Mayor’s ‘City of Yes’ housing plan wins key endorsement in Queens

Plus: What you need to know for NYC's West Indian Day Parade [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.]( [Mayor Adams’ ‘City of Yes’ housing plan wins a key endorsement in Queens]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☀️ Sunny, highs in the upper 80s. It's Tuesday in New York City, where all five borough presidents have now weighed in on Mayor Eric Adams' plan to add 100,000 homes by loosening zoning restrictions. In offering his endorsement, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards also made a key request: that the city create a $1 billion fund to help legalize basement apartments. [Here's what still needs to happen before Adams' "City of Yes" proposal becomes the law](. And here's what else is happening: - Want to crack open a cold one at a city park or beach? [Be ready to pay a $25 ticket](. - A Rikers Island officer accused of sexually assaulting at least two detainees faces new allegations that he [posed as a TV producer casting a show]( to lure a different woman into his Queens home and rape her, according to prosecutors. - Randy Mastro, the former Bridgegate defense attorney who's Mayor Adams' pick to be the city's top lawyer, goes before the City Council for his nomination hearing today — [now with the support of a prominent former rival](. - A funeral home chain popular among Spanish-speaking New Yorkers has agreed to pay more than $700,000 in civil penalties and restitution to customers for [allegedly preying on grieving families](. - The MTA said 2 trains won't be running between Manhattan and the Bronx from late Friday through early Monday. [Here's a full rundown]( of Labor Day weekend service changes. - And here's a full list of [road closures and transit options]( for getting to — or around — Flushing Meadows as more than a million fans flock to the U.S. Open. - U.S. Open attendees should also be advised that [it's hot out there](. - Average hourly wages, [when adjusted for inflation]( dropped in New York City between 2021 and the start of this year. Credit card debt has in turn spiked. - NYPD radio chatter in six precincts in the Bronx [is now being encrypted]( blocking reporters and the public from following officers' communication. - A Staten Island man whose Lamborghini earned him an automated noise violation ticket is suing the city, arguing that [his extremely loud car wasn't deliberately modified]( to sound that way. - A New Jersey woman was charged with trespassing after allegedly [jumping into the tiger's enclosure]( at the Cohanzick Zoo. - The Oasis reunion [is indeed happening](. - "Perhaps if everyone in the city was forced to wear flip-flops, there would be greater delicacy, calm and consideration." [Maybe]( [“Drinking doesn’t mean you’re going to become a wild, crazy person who attacks other people.”]( - Teresa Bazzi, a Coney Island beachgoer, on [THE CITY'S CRACKDOWN ON DRINKING IN PARKS]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [NYC's West Indian Day Parade 2024: What you need to know]( Over a million people are expected to converge on Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway starting at 11 a.m. on Monday for the annual West Indian Day Parade, the culmination of a week of events celebrating Caribbean culture, music and history. [At Brooklyn museum, NYC's best shop signs get another life]( The New York Sign Museum on Atlantic Avenue was established in 2019 with a mission of preserving the great old signs that come down every year and would otherwise go to scrapyards. [We Rely On Your Support]( [As NJ Transit starts fare-free week, riders just wish agency would fix service]( “I have had so many write-ups because of New Jersey Transit that even though they are offering a free ride this week, to me it’s neither here nor there,” said Tricia Carls, who works in Manhattan and commutes from Essex County in New Jersey. [NYC hits Coney Island Cyclone operators with 2 violations, as iconic ride remains shuttered]( After the century-old coaster got stuck mid-ride last week, forcing passengers to be escorted off the tracks, officials hit Luna Park with two violations: one for failing to maintain the ride and one for not informing the city of the damage right away. [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.