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Dear New Yorkers,

Along the banks of Randall’s Island, dozens of people are living in a constellation of tents, cooking over open fires and even bathing in the East River on steamy afternoons.

The encampment, just a few yards away from a large adult shelter on the island that houses thousands of migrants, has grown in recent months.

Many of the people camping there say they did so after getting ejected from the nearby shelter when their 30-days ran out, under the increasingly strict rules implemented by Mayor Eric Adams to try to decrease the number of migrants in city shelters.

When THE CITY visited the encampment this week, dozens of men and women, mostly hailing from South America and West Africa, milled around the waterfront, listening to Reggaeton, braiding each other’s hair, washing and cooking. Others fortified their tents with plastic tarps in preparation for Tropical Storm Debby.

“We’re here, awaiting what comes, because where are we going to run to,” asked Guillermo Contreras in Spanish. The 23-year-old from Colombia said he’d been living by the riverside for three months. “We don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Read more here about the situation on Randall’s Island.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Thursday’s Weather Rating: 2/10. Sigh. Cloudy and humid with periods of showers and storms expected throughout the entire day. Rain could be heavy at times with localized flooding — again. The vibes are gross.

Our Other Top Stories

Happy, the elephant who is one of the Bronx Zoo’s main attractions, hasn’t been seen in public for three weeks now. An advocacy organization called the Nonhuman Rights Group that normally sends a person to monitor elephants every day is calling on the zoo to release veterinary records or other proof that she is not in distress. The Zoo said previously that both its elephants are in “good health” while Happy is “opting” to stay out of sight. Ever thought the city just feels a bit less crowded in August? THE CITY crunched the numbers, and found out that that is, in fact, true. Officials tested a site for a floating swimming pool in the East River yesterday, on the shores of the Lower East Side. The project dubbed “+POOL” is at least a year away but set to have a permanent location next to Pier 35, with three months of operation funded by the city and the state.  Curious what enrollment trends are like in New York City public schools? Chalkbeat has five takeaways, from poverty levels to the number of students who identify as non-binary.

Reporter’s Notebook

Apartments Trend Smaller as Rents Get Bigger

During the pandemic, New Yorkers opted for larger apartments, especially if they were working from home.

Now with rents at historic highs, city dwellers have begun to downsize, according to the monthly real estate figures in the Elliman Report released Thursday. The average newly rented apartment size is down almost 10% so far this year, it found.

On the surface it seems like good news: In Manhattan, median rents in July dipped by $100 from the same month a year ago to $4,300. The median rent in Brooklyn fell by 9% from a year ago to $3,600 as the average size in the borough fell for the ninth time.

But per square foot rents are unchanged since the decline is purely because more people are renting smaller apartments.

The only bright spot for renters is the decline in mortgage rates, which fell to 6.55% this week, the lowest level in 15 months. Rents in New York have been pushed up in part because many New Yorkers who would like to buy condos, coops or homes have been trapped in their apartments because mortgages make homeownership too expensive.

Lower rates may allow them to buy — freeing up rentals for others.

— Greg David

This summer, THE CITY reporters have been hitting the often-blazing pavement to cover all stories that you read right here in the Scoop, like what to do when your apartment is too hot or where to find a place to cool off. All the work our reporters do is made possible by reader support — each donation makes a difference. And this week, when you make a donation of $30/month, we’ll send you a limited edition summer tote and water bottle as a thank you. Donate today.

Things To Do

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

Thursday, Aug. 8: A weekly storytime for kids in both Spanish and English. Free from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum in Manhattan. Friday, Aug. 9: A Game Devs of Color Expo hosted by the New York Public Library. This in-person meetup includes a showcase of 10+ new games by local talent. Free ($20 suggested donation) from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in Manhattan. Saturday, Aug. 10: A community science event hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Park staff and marine biologists, during which they’ll use a seine net to catch and release organisms living below the surface of the East River. Free from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Pier 4 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

THE KICKER: A Brooklyn man and self-proclaimed “cybersquatter” bought the domain name HarrisWalz.com — years before the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket was finalized this week. He just made $15,000 selling it to someone who didn’t appear connected to a campaign, reports NPR.

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

Love,

THE CITY

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