Should "good moral character" be required to get a gun in NYC?

Plus: A luxury tower is blocking the view of the Empire State Building [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.]( [Judge rules NYC gun licensing restrictions as unconstitutional]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☀️ Sunny today, with highs around 70. It's Wednesday in New York City, where residents may no longer need to show "good moral character" to get a gun license. Following a lawsuit by a Brooklyn man who was denied a gun permit due to his prior arrests and bad driving history, a federal judge ruled yesterday that the city violated the constitution by denying the permit using "broad and unrestrained discretionary standards." [The ruling goes into effect at midnight Thursday, giving the city time to appeal.]( Here's what else is happening: - A Brooklyn man who filed hundreds of complaints about [NYPD officers parking on the sidewalk]( — and then received a menacing call from a cop posing as a 311 operator — has received a $25,000 settlement. - Private marshals who carry out evictions on behalf of New York City earned [a net income of about $11.6 million]( in 2022 — nearly three times their take-home pay in the previous two years when the pandemic spurred a pause on evictions. - Police arrested a Manhattan man yesterday for allegedly [punching a woman in the face]( in an anti-Jewish hate crime in a subway station earlier this month. - The NYPD says [hate crimes against Jews have spiked]( since Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7, though the overall number of hate crimes is down 13% in 2023 compared to last year. - A [driver fleeing the police]( crashed into an MTA bus in Brooklyn on Tuesday afternoon, sending seven people to area hospitals with injuries, according to the FDNY. - Actor Jonathan Majors is expected in court this morning on domestic violence charges, as police and prosecutors appear to disagree about [whether the woman he is accused of assaulting should also be arrested](. - Hundreds of people virtually attended a hearing yesterday to weigh in on the fate of Local Law 97, which requires New York City’s biggest carbon polluters — buildings over 25,000 square feet — to [reduce their emissions by 40% by the end of the decade and 80% by 2050](. - Join WNYC’s Michael Hill, journalists, researchers and Newark residents to discuss what New Jersey’s pervasive school segregation means for students. The free event is at the Newark library on Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. [Find details and register here]( and [share your thoughts]( on school segregation in NJ. - The way the NYPD pushed protesters off the street and [flew a helicopter over the crowd]( at last weekend's pro-Palestinian rally in Bay Ridge would likely violate the (not-yet-finalized) rules for police conduct set after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. - In related news: A federal judge yesterday finalized a $4.8 million payout of $21,500 each to hundreds of protestors who claimed they were [trapped by police and attacked with batons and pepper spray]( during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in the Bronx's Mott Haven neighborhood. - A meh-looking luxury tower is now blocking the view of the Empire State Building from the south. [Should the city be regulating its skyline]( - Police are looking for thieves who allegedly [stole four mini school buses]( in the Bronx in recent days. - A [family of tourists from Alabama]( weren't happy that a restaurant in Rockefeller Center put an automatic gratuity on their bill. - Richard Roundtree, the Blaxploitation film icon who [played detective John Shaft in Shaft]( has died at the age of 81. - McGill University scientists said they "can approximate that [listening to your] favourite music reduced pain by about one point on a 10-point scale, which is [at least as strong as an over-the-counter painkiller like Advil]( under the same conditions." - The dream of the '90s is alive in the coming nuptials of [Kurt Cobain's daughter and Tony Hawk's son](. - After Bud Light's partnership with a trans influencer sparked a boycott among some drinkers, the brand has signed a nine-figure deal to be [the exclusive beer of UFC](. “[I acknowledge that, by using the complainant’s personal contact information to give him false information in an attempt to discourage him from filing 311 complaints about parking practices at my precinct, I used confidential information to advance a private interest]( - NYPD Officer John Madera, who [IMPERSONATED A 311 OPERATOR]( in a call to someone who complained about illegal cop parking More from Gothamist [second image]( [Fran Lebowitz is not invited to FranCon]( "She would never want to come to this event," said FranCon's founder. "Which is also why we put it [near] her birthday. She probably has other, better plans." [Columbia gave President Lee Bollinger $6M home loan before his retirement]( In February of last year, Bollinger bought a three-bedroom apartment in the Beresford building on Central Park West for $11.7 million, property records show. [We Rely On Your Support]( [NY tentatively approves 3 offshore wind farms, including Ravenswood project]( Gov. Kathy Hochul gave a tentative green light Tuesday to three new wind farms off New York City’s shores — a move that comes after she vetoed a bill last week that would have fast-tracked a different wind farm off Long Island. [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. 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