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Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC NOW, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Tuesday, March 11th. Here's the midday news. I'm Janae Pierre. Governor Kathy Hochul is taking advantage of hundreds of New York City teachers lobbying in Albany by pitching them on her plan to restrict smartphones in schools. WNYC's Jon Campbell explains.

Jon Campbell: The governor wants to prohibit students from using their smartphones during school hours. She made her pitch to the United Federation of Teachers during the union's lobby day at the state capitol.

Governor Kathy Hochul: We will have a cell phone ban, a bell-to-bell ban, so you can finally teach your kids without the distractions. You'll finally create that bond that's been neglected for years.

Jon Campbell: Some parents have been critical. They say they want to be able to reach their children in case of an emergency. The governor included the plan in her state budget proposal. A final budget is due by the end of the month.

Janae Pierre: In New Jersey, NJ Transit averted a potential strike by its locomotive engineers as both sides announced a tentative contract agreement yesterday. The deal prevents the threat of major disruptions for nearly 200,000 daily riders. It marks the end of five years of negotiations between NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

Officials from both sides did not provide the exact terms of the agreement but say it includes a "reasonable wage increase." The years-long negotiations required federal mediation by appointees under Presidents Trump and Biden. The tentative eight-year contract must be ratified by the union members next month. 54 degrees now. It's a beautiful sunny, almost spring-like day. You can expect highs around 65 degrees and a low around 42. Stick around. There's more to come.

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Tiffany Hansen: On WNYC, I'm Tiffany Hansen. Park Slope, Brooklyn residents have a lot of questions about one particular brownstone on St. John's Place. Many people noticed a major police response last weekend after gunshots were fired, but WNYC's Ben Feuerherd is here to tell us why. That's only part of the story. Hi, Ben.

Ben Feuerherd: Hi.

Tiffany Hansen: All right, so first of all, just start by telling us what we know about this location.

Ben Feuerherd: Well, the house we're talking about here is on St. John's Place between Sixth and Seventh Avenue in the heart of Park Slope, a very residential neighborhood, but it's actually this particular brownstone is at the center of a contentious real estate battle. My colleague David Brand and I dug into city records. We found that for a long time, it was owned by a man named Rudolph Clark. When he died, he had no children, no wife. It was unclear which of his heirs could claim the property.

His 84-year-old sister-in-law, Florine Clark, claims she was left the property in his will. Since he died, the property hasn't been sold. It's currently in a legal no man's land. That's referred to heirs' property, which has no clear owner. At the same time, these predatory real estate companies have been trying to take Florine's stake in the property. They produce documents that they say she signed that they claim give them influence over the house. She actually denies signing anything.

Tiffany Hansen: All right, well then let's go back to what happened this past weekend.

Ben Feuerherd: Yes, so police got a call of shots fired in front of this brownstone. This quiet, leafy block in Park Slope turned into this massive police response. Helicopters, cops with rifles, police on rooftops in this standoff with people inside the house. After the standoff, police say they arrested three residents of the house.

Tiffany Hansen: Well, what's the backstory here? Were neighbors surprised about having something like this happen?

Ben Feuerherd: To an extent, yes, just because of the scale of the response. Also, they weren't totally shocked because of this legal no man's land that the house is in. There's been this cast of characters living there. Neighbors have heard various things about who owns the house and who's supposed to actually be allowed access to it.

Tiffany Hansen: Well, you talk about all of these complications on the real estate side of this. I'm wondering if this kind of a tussle is common in New York.

Ben Feuerherd: It might be more common than you think. We spoke to housing attorneys who say this is an example of heirs' property. When there is a question about who owns valuable property in the city, it's not uncommon for predatory real estate companies to come out of the woodwork and try to get dubious legal documents signed and in control of a property.

Tiffany Hansen: Where do things stand now?

Ben Feuerherd: The three residents were each charged with misdemeanors, so not very big crimes. A neighbor said he saw at least one of them back at the house earlier this week. It's still completely unclear who own the house and who should have access to it.

Tiffany Hansen: WNYC's Ben Feuerherd is a public safety reporter. If you want to read more details about what is happening at this property in Park Slope, you can read more of Ben's reporting right now at our news site, Gothamist. Ben, thanks.

Ben Feuerherd: Thanks.

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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.

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