Mayor Mamdani issued his first veto yesterday, rejecting a City Council bill that would have restricted protests near schools, with Speaker Menin saying the two "agreed to disagree" and the question now turning to whether the Council has the votes to override and what enforcement near school entrances looks like in the meantime. A five-alarm fire tore through the 138-year-old First Reformed Church of Astoria Thursday night, injuring six firefighters and leaving the landmark likely facing demolition, with the cause still under investigation and the block still in the early phase of closures and assessments. And the sinkhole that shut the East River Esplanade between East 93rd and 94th Streets is still closed, pushing runners, cyclists, and commuters onto narrower detours on a wet, raw Saturday when the margin for a clean route is already thin.

Rain is the main event today. Expect a wet morning around 45°F with low clouds and steady rain that reduces visibility at intersections and makes painted crosswalks and metal subway stairs slick. The high reaches about 51°F, but the air stays raw, so curbside pickups and errands will feel colder than the number suggests, especially with damp clothes and wind off open avenues. Tonight remains rainy with a low near 43°F, which keeps streets shiny and slow, and makes late trips and bike commutes riskier as puddles hide broken pavement and drivers take longer to stop.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first veto landed last night, rejecting a City Council bill that would have restricted certain protests around educational facilities. Speaker Julie Menin said she and the mayor “agreed to disagree,” and the practical question now is whether the Council pushes toward an override and how both sides frame enforcement near schools. What changes for readers is not the political theater but the rules that could shape where demonstrations can happen, how quickly police intervene, and how reliably families can move around schools without conflict on the sidewalk.

Queens ballot challenges are moving through court with consequences that show up later as a name that is either on the ballot or gone. Candidates and attorneys have been in Queens Supreme Court arguing over petitions, with allegations ranging from fraud to the use of AI in court filings and disputes over large numbers of signatures. The next fixed points are the Board of Elections hearings on general objections scheduled for April 28, 29, and 30, which will help determine the final slate that voters actually see.

Public defense groups used a national Day of Action for Public Defense to warn that rising caseloads and strained funding are pushing the right to counsel toward a breaking point in practice. Their argument is simple: if defender offices cannot staff up, representation becomes thinner and court processing slows. The day-to-day impact is easy to miss until it hits you directly, as delays, rushed conversations, and a system that struggles to move cases with the speed and care the public expects.

The city’s push to offer 2,000 free child care seats by September runs through the health department’s clearance process, which providers need before they can legally operate. At a City Council oversight hearing this week, lawmakers heard proposals to streamline background checks and clearances, driven by concerns about backlogs. For families, the consequence is blunt: seats only exist when providers can open on time, and delays in paperwork can turn a promised September opening into another round of improvising for coverage.

Legal aid organizations are warning that defender workloads are becoming unmanageable, and that under-resourcing does not just hurt defendants. When one side of the courtroom is overloaded, calendars clog, victims and witnesses wait longer, and cases sit longer without resolution. The city can announce reforms and priorities, but if staffing cannot match volume, the system’s capacity becomes the limiting factor that everyone feels as delay.

A recall of heated socks sold at Costco was announced after burn reports, a consumer safety note that fits the weekend’s cold rain. If you use heated wearables during damp weather, it is worth checking what you own before you rely on it again, because recalls are most dangerous when the product is already sitting at home and becomes tempting the next time you are chilled.

Officials broke ground Friday on the first phase of Arverne East, a 1,650-unit public-private housing development in Edgemere in the Rockaways along the Atlantic Ocean. The project has been described as a major milestone after two decades of planning, and its scale signals meaningful future supply, but it also underlines how long it takes for a housing announcement to become keys in hand. For New Yorkers watching rents climb, the timeline is part of the story, because the market moves faster than most construction schedules.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced Friday that plans are underway for a separate $278 million project on vacant land affected by Superstorm Sandy, described as Arverne East Building D, with affordable rental units. The details tie housing to resilience and redevelopment in areas where storm damage is still shaping what can be built and how. Even if you do not live in Queens, these projects reflect a broader direction: more housing plans are now inseparable from climate risk, financing, and the cost of making neighborhoods livable long-term.

A five-alarm fire tore through the 138-year-old First Reformed Church of Astoria Thursday night, injuring six firefighters and leaving a landmark’s future uncertain. FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said the fire broke out around 6:45 p.m., and more than 270 fire and EMS members responded. Reporting indicates the church is facing demolition after the blaze, and the cause remains under investigation, which means the neighborhood is still in the early phase of closures, assessments, and decisions about what happens to the site.

NYPD said two people were shot in a police-involved incident Friday evening near West 125th Street and Amsterdam Avenue after a suspect allegedly approached a 22-year-old outside a convenience store and fired. Police reported that one gunman was shot and is in custody, while a second suspect remained at large. For anyone moving through that corridor this weekend, the near-term reality is heightened police presence and possible disruptions as the investigation and search continue.

A 16-year-old was shot in the leg Friday afternoon near 909 Livonia Ave in East New York and was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, according to police. The case adds to the weekend’s list of active shootings and reinforces the immediate, block-by-block nature of safety concerns, where a single incident can change how residents move through a neighborhood for days afterward.

The Hot Sauce Expo is back in Brooklyn this weekend, offering a rare rainy-day option that still rewards getting out of the apartment. With wet streets and slow movement, indoor events tend to become the default plan, and this one is built for lingering without needing perfect weather.

A new Netflix series is headed to the Upper East Side, with reporting that Scarlett Johansson will executive produce and that the show will be run by writers with journalism and television backgrounds. No filming disruptions were specified yet, but production news often becomes a practical street issue later, with posted parking restrictions, blocked curb space, and equipment trucks tightening already narrow blocks.

In New Jersey, a high school student is accused of creating and sharing AI-generated nude images of classmates, a case close enough to land as a warning for parents and schools in this region. The lesson is not abstract: the technology is moving faster than the rules and support systems many schools have, and the next local response will likely be felt in discipline policies, reporting procedures, and how schools talk to students about what cannot be taken back once it spreads.

That’s Today in New York.