🌱 $3.50 Subway Fare Could Be Needed: Study + Christmas Tree Lighting

Good morning, New York City!

• Mayor Adams is directing the police and fire department to involuntarily take more mentally ill New Yorkers off the streets.
• Subway and bus fares could need to go up to $3.50 per ride, a new study finds.
• The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting is this evening!

But first, today's weather:

Winds becoming strong; rain. High: 57 Low: 34.

Here are the top stories today in New York City:

1. Mayor Eric Adams has announced his plan for more New Yorkers appearing to be mentally ill and have an "inability to meet" their own basic needs to be taken off the streets involuntarily by the NYPD and FDNY. The directive drew sharp criticism from the New York Civil Liberties Union and other groups including Vocal-NYC. (New York City Patch)
2. New York City's subways and buses might need to raise fare prices by 28 percent to $3.50 per ride in order to avoid a looming budget deficit by 2024, an analysis from the State Comptroller's Office found. Both the MTA and the Comptroller agree that's an unwelcome prospect. The MTA is already proposing a 4 percent fare hike for 2023, with another 4 percent in 2025. (New York City Patch)
3. New York City has agreed to issue $3,500 payments to individuals who were held at Rikers Island for over three hours after making bail between 2014 and Oct. 21 of this year, if a judge approves the agreement. With an estimated more than 71,000 people eligible, the city would pay over $300 million. (Spectrum News NY1)
4. State legislation would require New York City to purchase the salt it uses to clear the streets when it snows domestically, instead of importing it from Chile like it does right now. That could potentially benefit salt mines in Upstate New York. Gov. Kathy Hochul has until the end of the year to consider the bill. (Gothamist)
5. The MTA is set to spend close to $1 billion on subway and commuter rail accessibility upgrades, bringing eight subway stations into compliance with the American Disabilities Act. The agency settled a pair of lawsuits in June requiring it to bring 95 percent of stations into compliance by 2055. (AMNY)

New York City pic of the day:

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Today in New York City:

• Welcoming NY Food and Coat Drive (11 a.m.)
• Julian Rosefeldt's "Euphoria" — Park Avenue Armory (12 p.m.)
• Vermeer and the Art of Love (3 p.m.)
• “LEAVES” by Victor Vauban Jr @ NYTheater Festival on Nov. 30, Dec. 2 & 4 (4 p.m.)
• All Star Comedy-All Queer lineup @ Greenwich Village Comedy Club (7 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Don't mis the Rockefeller Christmas Tree lighting taking place this evening at 8 p.m. Following the lighting the tree will be on throughout the day and for a full 24 hours on Christmas. (New York City Patch)
• A cat named Smells was almost inadvertently brought to Orlando after it snuck into a suitcase, according to TSA agents who caught it in an X-ray machine at the airport. (New York City Patch)
• New York is now auctioning off items that were given to NYC mayors. Here's some of the strangest items up for grabs: a Louis Vuitton soccer ball given to Guiliani in commemoration of the 1998 World Cup, Michael Bloomberg's stainless steel cake slicer and more. (artnet News)
• Two brothers held a pop-up shop in Manhattan encouraging shoppers to "shop blind" and find a cure for blindness. (Pix 11 New York News)
• The Phantom of the Opera is extending its final curtain on Broadway from February to April, after raking in millions from a full house performance last week. (Spectrum News NY1)

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Events:

• 92NY 60+ Himan Brown Program — FREE Open House! (November 30)
• Bardo: Advance Screening and Conversation with Writer-Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu (November 30)
• Deb Perelman in Conversation with Sonia Chopra: Smitten Kitchen Keepers (November 30)
• All Star Comedy-All Queer lineup @ Greenwich Village Comedy Club (November 30)
• Marko Stout Exhibit (December 1)
• Berkeley College Transfer Open House (December 1)
• 'I Am What I Am: Queer, Questioning & Christian' — A Conversation Commemorating World AIDS Day (December 1)
• West Park Holiday Tag Sale! (December 3)
• 36th Annual Miracle on Madison Avenue (December 3)
• Best Asian Cooking Class in New York (December 3)
• The Harlem Night Market at La Marqueta (December 3)
• Sonic Sanctuary: The Luminous Darkness A concert by Tyrone Birkett | Emancipation (December 3)
• We Didn't Start The Friars - Comedy and Karaoke at The Friars Club (December 6)
• Berkeley College MBA Information Session (December 6)
• White Collar Week Speaker Mike Kimelman All About Crypto, FTX, etc. (December 6)
• Living: Advance Screening and Conversation with Actor Bill Nighy and Director Oliver Hermanus (December 6)
• A Service of Lessons & Carols (December 11)
• Berkeley College Legal and Justice Studies/National Security Career Seminar (December 14)
• Cristina Fontanelli's 19th-annual "Christmas in Italy®" (December 17)
• The 24th Annual Pipes of Christmas (December 17)
• Arts and Jazzfest NYC — Community Christmas Caroling & Year End Holiday Celebration (December 18)
• Holiday Lights At The Bronx Zoo (December 23)
• The Dinner Detective Comedy Murder Mystery Dinner Show (December 23)
• Handel Messiah (December 23)
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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Wednesday! I'll see you back in your inbox tomorrow morning with another update.

— Dashiell Allen

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