WNYC News

Al Christian says he doesn’t have internet at his Bronx home because he can’t afford the utility bill. That makes it hard to look for work since most applications and job listings are now online. It also means he can’t watch YouTube, listen to music or FaceTime his adult daughter.

“There's a lot of things you would like to find out on the internet and without that, you ain't really got nothing,” said Christian, 59. “ You can't do a lot.”

April Zarks has Wi-Fi, but doesn’t own a computer in her East Tremont home so she has to read the news on her phone and can’t apply for remote jobs without a device.

“Sometimes it would be better to work with a bigger screen being I have poor vision,” said Zarks, 58.

Internet bills in New York City can range from $30 to $100, and laptops can tack on another $300-$500 or more — expenses that can be out of reach for New Yorkers struggling to pay rising rent, food and child care costs. The affordability crisis is fueling the digital divide in New York City’s poorest borough, where 1 in nearly 4 homes lack broadband internet and 1 in 3 don’t have computers, according to a recent report by the Center for an Urban Future.

New Jersey state Sen. Owen Henry is angry.

Before he was elected to the Legislature last year, he’d negotiated as the mayor of Old Bridge to build 12 new affordably priced homes — many of them for veterans — on an empty lot not far from the beach, in the Laurence Harbor neighborhood on the town's east end.

Builders said they should have already broken ground. But the project is on an indefinite hold because Owen’s legislative colleagues decided in June to divert $125 million from a long-standing state trust fund for constructing affordable housing across the Garden State and spend it instead on other initiatives, including down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Gov. Phil Murphy supported shifting the funds, touting them as a way to provide New Jerseyans with immediate housing assistance.

“ I’m very upset. In my opinion, the diversion of those funds is totally asinine,” Henry, a Republican, told Gothamist.

The housing project in Old Bridge is part of a wider effort to build tens of thousands of affordable homes across the state. Analysis from housing experts shows that New Jersey is short more than 200,000 homes for low-income residents. To combat the problem, each municipality in the state is legally mandated to add its share of affordable housing.

Police continue to investigate the mass shooting at a hookah lounge in Crown Heights over the weekend that killed three men and injured 11 other people.

Camara Jackson, the executive director of Elite Learners, talked with WNYC's Tiffany Hanssen to talk more about what's been happening in the community since the shooting early Sunday morning. Elite Learners is a community based organization provides violence intervention and conflict mediation services to young people in central Brooklyn.  

It's been 10 months since state and local authorities seized and killed Peanut the Squirrel from a home in upstate New York.

The death of the Internet-famous rodent drew national headlines and sparked a culture war. In the final days of the 2024 presidential campaign, JD Vance said Peanut’s death was a prime example of government overreach. But while the viral moment has largely faded, its effect on environmental enforcement in New York state continues. 

Your medium? Sand. The limits? Only your imagination. Well, that and a four hour time window to build the castle of your dreams.

The 33rd annual Coney Island Sandsculpting Competition takes place Saturday, Aug. 16. It runs from noon to 4:00 p.m. and during those hours, contestants will race to convert a mound of wet beach sand into a masterpiece.

Jodi Querbach with Brooklyn Community Services ran the event for years. She joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to explain what makes the event such an essential Coney Island tradition.

PATH problems are so persistent that the mayor of Hoboken is calling on the Port Authority to declare an emergency. That and more on this week's On The Way roundup of New York City transit news. 

With summer comes a seasonal variety of fruits and vegetables that are at peak freshness and priced at a better value than what you can find at your local supermarket. 

Local farmers says this has been a particularly good season for eggplants. Local farmers are reporting a super successful eggplant season this summer. They currently range from $2, to upwards of $6 dollars a pound, depending on the variety and how they were grown.

Amelia Tarpey is a program and publicity manger for GrowNYC Greenmarkets. She shares some tips for what types to try, and what to do with them. 

The composer, bandleader, and Latin jazz hero Eddie Palmieri died on Aug. 6 at the age of 88. Of his generation of musicians, Palmieri was the last one standing. His death represents the true end of an era for the Latin musicians who thrived in New York City in the 1960s and 70s

Artist, activist and music journalist Aurora Flores Hostos knew and worked with Palmieri across decades. She joined WNYC's Michael Hill to help make sense of his legacy and to elaborate on why salsa and Latin music are so important to New Yorkers.  

If you hear a knock on your door this weekend, don’t be surprised if it’s a volunteer for Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign.