Schools set to return without smartphone ban

Plus: What to know about the charges facing ex-Hochul aide [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 public schools return to class without citywide smartphone ban]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☀️ Sunny, highs in the upper 70s. It's Wednesday in New York City, where Schools Chancellor David Banks said at the end of last school year that he'd soon announce a plan to restrict phone use in classrooms. Here's how parents, teachers, civil liberties advocates and Mayor Eric Adams managed to [put a phone ban on hold](. And here's what else is happening: - The weather should be [even better tomorrow]( (i.e., slightly more autumnal) when public school students and their phones return to class. - Federal prosecutors say a former aide to Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo was secretly an agent for the Chinese government — and made millions of dollars through the scheme. [Here's what we know about the charges]( against Linda Sun. - Mayor Adams yesterday [declined to say]( if five Rikers Island correction officers accused of sexual abuse should be placed on leave while the city reviews the allegations. - A single mom facing eviction from her Bronx apartment is still fighting to [get a rental voucher without first having to go to a homeless shelter]( — despite a state judge's recent decision to block new measures expanding voucher access. - A Nevada-based ghost gun manufacturer has ghosted its own attorney, even as it faces a lawsuit [holding it accountable for the shooting death of a 16-year-old Bronx girl]( according to a new court filing. - A city pilot program has quietly given 150 migrant families up to $4,000 each to [exit the shelter system and move into permanent housing](. - G train service [is fully back]( after a summer of signal upgrades. - Class resumed at Columbia and Barnard yesterday — as did [pro-Palestinian demonstrations](. - New York City's fashion industry [is struggling](. - One benefit of sitting in the nosebleeds at the U.S. Open: [You can chat while watching]( because you're too far away to distract the players. - More and more, New Yorkers are going to restaurants [alone](. - Andy Cohen's West Village duplex, which is made up of [four adjacent apartments he patiently bought and combined]( over 21 years, is now on the market for $14 million. - Frosted Mini-Wheats are [a little Republican](. - The beluga that escaped its alleged past life as a Russian spy whale has [mysteriously died off the coast of Norway](. - The Hawk Tuah girl [now has a podcast](. (It's called "Talk Tuah.") [“I think we have to be very wary as a city of adding new ways for kids to get in trouble.”]( - Johanna Miller of the New York Civil Liberties Union on [THE POTENTIAL ENFORCEMENT OF A SMARTPHONE BAN IN CITY SCHOOLS]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [Thanks, office workers: Foot traffic in Manhattan nears pre-COVID levels, report says]( “The lunch places are full, and I don’t see many empty stores anymore,” said attorney Moritz Masberg. “I think that the city recovered quite well here in Midtown.” [Mayor Adams, others downplay West Indian Day violence, but some say they won't return]( City leaders said Monday’s fatal shooting at the West Indian Day Parade was the work of a lone gunman and insisted the event was otherwise safe, but some residents of Crown Heights said they're wary of the parade after several fatal incidents in recent years. [We Rely On Your Support]( [Brian Lehrer, Laurie Anderson to appear at free Central Park event to fete WNYC’s 100th year]( Slated for Sept. 9, the free event will be emceed by Brian Lehrer and will feature conversations, music, trivia and more public-radio fun. [Judge mandates that all new NYC taxis be accessible to wheelchairs]( As of last year, just 32% of all taxi medallions — and 42% of those affixed to vehicles actively circulating — were for wheelchair-accessible taxicabs, according to the Taxis For All Campaign. [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.