NYC NOW - April 23, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

New York state property insurers are now banned from discriminating against low-income tenants, thanks to new legislation. Plus, police say they arrested more than 150 people Monday at protests at Columbia and NYU over the Israel-Hamas war. WNYC’s Ramsey Khalifeh has been covering the situation. He discussed the protests with WNYC’s Michael Hill. And finally, there’s heavy police presence in Lower Manhattan due to Former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial. But WNYC’s Stephen Nessen reports cyclists don’t feel safe commuting in the area.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Tuesday, April 23rd. Here's the midday news from Lance Lugging. New York State property insurers are now banned from discriminating against low-income tenants thanks to new legislation. As David Brand reports, the measures come after a WNYC investigation into the practice. Last year, WNYC found dozens of New York insurance companies routinely ask landlords if they rent to tenants with housing assistance vouchers, like Section 8, and deny them coverage if they do. Property owners, industry experts, and elected officials say it's a form of discrimination. They say the practice also forces landlords to pay higher insurance premiums, driving up total housing costs.

Now those questions about tenant characteristics are illegal. The new state budget prohibits insurers from requesting information about renter source of income and denying coverage based on how much tenants earn or how they pay the rent. As you've been hearing on WNYC, police arrested more than 150 people yesterday at protests at Columbia and NYU over the Israel-Hamas war. The NYU demonstration mirrored the one by protesters at Columbia University who've been on the campus lawn since last week. Julie Norris is from the Bronx and was protesting at NYU.

They're sparking action all across the country and it's just really beautiful. Meanwhile, Celia Steinhower joined Jewish students across the street to demonstrate their support for Israel. We are obviously stoned Zionists. We support our right to exist, our right to live in peace. The NYPD said they didn't have an official breakdown of the number of arrests at the schools or what the charges are or whether or not all of those arrested were students. Stay close. There's more after the break. For WNYC, I'm Michael Hill. Students intent encampments protesting the Israel-Hamas war continue to pop up at universities across New York City. Police made dozens of arrests overnight at protests at both NYU and Yale, echoing those early in the week at Columbia University.

Meanwhile, Columbia has informed students that classes will go hybrid through the end of the semester. semester. WNMAC's Ramsey-Khalifa has been covering the situation, and he joins us now. Ramsey, classes at Columbia were remote yesterday. What's the story today? So school's going to be resuming all in-person operations today, but here's the caveat. The school is enlisting a fully hybrid option on the Morningside Heights campus for the rest of the spring. That's until the end of the semester. And that was announced by the Provost late last night. So that means students will be allowed to opt for a virtual option for the remainder of the semester. Now, as we've been reporting, Columbia is not the only campus we know

of seeing tents set up. Students at schools across the country have started their own. That includes right here in New York City at NYU and the new school. How are these other New York City encampments similar to the one at Columbia? Well, look, they're very similar. You know, these universities and students at these other schools have said that they've looked at Columbia as inspiration for the encampments. So yesterday, NYU set up their own encampment. That was in the plaza in front of the Stern School of Business. So NYPD officials told one of our porters last night that there have been dozens of arrests. And this is not just, you know, exclusive to New York City. This has become a national trend. So we've seen mass arrests at Yale yesterday, encampments at U, Michigan, and also

other universities across the country. I think it's even gone all the way to the west coast. late last week Columbia allowed the NYPD to enter campus and arrested more than 100 protesters. Have any more arrests been made at Columbia since then? Over the weekend, there has been a couple of arrests. But here's an important note. These have all been people outside the university campus protesting, whether in support or against the encampment inside the campus. These are people who are likely not students nor have any affiliation with the ongoing encampment. Yesterday we also reported that I think another, there was two more people who were arrested outside of school grounds that was confirmed to us by NYPD in our reporting yesterday.

But again, it appears that the university realized that arresting all of these students in the encampment was not going to solve the problem. I mean, they sprouted right back up just a day later. And the next day, you know, the day after they were first arrested by police, that was that over 100 number that got so much national attention. Ramsey, what reasoning are universities in general using to explain potential arrests? So specifically to Columbia, the president that's Manus Sheafiq, she sent out her letter to the NYPD prior to that mass arrest event that we saw last week. And here's what it said. It said that the group has essentially been informed numerous times that, you know, both in person and in writing that they're not permitted to occupy the space. They also said they're in violation of universities' rules and policies, and they have to disperse.

Because of that violation, here's what they did. They said all university students participating in the encampment have officially been suspended, and therefore what that means is participants who are in the encampment are no longer authorized to be on university property and are trespassing. So that's the justification. They're saying that these students are now trespassing on our campus, even though they're students who pay tuition and go to that school. The White House, Mayor Adams, Governor Hockel, Tish James, among others, are decrying reports of anti-Semitic incidents on and near the campus during these protests. Do we have any clarity about what those incidents were? So the first thing I'll say is there hasn't been any formal reporting that has been verified, let's say, but, you know, by an entity or by the police.

But here's what we're seeing. There's been many videos posted to social media that show these disputes and, you know, possible anti-Semitic incidents outside the university ground. And I say that again, it's outside. Maybe some instances inside, but this was late at night away from the encampments. When I asked students in the encampment yesterday about these incidents, everyone says that they don't associate with the rhetoric that was being spewed in those videos, and they don't necessarily know the people who are involved in that. But at the same time, I don't want to discredit many of the Jewish students who go to Columbia. When we spoke with them yesterday, many of them

said they feel unsafe because of that rhetoric. They feel like, you know, they know friends who've been harassed by students. And many have actually left the city and gone back home. You know, it's also in line with Passover for the Jewish holiday. You know, one student told us that he's traveling all the way back to Los Angeles for a week and it's just going to take his classes remotely. That was double in my season. Ramsey Caliphate.

Thanks so much for being with us. Thank you, Michael. Former President Trump's criminal trial in lower Manhattan is in its second week and security is tight. WNMIC Stephen Nesson reports, while there's a heavy police presence, cyclists don't feel safe commuting in that area. In front of the courthouse on Center Street, there's an oversized white NYPD truck. Police say it's to prevent a vehicle from jumping the curb and killing people. Across the street is Collect Pond Park, which now has zip ties locking all the entrances, except one, which is monitored. by police. Last week, a man lit himself on fire there and later died of his injuries. As for getting

around there by bike? Honestly, it sucks. That's bike messenger Timothy Ramirez giving an honest assessment of the bike lane in front of the courthouse. It's a busy lane used by hundreds of cyclists a day, from commuters to delivery workers to people exercising. It's now fully blocked by police barricades. We're forced to go in with traffic, which nine out of ten is kind of danger. But other cyclists, like 61-year-old Richard's story, say after weeks of other high-profile trials, he's used to the messed up bike lanes. But it's always clogged up at the best of time, so it's okay. You kind of know it's a zoo, don't you? And it's just accepted.

Why don't you go a different route? Or do you like seeing the zoo? It's a good point. Habit, I think. A spokesperson for the NYPD says its goal is to keep vehicle traffic moving, while blocking the bike lane, is to prevent pedestrians from gathering in front of the courthouse. The trial is expected to last at least another six weeks. Stephen Nesson, WNYC News. Thanks for listening.

This is NYC now from WMYC. 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. See you this evening.