NYC NOW

WNYC and Gothamist reporter Samantha Max joins us to discuss a lawsuit accusing New York City and the NYPD of making it unnecessarily difficult for people to recover belongings taken by police. One plaintiff says officers took bags of Christmas presents for her children and that she never got them back. Another says police left some of his possessions beside a dumpster while other items disappeared. The lawsuit argues the city’s property return process is so confusing that some New Yorkers never recover what belongs to them.

Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

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For more on the reporting in this episode:

• The NYPD arrested a mom and took her kids' Christmas gifts. She never got them back.

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In this week's Arts & Culture Check-In, WNYC and Gothamist arts and culture editor Matthew Schnipper joins us to run through the stories coming off the desk this week. From the New York City Marathon turning 50 as a five borough race, to a trip into the underground control room beneath the Lincoln Center fountain, to two documentaries that have New Yorkers packing theaters, if you’re lucky enough to get a ticket.

Photo: Sonia Rao for Gothamist

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• Mamdani says he's 'confident' NYC will collect $500 million with pied-à-terre tax
• Trash containers take over Brooklyn parking spaces as NYC gets garbage bags off sidewalks
• What to expect and avoid in NYC’s Halloween, voting, marathon and daylight saving weekend

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Housing costs are the number one concern for many New Yorkers, and they’re at the center of this year’s race for governor. Kathy Hochul says the state has to build its way out of rising rents, while challenger Bruce Blakeman argues the city already has empty apartments kept off the market by rent stabilization laws, and says he’s proud that home prices have gone up.

WNYC and Gothamist reporter David Brand takes us to East New York, where 24 year old Taylor Rivers works two jobs and still can’t find an apartment she can afford, to break down what each candidate is promising and why all the new construction hasn’t brought prices down. This is the final episode of our four part series, New York State of Unaffordability.

Photo: Taylor Rivers / photo by David Brand

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• Mamdani plans redesign of Brooklyn's Third Avenue after nurse killed in hit-and-run
• GOP candidates in NY face a changed landscape on immigration

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Recorded live at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute in East Harlem, this installment of In Conversation: The Affordability Series explores the optimism surrounding the long-awaited Second Avenue Subway extension, along with the concerns and impacts felt by local residents and businesses. The Q train could bring shorter commutes, better connections and new opportunities to a neighborhood that has waited generations for improved transit. Community leaders, tenants, business advocates and MTA representatives discuss what the subway could mean for East Harlem and how longtime residents and businesses can take part in its future.

Panelists include:

• Melody Capote, executive director of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute
• Adem Brija, chair of Manhattan Community Board 11
• Ulices Mendez, organizer with the East Harlem Tenant Union
• Carey King, director of Uptown Grand Central
• Lucille Songhai, MTA senior director of Government and Community Relations
• Joe O’Donnell, senior director of Strategic Public Affairs at MTA Construction and Development

Photo cred: Ramsey Khalifeh- WNYC/Gothamist

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For more of Ramsey’s reporting on the Second Avenue Subway extension in East Harlem:

• The Second Avenue subway forced him to move 20 years ago. He almost had to move again.
• Short-term pain for a long-term train: MTA subway construction upends life in East Harlem
• The Second Avenue subway forced this East Harlem family from their home
• As MTA moves ahead with 2nd Avenue subway extension, East Harlem locals brace for change

Other stories mentioned:

• In East Brooklyn, aging NYCHA homes get a $636M upgrade
• What NYers can expect as open enrollment for health insurance begins

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WNYC and Gothamist reporter Hannah Frishberg joins us with some of the best ways to celebrate Halloween across New York City. From the Great PUPkin dog costume contest and haunted attractions to a Lower East Side bookstore crawl and some truly unusual live performances.

