Morning Headlines: Mayor Eric Adams Vetoes Bill that Blocks Rent Hikes, Street Vendors Rally for More Permits, and Bagelfest Returns

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

Michael Hill: Mayor Adams is vetoing a bill that would stop rent hikes for some low-income New Yorkers who rely on housing vouchers. WNYC's Giulia Heyward reports on what comes next.

Giulia Heyward: It was Adams' own administration that proposed the rent hike. Tenants with jobs who get the housing vouchers now pay 30% of their income toward rent, but if the hike goes through, it would be 40% once they enter their sixth year in the program. The Adams administration says it's necessary to get rising costs under control. The bill was supposed to block the rent hike and still probably will. It passed the City Council with a veto-proof majority. That means there should be enough votes to override the mayor.

Michael Hill: New York City street vendors will be passing out tacos, churros, and samosas outside of City Hall today. They're trying to garner more support for a new legislation that agreed more than 10,000 new vending permits over the next 5 years. Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez is with the Street Vendor Project. She says the legislation would help clear a backlog of applications, and comes as the Trump administration has stepped up immigration enforcement.

Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez: What we're calling on City Council to do is to actually take action to protect immigrant communities, and this is one thing they can actually do here locally to ensure that immigrant communities are safer in the workplace.

Michael Hill: Kaufman-Gutierrez says the legislation includes revisions from earlier versions of the bill, like stricter enforcement against vendors who repeatedly break the law.

Start spreading the news, BagelFest is back. It's the celebration that has everything in cinnamon, raisin, and egg. The annual festival is returning to Citi Field on Sunday with the new so-called Growth Lab. That's an incubator and tasting experience featuring new bakers from across North America. You'll need to save your appetite for the main festival with tastings, competitions, and 25 vendors showing off their best breads. Organizers are expecting thousands of people to come for the carbs. [chuckles] If you want to stay for the whole thing, it's from 9:00 to 4:00 during the day on Sunday.

40 and mostly cloudy out there right now. On our way to a partly sunny day with a high temp near 50. Watch out for the strong winds, though, gusting to 28 miles once again. Chilly again tonight.

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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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