Central Park records 1 inch of snowfall for the first time in nearly 2 years

Plus: Major cultural institutions push back against Adams' budget cuts [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.]( ['Bracing ourselves': Major NYC cultural institutions say cuts will hurt economic recovery]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ❄️ After [701 days without an inch of snow]( in Central Park, the streak has officially ended! Unfortunately, we're in for sleet and freezing rain this afternoon as highs get into the lower 30s. New York City schools are open; Jersey City schools are closed. It's Tuesday in New York City, where major cultural institutions are urging Mayor Eric Adams to reconsider millions of dollars in proposed budget cuts to their organizations. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, among others, are warning that slashing their funding will sabotage the city's economic recovery, [which relies on tourism](. Here's what else is happening: - Finally: some [good news]( in the war on rats. - Public libraries will likely be able to [stay open on Saturdays]( after Mayor Adams declined to announce further budget cuts. - Eliminating the current cap on street vendor licenses could [generate millions of dollars in economic activity]( for New York City, a new report found. - Police were searching Tuesday for a man they said [stole necklaces from three teenage girls and one woman]( while riding a moped in Queens over the past month. - City Hall plans to impose [11 p.m. curfews]( for four migrant respite centers starting Tuesday. - A Park Slope mom whose [12-year-old son was fatally hit by a driver]( in 2013 reflects on a decade of Vision Zero and advocacy for safer streets. - Jon Bramnick, a 70-year-old New Jersey state senator, personal injury lawyer and sometime stand-up comedian, plans to announce his candidacy for the state's Republican gubernatorial nomination [at a New Brunswick comedy club later this month](. - While some of the city's wealthiest philanthropists are stepping back from municipal causes, [one private equity billionaire is coughing up $1.5 million]( to save swim lessons for public school students. - THE CITY has refreshed its [guide to knowing who to yell at]( to get something fixed around here. - amNewYork rode along with a plainclothes NYPD unit tasked with [patrolling a Brooklyn subway station](. - NBC has [brought back]( its 30 Rock tours after a pandemic hiatus. - Donald Trump [won big]( in Iowa. - "Succession" and "The Bear" [won big]( at the Emmys. - The new [TikTok fitness trend]( is walking backwards on a treadmill. - "New Orleans-style" chicken wings don't exist in New Orleans or anywhere in the U.S. ... but [they're huge in China](. (And they're surprisingly bland.) - Have some time for a game? [Play]( our mini local news crossword. - Sign up for reminders when we publish new games [here](. [“The one I start off with. I go, ‘I'm a New Jersey politician, I'm a state senator, so you can trust everything I'm about to tell you.’ That always gets a laugh.”]( - Jon Bramnick, a 70-year-old republican state senator and stand-up comedian who's [RUNNING FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [Who runs New York? This guy. And a few others walked it, too.]( At the end of 2022, Jason Girouard, 28, stepped out of his Lower East Side apartment and kicked off a personal endeavor to jog every street on the island. About one year and 750 miles later, he all but completed the task on Dec. 19. [At WNYC's Martin Luther King tribute at the Apollo, new calls for activism]( "He’s definitely much more radical than he's often portrayed as being," Brown University professor Juliet Hooker said of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during WNYC and the Apollo Theater's 18th annual MLK Day event. [We Rely On Your Support]( [Linked Anatomy of a New York City subway crash: Dozens of decisions and a derailment]( A Jan. 4 subway crash on the Upper West Side gummed up commutes for thousands of New Yorkers — and prompted federal regulators to launch an aggressive safety probe that gained new urgency after an F train derailed in Coney Island a week later. [Is New York’s weed law flawed? Brooklyn DA backs off cannabis possession charges]( In a pair of cannabis possession cases, judges wrote that authorities must specifically calculate the weight of the parts of the marijuana that get people high. Some prosecutors say that’s simply impossible. [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.