Janae Pierre: Times Square casino backers withdraw their proposal to residents. Leaders at Central Park call on officials to ban horse drawn carriages. A judge orders ICE to meet living standards at its immigration holding areas, and New Jersey beachgoers weigh in on the governor's race. From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Janae Pierre. Backers of a casino proposed for Times Square have reversed course on their proposal to create a $22 million fund benefiting residents of a nearby affordable housing complex. SL Green, along with partners Caesars Entertainment and Roc Nation now say they're nixing their proposal to make those casino funds available for use by residents of Manhattan Plaza on 43rd Street. The news site W42ST reports the developer's new plan would earmark millions of dollars to the Westside Community Fund. That's a charity which for years has aided neighborhood groups. The Times Square proposal is among several vying for a downstate casino license. The Central Park Conservancy says it's time to ban horse-drawn carriages, a first for the group that manages the park. WNYC's Giulia Heyward has more.

Giulia Heyward: Conservancy President Betsy Smith says recent runaway horse incidents, road damage, and sanitation problems show that carriage trade is unsafe for visitors and harmful to the park. In a letter to city leaders, she called it no longer compatible with the modern, heavily used public space. The nonprofit is now backing Rider's Law, a City Council bill named after a horse that was euthanized after it collapsed. If signed into law, it would end horse carriage licenses in 2026 and help drivers transition to other jobs. The push comes a week after a horse named Lady collapsed and died in Hell's Kitchen.

Janae Pierre: A judge is ordering ICE to meet basic living standards at New York's holding area for immigrants. We'll get the details after the break. A federal judge has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to improve conditions at their hold rooms in downtown Manhattan. That's where migrants are detained before being transferred to other more permanent detention centers.

The lawsuit brought by Make The Road New York, the ACLU and some other groups described overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions for people detained there, sometimes for days at a time. It's the latest development in an ongoing national debate over how ICE treats people in short-term custody. WNYC's immigration reporter Arya Sundaram has been reporting on the case. Arya, what exactly did the judge order ICE to do here?

Arya Sundaram: On Tuesday, the District Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a temporary restraining order for ICE to meet basic living standards at 26 Federal Plaza, which is where they have about four holding rooms for migrants, and that includes providing sleeping mats, toiletries, and hygiene products, allowing people to ask for additional meals, granting them regular calls with attorneys. Also, fewer people will be allowed in these holding rooms. Only about 35 people spread out across the four rooms.

This is after those civil rights groups you mentioned filed a lawsuit with some disturbing allegations of people sleeping on concrete benches or the floor, sometimes for days at a time, with as many as a hundred people, being given inadequate food, at most only two small meals per day, according to the lawsuit, and being denied basic hygiene items like toothbrushes and menstrual products. These are exactly the concerns I heard when talking to migrants for a story I did a few weeks ago that was actually referenced in the lawsuit.

Janae Pierre: Okay, so what does ICE have to say about this lawsuit?

Arya Sundaram: Well, in court on Tuesday, there were government lawyers who actually agreed that some of the allegations were true, that people detained at 26 Federal Plaza are only given given two meals per day. That's even though ICE rules require them to receive a meal every six hours. Overall, ICE is otherwise denying the allegations. ICE leadership claims that the facility is not overcrowded, that people receive necessary hygiene products.

The Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that this order and this lawsuit are driven by what she said was a complete fiction about 26 Federal Plaza. She said any claim of subprime conditions at ICE facilities are categorically false. She also said that the government plans to appeal the order.

Janae Pierre: Arya, so what happens next? Could this lead to more permanent changes at the facility?

Arya Sundaram: This order is in effect for the next two weeks, at least until there's another hearing in the case. Advocates say that this is an important first step, making sure that the facility meets basic conditions of decency and sanitary obligations, but there are still some outstanding concerns about the facility. For example, Congress members are still being denied access to the facility to conduct an oversight visit, an oversight visit that they say that they are legally allowed to conduct. 12 members of Congress actually sued the Trump administration to gain access to the facility. That case is still pending. Some lawmakers, like Nydia Velázquez, say the facility should be shut down entirely.

Janae Pierre: Arya, we should note that this is actually a national issue. This isn't just happening in New York. Right?

Arya Sundaram: Exactly. Similar concerns have popped up about ICE holding rooms in other cities across the country, like Los Angeles and Baltimore, but an immigration expert I know says that this case, this ruling is the first major ruling ever requiring remediation of conditions at ICE holding rooms in the country.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Arya Sundaram. It's August, and in New Jersey, everyone's at the beach. No one's thinking about the state's major election for its next governor until at least Labor Day, or are they? WNYC's Mike Hayes went down to the Jersey shore to see how voters are feeling.

Mike Hayes: Summer is the time for sunscreen and funnel cakes, not a reporter in swim trunks asking questions about politics. Juan Millan is from Moorestown. I found him on the beach in Asbury Park. I'm asking people about the New Jersey governor's race. Are you following the race at all?

Juan Millan: Not really, no. I'm just hanging out here at the beach, not trying to really think about all that stuff.

Mike Hayes: This is harder than I thought. Voters might want to just soak up the sun now, but in less than 90 days, they'll face an election that political experts say will have an unusual outcome no matter who claims victory. That's because New Jerseyans typically vote out the party in power after two terms, but Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill has led the polls so far, and a win for her would mean a third term for Democrats after governor Phil Murphy leaves office.

Lori Murphy: We love Mikie Sherrill.

Mike Hayes: Lori Murphy of New Providence was fine with that. I met her under a beach tent with her family.

Lori Murphy: I just think that she can work with Democrats and Republicans. She's progressive enough, but not too much that it would scare people off. We need her right now.

Mike Hayes: Polls also show a tightening race. A recent StimSight research poll showed Sherrill's once healthy 20-point lead has shrunk to just six points. It shows an increasing number of voters are leaning towards Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, voters like Melissa Zonfrillo from Long Valley.

Melissa Zonfrillo: I'm definitely voting for Jack, that's for sure. We need to flip this red, absolutely, in New Jersey.

Mike Hayes: If Ciattarelli wins, that would break a different New Jersey tradition. The state's governor's race has long been considered a bellwether of the national mood. That's because it always comes the year after a presidential election. More often than not, New Jerseyans vote against the party in the White House. It could all come down to which candidate gets the most support from undecided voters, like Alejandro Fernandez from North Bergen. Is there a particular candidate you're interested in, might vote for in the upcoming election?

Alejandro Fernandez: Right now I'm a little undecided, kind of still waiting for a little bit more research.

Mike Hayes: Fernandez says immigration is his key issue, and he's looking for a governor to further President Trump's policies.

Alejandro Fernandez: I'm an immigrant, like most of this country is, but just got to come the right way.

Mike Hayes: For that reason, he's leaning Republican. What do you think about Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli?

Alejandro Fernandez: Based on what I've seen so far, what I've read, I think Jack might be a little better for us.

Mike Hayes: I found Sandra Romero from Bloomfield lounging in a beach chair beside her mom. She's also undecided, sort of leaning towards Sherrill.

Sandra Romero: I think she has a great history. She's a woman. She's been in the military before. I'm supporting her mainly. I've heard great things about her.

Mike Hayes: Affordability is top of mind for Romero. Housing prices and electricity bills have skyrocketed, for example, and she says if Ciattarelli can show her a good plan on some key issues, she could switch her vote. If Jack could come out with a good plan to tackle property taxes, tackle energy, you might switch sides?

Sandra Romero: Yes, Maybe. I don't think that's off the table.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Mike Hayes. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC, I'm Janae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.

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