WNYC News

Mayor Eric Adams’ re-election campaign submitted faked and fraudulently obtained petition signatures in his effort to secure a spot on the November ballot as an independent candidate, a Gothamist investigation has found.

Gothamist reviewed signatures submitted from across New York City and found people who said their names were forged, as well as people who said they were deceived into signing the petitions. In at least three instances, the campaign turned in signatures from dead people.

Navigating New York City is hard. It is loud —sometimes smelly — and always super busy. And for people who are neurodivergent it can sometimes be overwhelming. 

An organization called Kulture City is putting together a map of safe zones people can go to get away from the chaos.

Kulture City Executive Director Uma Srivastava joined WNYC's Sean Carlson to talk about the new map. 

With summer comes a seasonal variety of fruits and vegetables that are relatively cheap and at peak freshness. Right now, fresh corn in a handful of varieties is piled up high at local farm stands. Amelia Tarpey, a Program Manager at GrowNYC's Union Square Greenmarket, says the price for corn is at around $0.75 to $2.00 per ear. She shares recipes and tips on how to keep your abundance of corn fresh for longer.  

Repeated signal problems at the West Fourth Street subway station make for a dreadful week on the rails. That and more in this week's On The Way roundup of New York City transit news. 

The parks department relies on volunteers to document the size, health and species of trees in greenspaces. 

Democratic nominee for mayor Zohran Mamdani returns from Uganda to a city reeling from a shooting in a Midtown office that left four people dead, including an NYPD officer. 

Scott Riccardi likes to compare himself to a Nintendo “Mii” avatar before a player sets its features, because he sees himself as a pretty generic guy. But his run on the latest season of Jeopardy was anything but average. 

Since his first episode, which aired on July 3, Riccardi has been featured in local newspapers, celebrated by his alma mater and been the focus of a trending “Today” show article. He said he didn’t know he would generate so much attention for being on the show.

“When I was up there I had to just really focus on winning the game,” Riccardi said. “I wasn't really sure how people would feel about me as a champion.”

Raised in South Plainfield, Riccardi moved to Somerville, New Jersey two years ago after receiving an engineering degree from Rutgers University.

Riccardi made his "Jeopardy" debut at the start of this month (but began taping in spring) and quickly established himself as a competitor willing to take risks.

He joined WNYC's Michael Hill to talk about quiz show fame. 

New York’s City Council is including $3 million dollars in this year’s budget to fund organizations that provide services for immigrant survivors of domestic violence.

Jeehae Fischer is the executive director of Korean American Family Service Center, which started as an anti-domestic violence organization serving the Korean American community and now has grown to provide a range of youth and adult services. 

Amy Szuchi Tai is the co deputy director of Garden of Hope, which helps survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking in the New York City Chinese community.

They both talked with WNYC's Sean Carlson more about the specific needs that immigrant survivors of domestic violence need and what this new funding means for their organizations. 

Ads will now be allowed in a variety of formats across the system, including on billboards, digital displays and wrapped around the shuttle train between Times Square and Grand Central Terminal, according to an MTA document outlining changes to the policy. Read the full story here.

First, it was the bacon, egg, and cheese. Now, the price of New York City’s beloved chopped cheese could be next to rise.

Average per pound ground beef prices across the United States rose to a record high of $6.12 as of June 2025, and steaks now cost $11.49 a pound, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both are nearly a dollar more expensive than they were last June. Beef and veal prices jumped 10% year over year as of the same month.

Places like East Harlem’s Blue Sky Deli, better known to locals as Hajji’s, could feel the price pain especially hard. The corner store claims to have invented the chopped cheese, and workers behind the grill cook hundreds of the sandwiches daily.

“We’re making chopped cheese every day. We order 400 heroes a day,” said Frankie Frank Ramirez, who’s been working the bodega’s grill for 28 years.

Ramirez estimated employees use about 360 pounds of hamburger meat daily for the uptown staple. If the owners at Blue Sky Deli paid the average price of ground beef for their products, keeping chopped cheeses on the grill would cost $2,203.20 a day.