An NYC-to-Boston train in 100 minutes?

Plus: Meteor! [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 to Boston in 100 minutes: a high-speed train proposal picks up steam]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ⛅ Partly sunny, with evening thunderstorms possible and highs in the mid 90s. It's Wednesday in New York City, where the Amtrak journey to Boston currently takes about four hours. But under a new proposal that involves digging a 16-mile tunnel beneath the Long Island Sound, a high-speed train would be able to make the journey in 100 minutes. Here's why this pitch — which echoes a similar idea we've heard for decades — [could actually become a reality](. Here's what else is happening: - Has policing changed in the 10 years since Eric Garner was fatally choked by an NYPD officer on a Staten Island sidewalk? [Here's what the data shows](. - NASA confirmed that a meteor likely passed over the city yesterday before disintegrating 29 miles above Midtown — but [those loud booms people heard]( could've been from nearby military exercises. - New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was [found guilty yesterday of all 16 counts]( brought against him in a wide-ranging corruption scheme. - Will Menendez's conviction [do anything to curb corruption]( in New Jersey politics? - NJ Transit is warning of possible major delays over the next few days due to [maintenance issues caused by this week’s heat wave](. - Meet New York’s 91-person Republican delegation that's in Milwaukee this week [to formally nominate former President Donald Trump]( at the party's convention. - A former inmate at Sing Sing Correctional Facility explains what it was like sitting in a windowless metal cell [during a heat wave with no air-conditioning]( — a situation that persists at most New York prisons to this day. - Many of New York City's homeless shelters also [lack air-conditioning](. - And then there are the subway cars [with no air-conditioning](. - The New York Post reports that Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialists of America member who was first elected in 2020, is [considering a 2025 mayoral run](. - A 21-year-old neo-Nazi from Georgia (the country) has been charged in the U.S. for allegedly plotting to have an associate dress up as Santa Claus in New York City and [hand out poisoned candy to Jewish children](. - Good news out of a new Barnard College study: Trees are growing [at a faster-than-average rate]( in city neighborhoods that are most at risk during extreme heat waves. - A spade-toothed whale — a species so rare that nobody has ever spotted one alive — [washed up dead on a New Zealand shore]( earlier this month. - In nearby Australia, female green frogs are [cannibalizing their would-be male suitors]( who can't sing well enough. [“There's been a renewed interest on the part of organized labor, the rail operating unions and construction unions, who are saying, ‘Hey, if there's high-speed rail projects getting off the ground everywhere in the country except the Northeast, what are we chopped liver?’”]( - Bob Yaro, the former head of the Regional Plan Association, on [THE PUSH BY UNIONS TO BUILD HIGH-SPEED RAIL]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [After years of drama, celebrity vegan chef brings 'Chloe' back to Manhattan]( Chloe Coscarelli, a Food Network "Cupcake Wars" winner and author of several cookbooks, founded her namesake Greenwich Village vegan restaurant in 2015 to rave reviews. Then came issues with her private equity overlords. [NYC will soon stop cash assistance for residents who fail to meet work requirements]( The resumption of so-called welfare-to-work rules for cash assistance recipients will take effect on July 28, the Department of Social Services said in an email sent this week to organizations that provide services to homeless and low-income residents. [We Rely On Your Support]( [NYC mandates trash bins for most homes to keep rats, garbage piles off sidewalks]( The vast majority of New York City’s residential landlords will be banned from piling up trash in front of their buildings come November — and will face fines if they don’t put out their garbage in bins with secure lids. [How to travel with friends (and stay friends): Advice from an NYC etiquette expert]( Horror stories about going on vacation with friends aren't a reason to not try it. Here's one etiquette expert's advice on handling jet lag, alone time and what to do when your friend makes way more (or less) money than you. [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.