2 of the last Bed-Stuy brownstone blocks get landmarked

Plus: Dangerous erosion at Riis Beach [View this email in a browser.]( Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( [NYC landmarks 2 of the last fully intact blocks of Bed-Stuy brownstones]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ⛅ Sun coming out later, with highs in the upper 80s. It's Thursday in New York City, where the brownstones on a two-block stretch of Willoughby Avenue will not be covered up with stucco or razed to make way for high-rises. That's thanks to the Landmarks Preservation Commission's vote yesterday to establish the Willoughby-Hart Historic District. Here's how the designation will preserve the work of Black homeowners, who [toiled to maintain the properties in the face of redlining and disinvestment](. And here's what else is happening: - Let's try this again: 8,000 free tickets for the July 4 fireworks show are [going up for grabs at 10 a.m. today]( after high demand caused the website to crash during the city's attempted giveaway on Wednesday. - More than [$16 billion worth of work to upgrade and maintain New York City’s transit system]( will be halted due to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pause of congestion pricing, MTA officials said yesterday. - The NYPD and the Queens district attorney’s office said they're investigating claims that some migrants are using food delivery bags to [sneak guns into city shelters](. - A deepening housing shortage is costing New York City nearly $2 billion in annual tax revenue while [driving residents out of the five boroughs]( according to the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission. - Police said the driver of a Ford truck yesterday [fatally hit a 16-year-old girl and hospitalized an 8-year-old girl]( in a hit-and-run in Woodside, Queens. - Five current and former employees of a city-run juvenile detention center in Brooklyn are facing federal charges for allegedly [smuggling contraband into the facility]( in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in bribes. - Mayor Eric Adams' administration said it‘s still compiling a report — [which was legally due last month]( — detailing how often they conduct homeless encampment sweeps. - Starting in 2029, the federal Environmental Protection Agency will require water utilities to provide drinking water that contains no more than 4 parts per trillion of so-called forever chemicals — [a threshold that's currently exceeded]( for more than 4 million New York and New Jersey residents. - New York City has [186,000 fewer]( residents under the age of 20 than it did three years ago. - Most big cities actually saw their [youth populations drop]( during the pandemic — except in Florida. - Since taking office a year ago, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban has used an arcane power called "retention" to prevent [misconduct cases against 54 police officers]( from going to trial. (For context, his predecessor Keechant Sewell did this eight times in her first year.) - The Civilian Complaint Review Board, the NYPD's watchdog group, has exonerated Chief of Patrol John Chell for [telling officers to "lock up" an award-winning photojournalist]( while she was covering a 2023 protest. - Doulas working through a city-funded initiative to serve moms in "marginalized neighborhoods" said they're frustrated with delays in payment — and the fact that they're [paid the same rate no matter how long a delivery lasts](. - The Upper West Side is inching closer to [getting its Wegmans](. - A new viral video appears to show a woman on a Brooklyn subway platform screaming at — and slapping — an NYPD officer who [told her to stop vaping](. - [Martin Scorsese and the mother of Giants quarterback Tommy Devito]( were among the attendees at Justin Timberlake's world tour stop at Madison Square Garden this week. [“The [commission's] report may reflect more the architectural details and the architects or the developers. But they wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for the Black community.”]( - architectural historian Suzanne Spellen on the [NEWLY-LANDMARKED STRETCH OF BROWNSTONES IN BED-STUY]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [Erosion is causing ‘extremely hazardous’ conditions on Riis Beach, where 2 teens were swept to sea]( The Army Corps of Engineers spent $12 million last summer to dump 360,000 cubic yards of sand in an effort to replenish the area. But much of it washed away in the winter and spring, exposing unsafe “deteriorating wooden groins, rockwork, and other structures,” according to the National Park Service. [Can you take a day trip to the Hamptons? And should you? I tried it.]( Yes, you can. No, you maybe shouldn't. [We Rely On Your Support]( [With Bowman’s loss to Latimer, the NY Democratic establishment strikes back]( Westchester County Executive George Latimer's win over sitting Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a Democratic primary represents a return to the center for the 16th Congressional District. [NYC’s graduating ‘COVID babies’ reflect as high school ends]( "We have been through a global pandemic, survived virtual classes and even learned to appreciate the little things, like mute buttons on Zoom," said Queens senior Marlon Rodriguez. [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 [TERMS OF USE]( You can update your [PREFERENCES]( or [UNSUBSCRIBE]( from this list.