Janae Pierre: The mystery of New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program, ATM scam, outrage over pedestrian safety along 3rd Avenue in Sunset Park, and Broadway's iconic musical A Chorus Line turns 50. From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Janae Pierre.

New York City officials say they're investigating a reported ATM scam involving payment cards issued through the city's Summer Youth Employment Program. The scam went viral on social media earlier this month. The Department of Youth and Community Development says scammers have targeted participants who are paid through cards rather than direct deposit. The New York Times reports card users withdrew $17 million from ATMs across the city over three days. It says tens of thousands of dollars were withdrawn from some machines. Officials say no taxpayer money was lost. They're still looking into who's responsible and the total number of cards affected.

Sunset Park residents and elected officials are once again calling for the city to improve pedestrian safety along 3rd Avenue in the neighborhood. This comes after two men were struck and killed on the road earlier this month. WNYC's Ben Feuerherd reported the story. Ben, this has been a persistent problem on 3rd Avenue in Sunset Park, right?

Ben Feuerherd: Yes. According to local officials like the state senator and city council member there, there have been 80 people killed or seriously injured along a two-mile stretch of 3rd Avenue since 2018. It's actually something that we've covered here before. Our colleague Brigid Bergin covered how dangerous the road is and the community's push for a redesign that could improve safety back in May, months before these two people were killed a few weeks ago. The issue is really back at the forefront in the neighborhood since the two men were killed by a hit-and-run driver on July 11th.

Janae Pierre: Wow. Tell me more about that accident on July 11th.

Ben Feuerherd: Police say a 23-year-old was speeding down 3rd Avenue, which runs under the Gowanus Expressway, and ran a red light. He crashed into these two men, one of whom was 80 years old, on 3rd Avenue near 52nd Street and killed them both. It happened pretty early in the morning, around 4:00 AM. The driver drove off, but he was later arrested and charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

Janae Pierre: Ben, what are community members and elected officials saying now that this has happened?

Ben Feuerherd: On Wednesday, there was a rally at 60th Street and 3rd Avenue. The local city council member and state senator were really urging the city to take action to implement a real overhaul of the road to improve safety. The state senator, Andrew Gounardes, at one point pointed to a portable traffic sign that warned drivers to watch out for pedestrians. He said the city put the sign up a week ago and was pretty angry at that response.

Andrew Gounardes: We should all be offended, offended, angry, insulted that the response from our city to two deaths blocks away from here is a sign that says be careful.

Ben Feuerherd: The backstory here is that local community board approved a street redesign that would reduce traffic on 3rd Avenue and add protected bike lanes. They approved the plan last year, but the redesign has completely stalled under the Adams administration.

Janae Pierre: Okay. Certainly, the Adams administration does know about this issue in Sunset Park. What is City Council saying about where that redesign stands now?

Ben Feuerherd: We asked them and they responded with a pretty boilerplate language about how they're committed to the safety of New Yorkers, whether they're walking, biking, et cetera. They said they're awaiting more community feedback until they make a decision on whether or not to overhaul the roadway and add these safety protections.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Ben Feuerherd.

[music]

Janae Pierre: The iconic musical A Chorus Line is turning 50. After the break, we look at its impact on New York's theater district over the years. Stay close.

[music]

Janae Pierre: 50 years ago today, on July 25th, A Chorus Line opened on Broadway. It's the story of dancers auditioning for the chorus of a new musical. A Chorus Line became a singular sensation. Not only did it run for 15 years, it had the most performances of any Broadway show up to that time. Plus, it had an enormous influence on how musicals were created and helped change the fortunes of New York's theater district. Reporter Jeff Lunden has more.

Jeff Lunden: When audiences entered the Shubert Theater in 1975, they didn't see an elaborate set or a velvet curtain. They saw a black box with a white line in the front and a bunch of performers in rehearsal clothes doing a dance routine.

Michael Bennett: Again. Step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch. Again. Step.

Jeff Lunden: Theater historian Laurence Maslon says Broadway really hadn't seen anything like it.

Laurence Maslon: It really shouldn't have worked on any level because it took every convention of the American musical and turned it inside out.

Michael Bennett: From the top. A five, six, seven, eight.

Jeff Lunden: A Chorus Line was the brainchild of director-choreographer Michael Bennett, who gathered some of his favorite dancers in a loft for an all-night rap session. After a dance class, they sat in a circle on a rug with a jug of bad red wine and told their stories. Bennett recorded the conversation and used it as the basis of the show. Donna McKechnie originated the role of Cassie. She well remembers that night.

Donna McKechnie: He started with essentially the three questions that the director Zach asked the auditioners, the dancers, when they first stand on the line, say your name, where you're from, and why did you become a dancer?

[MUSIC - Wayne Cilento: I Can Do That]

Jeff Lunden: Armed with hours of reel-to-reel tape, Michael Bennett told WHYY's Fresh Air in 1986.

Michael Bennett: I went to Joe Papp. It was the New York Shakespeare Festival. I said, "I have an idea. Would you let me work on it for a while in a workshop thing and see if I can make a play?" Then, of course, it became a musical.

Jeff Lunden: Papp, who wasn't a fan of commercial theater, was intrigued and said yes. A Chorus Line was developed over a couple of workshops at Papp's Public Theater. Bennett brought in composer Marvin Hamlisch and lyricist Edward Kleban to write the songs. Donna McKechnie says when they sang at the ballet, she got chills.

[MUSIC - Marvin Hamlisch: At the Ballet]

Donna McKechnie: The song is so accurate, so perfect and so beautiful, so touching. I thought, "This is going to be a work of art."

[MUSIC - Carole Bishop, Nancy Lane & Kay Cole: At the Ballet]

Jeff Lunden: The run at the Public Theater sold out, and the show quickly transferred to Broadway. Baayork Lee played Connie in the original cast. She says the verisimilitude couldn't be faked.

Baayork Lee: We were the first reality show because we played ourselves, and those are our words that were on the tapes. We are authors of the show.

[MUSIC - Montage: Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love]

Jeff Lunden: Lee has restaged and rechoreographed the show many times over the past 50 years, not just in the United States, but abroad. Back in 1975, the Theater District was run down and dangerous, but "A Chorus Line's enormous popularity helped change things," says Oskar Eustis, the current artistic director of the Public Theater.

Oskar Eustis: I arrived in New York in 1975. Two-thirds of the Broadway theaters were dark, and Chorus Line started the process of Broadway reviving itself.

[MUSIC - Cast: One]

Jeff Lunden: Of course, after A Chorus Line, many shows used workshops to develop material, like Hamilton, which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on Broadway this summer and which started on the very same stage at the Public Theater.

Oskar Eustis: One of the things those two shows really had in common, which is they instantly struck a need that the audience didn't know they had.

Jeff Lunden: Baayork Lee is staging a 50th anniversary performance on Sunday. She says this story of dancers vying for an anonymous job as members of the chorus always hits home with audiences, and as much as she loves the whole show, one song always hits home with her.

Baayork Lee: To really touch my heart is what I did for love, because that's why we do it. Won't forget and regret what I did for love.

[MUSIC - Priscilla Lopez & A Chorus Line Ensemble: What I Did for Love]

Jeff Lunden: 50 years later, that passion and dedication to chasing your Broadway dream still resonates.

Janae Pierre: That's Jeff Lunden. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC. I'm Janae Pierre. Have a great weekend.

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