NJ’s Sen. Menendez is seeking reelection despite ‘gold bar’ trial

Plus: Queens has 3 new bears (at the zoo) [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.]( [NJ’s Sen. Menendez is seeking reelection despite ‘gold bar’ trial. Could he be a spoiler for Kim?]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☀️ Sunny, highs in the lower 80s. It's Tuesday, and New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez — who's on trial for 16 counts of bribery, corruption and helping a foreign government — has just filed paperwork to run for reelection as an independent. Here's how Menendez could end up [siphoning votes away from one or both major party candidates]( in the general election. Here's what New Jersey voters need to know about [today's statewide Democratic and Republican primaries](. And here's what else is happening: - Mayor Eric Adams on Monday [announced plans to build or renovate]( 82 public restrooms over the next five years. - Clinton Hill residents raising [quality-of-life concerns about local mega-shelters for migrants]( have a new ally: New York Attorney General Letitia James, who lives in the Brooklyn neighborhood and pledged to do "whatever I can in my capacity" to pursue her neighbors’ concerns. - The Parks Department said an enforcement patrol officer has been placed on administrative duties after a video surfaced showing [a physical altercation between him and a 14-year-old girl]( accused of selling food without a license. - Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso on Monday blasted the sanitation department’s decision to give garbage hauling licenses to [several companies with a history of reckless driving](. - New York’s top judge said the state's network of free attorneys for low-income defendants [is in "crisis" due to underfunding](. - The very rare triplet Andean bears born at the Queens Zoo back in January have left their birthing den and [are ready to meet the public](. - Here are some [shiny new renderings]( of what a shiny new Port Authority Bus Terminal might look like. - Red Hook residents want [a direct bus line to Manhattan](. - At last month's city surplus auction, nobody bought the decommissioned Staten Island Ferry boat that was involved in a deadly crash in 2003. ([The starting bid is now being knocked down to $100,000.]( - ...maybe the local couple who were magnet fishing in Corona Park last Friday and [dredged up a safe with an estimated $100,000 in it]( could buy the boat. - Rapper Brother Marquis of the group 2 Live Crew [has died at the age of 58](. - [Zoomers are thriving]( in Lithuania. - J. Lo: [What happened]( [“This is actually really bad timing for one person in particular, and that's [Rep.] Rob Menendez, who at this point I think would probably prefer if Bob Menendez, his father, was staying out of the news, at least until the primaries are over.”]( - Fairleigh Dickinson poll director Dan Cassino on the effect [SEN. BOB MENENDEZ'S CORRUPTION TRIAL AND REELECTION CAMPAIGN COULD HAVE ON HIS SON'S REELECTION BID]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [NYC launches monthly 'drops,' putting commemorative street signs on sale]( The first of the signs — for Christopher Street/Stonewall Place — hit the NYC City Store early on Monday for $75 each. The DOT made only 50 available, limiting them to one purchase per customer. They sold out in less than three hours. [Things the guys who stole my phone have texted me to try to get me to unlock it]( "There was something oddly soothing about being in touch with the people who’d stolen my phone. Instead of it disappearing into the ether, I knew more or less where it was, and thanks to these texts, I knew that it was a source of frustration to the people who’d gotten their hands on it." [We Rely On Your Support]( [Young families are fleeing NYC. Rising child care and housing costs are to blame.]( The Fiscal Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, released new data showing families with children aged 6 or younger are twice as likely to move out of the city as families without young kids. [Joro spiders are coming to NY and NJ as soon as this summer]( An invasive spider species is making its way north to the New York metropolitan region, and even though it’s harmless, it's about the size of an adult human hand — which tends to scare people. [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.