Compost collection expands to Brooklyn

Also, wildfire smoke may bring hazy skies back to NYC today. [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's compost collection program expands to Brooklyn]( [first image]( Today's newsletter curated by [James Ramsay]( and [Emily Nadal]( Weather: ☀️ Sunny days may have returned, but you know what else could be making a comeback? [Hazy skies from Canadian wildfires.]( Good Monday morning in New York City, where [Brooklynites can now have their food and yard waste picked up alongside their recycling.]( The city’s official compost collection program, which is already available throughout Queens, expands to all 2.6 million Brooklyn residents today — meaning half of all New Yorkers have the service. The sanitation department said it plans to launch compost collection in the Bronx and Staten Island next spring, with Manhattan’s brown bins coming in October 2024. Here’s what else is happening: - A group of affordable housing owners [decided to start their own insurance collective]( amid rising costs caused by major insurers fleeing the city’s housing market in recent years. The lack of options means higher premium costs which building owners say eats into their budget and leads to worsening conditions for tenants. - Participants of a mentorship program for young residents of the city’s most violent public housing developments want answers after [the city abruptly canceled the program with just seven days' notice.]( They joined non-profit leaders and city council members Friday to demand the Department of Probation reinstate the program, saying they had been let down by the city. - Donald Trump’s business fraud trial, in which he’s accused of inflating the value of his real estate assets, [gets underway in Manhattan today.]( (The NYPD said this shouldn't affect commuters.) - The Jets [almost won]( the Taylor Bowl last night. - A massive search is underway for a [9-year-old girl who was presumably abducted]( at Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga on Saturday while taking a lap around the park on her bicycle by herself. - An Amtrak conductor is suing the railroad for allegedly failing to prevent a passenger’s dog from [biting her in the ankle.]( - Ingrid Lewis-Martin, a top advisor to Mayor Eric Adams, [called for the federal government to “close the borders”]( to prevent more migrants from coming to New York City during an interview with PIX11 yesterday. - Divers holding monthly [underwater clean-up dives]( in the Rockaways have cleared a goat skull, an ATM machine and obscene amounts of trash out of local waters. - A proposed City Council bill, sponsored by Brooklyn Councilmember Sandra Nurse, would [require the city to identify and address public art]( that depicts enslavers or people that directly benefited economically from slavery. - New York City’s Harlem Polo Grounds will be [getting a $32 million garbage system]( which will suck up trash at 60 miles per hour and put dumpsters and garbage bag piles out of sight in a first of its kind project slated to debut in 2024. - Here’s [a rendering]( of the sliver of Delancey Street near the Williamsburg Bridge that’s set to be turned into a pedestrian plaza … at some unnamed date. - Four hospitals in the city [closed down their WIC operations]( over the weekend. WIC, or New York’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, serves thousands of low-income families, and while the program is expected to resume operations at other locations, the closures risk cutting New Yorkers off from important benefits. - At one Manhattan high school, the JanSport backpack [continues to reign supreme.]( - As Tropical Storm Ophelia pummeled the New York City area with [several inches of rain]( one community was especially inundated. “The Hole,” which sits on the border of Brooklyn and Queens, is one of the city’s most flood-prone areas, and a [new set of storm drains didn’t do much]( to prevent the flash flooding which occurred in the neighborhood. - The death of 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici, who was poisoned by fentanyl at a Bronx daycare earlier this month, was [ruled a homicide]( by the city’s medical examiner Friday. - New York State is holding two fall foliage [photo contests.]( - The Beyoncé movie [is happening.]( - It’s [Fat Bear Week!]( “This is the largest curbside composting program in the nation – and also the easiest." - Joshua Goodman, SPOKESMAN FOR THE SANITATION DEPARTMENT, [ON NYC'S NEW COMPOSTING PROGRAM EXPANDING TO BROOKLYN.]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [A speed dating event for queer singles in NYC sells out in days. So I tried it.]( Imagine all of the anxiety before a first date with a stranger. Now multiply it by 20. [NYC ‘Heat Season’ starts Sunday. Here’s what renters need to know.]( Sunday marks the start of heat season in New York City, meaning landlords are required to keep indoor temperatures above 68 degrees during the day. Here’s what to do if your apartment is too cold. [We Rely On Your Support]( [NJ Transit takeover of private bus routes will bring relief to northern New Jersey commuters]( The agency is setting up six new routes and extending an existing one to incorporate stops currently serviced by private bus companies. [Judge dismisses claims against ex-Gov. Cuomo’s top aides]( A woman known in court documents as "Trooper 1" had included the aides in her lawsuit against the former governor and state police. [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.