Boroughs in Brief

Plus, City EMTs, paramedics meet people they saved at annual ‘Second Chance’ celebration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus: NYPD seizes hundreds of vehicles in ‘ghost car’ crackdown and city councilmembers urge Eric Adams to rescind Diddy’s key to the city Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're bringing you a special story today from our sports desk. Here's what you need to know as the Jets start their OTAs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump won’t testify at hush money trial as defense rests its case; Rana Abbasova, Adams aide whose home was raided, is cooperating with feds’ campaign finance probe; New York State Senate to pass e-bike fire safety bill package Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sen. Menendez bribery trial reveals N.J. businessman’s sweetheart halal meat deal with Egypt; Adams plans review of NYPD response to Brooklyn pro-Palestinian rally after cops punched protesters; Rudy Giuliani served Arizona indictment papers for election fraud scheme at 80th birthday party Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No City Council members affixed signs to their desks during the chamber’s full meeting Thursday, complying with a directive from Speaker Adrienne Adams aimed at curtailing use of the historic pieces of furniture for messaging about the Israel-Hamas war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New York City Council is doubling down on a push to better fund affordable housing in the city budget, a position fueled by the release of a report that found construction of new affordable housing units could plummet without more investment from the Adams administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seventy-five illegal weed shops were shuttered in the first week of the Adams administration’s “Operation Padlock” crackdown on illicit marijuana sales in the city, officials announced Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mayor Adams’ office recently started setting up one-on-one meetings between City Council members and Randy Mastro, an ex-federal prosecutor whose expected nomination as the city government’s next top lawyer has drawn intense pushback, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York State’s much-maligned Office of Cannabis Management will get new leadership and streamline its torpid permitting process for retailers, Gov. Hochul said Friday, moving to address failures that have allowed a sprawling illegal marijuana market to emerge in the city. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York City rolled out shelter-stay limits for migrant families in a “haphazard” way — without adequate policies or effective case management — Comptroller Brad Lander said Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The city’s Department of Investigation has launched a probe into accusations that top NYPD officials flouted local laws by thumbing out what have been criticized as politically charged social media posts, a spokeswoman for the watchdog agency told the Daily News on Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An upstate New York judge Tuesday knocked an abortion rights measure off the fall ballot on procedural grounds, dealing a blow to Democrats who hoped it would energize supporters and boost voter turnout in the state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mayor Adams is heading to Rome this week to meet with Pope Francis and participate in a conference hosted by the Vatican, City Hall announced Monday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More than three dozen local elected officials are calling on Mayor Adams to discipline NYPD Chief John Chell over “illegal” and “dangerous” social media attacks that the police honcho has leveled against lawmakers, journalists and others in recent months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More than 45% of the pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Columbia University and City Collegethis week were “unaffiliated” with the schools, NYPD sources told the Daily News on Thursday, though it’s unclear how many of the demonstrators were so-called “outside agitators” involved in driving the recent tumult on the campuses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Around 2 million New Yorkers living in stabilized apartments will likely see their rents climb for the third year in a row, after the board tasked with setting rates okayed a range of possible hikes at a raucous preliminary vote on Tuesday — as tenants and their board representatives walked out in protest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The City Council’s top tech official alerted Mayor Adams this week that his administration must by law publicly release all information gathered as part of his controversial new “engagement form” system, which requires local elected officials to ask for permission before speaking with senior city officials about various issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Adams administration’s signature housing plan — which involves building “a little more housing” in every neighborhood — kicked off with a formal approval process Monday after months of hype. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amid ongoing fear of crime, more than 13,300 New Yorkers applied for licenses to carry guns in the city last year, a near-double increase compared to 2022 — and the NYPD’s financial bottom line has been boosted by the permit surge, according to a Daily News analysis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Students at the City University of New York on Thursday launched a pro-Palestinian encampment at City College, part of a wave of tent demonstrations sweeping the nation calling on universities to divest from Israel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mayor Adams’ latest budget proposal includes restored funding for the NYPD, but doesn’t reverse a multi-million dollar cut to the city’s public library systems, sources familiar with the matter told the Daily News on Wednesday, raising the specter of additional service reductions at library branches across the five boroughs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Black, Asian and Hispanic NYC government workers continue to be paid less than their white colleagues, a disparity driven by a persistent pattern of low wages for women of color in the municipal ranks, according to a new study release by the City Council on Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the first three months of this year, Mayor Adams’ legal defense trust received $22,462 in prohibited donations from a corporate entity and 10 individuals with city government business interests, according to a Daily News review of finance disclosures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York State lawmakers on Saturday approved a $237 billion state budget, unlocking $2.4 billion for the city’s migrant crisis and providing a program to address the city’s dire housing shortage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A legislative package boosting New York City in its battle against the estimated 2,500 unlicensed cannabis shops operating citywide has been secured in state budget negotiations, lawmakers said Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

