Why NYC is helping resettle migrants in Buffalo

Plus: Only 1 movie theater to remain in the Bronx [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 set to launch new migrant program … in Buffalo. Will more follow?]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ⛅ Partly sunny, highs in the mid 80s. It's Tuesday in New York City, where packed migrant shelters prompted the Adams administration last year to start paying for migrants to stay in hotels in Buffalo. Now, city officials are launching a resettlement program to help those migrants move out of hotel shelters, find apartments and jobs and apply for asylum. Here's how this approach, if successful, could [serve as a blueprint for how the city manages the migrant influx moving forward](. And here's what else is happening: - The Parks Department is in the midst of its largest tree-planting spree in nearly a decade, with 9,300 new saplings planned for this spring. [Here's where they're going](. - The Queens-bound side of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Brooklyn Heights is [scheduled to be fully closed this coming weekend]( June 1 to June 3, for essential repairs. - Police said a man accused of throwing flammable liquid onto Manhattan subway passengers in February was arrested over the weekend [after allegedly doing it again](. - The NYPD is recruiting 18-to-21-year-olds to work as school safety agents in New York City public schools. [Not all students welcome the idea](. - A shortage of court reporters who transcribe legal proceedings could hamper the daily functioning of the state court system, [which is already facing a backlog]( that still hasn’t fully rebounded from the pandemic. - Sponsors of a proposed constitutional amendment to grant [voting rights to every incarcerated person]( in New York now say it has little chance of passing before lawmakers leave the Capitol for the year in early June. - About 1 million low-income households in New York City [could lose their internet service]( when a federal-funded WiFi program expires at the end of May. - New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell, a 25-year congressional veteran and a noted defender of Israel, is [facing a primary challenge this year]( from Mohamed Khairullah, the mayor of Prospect Park, NJ, who has called for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. - The Concourse Plaza Multiplex Cinemas is closing its doors on Tuesday after more than 30 years in business, [leaving the Bronx with just one movie theater](. - Manhattanhenge hits tonight and tomorrow — [here's where to get the best view]( of the sun setting through the skyline. - The average New York City homeowner could [see their water bill go up by $93 a year]( under a proposed rate hike from the city's water board. - "F**k Biden. I want to see Trump because he's so funny": Hell Gate has a good scene report from last week's [Trump rally in the South Bronx](. - NY Mag reports that Mets owner Steve Cohen's [bid for a casino license "is now all but dead."]( So who's the new favorite to get a downstate license? - New Yorkers who don't ride e-bikes [hate the e-bikes](. - The Empire State Building [is thriving](. - Lunch hour [is not thriving](. - Merch is [also not thriving](. - The Pope allegedly used [an Italian slur for gay people](. [“That’s going to lead to more criminalization of our students. Why shouldn’t we be training them up on restorative practices and mediating these conflicts?”]( - Tina Zeng, an 18-year-old student at Millennium High School in Brooklyn, on the push to [HIRE young SCHOOL SAFETY AGENTS]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [This summer is the end of outdoor dining in NYC as we know it]( After four years of free, loosely regulated outdoor dining, the new program overseen by the city’s Department of Transportation will add fees, limit sidewalk seating and make roadway sheds hew to a few pre-approved designs, which must come down by December but can go back up in April. [A quarter of Black New Jerseyans can’t serve on juries. A new law could change that.]( A bill to allow New Jersey residents with past criminal convictions to vote has lingered in the state Legislature without final action for years, but Gov. Phil Murphy's endorsement earlier this month gave it new life. [We Rely On Your Support]( [Where to find the real deal, classic Italian food in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn]( Bensonhurst is now widely considered Brooklyn’s second Chinatown, after Sunset Park, but if you walk along 18th Avenue from 65th Street to 86th Street, you’ll see Italian restaurants and shops next to Chinese restaurants and even Italian restaurants with Mandarin characters on the signs. [Jersey Shore at summer: New amenities, less blight, change in Ocean Grove]( Boardwalk renovations, new public bathrooms and a Barenaked Ladies concert are all part of the plan for boosting spirits — and tourism revenue — at the shore this season. [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 [TERMS OF USE]( You can update your [PREFERENCES]( or [UNSUBSCRIBE]( from this list.