NYC NOW

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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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

Got any questions, comments or story ideas? Send us a message at NYCNow@WNYC.org.

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

Got any questions, comments or story ideas? Send us a message at NYCNow@WNYC.org
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

Got any questions, comments or story ideas? Send us a message at NYCNow@WNYC.org.
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

Got any questions, comments or story ideas? Send us a message at NYCNow@WNYC.org.

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
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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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