Morning Headlines: Former Gov. Paterson Backs Mayor Adams for Reelection, Feds to Appeal ICE Detention Ruling, and Mayor Adams Vetoes Delivery Worker Pay Hike

Title: Morning Headlines: Former Gov. Paterson Backs Mayor Adams for Reelection, Feds to Appeal ICE Detention Ruling, and Mayor Adams Vetoes Delivery Worker Pay Hike [music]

Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC NOW, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Thursday, August 14th. Here's the morning headlines. I'm Janae Pierre. After backing Andrew Cuomo in the primary, former Governor David Patterson is now endorsing Mayor Eric Adams for reelection. Just two months ago, Patterson was urging Cuomo and Adams to unite around the candidate with the best shot of beating Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani. Patterson says he still believes in consolidation.

David Patterson: Where I'm saying if one of them dropped out of the race, they would become a national hero.

Janae Pierre: A poll this week shows Mamdani leading the four-person race with 44% of the vote, followed by Cuomo with 25% and Republican Curtis Sliwa with 12%. Adams is in fourth place with 7%. The Department of Homeland Security says it'll appeal a judge's order requiring the Feds to improve conditions at holding areas in lower Manhattan used to hold immigrants facing deportation. The federal judge's order requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide immigrants mats for sleeping, access to toiletries, and clean clothes. This is all in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union.

They claim migrants being held at 26 Federal Plaza are subject to inhumane conditions. DHS says the allegations are "driven by fiction." Mayor Adams has vetoed two bills that would have increased pay for 20,000 grocery delivery workers by setting a minimum hourly wage. WNYC's Karen Yi has more.

Karen Yi: The City Council passed the pair of bills last month, but Adams said the legislation would ultimately raise grocery costs at a time when New Yorkers are struggling to afford it. The bills would make third-party apps like Instacart and Shipt pay delivery workers at least $21 for every hour of active work when they're delivering or picking up orders. That rate would match what restaurant delivery workers employed by apps like DoorDash and GrubHub already receive and close the so-called Instacart loophole.

The Workers Justice Project, which advocated for the measures, called the veto by Adams a betrayal and asked the City Council to override it. The council said it was considering its next steps and criticized the move.

Janae Pierre: Air quality in and around New York City is a bit better today. The state Department of Environmental Conservation says the air is mostly clear for now, but the quality will decrease over the course of the day. That's due to wildfire smoke coming down to our region from Canada. 74 degrees now. It'll be mostly sunny today with a high around 87 degrees. Cloudy skies tonight with a low around 73.

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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, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.

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