Why single domestic violence survivors can't get shelter in NYC despite empty beds

Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay

Weather: ⛅ Partly cloudy, highs in the upper 60s. The city will start heating up tomorrow.

It's Friday in New York City, where single people seeking shelter from domestic violence are routinely denied beds — even though there’s space for them.

Because domestic violence shelters were built for families with children, the state pays providers on the assumption that most survivors are coming with kids.

That means providers lose money when they put a single person in a room meant for two people — making it cost-prohibitive to accept too many single people.

Here's how a new state bill would fix the problem and prevent these vulnerable New Yorkers from becoming homeless.

And here's what else is happening:

• Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers are set to impose a 1% tax on cash purchases of New York City homes that sell for $1 million or more.
  • The cash home-sale tax, which is expected to be part of a final state budget that's now more than six weeks late, is separate from the proposed pied-à-terre tax.
• The MTA said Long Island Rail Road service to Penn Station remains "extremely limited" this morning in an ongoing transit meltdown caused by an East River tunnel fire.
• The FDNY said a May 6 fire that killed three people in Mott Haven was "intentionally set with gasoline" by a suspect who was arrested yesterday.
• City officials want to deploy a fleet of fully electric refrigerated barges on the waterways to replace diesel-spewing trucks that haul food in and out of Hunts Point.
• NYU said it's working with police to identify whoever put a flag with swastikas surrounding the Star of David atop a university building during a graduation event this week.
• The Verbatim Salon, a monthly theatrical series where actors perform word-for-word interviews with immigrants about their journeys and interactions with the U.S. immigration system, has flourished off Broadway and will soon expand to other cities.

• Content creation counts as experience, congressional candidate Jack Schlossberg has argued.
• Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he doesn't plan to attend the Israel Day on Fifth parade at the end of the month.
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a champion of the Green New Deal, has not been especially vocal about Gov. Hochul's rollback of New York's climate laws.
• StreetEasy says it'll take a New York City household making the median income ($105,481) 20 years to save for a down payment on a median-priced home. (Also, the city's median rent is now a record $4,120 a month.)
• There's a new sculpture of a naked woman on top of a washing machine outside the New Museum.
• Matthew McConaughey — who co-stars in Salesforce AI ads — is trademarking his voice, likeness and iconic quotes ("Alright, alright, alright!") to protect against AI.
• Rich Boomers are going to pass down some cool if finicky classic cars.
• The Mets.