Midday News: Bronx Casino Bid Advances, Police Seek Suspects in Queens Fatal Shooting, Hochul Warns of Inflation Refund Scams, and Navigating the Food Scene ...

[music]

Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Monday, September 29th. Here's the Midday News. I'm Janae Pierre.

A key advisory committee has approved a bid to bring full-scale casino gambling to the Bronx. The Bally's Bronx proposal was okayed just minutes ago in a 5-1 vote and now moves on to a final round of scrutiny. The $4 billion project was dead in the water last summer when the City Council voted against a required rezoning, but Mayor Eric Adams vetoed the council action and put the Bronx bid back into play. The State Gaming Facility Location Board is scheduled to award up to three Downstate gaming licenses by the end of this year.

Police say they're looking for three people in connection with the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old in Queens Sunday night. They say it happened around 7:40 near 64th Road and the Grand Central Parkway in Forest Hills. Police say they found Jean Rios shot in his chest and unresponsive. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. Authorities say the three suspects fled on foot and were also on a moped. The NYPD says it hasn't made any arrests yet as it explores a possible motive for the shooting. This comes less than a week after a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed elsewhere in Queens. A 16-year-old boy is being charged with murder in that case.

Governor Kathy Hochul is warning New Yorkers about scams targeting the state's inflation refund checks. Here's WNYC's Phil Corso.

Phil Corso: Scammers are texting, calling, and emailing people to trick them into handing over personal info, claiming it's required to get an inflation refund check, but the state says no action is needed. If you're eligible, your check will arrive by mail automatically. The checks range from $150 to $400 and started going out Friday. They'll be delivered in batches through November. To qualify, you must have filed a 2023 tax return, meet income limits, and not be claimed as a dependent.

[music]

Janae Pierre: The air quality is moderate today due to particle pollution. Ozone levels are good, however. It's currently 73 degrees. It'll be partly sunny today with highs in the upper 70s and cloudy skies ahead tonight with lows around 65. Stay close. There's more after the break.

[music]

David Furst: On WNYC, I'm David Furst. When it comes to trying to pick a place to eat, New York City can be overwhelming. There are just so many great choices, and few places can seem as daunting for decision makers as MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. It is packed with so many restaurants, bars, ice cream shops that it's hard to figure out what to even look at first. Food critic Robert Sietsema has been focusing on the street this month, and he is here now to help sort it out for us. Welcome back.

Robert Sietsema: Hey, David.

David Furst: So, Robert, you have a piece up on our news site, Gothamist, right now on the 10 best places to eat on MacDougal. They are all found on the one block between Bleecker and West 3rd Streets. Just to be clear, you're not listing all of the restaurants; there are many more than 10 places on this block.

Robert Sietsema: Oh, gosh, yes. The number changes by the day as places disappear and new places move in. It is one of the best food streets and food blocks in the city. I recently counted 36 restaurants between Bleecker Street and West 3rd Street.

David Furst: Even if you're not grabbing a bite, this is just a fun place to walk. It goes right up to NYU. It's filled with college students. Give us a sense for this immediate neighborhood and the history here.

Robert Sietsema: Well, this is the heart of Greenwich Village. If you had to pick one quintessential block where everything comes together, this is it. Imagine walking down the street in the '60s and the '70s and seeing Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and even Eleanor Roosevelt. This has been the center of bohemianism.

David Furst: If you had to characterize the restaurants here, are they mostly places to grab a quick bite? What are we talking about?

Robert Sietsema: Well, in general, with a couple of notable exceptions, these are really cheap restaurants. They're restaurants where you can eat well for around $10, sometimes even less. Nowhere, except perhaps in Jackson Heights, will you find such a range running from Syrian to Ethiopian to old-fashioned places that have been around 100 years.

David Furst: Okay, let's eat. Where should we go?

Robert Sietsema: You can't do better than going to Mamoun's, which is the city's most famous falafel stand. There are iterations of it all over town and in Jersey now. The fact of the matter is, this was the original, founded in 1972. It introduced falafel to a wider audience. If you can imagine a city without falafel, that would be the city without Mamoun's. A falafel is still $6.50, which includes the sandwich, the roughage, the yogurt sauce, and the hot sauce. It's a full gut bomb for a small amount of money. There's actually seating there. There's outdoor seating where you can watch the passing parade. It's an amazing place, and it's a miracle it's still there.

David Furst: Mamoun's, still there on MacDougal. We'll stay on the block. Where are we heading next?

Robert Sietsema: Well, just across the street and you got Pommes Frites, the city's foremost purveyor of Belgian-style french fries. If you wonder what's different, they've been fried once at a certain temperature to cook them and soften them up. Then they're fried again at a temperature to crisp them on the outside. You want to dip them in fritessaus, which is the Dutch mayonnaise. Runny mayonnaise, just delicious. My favorite combination is fritessaus, ketchup, and raw onions, which they will give you for free, or you can pay a dollar or two for a whole bunch of other off-the-wall sauces.

David Furst: You better be in the mood for fries because that's all they serve here, right?

Robert Sietsema: You are allowed to have a meal of fries, and I won't tell your primary care physician.

David Furst: [chuckles] All right, we saved room for one more stop. Where should we finish?

Robert Sietsema: Well, what if you reach your hand in your pockets and you find one of those $100 bills which are coming out of the cash machines ever more frequently these days, and you don't know what to do with them? Well, you can take it to Minetta Tavern, where $100 will pay for a splendid meal in a setting that dates to 1937 and is more famous for its literary connections than almost any other place. I mean, this is where Ernest Hemingway and E.E. Cummings and Joseph Mitchell ate.

David Furst: So if you want to splurge on MacDougal, this is the place to go?

Robert Sietsema: It's the place to go, and it is lined with caricatures of celebrities that you won't recognize.

David Furst: Because they're from a previous era.

Robert Sietsema: Yes, exactly.

David Furst: What do you want to eat if you go here?

Robert Sietsema: Well, actually, my secret favorite is the Black Label Burger, which is $38. It's made with like prime meat. Most hamburgers are made out of inferior cuts of meat. Well, this is maybe the best burger you've ever tasted in your life. On the other hand, you've probably never paid $38 for a burger in your life before, so. That includes fries. That includes fries.

David Furst: Oh, it comes with fries. It's a deal. All right. You don't have to run across the street to Pommes Frites for your fries.

Robert Sietsema: Correct.

David Furst: Robert Sietsema's list of the 10 best places to eat on MacDougal Street is up on our news site, Gothamist, right now. You can also check out his Substack, Robert Sietsema's New York. Robert, thanks again.

Robert Sietsema: As always, I had a great time, David.

[MUSIC - The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Purple Haze]

[music]

Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now, from WNYC. Check us out for updates every weekday, three times a day, for the latest news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back this evening.

[music]

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.