'It can't stand': Battle lines drawn for $30-minimum wage bill for NYC

Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay

Weather: ⛅ Partly sunny, highs in the mid 40s.

It's Thursday in New York City, where supporters and opponents of a proposed $30-minimum wage for New York City are preparing for a battle.

City Councilmember Sandy Nurse, who introduced the minimum-wage legislation, argues that "the workers we rely on, the deli guy, the delivery worker, the cashier, simply can’t afford to live with dignity here," adding that "if we fail to act now, the businesses that depend on their labor will suffer as well."

But business interests including the Queens Chamber of Commerce are pushing back, saying a recent spike in oil prices and the rise of artificial intelligence could both contribute to workers getting laid off if wages go up.

And then there's the big logistical question: Is New York City even allowed to raise its own minimum wage, or is that the state's job?

Here's what else is happening: 

• Cyclists and e-bike riders in New York City will no longer face criminal charges — or have to appear in criminal court — for minor traffic violations, Mayor Mamdani announced yesterday.
• Gregory Anderson, Mayor Mamdani's pick for sanitation commissioner, would take over the job of trying to get the city's mountains of sidewalk trash bags into bins.
• Luigi Mangione's lawyers said he wants to delay his upcoming federal stalking trial — and help pick his own jury.
• Mayor Mamdani is ordering the NYPD to release all body-worn camera footage within 30 days of major incidents, formalizing a practice that was not consistently met before Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch took over the department.
• A correctional officer at the troubled Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn was arrested on charges that he sexually abused a detainee, federal prosecutors said.
• Jersey City is seeking a record-breaking $150 million cash injection from New Jersey’s state government to fill its budget deficit, even as a new governor tries to rein in spending and address a $3 billion shortfall of her own.

• Police said a 33-year-old man recently walked into six different Chase branches around the city, slipped a teller a note each time demanding money, and walked out with $320 on one occasion, then $265, $20 and nothing on the other three attempts.
• This old pothole in Allerton just can't stay fixed.
• A new bill in the City Council would limit grocery store self-checkout users to 15 items.
• A new bill in Albany would require homes and commercial properties to turn off their porch lights between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. to decrease light pollution and protect birds.
• State corrections officials said they caught a drone that dropped contraband, including knives and "leafy" green stuff, onto the grounds of an upstate prison.
• Congrats to the Howard Bison on their first-ever men's March Madness victory.
• SEE IT: A possum relaxing with the stuffed animals on a toy shelf in a Tasmanian airport shop.