NYC parks could get a lot dirtier under mayor's budget cuts

Plus: Tommy Cutlets [View this email in a browser.]( Our Gift to You! Get this T-shirt when you [donate & help fund]( our non-profit newsroom. [Donate Now]( [NYC parks set for dramatic reductions in staffing, cleaning under Mayor Adams' budget cuts]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☀️ Sunny and brisk today, with highs in the mid 40s. It's Tuesday in New York City, where our parks stand to get a lot dirtier next year. Under Mayor Eric Adams' proposed budget cuts, parks would lose more than 1,400 staffers, [leaving some to be cleaned as little as once a week](. During an hours-long City Council hearing yesterday, lawmakers warned against a repeat of 2020, when budget cuts left parks littered with trash — and fueled doomsaying about the city's decline. Here's what else is happening: - As of last night, [the FDNY was reporting no injuries]( after the partial collapse of an apartment building in the Bronx. - Police said a man found dead at a Central Park playground Monday morning is [believed to have died by possible suicide](. - City Hall said migrant families who were told they'd need to leave their shelters right after Christmas [will now get to stay an extra week](. - City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is supporting a bill to require the NYPD to report "low-level" police encounters, including instances where [officers stop someone to ask where they are going]( or ask for their I.D. - New Jersey Democrat Steve Sweeney, the longtime former state Senate president who lost his seat to a Trump-supporting truck driver in 2021, said [he plans to run for governor](. - Employees of a Brooklyn moving company are facing federal charges for allegedly [holding customers' belongings hostage]( until they paid double or triple the advertised rate. - Federal prosecutors said George Santos is [in talks to reach a plea deal]( over his fraud charges. - The former Episcopalian church-turned-Limelight nightclub-turned-mall-turned-gym on 6th Avenue in Chelsea could soon become [an off-Broadway theater](. - You're not imagining it, stores [are getting tinier](. - Brooklyn can't stop [drinking]( Faccia Brutto. - They're turning "Paddington" into [a musical]( in London. - Among news stories, only the Israel-Hamas war saw more [Google searches]( than the "Titanic submarine" this year. - Tommy Cutlets had himself [a Monday night](. - Have some time for a game? [Play]( our mini local news crossword. - Sign up for reminders when we publish new games [here](. “[If they're not taken care of, the city looks terrible. And people don't want to be here.]( - Adam Ganser, head of the nonprofit New Yorkers for Parks, on [THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF BUDGET CUTS FOR CITY PARKS]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [TikTok food influencer Keith Lee is in NYC — and his video reviews are stressing New Yorkers out]( Here's what Lee thought of the "2 Smoove," the famed salmon chopped cheese at Taste Budz Deli in Queens. [NYPD is ticketing more 'ghost cars,' but congestion pricing could drive a surge in new toll dodgers]( Experts warn that without stricter enforcement, congestion pricing could spark a surge in vehicles that illegally dodge tolls and speed cameras by using phony, dog-eared or defaced license plates. [We Rely On Your Support]( [NJ man’s fake ‘Walmart Self Checkout Christmas Party’ turns into real toy drive]( What started as an online joke about Walmart might turn out as one of the big holiday-giving events of the season in Lacey, New Jersey. [23 fun and affordable things to do in NYC this winter]( It might snow this year! [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.