A new way to get around JFK Airport

Also, hope for NYC's mental health clubhouses. [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.]( [JFK Airport’s newest ride? Not planes, but self-driving shuttles.]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter curated by Emily Nadal]( Weather: 🥵 The heat wave continues with another 90 degree day. It’s Tuesday morning in New York City where you’ll be able to hop on a [driverless shuttle bus at JFK Airport next week.]( The new vehicles, which can carry eight seated passengers, are part of a pilot program to test the technology. Riders won’t be totally alone, though. An on-board safety attendant will be there to greet and guide passengers. And you’ll have all summer to try them out. Here’s what else is happening: - New Yorkers who use the city’s nine mental health clubhouses have been fighting hard to save them amid changes to their funding model. Now, the City Council is [making a last ditch effort]( to keep some of them open. - Prosecutors made their closing arguments in the corruption trial against New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez yesterday, saying he was as [“acting like a bribed man.”]( - A group of wheelchair users in New York are suing Lyft over claims that the app-based car service company [blocks requests for wheelchair-accessible vehicles]( outside of the five boroughs. - Advocates from the Riders Alliance are holding a rally today at 11 a.m. at the Flatbush Trees in Brooklyn [calling on the Department of Transportation and elected leaders]( to address lagging bus service in the area. - Lionel Messi will be at Metlife Stadium tonight playing in [Argentina’s Copa America semifinal against Canada]( leg injury and all. - Thousands of people are [marking the 30th anniversary]( of the death of the Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the leader of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, with a visit to his Cambria Heights gravesite in Old Montefiore cemetery. - After an investigation by the New York Attorney General’s office for constant idling, four local school bus companies will have to [electrify their fleet]( as part of a settlement agreement. - It was so hot yesterday that the Third Avenue Bridge, which connects Manhattan to the Bronx, was [temporarily stuck in an open position](. - Hell Gate got a tip about repeated vandalism to the Alan Dershowitz stone on the Celebrity Path at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The tipster turned out to be the vandal. [Here’s why they did it.]( - A 31-year-old woman was [found dead inside a sleeping bag]( with a gunshot wound to her head on a Midtown Manhattan street on Friday. - Mayor Eric Adams showed off the city’s new designated trash bins which the vast majority of residential landlords will eventually have to use for their building’s garbage in what the mayor called our [“trash revolution.”]( - The most [affordable summer vacation destination]( in the U.S. is Atlanta, Georgia, according to a WalletHub analysis. - July is National Pickle Month and the mini cupcake brand Baked By Melissa is celebrating with a [pickle flavored cupcake.]( - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is [desperately trying to prove]( he loves dogs. [“Our hope here is that instead of having just one driver stuck in one vehicle, we can have one driver supervising more than one vehicle and really paying attention to the folks actually getting on and getting off."]( - Seth Wainer, program director for innovation at the Port Authority, [DISCUSSING NEW DRIVERLESS SHUTTLES AT JFK AIRPORT.]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [How to spot NYC’s wildlife this summer (not including rats)]( New Yorkers don’t need to take a far-flung vacation to spot animals in the wild. One of the city's hidden treasures is its trove of urban wildlife. [Did you know there's low-cost extended day care in NYC? What you need to know to apply.]( The city offers longer days and year-round care for families who meet certain income thresholds but many of the programs are under-enrolled. [We Rely On Your Support]( [2 boys shot and injured at Bronx McDonald’s over the weekend, NYPD says]( Police continued to investigate on Monday after two boys were shot and injured at a McDonald’s in the Bronx over the weekend. [NJ residents' credit scores soon won't be dinged for most kinds of medical debt]( New Jersey is also looking to buy up $10 million in residents' medical debt. [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.