Photo: WNYC & Gothamist

• Your guide to voting in New York's 2026 elections for governor and Congress
• Council OKs bill to end horse carriage industry in NYC
• MTA suspending bus fare enforcement teams after altercations emerge

Halloween in NYC: Events and Activities Mentioned in This Episode

28th Annual Great PUPkin Dog Costume Contest

Saturday, October 24, noon to 1 p.m. at Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn. Free for spectators. Competing dogs must register in advance for a fee. Part of Fort Greene Park's free Halloween Festival, running from noon to 4 p.m.

Halloween on the Farm at Queens County Farm Museum

Saturday, October 31, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Queens. Trick-or-treating, a corn maze, hayrides, ghost stories and farm animals. Tickets are $15 for adults, $25 for children ages 2–17 and free for children under 2.

Ridgewood Asylum Haunted House

Open through November 1 at 272 Seigel Street, Brooklyn. An interactive haunted house with escape-room elements. General admission is approximately $43. Open Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., and Sunday, 6 to 11 p.m. Halloween week hours are 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Advance online tickets recommended.

Twisted Trails Haunted Attraction

Open on select dates through October 31 at 496 Annadale Road, Staten Island. Outdoor haunted trail with both scare-actor and less frightening no-actor sessions. Admission prices and hours vary by date; check the event calendar. An additional $10 fast pass is available. Children ages 3 and under enter free. Tickets are sold at the entrance on a first-come, first-served basis.

Lower East Side Halloween Bookstore Crawl

Saturday, October 24, throughout the day. Visit seven participating independent bookstores across the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods, including Sweet Pickle Books, Book Club Bar and Yu & Me Books. Special discounts, costume contests and giveaways. Individual store hours and offers vary.

Halloween Movie Night Honoring Tim Curry at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

Friday, October 30, at BKCM Prospect Park West, 963 President Street, Brooklyn. Doors open at 6 p.m.; screenings begin at 6:30 p.m. Featuring Clue and Muppet Treasure Island, plus costume contests. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children under 18 and free for children 2 and under. Popcorn and a soft drink included.

Catbaret: Meowloween at Caveat

Saturday, October 31, at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at Caveat, 21A Clinton Street, Manhattan. Cat-themed comedy, music, burlesque and a costume contest. Tickets are $30.08 online, including fees, $35 at the door or $11.63 for the livestream. Ages 21 and older.

Swamp Dogg and Alana Amram's Muppet Cover Band at TV Eye

Saturday, October 31, at TV Eye, 1647 Weirfield Street, Ridgewood, Queens. Doors open at 2 p.m.; show starts at 3 p.m. An all-ages Halloween concert featuring Swamp Dogg and a tribute to Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Tickets are $26 in advance before fees, or $35 at the door if available.

Haunted Hotel at Lakeside in Prospect Park

Open through November 1 at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside, 171 East Drive, Brooklyn. Haunted walkthrough recommended for ages 13 and older. Admission is $35 Tuesday through Sunday and $20 on Mondays. On Halloween, the Haunted Hotel is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The surrounding family-friendly Harvest Festival also features a pumpkin patch, $5 corn maze and $5 games.

53rd Annual Village Halloween Parade

Saturday, October 31, beginning at 7 p.m., rain or shine. Free viewing along Sixth Avenue from King Street to West 15th Street. The parade is expected to finish around 11 p.m.

Anyone wearing a costume can march for free. Participants should line up near Sixth Avenue and Canal Street between 6:30 and 9 p.m. No advance registration required for general marchers. Alcohol is prohibited. Paid VIP viewing and special-access options are also available.

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Some Upstate New York residents say their utility bills have more than doubled in the past year, and the cost of keeping the lights on has become one of the biggest issues in this year’s race for governor. As governor, Kathy Hochul has offered rebate checks and a new Ratepayer Protection Plan, while her Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman has pledged to cut utility bills in half.

WNYC reporter Jon Campbell takes us to Lockport, New York, to hear from residents and break down what each candidate is promising, how realistic it is, and what frustrated voters make of it all in the third episode of our four part series leading up to the November 3rd election: New York State of Unaffordability.

