Wednesday, December 24, 2025

As NYCHA Cameras Go Live for NYPD, Harlem Bets on Mentors Over Monitors

New York’s Big Apple Connect now brings free Wi-Fi—and, less advertised, direct NYPD access to public housing cameras—to over 200 NYCHA complexes, drawing raised eyebrows in Harlem. While City Hall bets on surveillance and Microsoft-fortified databases for safety, local groups like Street Corner Resources still wager on boxing gloves, trust, and emotional skills. We suspect the cameras might catch a lot, but not a sense of community.

As NYCHA Cameras Go Live for NYPD, Harlem Bets on Mentors Over Monitors
City Limits

Flatiron’s Ride Health Nets $15 Million to Streamline Medical Transit for New Yorkers

Ride Health, based in New York’s Flatiron District, raised $15m from 21 investors to grow its medical ride-sharing platform, which links patients with rides to appointments via providers and partners like Uber and Lyft—sometimes footed by Medicaid or health systems such as Memorial Sloan Kettering. With billions in public pilot funding at stake, this business hopes that smoother trips might, in turn, smooth hospital discharge headaches.

Flatiron’s Ride Health Nets $15 Million to Streamline Medical Transit for New Yorkers
Section Page News - Crain's New York Business

Feds Triple Autodeportation Payout to $3,000 if Migrants Leave by End of 2025

Washington has tripled its “exit bonus” for undocumented migrants to $3,000, dangling cash and a free flight home for those who self-deport by December 2025 via an upgraded CBP app. The Department of Homeland Security claims this is cheaper than standard removals, with Secretary Kristi Noem warning laggards they will be “found” and barred for good—not exactly the gold-star loyalty program most travelers dream of.

Feds Triple Autodeportation Payout to $3,000 if Migrants Leave by End of 2025
El Diario NY

West Village Gains Public Pool, Loses Tony Dapolito Center, Neighbors Split on the Swap

New York’s Mayor Eric Adams unveiled plans for a 280-unit affordable apartment block with a public pool, fitness center, and basketball court on a vacant West Village site, managed by Camber Property Group and the city’s parks department. Preservationists lament the demolition of the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center, but officials say repairs are futile—leaving history at the deep end while locals brace for the splash of the new ‘Hudson Mosaic.’

West Village Gains Public Pool, Loses Tony Dapolito Center, Neighbors Split on the Swap
Gothamist

MTA Rolls Out $1.1 Billion Glass Fare Gates, New Yorkers Already Plotting Workarounds

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has unveiled new glass subway fare gates—designed by Conduent and Cubic—at Broadway-Lafayette and, supposedly, 42nd St.-Port Authority as part of a $1.1 billion upgrade to curb the $400 million annual loss to fare evasion. New Yorkers, undeterred, are already plotting acrobatic workarounds; innovation, it seems, remains a two-way turnstile in the city that never pays.

MTA Rolls Out $1.1 Billion Glass Fare Gates, New Yorkers Already Plotting Workarounds
Gothamist

Hochul OKs Prison Cameras and AI Rules as Albany Clears Bill Backlog Before New Year

Clearing a legislative logjam, Governor Kathy Hochul signed 73 bills, including rules for more prison cameras after violent deaths and fresh AI safety mandates for developers, while wielding her veto pen on another 49—mostly citing state budget worries. Lawmakers sought bolder prison oversight, but settlement yielded more cameras and a token ex-inmate on the board—Albany’s idea of turning the page is apparently just adding a footnote.

Hochul OKs Prison Cameras and AI Rules as Albany Clears Bill Backlog Before New Year
Gothamist

Half of Americans Blame Trump Policies for Finances, Fewer Expect Relief by 2026

A CBS News poll conducted with YouGov finds 50% of Americans say they are financially worse off due to Donald Trump’s policies, with 45% fearing their fortunes will fall further by 2026; only 27% expect improvement. Trump’s economic approval rating has dropped to 37%, while 65% think he favours the wealthy—a number rising faster than inflation, though perhaps not the president’s self-confidence.

Half of Americans Blame Trump Policies for Finances, Fewer Expect Relief by 2026
El Diario NY

Judge Grants Congress Access to 26 Federal Plaza Migrant Cells After Lawsuit

After a federal judge sided with plaintiffs, Representatives Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat finally examined the much-discussed migrant holding cells on the tenth floor of 26 Federal Plaza—a Lower Manhattan courthouse better known for its immigration hearings than for its impromptu accommodations. Video had earlier revealed grim, unsanitary conditions for detainees, but officials’ delayed access left us wondering which came first: the scrutiny or the clean-up.

Judge Grants Congress Access to 26 Federal Plaza Migrant Cells After Lawsuit
NYC Headlines | Spectrum News NY1

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