Janae Pierre: The Debate over chopper tours after a deadly crash in the Hudson River. NYPD targets quality-of-life issues. The New York City Council vows to add more public restrooms across the city, and Bodega Comedy. From WNYC, this is NYC NOW. I'm Janae Pierre. The deadly helicopter crash in the Hudson River Thursday is reigniting the debate over chopper tours in New York City's airspace. Some elected officials are now pushing to stop nonessential flights entirely. Here's State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who has led bills like the Stop the Chop Act.

Brad Hoylman-Sigal: When a chopper flies over a densely populated area, you could predict some of the worst results.

Janae Pierre: Mayor Eric Adams says choppers are an essential part of tourism. Authorities said the helicopter was operated by a company called New York Helicopter. Their CEO is declining to comment. The crash, which killed a family of five and the pilot, remains under investigation. A new NYPD unit is targeting quality-of-life issues in the five boroughs. WNYC's Ben Feuerherd has more.

Ben Feuerherd: Officers assigned to the new Quality of Life unit will focus on non-emergency complaints, including illegal parking, outdoor drug use, and aggressive panhandling. Mayor Eric Adams says the unit will address public safety issues that he believes are amongst the most important to New Yorkers.

Eric Adams: I talk to New Yorkers about their perception of safety, their concerns frequently come down to quality of life problems.

Ben Feuerherd: The unit is set to begin work on Monday in five precincts that cover neighborhoods in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan. Officers in the unit will be trained on how to respond to homeless encampments, derelict vehicles, reckless driving, and other issues they are likely to encounter.

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Janae Pierre: Residents of more than 200 public housing apartments in Brooklyn are starting a new chapter in their quest for better living conditions. The tenants of Highland Houses in Bushwick voted to enter their building into a publicly controlled program called the Preservation Trust. The trust keeps the New York City Housing Authority in charge of building operations but changes the source of federal funding. It's supposed to unlock additional money for repairs and upkeep. The tenants favored the trust in a runoff election. The choice was between the trust and a program that turns buildings over to private management. Highland is the fourth development to enter the trust program.

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The New York City Council is vowing to make it easier to find a public restroom while you're out and about in the city. More on that after the break.

Announcer: This is NYC NOW.

Janae Pierre: The New York City Council wants to double the number of public bathrooms across the five boroughs. It passed a bill on the issue this week. Here's WNYC's Karen Yi.

Karen Yi: We've all been there, drank a little too much coffee, got stuck longer than expected on the train, and found ourselves desperately searching for a bathroom.

Isabel Morgan: You just go into a restaurant and hope for the best whenever they haven't locked it with a code.

Kim Lashley: Usually, I can run home and go to the bathroom.

Karen Yi: That's Isabel Morgan and Kim Lashley. They both work by the World Trade Center, an area that a city report says doesn't have any public bathrooms. The city says there's just one public toilet for about every 8,000 New Yorkers. That's a little over 1,000 in the whole city. Councilmember Sandy Nurse says that's why she wants to double the number of public restrooms in the next decade.

Sandy Nurse: This is a basic human need, and we don't have any infrastructure for the 8 million people who live here. It's deeply inequitable.

Karen Yi: Starbucks says it's no longer letting the public use the bathroom without consuming anything. They made that change earlier this year. Now, the company says they have a new code of conduct which prioritizes paying customers. Some New Yorkers say other businesses don't always let you use the facilities, even if you ask.

Sandy Nurse: They may or may not let you use it, depending on what you look like, depending on who you are. We need to eliminate any challenges in the way and just create the infrastructure that we need to go pee when we gotta pee.

Karen Yi: A traditional bathroom can cost anywhere from $3 million to $5 million to build, but Nurse says the plan would get creative, working across city agencies to open the bathrooms in public buildings, buying cheaper ready-made toilet stalls that have baby-changing stations and are ADA-accessible, or partnering with private businesses to lease their toilets. It would be up to the city to make sure the restrooms stay clean and safe. Lifelong New Yorker Lashley says she's seen too many dirty bathrooms to sign on to the new plan yet.

Kim Lashley: I think they're most of the time disgusting, so I just prefer not to use any.

Karen Yi: For other residents, especially those who are homeless, it's a necessity. Nathalyn Flowers used to live in a shelter. She couldn't always access a bathroom and sometimes had to relieve herself in public.

