A new bill in the City Council would force officials to [use data to fill those units](. - [Other bills]( on the City Council's docket today would require: protections for workers filing discrimination and harassments claims; bulletproof vests for EMS workers; and de-escalation and self-defense training for EMS workers. - As unpaid property taxes continue to rise, city officials are finalizing plans to [replace the old debt collection system]( that advocates say unfairly hurt low-income homeowners and tenants of absentee landlords. - Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who is vying for Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s seat in one of the country's most competitive Democratic primaries, announced a more than $2.2 million fundraising haul on Wednesday for the first three months of the year — [again exceeding the incumbent’s numbers by nearly double](. - Comptroller Brad Lander is [applauding the Adams administration’s decision to wind down relations]( with Texas-based DocGo — an expensive migrant shelter service provider that allegedly mistreated migrants in its care — but said an interim replacement for the vendor is no bargain. - NJ Transit’s board of directors voted unanimously yesterday to [raise fares for riders by 15%]( starting this summer. - Gov. Kathy Hochul and state legislative leaders say they want to crack down on the increasingly bold ways New York drivers evade tolls. [They just haven't agreed on how to do it](. - [A new bill in the City Council]( would require the health department to disperse rat birth control pellets in two neighborhoods as part of a pilot program. - Multiple law enforcement agencies in New Jersey are [investigating a break-in and vandalism]( at the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University that happened during Eid. - Thirteen young Orthodox Jewish men on Wednesday [pleaded not guilty]( to charges related to an illegal tunnel found at the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights. - The increase in [people getting hit by subways]( since 2018 — which experts say has been driven by mental illness — is taking a toll on train operators. - Hell Gate has [a long profile]( of NY1 anchor Dean Meminger. - Margot Robbie, who's already at work on a "Sims" movie, is also now [producing a "Monopoly" movie](. - In other board game news, Mattel is making a "less competitive" version of Scrabble because Zoomers want a game that's more geared towards [hangin' out and creating fun words](. - NPR reports that skinny jeans [are out]( but they may come back at some point? - Have some time for a game? [Play]( our mini local news crossword. - Sign up for reminders when we publish new games [here](. [“I’ll be very frank, this vote pains me very very much.”]( - Shanti Narra, an nj Transit board member who [VOTED FOR THE 15% FARE HIKE]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [Court tells wealthy NJ town: We'll decide where you'll put affordable housing]( A judge is stripping affluent Millburn of its ability to control where and how dozens of affordable housing units will be built, saying local leaders have shirked their responsibility to build a planned development for too long. [Mayor Adams asks elected officials to fill out form to 'engage with' agency leaders]( The Adams administration is requiring City Council members to fill out an online form "when requesting to engage with an Agency Commissioner and/or their executive team," enraging some lawmakers who see this as needless red tape. [We Rely On Your Support]( [You can get a $150 'flash tattoo' of Flaco the owl in Greenpoint on Thursday]( A longtime Greenpoint tattoo parlor on Thursday is offering discounted tattoos commemorating Flaco, with all tips going to the Wild Bird Fund, an Upper West Side bird rehabilitation nonprofit near the building where Flaco died. [Pair targeted NY's Black voters with disinformation in 2020. Now it'll cost them.]( Two right-wing activists who led a robocall disinformation campaign ahead of the 2020 election to discourage thousands of Black voters in New York and other states from voting by mail have agreed to pay a settlement of up to $1.25 million. [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. 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