How a map of NYC park benches could save them; inside the staff smuggling network at juvenile centers; plus more

We are supported by our readers. Consider donating to fund the local reporting you rely on. [View in Browser]( Thursday March 16, 2023 [Donate now]( ADVERTISEMENT [Drugs, cash and razor blades flow into NYC juvenile centers through staff smuggling network]( [The Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx.]( [Former and current employees at the centers described conditions inside the city's two centers that house roughly 200 youth detainees.]( ADVERTISEMENT More Stories From Today [Katie Denny Horowitz, Prachi Purkaystha and Dimitri Mimy catalog playground equipment in Maria Hernandez Park, March 15, 2023.]( [A map of NYC’s park benches could help save them, thanks to these CUNY students]( [The goal is to show which parts of the park are accessible — and keep them that way.]( [A row of multi-colored brick apartment buildings in Brooklyn.]( [NY state left millions of dollars in housing vouchers unspent, audit finds]( [Auditors from the state comptroller’s office found that the state’s housing agency left millions of dollars worth of housing vouchers unspent.]( [Police clashing with protesters in Brooklyn on May 30, 2020]( [City to pay $75K to 2020 protester rammed by NYPD vehicle]( [The settlement marks the latest payout resulting from the 2020 protests against the killing of George Floyd.]( [St. Patrick's Day revelers during the 2022 parade.]( [Get your green on: NYC's St. Patrick’s Day parade kicks off Friday]( [After weeks of smaller events, Friday's parade in Manhattan is the main event.]( [An overhead rendering of the NYC Parks Department's previous plans for Van Cortlandt Park]( [City kills long-planned bridge over Major Deegan in the Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park]( [Parks officials blamed rising costs and budget cuts for nixing the plan, which would reconnect the sprawling park that was split in half by the expressway in the 1950s.]( [Manuel Rene Del Carmen organizes bags of recyclables on a roof at the Sure We Can, a Brooklyn non-profit redemption center.]( [Bigger bottle refunds to garbage boats: NYC Council votes yes on batch of environmental bills]( [The City Council voted yes on environmental bills this week that included marine debris removal, increasing refunds for recycled bottles and green building codes.]( [Bunk beds are lined up next to each other in a sprawling room at the Bowery Mission.]( [As COVID rates dip, NYC looks to move older homeless New Yorkers out of hotels and back to shelters]( [The Department of Social Services is asking homeless people who received accommodations to move out of congregate shelters because of COVID health risks to reapply.]( [A NYC Ferry rides along the Hudson River during it's inaugural St. George ferry route from Staten Island to the West Side of Manhattan. The New York City Council passed a bill providing discounted NYC Ferry prices to high school students.]( [NYC will give high schoolers municipal IDs and discounted ferry rides]( [The $1.35 reduced fare for the ferry is still the pricier option for students who can take the subway or bus for free on weekdays.]( [Police tape at a crime scene]( [Teenage student at Manhattan charter school stabs classmate, police say]( [A 14-year-old boy stabbed an older classmate in the leg at a Manhattan charter school on Wednesday morning, according to police.]( [teens smoking in Times Square]( [Extra Extra: What would you tell a California 5th grader writing a report about 'the great state of New York?']( [Because the Rockaway Wave newspaper got a fun letter, here are your end-of-day links: Aaron Boone's weekly podcast gig, people rewatching Girls, the world's tallest jockey and more.]( ADVERTISEMENT [Support Us]( Follow Gothamist on [Gothamist on Facebook]( [Gothamist on Twitter]( NYPR Network [WNYC]( [Gothamist]( [WNYC Studios]( [NJPR]( [WQXR]( [New Sounds]( Copyright © New York Public Radio, 160 Varick St., New York, NY 10013. All rights reserved. [Terms of Use]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( from this list.