Photo: Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News via Getty Images

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• Parents grumble as NYC schools chancellor dodges calls for NYC schools integration plan
• Join us on Thursday, October 22nd 2026 for In Conversation: The Affordability Series

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New York City is moving closer to ending its horse carriage industry. With the City Council preparing to vote on a bill that would ban carriage rides starting in June 2028, WNYC and Gothamist reporter Liam Quigley visits a Hell’s Kitchen stable to hear from workers worried about losing their jobs and owners concerned about their investments.

Photo: Liam Quigley /WNYC/Gothamist

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• These are the NYC neighborhoods that will get free 2-K next fall
• Eric Adams' NYC buildings boss Eric Ulrich heads to trial, 3 years after arrest

More on the proposed horse carriage ban

• NYC Council, Mayor Mamdani agree to end Central Park's carriage horse industry
• Teen's death in Central Park horse carriage fall has lawmakers pushing to ban industry
• Central Park carriage horse died after eating toxic shrub, examination finds
• Family says stray voltage may have contributed to fatal Central Park carriage crash.

More on safety concerns on Central Park's loop

• Central Park's car-free loop is busier than ever. Crashes keep piling up

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WNYC and Gothamist arts and culture editor Matthew Schnipper joins us to talk about Kelly Clarkson’s dispute with Brooklyn Heights shop Art of Play, a photographer trying to document every neighborhood in the city and what really makes someone a New Yorker. Plus, Citi Bike’s unlikely rise as a symbol of New York cool and some of the places opening their doors for Open House New York.

Photo: Sonia Rao/ WNYC & Gothamist

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• Mamdani and 100+ NY officials urge parking lot owners to ban ICE
• Avila Chevalier insists her beef is with NYPD Commissioner Tisch, not Mamdani
• A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
• Are you a New Yorker? The Department of New Yorker Verification will now decide.
• The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
• Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City

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Micron, the chipmaker building a massive complex outside Syracuse, says it will bring 50,000 jobs to Central New York. In this year’s race for governor, Kathy Hochul has put billions in state subsidies behind the project, while challenger Bruce Blakeman says the state should get out of the way and let businesses come on their own. But for the people training for those jobs, the bigger question is how soon they’ll arrive and who will actually get them.

WNYC and Gothamist reporter Jimmy Vielkind takes us to Syracuse to see what’s riding on Micron in part two of our four part series: New York State of Unaffordability, dropping every Wednesday in October.

Photo: Micron Chip Camp / Jimmy Vielkind

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• NYC Council, Mayor Mamdani agree to end Central Park's carriage horse industry
• NYC's taxi union teams with Uber, private equity firm to demand healthcare after 4 driver deaths
• NY measles outbreak more widespread than official count, health officials say

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After at least four yellow cab drivers died while working in New York City this summer, WNYC reporter Ramsey Khalife examines the financial pressures that can keep drivers behind the wheel even when they are sick.

Photo: Ramsey Khalifeh - WNYC/Gothamist

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• Driving to death: NYC yellow taxi drivers keep dying on the job, unable to make ends meet

For more on ICE shooting at Marble Hill:

• What we know about the ICE shooting in New York City
• Man shot by ICE in NYC still has bullet lodged in neck, attorneys say
• Plainclothes ICE agent with long gun looked like mass shooter, Mayor Mamdani says

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WNYC and Gothamist reporter Ben Feuerherd joins us to break down what we know about the shooting in Marble Hill, where a federal immigration agent shot 28 year old Oscar Belgal while his five year old son was inside the car. They discuss newly released NYPD body camera footage, the department’s role when federal agents operate in New York City, the public's response and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s unsuccessful effort to secure Belgal’s release from federal custody.

