NYC NOW

Janae talks with WNYC’s Brian Lehrer about 5 things going on in New York City news.

Arun Vanakopal, a race and justice reporter at WNYC, shares insights on the upcoming changes to the naturalization test, highlighting potential barriers for immigrants, especially those less fluent in English. He dives into his family's experience with the current test format. Meanwhile, James Solomon, the newly elected Mayor of Jersey City, discusses his campaign focused on affordability and tenant protections, detailing the challenges ahead as he seeks to stabilize housing for residents.

An investigation by WNYC and New York Focus found lenders are using a disputed method of calculating debts in thousands of foreclosures and taking money from hundreds of former homeowners.

A New York state government committee recommended Monday that three downstate casino projects — one in the Bronx and two in Queens — be awarded casino gaming licenses. Plus, the future of a historic, crumbling church building on the Upper West Side will be determined next week.

A Staten Island lawmaker wants drivers in his borough exempted from New York City’s right-on-red ban. Meanwhile, New York City Councilmember Julie Menin says she’s secured enough votes to be the Council’s next Speaker.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman says he is installing surveillance along the Long Island and Queens border after Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York City mayor. Meanwhile in New Jersey, two sisters died in a Thanksgiving Day house fire while helping their father escape. Also, New York City is asking volunteers to help review archival records that document the region’s history of slavery from the seventeen hundreds through eighteen thirty eight. Finally, Columbia University historian Kim Phillips Fein explains the long history of socialist ideas in New York City and how that past shapes the debate around Mayor elect Mamdani’s policy proposals.

Time is running out for the city to stay on schedule with its plan to demolish part of a public housing complex in Chelsea. Meanwhile, Downtown Manhattan has gone from “taco wasteland” to ‘taco revolution,” that’s according to food critic Robert Sietsema. He talks with WNYC’s David Furst and makes the argument that great tacos are now very much on the menu in the neighborhood.

New Yorkers across the boroughs are preparing for an expected crackdown by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city. Plus,  the Criterion Channel is streaming a collection of family reunion movies this month including the indie classic “Pieces of April.”

Months into the first school year since New York banned smartphones in school, students are talking to each other more than they used to. Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Murphy wants New Jersey to pass similar legislation to ban cell phones in schools across the Garden State.

A federal judge has agreed to throw out a criminal mortgage fraud case against New York Attorney General Letitia James. Plus, a majority of tenants at a supportive housing unit in Far Rockaway have been sent to eviction court within the past two years.