Midday News: Stolen Phones, SI Ferry Concessions, and December Meteor Showers

Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC NOW, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Monday, December 2nd. Here's the midday news. I'm Janae Pierre. A new law requires companies to cut service to cell phones as soon as someone reports them stolen. Here's WNYC's Charles Lane.

Charles Lane: The law aims to eliminate thieves' incentive to steal cell phones by quickly making them inoperable. Right now, some stolen phones can still be used internationally or through Wi-Fi connections. The legislation says Hochul signed it into law this week. The law is named after NYPD detective Brian Simonsen, who was killed in 2019 during the robbery of a T-Mobile store. Police said Simonsen confronted a man who was holding a fake gun. They said he was killed accidentally by a fellow police officer in a hail of more than 40 bullets. The NYPD detectives union called the law the best memorial Simonsen could have.

Janae Pierre: Major cell phone companies did not respond to your request for comment. Some good news for Staten Isley Ferry riders. The service's onboard concession stands are coming back. The city's Transportation Department and Economic Development Corporation say the snack and refreshment bars on the ferries will be back within the next two months. They've been closed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They'll be operated by coffee and donut chain Dunkin' as part of a 10-year agreement with the city. The Staten Island Ferry is the country's busiest municipal ferry service. About 45,000 passengers ride it on an average week.

34 degrees, mostly sunny and chilly. Today, you can expect highs around 39. Clear skies tonight with lows around 32. It'll be sunny again on Tuesday with a high around 41. Stay close. There's more after the break.

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David Furst: On WNYC, I'm David Furst. As the holiday lights go up around New York City, the December skies will also be shining with a colorful cosmic show. WNYC's Rosemary Misdary joins us for her monthly rundown of astronomical highlights. Welcome back.

Rosemary Misdary: Great to be back, David.

David Furst: Okay. If we bundle up and head to an appropriate dark location at night and look up, what can we see this month?

Rosemary Misdary: You will see one of the best meteor showers of the year. It's like they save the best for last or called the Geminids. That goes until Christmas Eve and it peaks December 13th with about 120 very bright, very colorful, and very fast meteors per hour.

David Furst: Really colorful, yes.

Rosemary Misdary: It's almost like they're in holiday lights. You'll see red, green, and blue. It depends on its chemical composition, but the thing is that when it peaks on December 13th, it's not going to be the best time to see it. If you want to see a really good show, you might want to catch the meteor shower the first nine days of the month, mostly because there'll be less moonlight. That's why the 13th is not a good date, because it's really close to the full moon. There's a full moon on December 15.

The key to all really good stargazing is getting the darkest sky you can. Part of that is avoiding when the moon is very close to full. My rule of thumb for that is the eight days before or after the new moon, including the new moon itself, so it's between the new Moon and the first quarter, or the last quarter and the new moon. That's when the moon appears its smallest.

It's really easy to find that information out. I use the Old Farmer's Almanac, the trusty and tried-true source, but you can also go online and do a search of moon phases for the month of December, and it'll show you what phase the moon is in each day this month. That'll help you figure out what days are the best for going stargazing.

David Furst: All right, well, I definitely want to catch the colorful Geminids meteor shower, but what planets can we see this month?

Rosemary Misdary: The first planet that's going to rise in the sky is going to be Venus. It's going to be super bright. Many people look up in the sky and they see this really bright object and they think that must be a plane that hasn't moved in a really long time, or it's a satellite. That is, in fact, Venus. You'll see it just after sunset. That'll be the first to rise, and it's very bright, and it tends to be lower in the sky. You'll see it in the western portion of the sky.

David Furst: Venus, the airplane that hasn't moved in a very long time. Got it.

Rosemary Misdary: The next up is going to be Jupiter, and that's going to rise around 7:00 PM. This month, it's going to be very bright because it's going to be in opposition. That just means it's going to be at its closest position to the Earth. You'll be able to see that all month long, but December 7th is when it's at its exact closest position to the Earth. If you see all these bright pinpoints in the sky and you can't figure out which one is which, on December 14, you'll see Jupiter appear next to the full moon and Taurus red star Aldebaran. You can place it using other things in the night sky as well.

David Furst: Well, Rosemary Misdary, thanks again for planning our December stargazing. Once again, dress appropriately. It gets extra cold when you're standing still on a winter night.

Rosemary Misdary: Yes, especially when you are looking for meteors, because if you're going to look for meteors, you're going to be lying on your back and you're going to be out there for a half an hour, maybe an hour, and you're going to want to dress warm.

David Furst: Okay. Bring along that coat. Thanks, Rosemary.

Rosemary Misdary: Thank you.

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Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC NOW from WNYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.

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