🌱 New York Budget Deal: $17 Minimum Wage + NYC Parking Lots Evacuated

Good morning, New York City!

Today you'll read about:

• More details in New York's budget agreement.
• New York is set to fully ban gas stoves in new buildings.
• The Department of Buildings evacuates four parking lots deemed structurally unsound.

But first, today's weather: Windy with rain, mainly early. High: 54 Low: 50.

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

1. Here's what Gov. Kathy Hochul's $229 billion budget agreement means for New York City: five free bus routes, a smaller fare increase on public transit than previously expected, and a $17 minimum wage. (New York City Patch)
2. In the budget agreement, New York could become the first state to fully ban gas stoves in new buildings under law. The law would not apply to existing houses. California and Washington have also moved to ban gas stoves, through changes to their building codes. (New York City Patch)
3. The MTA will no longer offer service alerts through Twitter, opting instead to continue updating straphangers through text messages, emails and its homepage. Twitter, which is now charging users for blue checkmark verification status, reportedly floated charging the MTA $50,000 per month to continue using its application programming interface. (New York City Patch)
4. NYC cab drivers cannot sue the city after the value of their medallions decreased following an influx of Uber and Lyft rideshare drivers, a state court has ruled. (Gothamist)
5. Following last week's garage collapse in Lower Manhattan, the Department of Buildings is ordering four garages — two in Manhattan and two in Brooklyn — to be evacuated, saying they had "deteriorated to the point where they were now posing an immediate threat to public safety." (subscription/The New York Times)

New York City pic of the day:

Remember to submit a photo from your neighborhood to newyorkcity@patch.com for a chance to be featured! We love skylines, bodega cats, coffee shops, streetscapes, parks and everything else that makes this city great.

This weekend in New York City:

• Saturday — Very Big Asian Comedy Festival: Venues Across the City (all day)
• Saturday — Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl: Across Brooklyn (all day)
• Saturday — A Flamenco Festival: Astoria, Queens (7 p.m.)
• Sunday — Spiritbox at Irving Plaza: Lower Manhattan (6 p.m.)
• All weekend — Annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair: Upper East Side, Manhattan (12 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• The popular late-night cookie shop Insomnia Cookies fails to pay its workers minimum wage, a lawsuit alleges. There's a new bagel pop-up in the West Village. Here's the past week's food news. (New York City Patch)
• Jonathan Gottfried, a 32-year-old tech educator living in Astoria, Queens, is a contestant on "The Great American Baking Show," the U.S. spinoff of "The Great British Baking Show." (Astoria Patch)
• Meet the "Dorothy Day," the newest member to the Staten Island Ferry's fleet. (AMNY)
• Workers at Union Square's Barnes & Noble bookstore have filed to form a union. (AMNY)

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You're all caught up for today! See you tomorrow morning for your next update.

— Dashiell Allen

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