Nathalyn Flowers: Horrible because any minute someone could discover you, or the police could drive by and give you a ticket.

Karen Yi: She says it's about giving people the dignity to wash up and relieve themselves.

Nathalyn Flowers: When you gotta go, you gotta let go, you gotta go.

Karen Yi: The council bill would also create a map so people could find the nearest bathroom and see which are gender-neutral, have a changing station, or if it's even open.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Karen Yi. A new trend is taking root across Brooklyn and Manhattan. It's called Bodega Comedy. Clips from the shows go viral, and tickets for certain nights routinely sell out. WNYC's Giulia Heyward checked out one of the city's hottest underground comedy shows, and she has this story.

Giulia Heyward: On a recent Friday night near Union Square, a line wraps around the corner of 14th Street and 7th Avenue. Guitarist Floyd Ding is gearing up to play as the comedy show begins. He says performing at a bodega is the most interesting gig he's done.

Floyd Ding: Say less, I'm down. I mean, I go to bodega every day to get whatever I need. I damn near go to bodega for seven meals a week.

Giulia Heyward: The relationship between New Yorkers and their bodega clerks is sacred, and very few people take it a step further and become business partners, but that's exactly what comedian Christopher Isaacson did. When he and his pal Vikrant Sunderlal needed a venue, Isaacson turned to his bodega guy, Sam Boston, for help.

Christopher Isaacson: He always would invite me to hang out behind the counter with him, which always makes you feel so powerful. We were just talking about, "Oh, you do the shows here." "Yes, well, what if we did one at the bodega?"

Giulia Heyward: Sunderlal says the partnership has really worked.

Vikrant Sunderlal: I'm a little wary of Sam. Sam's a little wary, but almost instantly, we click, and we're like, "Aight, this is a good guy."

Giulia Heyward: For Boston, who has no comedy experience, jumping into hosting shows at a bodega has been surprisingly fun.

Sam Boston: I think I made the right choice, and I'm learning. I love everything about it. I love the environment of comedy.

Giulia Heyward: Twice a month, a bodega in the city is taken over by a chorus of jokes and laughter. A back door behind the counter is the secret hideout for the comedians waiting to take the so-called stage. Neil Ghosh is part of the lineup for the night.

Neil Ghosh: I'm excited to perform here because I really like things that have New York as a character.

Giulia Heyward: For comedian Ethan Mead, it's his first time performing at Bodega Comedy.

Ethan Mead: I'm definitely tweaking a little bit. No, I'm excited. I want to put on a good show for them.

Giulia Heyward: It's a big night. The hosts walk to the counter to instant applause from the audience.

Ethan Mead: Yo, Bodega Comedy.

Giulia Heyward: Bodega Comedy isn't the first place to pick unusual locales for their events. There's Don't Tell Comedy, which hosted shows at secret locations that aren't revealed until day of, or Next Up Comedy, which takes over breweries for its shows. Bodega Comedy is just like these events. Comedians take turns riffing with the crowd, responding to hecklers, and performing quick sets. Between acts, Sundarlal and Isaacson jump in with their own jokes and banter.

Vikrant Sunderlal: We're all here to have a good time, relax, have a fun time.

Giulia Heyward: Midway through, everyone, band included, gets chopped cheese and pita sandwiches. Afterwards, fans hang out to chat with the comics and hosts.

Christopher Isaacson: I think philosophically, comedy is about bringing the mundane onto a much grander stage, and that's why it's been a good fit with the concept of bodegas. What's more mundane to a New Yorker than just your local deli store?

Giulia Heyward: It's clear, Bodega Comedy is here to stay.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Giulia Heyward. Before we go, a reminder to keep an eye out for part four in our series on Mayor Eric Adams and the chaos consuming his administration. This Saturday, we're following the money trail. In his 2021 bid for mayor, Adams raised big money. He was later accused of taking travel perks and illegal campaign contributions in exchange for official acts, but those charges have since been dismissed, leaving the city's Campaign Finance Board on its own to hold the mayor accountable.

We explore it all this Saturday as NYC NOW explains how Mayor Adams is testing the Campaign Finance Board. Check it out. Episodes drop Saturday morning, and if you missed the last three, scroll through our feed and give them a listen while you're stuck inside during the rainy weekend. Thanks for listening to NYC NOW from WNYC. I'm Janae Pierre. Have a lovely weekend.

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