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Dear New Yorkers,

Get ready to hear new famous voices during your commute.

The MTA is testing new audio tracks in the subway — and new documents detail the agency’s plans for a pair of one-year pilot programs that will gauge rider reaction to announcements aboard trains and to some that will, at select stations, play paid advertisements for sporting and entertainment events.

On-train announcements could feature celebrities sticking to the MTA’s script on pre-recorded next-stop and public-safety messages. The promotional spots are set to be heard in stations with accompanying display ads.

Both trial runs are designed to raise money for the agency through fees charged to program partners.

But striking the balance between raising money and spiffing up the announcements without annoying busy commuters may be tricky.

​​“Audio ads will just lead to more sound clutter and can lead riders to tune out what they need to hear — and also take time away from information-sharing,” said one member of an advisory committee to the MTA. “Hopefully, they are limited, very limited.”

Read more about the new pilot programs here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Friday’s Weather Rating: 7/10. Yes, it’s chilly again to start the day. But by this afternoon, high temperatures will reach the lower 60s with lots of sunshine. Warmer weather is ahead this weekend, too!

Our Other Top Story

Migrants are bracing for a new round of rules about their stays in city shelters, which are expected to be announced in the coming days. Soon, any adult migrant without children seeking shelter will be warned they will only get one 30-day stay, which can only be extended under “extenuating circumstances. They may appeal for a shelter extension if they can prove they made “significant efforts” to leave. The new system — which now has separate rules for migrants than for other homeless people — was hammered out in a March settlement with Coalition for the Homeless and the Legal Aid Society over the city’s decades old “right to shelter” protections.

Reporter’s Notebook

Residential Permits

New York City issued permits for only 16,359 residential units last year, according to figures released Thursday by the City Planning Commission. That’s the lowest total since 2016 and a fraction of the 500,000 new homes Mayor Eric Adams says is necessary to solve the city’s housing crisis.

The reason, City Planning said, was the developers were unwilling to begin new rental apartments without the 421-A property tax break, which expired in June 2022. The legislature finally replaced 421-A with a new abatement earlier this month.

City Planning also noted that 10 community districts in The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens last year built as much housing as the other 49 combined. The Adams administration’s City of Yes zoning amendment, which will reach the City Council for a vote by the end of the year, is designed to facilitate new housing in the neighborhoods where it is not being built today.

— Greg David

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Friday, April 26 through Tuesday, April 30: Spring Break in Prospect Park, a variety of family-friendly nature activities. Free from 12 to 5 p.m. at the Prospect Park Audubon Center. Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27: The 12th Annual Black Comic Book Festival, an event featuring panel discussions, workshops and cosplay showcases to celebrate Black comic books and graphic novels. Free from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. Sunday, April 28: NYC Discovery Lab: Nature in the City, an exploration of how NYC’s environment has evolved over time. Free with admission from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Museum of the City of New York.

THE KICKER: One of the last two commercial movie theaters in The Bronx is set to close next month — meaning the borough will only have one movie theater left.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Friday.

Love,

THE CITY

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