NYC NOW - April 12, 2023 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: April 12, 2023

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is suing Ohio Representative Jim Jordan over what he called a “brazen and unconstitutional attack” of his case against former President Donald Trump. Also, New York State’s budget is 2 weeks late, WNYC’s Jon Campbell has the details. And finally, the head of the New York City police officers union, Pat Lynch, won’t be seeking re-election. It means after over two decades, the 23,000 officers that make up the Police Benevolent Association will have a new top advocate. Lynch’s became a household name to local news viewers and tabloid readers for his vociferous support of officers, and willingness to directly engage with politicians. In 2014, he famously blamed de Blasio for the death of two officers, and later controversially endorsed former President Donald Trump’s re-election. WNYC’s Sean Carlson spoke about Lynch’s legacy with Spectrum News NY1 Criminal Justice reporter Dean Meminger, who has been covering Lynch for decades.

Good evening and welcome to NYC now. I'm Junae Pierre for WNYC. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is suing Ohio Representative Jim Jordan over what he called a brazen and unconstitutional attack of his case against former President Donald Trump. The lawsuit is a response to the subpoena of a former prosecutor from Bragg's office from the House Judiciary Committee, which Jordan leads. In court records, Bragg accused Jordan of overstepping his authority

by interfering in a local criminal prosecution. The DA's office is overseeing the investigation into Trump's payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, disguised as business expenses, which led to an indictment last week. The suit comes a day after Jordan's Judiciary Committee announced it would hold a hearing next week about brag and crime in Manhattan. Now to Albany, where New York's state budget is nearly two weeks late. The delay doesn't seem to be much of an issue for Governor Kathy. Hockel. WNYC's John Campbell has the details. The Democratic governor says a final budget must change the state's bail laws and include a robust housing plan, and she's willing to hold out until state lawmakers get on board. David Patterson was governor for three budgets, including in 2010, when talks

stretched into August. He says Hockel still has time before New Yorkers lose their patience. I don't see time as necessarily a factor at this point. But they would have to be. get to something like mid-May or June, then you start thinking that it starts to look a little irresponsible. Lawmakers have passed two short-term budget extensions to make sure state workers get paid. The latest extension runs out on Monday. Stay with us. There's more after the break. Patrick Lynch has led the New York City Police Officers Union since 1990. But in an announcement this week, Lynch says he will not seek re-election.

That means for the first time in over two decades, the 23,000 officers that make up the Police Benevolent Association will have a new top advocate. Reelected six times by his union, Lynch is no stranger to city leadership and his public comments were often controversial. Dean Meminger is a criminal justice reporter for New York One. He talked with my colleague Sean Carlson about Lynch's legacy in city life. Lynch is really well known to people who follow the NYPD and cover the NYPD. For someone who's just tuning in right now, what do you think they need to know about what the head of the PBA actually does? Well, he represents his union members, those police officers who you see on the street of the five boroughs patrolling day in and day out. The one thing you should know about Pat Lynch, some people call him Patty, is that he is a fiery union leader.

So not all union leadership has as big of a public persona as Lynch. So why do you think he commanded attention in such an outsized way? Well, you know, the leadership of the NYPD, whether you're talking about union or at one police plaza, police headquarters like the police commissioner and the top chiefs, you know, this is a paramilitary organization. So union representation is very, very important. And that's what Pat understood. It didn't matter who he was up against. He would call them all sorts of names. At the end of the day, he wanted the best representation for his members.

He did that, but it came out of cost to the community. Can you talk more about the cost to the community and what effect this leadership has on, say, everyday New Yorkers? Well, especially when it comes to communities of color over the years, you know, Pat stood behind police officers. And as the union president, that's what he does. But he would often use language that some people thought was. borderline racist when talking about black suspects or even an individual who was shot and killed by police. He was always fiery and said things that angered people. And some points, people would say he actually helped to make that divide between the police department and communities of color

because he was so fiery. Lynch says that he is intentionally leaving right after the PBA and the city came to a preliminary agreement on a new contract. Can you talk about how his relationship with Mayor Adams has been and how that's different from previous mayors like DeBlasio, Bloomberg, Giuliani? Well, I think the union has always been in a fight with leadership at City Hall. I think when it comes to Mayor Eric Adams, you know, he is a former police officer, a retired police captain. So he came in immediately, Eric Adams, meeting with all of these police unions, trying to make friendly with them and to, you know, have everyone working together. But it still took some time to come up with this latest agreement for their paychecks and their salaries and health benefits and so on

and so forth. But I think he worked with the mayor. The mayor worked with him. But it still remains to be seen going forward. Will police officers be satisfied? Because in New York City, officers do a tough job and they often say they want more money. Let's talk about moving forward here because, again, Pat Lynch has been such a fixture for two decades, more than 20 years. What do you think rank and file police officers are going to be looking for in the next union leader? Well, I think they will want some of the traits that Pat Lynch has, like a union leader who

will go to bat for them every single time. But you understand that the police department, when Pat joined back in 19. is very different now in 2020, 203, 24, right? There's more diversity. So I think they will look for strong leadership, but also someone who could talk to their needs because even some officers of color were concerned

with the way Pat Lynch often spoke. Although a strong union leader, they were concerned about his language. So you have more black officers now, more Latinos, more women, more Asians. So they want probably some diversity in union leadership, even at the top. but also they want that person who's going to get them the money that they want and representation that they need.

That's New York One's criminal justice reporter Dean Memanjure talking with my colleague, Sean Carlson. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jenae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow. tomorrow.