NYC NOW - April 18, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: April 18, 2023

We have an update to Southwest Airlines delays, there’s a new plan to develop new dorm-style housing for homeless youth in East Harlem, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams lobbies in Washington D.C. for help with the city’s asylum seeker crisis. And finally, Yesterday congressional lawmakers convened to discuss crime in New York City under the jurisdiction of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. It was a field hearing of the Republican led House Judiciary Committee. But some democrats called it a political stunt meant to intimidate the D.A.’s office, which is also leading the prosecution of former president Donald Trump. WNYC’s Sean Carlson sat with senior politics reporter Brigid Bergin and public safety reporter Samatha Max just a couple hours after the hearing, who were both there.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Tuesday, April 18th. Here's your midday news from Lance Lucky. Heads up if you need to catch a Southwest Airlines flight this afternoon. The FAA says Southwest paused all departing flights across the country due to an internal technical issue. But service is now back. Flight Aware shows more than 1,500 Southwest departures were delayed. A plan to build a dormitory-style apartment car. Complex in East Harlem is reviving an old New York City housing model with a modern twist. WNYC's David Brand has more.

LGBTQ Youth Services Group Allie Fornay Center is working with a developer on a new supportive housing site for homeless young adults. Tenants will have their own bedrooms, but share kitchens and bathrooms, along with a gym. Lyndon Hernandez co-chairs the city's Youth Action Board and advocates for homeless young people. He says the plan offers a much-needed housing option. It's a good resource for the community. to help diminish the housing crisis that we currently have. The project is a throwback to an era when New York City had 200,000 cheap, dorm-style, single-room occupancy apartments.

But the East Harlem Building will feature a range of services, like counselors. The local community board votes on the plan next month. Public advocate, Jamani Williams, is spending two days in Washington to call in federal officials to help the city confront its asylum-seeker crisis. He's hoping officials in the justice and housing and urban development departments come together to help accommodate the city's right. influx of migrants. What a good time to go down to D.C.

Make sure this remains on the front of people's minds that we still have a big issue that we have to address. We want to get the resources that are needed. We want to get the changes that are needed. Williams will hold a press conference tomorrow outside the U.S. Capitol. Congressional lawmakers met for a four-hour hearing about crime in Manhattan. It was a field hearing of the Republican-Lexamination. led House Judiciary Committee. They framed it as a look at the state of crime under Manhattan

District Attorney Alvin Bragg. But Democrats charged that it was a political stunt meant to intimidate the DA's office, which is also leading the prosecution of former President Trump. WMIC's senior politics reporter Bridget Bergen was there, along with public safety reporter Samantha Max. They both joined us and now with the latest. Bridget, you were inside the federal building. What was the scene like there? So, Sean, it was a bit chaotic. We're talking about the Javits Federal Building, which is a busy place on a normal day. You had media trucks and a lot of extra security.

Mayor Adams and Jerry Nadler, the congressman from Manhattan, actually did a press conference before the hearing even started inside the building on the second floor, trying to set up the Democrats' narrative. They're saying it's a political stunt. And as you said, prompted by Bragg's investigation of Trump and that crime was actually going down in the city. Up on the sixth floor was where the hearing actually was. It was also very tightly managed. There were eight witnesses and about two dozen lawmakers from across the country. And occasional eruption of protesters in the hallway. There was a group that was actually protesting the committee chair, Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan,

and they had to be escorted out by security. To give you a flavor of the kinds of arguments we heard, Jordan said the hearing was part of a Republican focus on crime, across the country. What better place to start than New York City, where videos of violent, senseless attacks appear almost daily, and where the DA of Lower Manhattan earned a reputation for caring more about the perpetrators of a crime than the victim. And Nadler, who is the ranking Democrat on the committee, said this.

We are here today in Lower Manhattan for one reason and one reason only. The chairman is doing the bidding of Donald Trump. And by chairman, of course, he was referring to Jordan. Sam, that's all what was going on inside. How does that compare with the scene outside the courthouse? I mean, if you went to one side of the building, you wouldn't have even known that this hearing was happening. It was just business as usual, a long line of people waiting to go in and have their normal appointments inside the building. But then if you walked around the corner, there were dozens of protesters. They were holding signs supporting Alvin Brag and criticizing House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan.

One group of protesters that Bridget mentioned, they were trying to disrupt the hearing. They had tried to first observe it. They weren't let in. So after they were kicked out of the building, they joined the rally outside. Hats off to the intrepid activists of Russia. And the protesters that gathered outside, they were calling on lawmakers inside the building to go back to D.C. and take action against gun violence. They want things like a ban on assault weapons, a national registry.

of gun owners and also things like housing and mental health care. Bridget, how are both signs trying to frame the issue of crime and did they agree on anything? You know, Sean, at times, it felt really like two different hearings, like two entirely different realities. I believe it. By and large, the Republicans were asking questions focused on the state's change to bail reform back in 2019 and also a directive from Bragg's office that altered their approach to prosecuting certain low-level offenses. Democrats repeatedly noted that the hearing was dealing with matters that were beyond congressional jurisdiction.

Bail reform is a state legislative issue, and they said it was more motivated by the Trump prosecution. I will say one thing that both sides had in common was there was remorse for the crime victims. We heard from Jose Alba. He was the bodega store clerk that was accused after he had stabbed a man. to death and self-defense. Bragg's office initially charged him and then dropped those charges. And then we also heard from two women who lost loved ones. Madeline Braim's son was killed in

2018, Jennifer Harrison, her boyfriend was killed in 2005. From both sides of the aisle, there was a lot of sympathy for these witnesses. But again, they had a different view on what their stories meant. Now, Sam, Republicans repeatedly criticized DA Bragg for what they're calling his pro-crime and anti-harmes. victim policies. But we should say that Bragg is not alone here, right? Isn't he part of a whole movement of prosecutors across the country that have similar policies, progressive policies? Yeah, there are prosecutors in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and several other cities that are trying to use their power as prosecutors to be a little bit more judicious in when they're bringing criminal charges, when to ask for bail, what types of plea deals to offer. And, you know,

these so-called progressive prosecutors, they are saying that the goal is to spend more time on violent crime, but on the flip side, they've gotten a lot of backlash from conservatives. Bridget, what, if anything, will come from this hearing? You know, Sean, we certainly were in another news cycle where we're talking about Trump, crime and guns. We're getting a preview from Republicans about how they might be using this crime issue going forward, something we saw, Congressman Lee Zeldin, who ran for governor, do somewhat effectively. Obviously, didn't win that race, but it became an issue that allowed them to flip four house seats. So we can expect to hear a lot more from Republicans on crime. For Democrats,

it was all about calling out the Republicans for backing Trump and blocking gun control. It's WNMIC's Bridget Bergen and Samantha Max. Hey, thank you so much for your reporting both of you. Thank you. Thanks. That was Sean Carlson, and this is 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.