Morning Headlines: Federal Officer Shot in Riverside Park, NYC Proposes Basement Apartment Safety Rules, and Zohran Mamdani Visits Uganda

Title: Morning Headlines: Federal Officer Shot in Riverside Park, NYC Proposes Basement Apartment Safety Rules, and Zohran Mamdani Visits Uganda

Announcer: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City, from WNYC. It's Monday, July 21st. Here's the morning headlines from David Furst.

David Furst: A Federal border officer who was shot during a robbery attempt late Saturday night in Riverside park is being praised for his response. Police say the off duty agent returned fire after being attacked, hitting one suspect who later showed up at a hospital. That person is in custody. Francis Russo is director of field operations for the U.S. customs and Border Protection's New York office. He says the officer may have stopped more crimes.

Francis Russo: He did exactly what we ask of all of our officers under the circumstances, he executed our mission, which is to protect the country, and he did it by stopping a threat.

David Furst: Authorities say the officer was hit in the arm and face. He was hospitalized, in stable condition and expected to recover. New York City is proposing new safety rules surrounding basement and cellar apartments. WNYC's Joe Hong reports. It's part of a multi year effort to protect tenants living in flood prone areas.

Joe Hong: Housing experts estimate that tens of thousands of New Yorkers currently live in illegal basement or cellar apartments. Some don't have proper protections from fire or flooding. New rules could require sprinkler systems and adding exits. Howard Slatkin is with Citizens Housing and Planning Council. He says that could be expensive and that the regulations will require a balancing act.

Howard Slatkin: If you have concerns about the safety of spaces that people are using and occupying, paradoxically, enforcing against them just drives people further underground.

Joe Hong: The city will hold a public hearing in August to discuss these rules.

David Furst: New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is in Uganda. The mayoral hopeful was born in the East African nation. WNYC's Ramsey Khalifeh reports on the trip.

Ramsey Khalifeh: Mamdani is taking a break from his campaign to celebrate his marriage to his wife, Rama Duwaji. The couple got married in February in the thick of the primary campaign. Now he says he's visiting his native Uganda, where he was born to Indian parents, who later moved him to the United States when he was seven years old. The trip wasn't announced until Mamdani was already out of the country. Mamdani has made his African roots front and center on the campaign trail, which has drawn criticism from some people online who have called for him to "go back to Uganda." He addressed those so called haters during a social media video announcing his trip. His spokesperson says he left on Saturday and that he'll return by the end of the month

David Furst: Checking the weather, should be pretty comfortable summer conditions today, 74 degrees now going up to 83 with sunny skies expected. It will stay mostly clear tonight with a low of 65 and then tomorrow sunny with a high around 80 degrees. This is WNYC.

Announcer: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.

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