🌱Asylum Seekers Protest Move From Hotel + Metro North At Penn Station

Good morning, New York City!

• 🛳 Asylum seekers are protesting being transferred from a Midtown hotel to a cruise terminal in Brooklyn.
• 🛤🛑 The MTA's plans to bring Metro North to Penn Station are hitting a temporary road block.
• 🚗⚡️For-hire Uber and Lyft cars are going all-electric — but who's paying for it?

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Now, today's weather:

Partly sunny and cooler. High: 40 Low: 28.

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Here are the top five stories today in New York City:

1. Asylum seekers staying at the Watson Hotel in Hell's Kitchen protested being moved to a new shelter in Red Hook at the Brooklyn cruise terminal on Monday, leading to a standoff with police in West Midtown. Activists also protested the move, stating the new shelter is inhumane. ABC 7 first reported the new shelter had only basic beds, a lack of adequate heating and few bathrooms. (New York City Patch)
2. On the heels of bringing Long Island Railroad service to Grand Central, the MTA's plans to bring Metro North trains to Penn Station have been delayed for several months, with the transit agency partially blaming federally funded Amtrak for giving them "limited access" to its property for construction work. The new service would also come with four new stops in The Bronx. (THE CITY)
3. A grand jury is beginning to hear evidence from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office in a case against former President Donald Trump alleging that he paid "hush money" to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 during his presidential campaign, potentially leading to criminal charges. (Subscription/The New York Times) (Free/CNBC)
4. Mayor Eric Adams announced in a speech last week that all for-hire vehicles from companies like Uber and Lyft would be fully electric by 2030 — without any additional expense to drivers. It's unclear, however, who would foot the bill for the transition, and many locations that drivers frequent, like LaGuardia Airport, don't have charging stations. (Gothamist)
5. A major housing development is coming to the Edgemore neighborhood of The Rockaways, including more than 1,600 "townhomes, bungalows and mid-rise multifamily units," 80 percent of which are expected to be available to formerly homeless and middle-income families, with 20 percent as market-rate. (New York City Patch)

New York City pic of the day:

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Today in New York City:

• Upper West Side Coffee Chat for New Yorkers 55+ (10:30 a.m.)
• "@JennaFischer" comedy show — Brooklyn Comedy Collective (7 p.m.)
• New York Philharmonic Lunar New Year concert (7:30 p.m.)
• Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night at The Raven Pub NYC (8 p.m.)
• Whitney Art Party (9 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Congressman George Santos, who has lied about large parts of his resumé, has a district office in Douglaston, Queens that still has the name of his predecessor — Tom Suozzi — on its awning. It seems to be attracting a larger crowd of reporters than of constituents. (Subscription/The New York Times)
• The Empire State Building lit up a controversy after lighting itself up bright green in honor of the Philadelphia Eagles football team that's clinched a Super Bowl Sunday spot — much to the chagrin of New York Giants and Jets fans who wondered why their city's skyscraper was cheering on another city's team. (New York City Patch)
• A Harlem business group is still opposing the proposed location of a cannabis dispensary on 125th Street, while the state's Office of Cannabis Management moves forward with it. (AMNY)
• “I can promise you [that we] are going to fight for lower costs, fight for better paying jobs, fight for safer communities, fight for affordable housing, fight for police reform,” said Brooklyn Representative Hakeem Jeffries in his inaugural address as the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives on Sunday at Brooklyn Technical High School. (Brooklyn Paper)
• Speaking on CNN, Mayor Eric Adams defended his own decision to reinstate New York City's anti-gun unit, which is similar to the one that the officers belonged to who beat Tyre Nichols to death, saying "units don't create abuse, abusive behavior creates abuse." (New York Daily News)

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Alrighty, you're all good for today. See you all tomorrow morning for another update!

— Dashiell Allen

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming New York City Daily? Contact me at patchnyc@patch.com