Federal funding for the Second Avenue Subway extension to East Harlem is moving again after a six-month hold, keeping a $3.4 billion commitment on track and bringing the next round of construction disruption from the realm of uncertainty into the realm of scheduling. Fifteen home care aides began an indefinite hunger strike Thursday after the City Council did not advance a bill banning 24-hour shifts, a labor escalation that raises the stakes for both the mostly immigrant women doing the work and the patients and families depending on round-the-clock care. And in Albany, Governor Hochul is floating a new tax on luxury second homes valued at $5 million or more as the state budget runs weeks past its deadline, a signal of where the pressure is headed even as the final numbers remain unresolved.

Morning starts mild around 62, then warms to a comfortable high near 78 under partly cloudy skies. There is no rain expected, so sidewalks stay dry and visibility stays clean for drivers, cyclists, and street crossings. A north-northwest breeze around 5 to 10 mph will be most noticeable on bridges and open platforms, where it can make the air feel cooler than the thermometer during waits and transfers. Tonight drops to about 57 with a few clouds, the kind of temperature that makes curbside pickups and late walks feel chilly fast once the sun is down, so a light layer pays off.

Nearly 100 candidates in Queens filed petitions with the city Board of Elections for June Democratic primaries for Assembly, State Senate, and Congress, setting up 19 Democratic primaries in the borough, with seven described as contested. The point for voters is that the ballot is still in flux: candidates had until Wednesday night to file specific objections against opponents, and they have until April 20 to begin court proceedings, meaning the next few days can knock campaigns out on technical grounds even after they have started advertising and fundraising.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is seeking philanthropic funding to bolster a childcare initiative, leaning on a model of private giving that can move faster than budget cycles but can also narrow accountability. For parents and providers, the immediate question is whether the program scales citywide or stays limited to what donors will cover, and whether a service that looks like a public guarantee ends up depending on private timelines and priorities.

A federal grant for the Second Avenue Subway extension to East Harlem is unlocked after a six-month hold, allowing the MTA to keep construction moving on a $3.4 billion federal commitment that had been stalled during a dispute described as involving “DEI principles.” The change readers will feel is not abstract: a project that had uncertainty hanging over it now has its primary funding stream moving again, which keeps planning and contracting on track and brings the next wave of street disruption closer to being scheduled rather than feared.

The Second Avenue extension’s funding release shifts the daily conversation from whether the project survives to how the work lands in neighborhoods and commutes. With federal money moving again, construction can continue toward bringing the line into East Harlem, and that means more of the practical trade-offs New Yorkers know too well: blocked curb space, narrowed sidewalks, and longer walks around work zones in exchange for a future commute that is meant to relieve pressure on crowded East Side routes.

The Port Authority is rolling out American Sign Language interpretation technology at major facilities including JFK, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, PATH stations, and other locations, aimed at helping deaf and hard of hearing travelers communicate in high-stakes, high-traffic settings. The impact is immediate at the customer-service counter and during disruptions, where a missed announcement or unclear instruction can turn into a safety issue or a missed flight, and the promise is that translation and assistance become available without waiting for a human interpreter to arrive.

NJ Transit’s board has granted CEO Kris Kolluri authority to set fares for World Cup trains to and from MetLife Stadium, with officials saying tickets could top $100 round trip to cover security costs. Even though the matches are next year, the warning is for anyone who assumes mega-events ride on normal commuter pricing: the transit piece can become an extra line item that changes whether fans take the train, drive, or skip the trip altogether.

Fifteen home health aides began what they called an indefinite hunger strike Thursday after the City Council did not advance a bill that would ban 24-hour shifts. Under state rules, live-in home care workers can be scheduled for 24-hour shifts but paid for only 13 hours a day, and the workers involved are described as mostly immigrant women. The consequence is not only for workers calculating whether they can keep doing this job, but for patients and families who rely on round-the-clock care and now have to watch a labor fight escalate in a way that raises the stakes for everyone involved.

A potential Spirit Airlines shutdown would hit budget travel patterns at NYC-area airports, where low fares can be the difference between making an urgent trip and staying put. For New Yorkers who plan around cheapest seats and limited flexibility, the practical strain is sudden rerouting onto pricier carriers, fewer options during peak days, and more last-minute scrambling when travel is tied to work schedules, caregiving, or family emergencies.

A $7.4 million Trader Joe’s settlement over receipts that showed too much card information is a small but real consumer headache for city shoppers who live by routines and line speed. The point is less the headline number than the everyday vulnerability: a receipt that exposes extra digits can turn an ordinary grocery run into bank calls, replacement cards, and fraud monitoring, and some customers may be eligible for payouts depending on settlement terms.

The New York State attorney general’s office said an NYPD officer, Levonje Devone of the 109th Precinct, will not be charged in the death of Erasmo Huerta Gonzalez, who was laying in a roadway in Flushing Meadows Corona Park when the officer’s police vehicle ran over him last August. The office said the officer was driving around 7 miles per hour and was not using her cell phone, and a medical examiner determined Huerta Gonzalez died of blunt force trauma to his torso. For Queens residents, the update is definitive on criminal charges but leaves the broader question of safety and enforcement in shared park spaces unresolved.

Police say a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed during a melee on a basketball court at a Queens park, after multiple kids were fighting and attacking the victim before the fatal shooting. The setting is what makes it sting: a court that should be routine becomes a crime scene, and the lack of additional details in the report underscores how quickly a public place can tip from normal to dangerous while families are still sorting out what happened.

An advocate said a man beaten by two NYPD detectives in a Brooklyn liquor store needed 27 stitches and suffered a broken nose, contusions, and bruises, in an incident captured on video. The case is now about accountability in the plainest form: when the injuries are severe and the encounter is recorded, the public will look for clear answers on investigations and discipline, not just statements that an incident occurred.

Manhattan School for Children on the Upper West Side is awaiting a decision on its middle school, which could be shuttered starting in the 2026-27 school year. The Panel for Educational Policy is scheduled to vote April 29 on a proposal affecting the program housed within the Joan of Arc Educational Complex on West 93rd Street, and the community is fighting the possible closure. The immediate stakes are practical: families have to plan school pathways well in advance, and for students with disabilities, stability and specialized services are hard to replace quickly if a program is disrupted.

A report on Hunter College High School focuses on the invite-only admissions test that sits outside the more widely discussed SHSAT ecosystem, with an acceptance rate below 10%. The report notes Hunter is one of the least diverse public high schools in the city, with a 15.3% student poverty rate in 2024-25, described as the lowest of any public high school in NYC.

On Roosevelt Island, an enforcement team calling themselves “Petal Protectors” is patrolling to prevent visitors from damaging cherry trees during peak blossom season. It is a small story with a concrete point: as crowds surge, the city relies on enforcement and social pressure to protect shared public space, and the line between a peaceful spring ritual and a chaotic weekend can come down to whether people treat trees and lawns like props or like living infrastructure.

That’s Today in New York.