Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Monday, August 11th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: The upcoming end of a federal rental assistance program is forcing local housing agencies to come up with new aid or put thousands of people at risk of homelessness. WNYC's David Brand reports.

David Brand: Back in March, the Trump administration warned cities that the Biden-era emergency housing voucher program was about to run out of money. Local officials said they were caught off guard and had to find a new funding source to keep low-income families in their homes. Now, the New York City Housing Authority says it will transition 5,500 households from the expiring voucher to the more common Section 8 program. They say the new decision means the agency can't issue vouchers to people who've been waiting years for new assistance to become available.

Michael Hill: The NYPD is rolling out its quality of life enforcement teams in Queens starting today. The so-called Q-teams focus on everyday safety issues such as towing abandoned cars, seizing illegal mopeds, and responding to noise complaints. The units already have been deployed in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn after a pilot program earlier this year. Officials say those teams have handled more than 23,000 calls and seized nearly 300 illegal e-bikes and scooters. Staten Island is next, with an expansion there planned for later this month. A PhD student arrived in New York City on a red canoe yesterday after paddling the entire length of the Hudson River for nearly a month. John Henkelman studies natural resource management at the University of New Hampshire. Along his journey, he'd been testing the water quality in the Hudson. Henkelman started his canoeing endeavor at Henderson Lake in the Adirondacks, which is the mouth of the Hudson River. His journey is part of an initiative to raise money for charity supporting American rivers.

Henkelman's journey ended yesterday, as we said, as he paddled towards the Statue of Liberty. We're at 70 degrees right now with clear skies across the region, but we have an air quality alert starting at 11:00 this morning, so be careful out there. Sunny and hot on this Monday, up to 88 tomorrow, sunny and hot near 90. Then Wednesday, it looks as if we have chances of showers and thunderstorms, and hot once again at 90.

Janae Pierre: 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. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.

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