City Council Democrats from the party’s progressive wing say they’ll work to block Mayor Adams’ expected plan to tap conservative legal heavy-hitter Randy Mastro as his administration’s next top attorney, setting the stage for a potentially contentious battle over his nomination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York City could save up to $3.5 billion in migrant housing costs if it and the state government expand access to housing vouchers, a new report from the homeless services provider Win revealed Monday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A range of critics have begun to pounce as Governor Kathy Hochul and New York state lawmakers draw closer to a housing deal that would revive a tax break for developers and provide new good cause eviction protections to tenants. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Mayor Adams’ authority over the city’s public schools on the line, a new study of mayoral control that painted an unfavorable picture of how parents and teachers feel about the status quo has added a new wrinkle to the debate in Albany. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The feds will be footing more of the bill for a new bridge over Newtown Creek, putting $15 million towards the replacement of the 119-year-old Grand St. Bridge on the Brooklyn-Queens border. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mayor Adams defended himself Tuesday when questioned about a report that the federal probe into ties between Turkey and his 2021 mayoral campaign has honed in on upgrades he allegedly received on Turkish Airlines flights, but declined to offer more specific details on issues raised by the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York City parents and teachers feel shut out of key decisions about children’s education under the current system of mayoral control, according to a pivotal state Education Department report released Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Celebrity attorney Alex Spiro, whose clients include Elon Musk and Jay-Z, has been retained to represent Mayor Adams against a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a police colleague over three decades ago, according to court filings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Madonna files to dismiss fans’ lawsuit over late start of Barclays Center concert; Upstate NY braces for massive influx of eclipse tourists; Off-duty NYPD cop charged with assault in Brooklyn incident Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mayor Adams offered a sarcastic helping hand to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during his New York City stay, saying Thursday that the Republican could sleep in a migrant shelter “so he can see what he has created." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Critics of President Biden’s support for the war in Gaza Wednesday claimed that an impressive 12% of New York Democratic voters heeded their call to protest by casting blank ballots in the state’s presidential primary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A former NYPD deputy inspector who was friendly with Mayor Adams was sentenced to community service Tuesday for his ringleader role in a straw donor scheme that gamed the system to boost the mayor’s 2021 City Hall run and curry political favors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Critics of President Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza are pushing for Democratic voters to cast blank ballots in Tuesday’s otherwise snoozy primary as some Republicans plan to vote for Nikki Haley to express oppostion to former President Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An NYPD year-end report detailing how it works with at-risk officers is missing a key detail: How many of those struggling cops had to repeat the program? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The rollout of driverless cars in American cities has so far been pockmarked by speed bumps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Weeks of cautious optimism that New York lawmakers might approve the state budget on time have faded to the reality that talks will drag past the April 1st deadline Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The MTA is expected to approve a congestion pricing tolling plan Wednesday, ahead of a June launch for the program — barring a judicial ruling favoring New Jerseyans or others who oppose the plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The City Council asked the state’s highest court Monday to reverse a ruling that struck down a law giving hundreds of thousands of noncitizen New Yorkers the right to vote in local elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One week out from the nominal deadline to approve the next state budget, Gov. Hochul and the Legislature are heading into a few days of furious negotiations, with school funding and tenant protections seen as likely sticking points. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mets owners’ Steve and Alex Cohen’s foundation is making the largest donation in the City University of New York’s history to a new workforce development center at a Queens community college. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The NYPD pushed back Wednesday against criticism of how it uses social media — calling it critical to giving information to the public — even as a chief testified that the department will soon encrypt all its radio transmissions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mayor Adams vehemently denied accusations Tuesday that he sexually assaulted a coworker in his car decades ago and vowed to not be distracted by the shocking claim — as his administration’s top attorney defended using city government attorneys to represent the mayor in the matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York State has launched a comprehensive review of its sluggish process for licensing cannabis shops, Governor Hochul’s office said Monday, targeting a tortured legalization rollout that has allowed a sprawling market of unlicensed retailers to emerge across the city. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The number of yellow taxis on New York City streets is growing post-pandemic — but passenger demand has not kept pace, and a third of taxi medallions remain dormant, the Taxi and Limousine Commission says. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices