There's a tick uptick in NYC

Plus: Also an uptick in MTA vendor complaints [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.]( [Tick uptick in NYC: Data shows pathogen-prone parasites in more parks]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☀️ Mostly sunny, slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms, highs around 90. It's Monday in New York City, where ticks have spread beyond deer-covered Staten Island and moved into boroughs that were thought to be tick-free. Here's what New Yorkers need to know [before wading into forested city parks](. And here's what else is happening: - Most New York City dining sheds [are about to disappear]( now that the deadline to apply for outdoor dining permits has passed. - Complaints to the MTA about unlicensed subway vending [nearly doubled in the first five months of this year]( when compared to the same time last year, according to internal agency data obtained by Gothamist. - The MTA is still putting the finishing touches on its Grand Central Madison terminal [18 months after it opened]( for Long Island Rail Road commuters. - For all of Gothamist's transit coverage, plus answers to your commuter questions, [subscribe to our free On The Way newsletter](. - Police said [they caught]( a 3-foot-long snake in the West Village on Sunday and safely transported it to an animal care center. - A 90-year-old man fighting to hold onto the Brooklyn home he purchased more than 50 years ago could face eviction this week — unless an appeals court intervenes and allows him to prove he’s the rightful owner [after he relinquished the property deed to alleged fraudsters]( more than a decade ago. - Immigrants without legal authorization to work still [paid $3.1 billion in state and local taxes]( in New York in 2022, according to a new report from a left-leaning think tank. - Canarsie residents rallied on Sunday to once again ask Mayor Eric Adams to [bring ferry service]( to their transit-starved east Brooklyn neighborhood. - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he [dumped a bear carcass in Central Park]( as a prank a decade ago. - Four years ago, ConEd recommended a plan to remove the decades-old toxic soil sitting underneath NYCHA's Jacob Riis Houses in the East Village. An investigation by THE CITY found that ["not one cubic yard" of that dirt has since been taken out](. - 8th Avenue in Midtown is a bit of a [rough scene](. - [Don't touch]( the Hogweeds. - It sounds like Doug Emhoff and Chasten Buttigieg had a [successful fundraiser]( on Fire Island for Kamala Harris' presidential campaign. - It's sea moss punch [season](. - It's also [arguably]( shorts-in-the-office season. - Go ahead, [decorate the inside]( of your fridge. [“The blacklegged ticks will be present when there is forest and leaf litter, and especially when you go off-trail. If it's a very manicured park, I would say you're relatively safe.”]( — Columbia University tick researcher Maria Diuk-Wasser on [THE SPREAD OF TICKS IN NEW YORK CITY]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [Want your own personal palm trees in NYC? He’s your guy.]( Brandon Hall of CT Palm Trees in Hamden, Connecticut, will deliver and install one for you in mid-May and pick it up in the fall, before Northeast winters inevitably kill the summery plant. [August astronomy in NYC features a meteor show and planets aplenty]( “Venus is now back in the evening,” said Bart Fried, spokesperson for the Amateur Astronomers Association. “It’s high enough that you'll easily notice this really bright planet and it’s the brightest thing in the sky besides the moon.” [We Rely On Your Support]( [Who wants to unseat Eric Adams to become NYC’s next mayor?]( The race to unseat Mayor Adams heated up last week when city Comptroller Brad Lander officially announced he's entering next June's primary. Here's a brief update on who's in the running so far. [Are there real options when your subway line shuts down? A New York City transit story.]( It’s happened to all of us: You’re about to get on the train and some unexpected emergency shuts down your subway line. Now you need to find another way to get where you’re going — ideally without it taking forever or costing a fortune. [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.