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Dear New Yorkers,

In March, a court settlement allowed the city to curtail its longstanding “right to shelter” protections — including by limiting migrants’ stays in city shelters to 30 days.

But thousands of adult migrants have received more time by applying for asylum or temporary protected status (TPS).

A spokesperson for City Hall said the city encourages migrants living in shelters to apply for asylum and TPS, and has helped 55,000 people do so. And 57% of the requests for shelter extensions received the first month the new rules were in place were approved for that reason, according to City Hall data.

The importance of applying for asylum to secure another shelter spot has been largely unclear to people navigating the process — at least up until the moment they’re seeking another cot.

Darwin, 31, a migrant from Venezuela who is not eligible for TPS, said he’d been asking for an appointment at the city’s asylum seeker application center for weeks. He spent five nights in early June sleeping on the sidewalk outside his old Brooklyn shelter in a lean-to he’d constructed out of a defunct Citi Bike, black plastic trash bags and a discarded couch cushion.

When he finally managed to submit an asylum claim on June 6, he got a 30-day shelter extension with ease.

Read more here about Darwin and other migrants caught in the middle of the city’s new shelter rules.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Friday's Weather Rating: 4/10. Oof. High temperatures in the lower 90s with lots of humidity and a few scattered storms this afternoon — with poor air quality to boot! The vibes are decidedly uncomfortable out there today.

Our Other Top Story

It’s no secret that New York’s legal cannabis rollout has been a mess. Which weed dispensaries are officially open? Wasn’t this program supposed to have a social justice angle? What was up with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “reboot” of the Office of Cannabis Management this week? If you’re finding it hard to keep track of everything, check out THE CITY’s guide to legal cannabis in NYC, which we’ve updated with all of the latest news and information.

Reporter’s Notebook

Parks Department Grows a Little Dashboard

The Department of Parks and Recreation on Thursday unveiled a new interactive map to help New Yorkers see where their neighborhoods bloom — or wither — when it comes to green space.

The Vital Parks Explorer compiles arboreal and recreational stats for each community board district and gives comparisons to city averages when it comes to access to nature trails, pools, and playgrounds.

The map was released as part of Vital Parks for All, the department’s $3.2 billion plan to improve public spaces and create more amenities.

“This initiative won't just make our city greener and more beautiful — it will help us tackle the most pressing challenges that our city faces, from combating climate change to ensuring public safety,” Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue said in a statement.

Part of that $3.2 billion bill includes new and renovated bathrooms and a $1 billion to fix current pools and build two new ones.

The agency still faces pruning due to budget challenges, with some programs being trimmed or eliminated outright and hundreds of jobs cut. As a candidate, Mayor Eric Adams vowed to commit at least 1% of the city’s more than $111 billion budget to the agency — but has so far not done that.

— Katie Honan

Council Could Help Deliveristas Score Tips

The City Council is weighing a bill that would force food delivery apps to offer customers the option to tip drivers up front, after major platforms removed or changed tipping options at checkout last winter when a minimum pay law for delivery workers went into effect.

The bill, introduced by Councilmember Shaun Abreu (D-Manhattan) in April, is part of a slate of proposals that will be heard later today, nearly three years after New York became the nation’s first city to set pay standards in the industry.

The Council will also hear bills that seek to make apps like DoorDash and Grubhub responsible for ensuring safe and lawful use of e-bikes and mopeds, by holding companies liable for fines for riding on the sidewalk and forcing them to confirm workers’ vehicles are registered. Lawmakers are also considering a bill that would establish safety standards — and leave it up to the companies, not workers, to ensure bikes are safe.

— Claudia Irizarry Aponte

Ask Nellie

After reading our story yesterday on a lack of language access for city services, Scoop reader Mercedes S. asked us “Where can I volunteer to teach English? I am totally bilingual.”

Here’s our answer: The Open Door, an organization supporting immigrant families, has a few locations where volunteers can teach English every week. Centro NYC in Lincoln Square has both formal and informal teaching opportunities — on Wednesdays, they host “Intercambio” nights where people get together and practice either English or Spanish. The Brooklyn Public Library is looking for English Conversation Group Volunteers.

The International Center has many different volunteer opportunities across a few sites in New York City, you could teach or become a “conversation partner." Hope New York, which curates ways to volunteer with Spanish-speaking New Yorkers, has a number of volunteer opportunities across different organizations in the city.

— Ella Napack

Have a question for our newsroom? Write to ask@thecity.nyc or submit a query through our Ask Nellie portal.

Things To Do

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

Friday, June 21: Head to the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park where you can see artists Ana Tijoux and Ambar Lucid take the stage from 7 to 9 p.m. Free with RSVP. Saturday, June 22: Grab your fins, tridents and sequins and join Coney Island’s annual Mermaid Parade, which starts at 1 p.m. from West 21st and Surf Avenue. Advance registration is closed, but a cash-only, day-of registration opens at 10 a.m. Sunday, June 23: One Love Little Caribbean Day, featuring music, dancing, craft vendors, Caribbean food and a Carnival workshop. Free from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Boathouse in Prospect Park.

THE KICKER: An osprey has given birth to hatchlings in Staten Island, atop a 60-foot platform that Con Edison workers had constructed for them. The workers built the safe nesting platforms for the protected birds after dismantling a nest that was a fire risk.

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

Love,

THE CITY

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