Janae Pierre: The New York State budget is running more than two weeks late. No public matching funds for Cuomo. A new rule requires undocumented immigrants to register with the federal government. A Brooklyn high school with a long list of famous alums is turning 100. From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Janae Pierre.
[music]
Janae Pierre: The New York State budget is more than two weeks late. WNYC's Jon Campbell reports, when it comes to her priorities, Governor Kathy Hochul says she's not budgeting.
Jon Campbell: The governor wants to change the state law that sets deadlines to turn over evidence to defendants in criminal cases. She wants to cut checks of a few hundred dollars to most New Yorkers, which she's calling an inflation rebate.
Governor Kathy Hochul: I'm not signing a budget that does not have the common sense, public safety, and affordability measures that I introduced back in January.
Jon Campbell: She hasn't been able to strike a deal with lawmakers, particularly on the evidence laws known as criminal discovery. The state reformed those laws six years ago, but Hochul says they've resulted in too many dismissals.
Janae Pierre: Lawmakers passed a fifth short-term budget extender Tuesday. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo may be leading in the polls for New York City mayor, but he's now trailing several candidates in the campaign money race. Cuomo's campaign failed to receive an expected $2.6 million payment in public matching funds at Tuesday's meeting of the campaign finance board. Cuomo's campaign is blaming a software error with one of their vendors. The campaign says they've since fixed the error and expect to receive a public funds payment on May 12th.
[music]
Janae Pierre: Low-income New Yorkers can now apply for a free air conditioner. Applicants must meet certain eligibility criteria and income thresholds. Those vary by household size. To qualify, applicants must also have at least one member who is over the age of 60, under the age of 6, or has a medical condition that's aggravated by extreme heat. The state is accepting applications through the beginning of June. Air conditioners are given out on a first come, first served basis.
[music]
Janae Pierre: Coming up, from Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Andrew Dice Clay, a Brooklyn high school that's produced a very long list of notable alums is turning 100. Stick around.
[music]
Presenter: You're listening to NYC Now.
Janae Pierre: A new Trump administration rule requires immigrants in the US without legal status to register with the federal government. The administration considers failure to do so is a crime. People must now carry registration documents with them or risk prison time and fines. WNYC's immigration reporter, Arya Sundaram, says this is part of a larger push to enforce longstanding immigration laws.
Arya Sundaram: It's part of his larger effort to crack down on illegal immigration. He's pledged to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in American history, and this is just one policy to help him do so. He actually laid it out on day one of his presidency. It's not a new requirement. It's actually been on the books for decades, but Trump is newly enforcing it and creating a whole registration system online for it.
Janae Pierre: Immigrants age 14 and older who have been in the US for more than 30 days and have not previously registered are now required to do so. Parents or guardians must register on the behalf of children under 14.
Arya Sundaram: It requires people to submit their addresses over the last five years, any criminal record, details about their family members, among a bunch of other info. If you don't register, you can be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for up to 6 months.
Janae Pierre: All non-citizens over the age of 18, including those already registered or on visas, are now required to carry proof of registration at all times.
Arya Sundaram: If you don't carry the registration, you could be charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $5,000 or jailed for up to 30 days.
Janae Pierre: Arya says that immigration attorneys caution there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Some individuals may have already met the requirement, but registering now means handing over a lot of personal information to the federal government.
Arya Sundaram: The risk of not registered is being deported, but also the risk of registering is also being deported.
Janae Pierre: Arya reports this isn't the first time the federal government has enforced a registration rule like this. After 9/11, a program called NSEERS required male visa holders from 24 countries, all but one of them majority Muslim, to register with the government. She says it resulted in widespread interrogations and thousands of deportation proceedings.
Arya Sundaram: According to a Penn State study, 80,000 men registered and were interrogated, and over 13,000 people were placed in deportation proceedings. You could see why a number of people are worried in this case about registration leading to deportations.
[music]
Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Arya Sundaram
[music]
Janae Pierre: A Brooklyn high school that's produced a very long list of notable alums is turning 100. WNYC's Hannah Frishberg reports on James Madison High School's big milestone.
Hannah Frishberg: James Madison is a typical-looking New York City public school. It's a big brick building that takes up an entire block, but it has an astounding list of famous alumni. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, Larry Sanders, Andrew Dice Clay, Stanley Kaplan. Senior Zlata Schmal says she's proud to be part of an ongoing legacy.
Zlata Schmal: We're all the 100th year graduating class, and there's so many people that came before us in Madison, there's so many people that's going to be after us. I feel like it's very impactful, especially on the centennial anniversary.
Hannah Frishberg: The school enrolls nearly 4,000 students and serves the local community. Jodie Cohen is the principal of James Madison High. She attended the school. So did her mother and her two children.
Jodie Cohen: I think it's something in the culture and the sense of community that's built when you're here. What's unique about our community is the community truly sticks together.
Hannah Frishberg: The school's four-year graduation rate is 93%, slightly higher than city public schools' average. What is it about Madison that has fostered so many superstars? Education historian Diane Ravitch believes the success of Madison's alumni was significantly due to their circumstances.
Diane Ravitch: We're talking about largely the immigrant Jews who were very eager to succeed and had come from such terrible circumstances that it probably motivated them even more. Hold on, I'll ask the expert a question.
Hannah Frishberg: She puts her wife, Mary Butts, on the phone. She's a former teacher at Midwood, another area school with a strong reputation.
Diane Ravitch: I think these schools were meant to service the Ashkenazi Jewish population of Brooklyn and to keep people in the public schools and out of the suburbs. They were successful for a long period of time. To this day, Madison is still considered a good school.
Hannah Frishberg: James Madison is finalizing programming to celebrate its centennial in October. A big donor to the event is alumnus Don Vultaggio, founder of Arizona Iced Tea. He'll be there. No word yet on Andrew Dice Clay.
Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Hannah Frishberg.
[music]
Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. I'm Janae Pierre, and this is NYC Now. We'll be back tomorrow.
[music]
Copyright © 2025 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.
New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.