Photo: NYPD bodycam footage

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• What we know about the ICE shooting in NYC
• DSA to Mamdani: Fire NYPD commissioner if ICE doesn't leave NYC
• Attorneys argue man shot by ICE in Marble Hill should be released
• Feds blame NYC's sanctuary policies for violent ICE arrest in Marble Hill

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In a small daycare center in Upstate New York, families are pulling their kids out after the state assistance that made childcare affordable ran dry. It's happening in dozens of counties across New York, and it's part of a bigger fight over the cost of living that's at the center of this year's race for governor. Kathy Hochul wants to expand childcare subsidies, while challenger Bruce Blakeman argues the state should have a limited role in supporting care arrangements.

WNYC and Gothamist reporter Jimmy Vielkind heads to Willsboro, New York to see what's at stake for families and daycare owners, and joins us to kick off our four part series, New York State of Unaffordability, dropping every Wednesday in October.

Photo: Clubhouse Daycare Center / courtesy Taylor Loreman

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• NYC moves to spend nearly $9M of gender-affirming care fund for minors
• NYC’s autumn foliage will be a fall feast this year

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WNYC and Gothamist reporter David Brand joins us to talk about a couple of the housing battles he’s covering right now, including the lawsuit challenging the Rent Guidelines Board’s rent freeze and a new fast-track process for certain affordable housing projects. Plus, WNYC and Gothamist reporter Walter Wuthmann looks at noise complaints surrounding rooftop parties at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the concerns from nearby residents and the debate over how gentrification fits into the dispute.

Photo: Walter Wuthmann/Gothamist

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• Mamdani will clear 10,000 families off waitlist for low cost childcare
• Two Legionnaires’ disease cases appear at a Queens housing complex. Here’s what we know.
• Check out our latest episode on Legionnaires
• New apartments are coming and there’s nothing these 12 neighborhoods can do to stop it
• No kids and a lot of bass: Brooklyn Children's Museum draws flak for loud roof parties

The latest on rent freeze lawsuit:

• Lawyer challenging NYC rent freeze releases Mamdani officials’ emails and text messages
• Lawyer suing to block NYC rent freeze tried swaying previous board vote, ex-chair says

Other housing news:

• Mamdani must redo his pied-à-terre tax rollout, NY judge orders

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Chef Ham El-Waylly grew up in Doha, Qatar, eating his mom's Egyptian and Bolivian cooking and dreaming about New York bagels while watching Seinfeld. Today, he's the co-owner and chef behind Strange Delight, a Creole restaurant in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

In this episode, Ham joins NYC Now host Janae Pierre to talk about the unexpected throughlines between Southern cooking and the food he grew up on, how the pandemic sent him back to his late mother's recipe book after years of avoiding his grief, and the empanadas that helped him finally process it. He also breaks down what actually separates fine dining from cooking for his own family, and how affordability shaped the recipes in his new cookbook, Hello Home Cooking.

Watch Ham and Janae cook a New York inspired recipe straight from the book on Youtube!

Get the cookbook: Hello Home Cooking, by Ham El-Waylly

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• Lawyer challenging NYC rent freeze releases Mamdani officials’ emails and text messages
• Hochul names NY AG James as special prosecutor on rape case at Cornell University

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October 1st marks the start of heat season in New York City, when landlords are legally required to keep buildings warm... but getting a landlord to actually fix a heat problem can be its own battle. Tenants' rights attorney Leah Goodridge walks us through what tenants are entitled to and the steps she, herself, took to get the hot water back in her apartment. Then, WNYC and Gothamist housing reporter David Brand breaks down landlords' perspective on why heat repairs can take as long as they do and also what the city's new policy requiring inspectors to check every complaint individually means for New Yorkers.

Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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• Mamdani must redo his pied-à-terre tax rollout, NY judge orders
•

What Trump's Title IX rollback means for LGBTQ+ students in New York

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New York City has seen a string of deadly Legionnaires outbreaks. Daniel Thomas reflects on losing his father, retired New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles Thomas, after he contracted the disease during this summer’s Upper East Side outbreak. But death is not the only lasting consequence. WNYC and Gothamist reporter Joe Hong speaks with two survivors of the 2025 Central Harlem outbreak who are still living with serious health problems more than a year later, and looks at why Legionnaires outbreaks keep happening across the city.

Photo cred: Daniel Thomas, son of The Honorable Charles J. Thomas

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• NYC childcare providers say city contract rates fall $12.6K short per child
• Mamdani says NYC will investigate every tenant heat complaint starting this October
• The NY Liberty head back to the playoffs today. Catch up on what you missed.

For more on Legionnaires

• NYC Now - New York City Vowed Reform After Harlem’s Legionnaires’ Deaths. A New Outbreak Is Exposing the Gaps
• What we know so far about the Legionnaires’ outbreak ahead of Bronx town hall
5 Bronx buildings had no recent record of monthly testing before Legionnaires’ outbreak
NYC councilmembers plot next steps on Legionnaires', hear from a widow

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WNYC and Gothamist culture reporter Sonia Rao joins Matthew Schnipper to discuss the Harry Styles pop up that drew huge crowds to the East Village and a confrontation that ended with cookbook store owner Bonnie Slotnick being arrested. They also look at a new film about location scouting in New York, the growing number of creative workers going freelance and the return of Saint Vitus in Bushwick. Plus, they preview an interview with saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins ahead of his return to the Village Vanguard.

Photo: Sonia Rao / WNYC & Gothamist

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• Judge orders NYC officials to turn over phone messages, keeps rent freeze in place - Gothamist
• NYC councilmember wants to ban tickets for spitting after arrest video circulates - Gothamist
• How a Harry Styles pop-up in the East Village led to a nearby bookstore owner's arrest - Gothamist
• NYC’s creative workers are increasingly self-employed, report says - Gothamist

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As the New York Liberty head into the WNBA playoffs for a sixth straight year, the franchise is also marking its 30th season. WNYC's Morning Edition producer Amanda Rozon takes us to Liberty Legends Weekend in Brooklyn, where original team members like Teresa Weatherspoon and Crystal Robinson reflect on the franchise's early years, as rising ticket prices are reshaping who gets to be in the stands. Then, sports reporter Priya Desai breaks down the Liberty's up and down season under a new coaching staff and what it'll take for the team to make another title run.

Photo: Peter Fisher for The Washington Post via Getty Images

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• DoorDash to pay $131.5 million to delivery workers, admitting it ‘screwed up’
• NYC Marathon changes route for first time in 15 years
• NY, NJ sue Trump admin over deals to scrap offshore wind projects

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Upstate New York is home to the country's last two foie gras (fatty duck liver) farms, even though New York City banned the sale of foie gras back in 2019. The ban's never actually been enforced, and now it's headed to the state's highest court. WNYC's Walter Wuthmann drove up to the Hudson Valley to see the force feeding process for himself, and talked us through the perspective of the farmers who say they've been unfairly targeted, as well as the animal rights advocates who've spent decades trying to shut them down.

Photo: Walter Wuthmann

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• New York bodegas join grocery giants' push to sell wine, liquor
• Mamdani says NYC will investigate every tenant heat complaint starting this October

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New York City's parks have long doubled as free, open air gyms, and the tradition stretches back to groups like The Bartendaz, who started training on playground bars in the Bronx and Brooklyn in the early 2000s. WNYC producer James Ramsey headed to Chelsea Park to get a lesson in that scene from Brooklyn-born trainer Danny Kavadlo, and shared what he learned with us.

Photo: Walter Wuthmann

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• South Bronx Legionnaires’ outbreak death toll rises to 2
• NYPD expects daily UN General Assembly protests as NYC street closures begin
• NYC deploys robotoilets. The public bathrooms have a strict 10-minute time limit.

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