Janae Pierre: Sexual harassment allegations on Governor Hochul's staff, deadly car crashes plummet in New York City, a 4th of July warning, the deal to kill housing at Elizabeth Street Garden, and July's night sky. From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Janae Pierre.

Governor Kathy Hochul's top spokesperson is on leave after an allegation of sexual harassment. The New York Times reports Press Secretary Avi Small is being investigated after another Hochul staffer accused him of inappropriate touching. Hochul's communication director says the governor has "zero tolerance for misconduct." The statement confirms an employee was placed on leave, but doesn't name Small. Small did not respond to a request for comment.

Deadly car crashes are trending down in New York City, according to new data from the city's transportation department. Officials say 87 people have been killed by drivers across the 5 boroughs so far this year. That total is down 32% compared to the same time last year. It includes 51 pedestrians, 20 motorized or e-bike riders, and 1 regular cyclist, as well as 15 people who were either drivers or passengers inside vehicles. The city credits the Vision Zero program and enhanced enforcement against reckless driving.

Friday is the 4th of July, and that means fireworks, but take it easy. New York City officials are reminding you to prioritize fireworks safety. WNYC's Elizabeth Shwe has more.

Elizabeth Shwe: The city's health department is encouraging New Yorkers to not light fireworks on their own. Fireworks can cause severe burns and damage to the eyes, head, face, hands, and more. All consumer fireworks are illegal to use, buy, sell, or transport in the city. That includes sparklers. Sparklers burn at temperatures of about 2,000 degrees, which is hot enough to melt some metals. There were 45 emergency department visits in New York City because of fireworks last year. That's a slight increase from the years before.

Janae Pierre: Stick around. There's more after the break.

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Janae Pierre: Come with me to the Elizabeth Street Garden in Lower Manhattan. If you're unfamiliar, it's a leafy lot in Nolita filled with sculptures and shady places to sit. It's a pretty nice spot. Anyway, a years-long saga is entering a new chapter there. For a decade, city officials seemed steadfast about turning it into a senior housing complex. WNYC's David Brand says--

David Brand: There's some real whiplash here.

Janae Pierre: Back in March, the city's housing agency served an eviction notice to the nonprofit group that runs the Elizabeth Street Garden. Now they're backing off the plan to build apartments for seniors there. David explains.

David Brand: The city owns the lot, and they were working with a trio of developers, including Habitat for Humanity. Garden supporters wanted to keep the garden, so they sued the city to block the housing plan, and they pleaded with Mayor Adams to back down, preserve this green space, and build the housing somewhere else. Mayor Adams defended the plan, though, despite that, and said the city needs housing everywhere. The city housing agency said it's not so easy to just halt a plan and do it somewhere else.

The Adams administration started to change course a few months ago after Adams appointed attorney Randy Mastro as deputy mayor. In April, Mastro decided to halt the garden eviction. Then last week, he said the housing project was officially dead. He described a new plan to build housing on three other sites.

Janae Pierre: Though he killed the plan, Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro described a new plan to build housing on three other sites. David says Mayor Adams and Mastro are touting the reversal as a win. He shares their updated plan.

David Brand: They say they're going to preserve this garden while adding more affordable apartments elsewhere in Lower Manhattan. They specifically say the city can add 600 units of affordable housing at these three other locations. One is a privately owned lot on Bowery, about three blocks from the garden. Another is a city-owned lot on Suffolk Street. Then there's a plan to build 1,000 units at a city-owned building on Gold Street that actually houses the headquarters of the city's housing agency. We'll note that Adams announced that Gold Street plan six months ago, so it's not exactly new.

Janae Pierre: The timeline for these developments are up in the air. Right now, David says these plans are all theoretical and they face a number of hurdles.

David Brand: To start, all three locations require rezoning approval from the city. The city hasn't picked a developer for the two publicly owned lots. The local community board covering the Suffolk Street site says they were promised a school. Right now, what the city has is this agreement with the local council member. His name's Christopher Marte. He's a big garden supporter and he says he'll support the rezonings for those three lots. It's still unclear what exactly the timeline is for any of this. Probably could take years. Mastro did tell me the project on Bowery could begin in about six months. Now, I talked to a number of land use experts and city officials who say that's pretty far-fetched.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's David Brand. July is the height of summer stargazing. Plus, Manhattanhenge returns for the last of the city's inspiring sunsets. WNYC's Rosemary Misdary shares what you should be on the lookout for in the night sky.

Rosemary Misdary: The biggest thing to see this summer, if you get out of the city and into darker places like Upstate New York or into the woods, is the Milky Way. Because it's really high up in the sky, so it's really easy to see. It's a white band across the sky. The Earth is in the Milky Way galaxy. What you're looking at when you look at the Milky Way up in the sky is you're seeing the galactic center. That's the brightest part of the band is the galactic center.

Even if you're stuck in the city, one thing you can look for, especially on the 4th of July, is while you're waiting for the fireworks, you can see Mercury with the naked eye. If you look west while you're waiting for those fireworks on the Hudson River, you can see Mercury just above the horizon an hour after sunset.

Janae Pierre: Also, Rosie says next weekend is our last chance to catch Manhattanhenge for the year.

Rosemary Misdary: On July 11th, the midpoint of the sun lines up with the grid. On July 12th, the bottom of the sun lines up with the grid, and it happens around 8:20. You want to get on those cross streets. If you're looking for a cool place to watch Manhattanhenge, the Museum of Natural History is having a block party with a salsa band. They're closing off West 79th Street for viewing the sunset, and that starts at about 7:00 PM.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Rosemary Misdary. You definitely don't want to miss that final breathtaking sunset in Manhattan for the year, so check it out next weekend. Quick note before we go. We're taking the day off Friday to observe the 4th of July holiday. Don't worry, though. We'll drop one episode in the afternoon, so check it out before you head to the holiday festivities. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC. I'm Janae Pierre. Catch you later.

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