NYC NOW - April 26, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

An MTA pilot program that made certain bus routes free is coming to an end after it was omitted from this year’s state budget. Meanwhile, warning labels could be on the way for sugary foods and drinks at chain restaurants in New York City with over 15 locations, following a suggestion from the Health Department. Plus, two years ago, Rob Menendez had an easy path to the House of Representatives, filling the seat once held by his father, Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey. However, the younger Menendez’s advantage has virtually disappeared since his father faces bribery and corruption charges. Now, Menendez Jr. faces a tough primary challenge from the mayor of Hoboken, Ravi Bhalla. WNYC’s Nancy Solomon reports. Finally, for the last Friday of National Poetry Month, we hear a poem from 10-year-old Kayden Hern of Harlem.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Friday, April 26th. Here's the midday news from Kerry Noe. An MTA pilot program making certain bus routes freeze coming to an end after it was nixed in this year's state budget. State lawmakers said last year that one bus route in each bus. borough would be free for riders, but they said extending the program beyond a year would require a cumbersome federal environmental review. MTA chair, John O'Leber, said the free routes

create confusion as the agency is trying to crack down on fair beating. Warning labels could be on the way for sugary food and drinks at chain restaurants in New York City. The City Health Department is suggesting any food business with more than 15 locations put a warning icon, next to any item with 50 or more grams of sugar, along with a warning label. The department is hosting a public hearing on the new warnings late next month. New York is conjoined by video conference or phone. Mayor Adams signed the so-called sweet truth law last year requiring the labels. The city has until June of this year to put it into effect for pre-packaged foods

and until December for other items. We'll see sunny skies today with highs around 60, mostly clear to next. night, lows in the mid-40s. Right now, 56 degrees. This is WNYC. Stay close. There's more after the break. On WNYC on Michael Hill. Two years ago, Rob Menendez sailed to an easy victory to the House of Representatives, taking a seat once held by his father, the current senior senator in New Jersey. But the advantage of the family named once gave Menendez Jr. has all but disappeared, as his father faces a trial on bribery and corruption charges. Now Rob Menendez is facing a tough primary

against the mayor of Hoboken and the mighty Hudson Democratic machine might not be able to help the first-term congressman either. WNIC's Nancy Solomon reports. Hoboken mayor Ravi Bala has come to Menendez territory on the hunt for votes. This is Union City, Senator Bob Menendez's hometown, And we're in a high-rise subsidized apartment building where loyalty to the Democratic machine runs deep. Hey, Ravi Bala, I'm the mayor of home. Welcome. I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm actually running for U.S. Congress. Bala is knocking on doors with progressive activist Hector O'Sagera. He lives in Union City and ran unsuccessfully against the machine in 2020.

This is a sort of place that has North Korea numbers of voting for. for the machine candidate, which in a normal year would have been Bob Menendez, followed by his son, Rob Menendez. And now that, you know, New Jersey's gone through this political earthquake, a place like this becomes competitive. Osagera is talking about a recent federal court decision that stops political party machines from giving their favored candidates better placement on the ballot. That decision, along with the corruption and bribery charges against senators, Bob Menendez is upending the primary in New Jersey's eighth district. Two years ago, the younger Menendez announced his run for the open seat and the entire Democratic establishment endorsed him,

including the man now challenging him, Ravi Bala. I want to see change within the eighth district. It's a district of working families who often don't have a seat at the table, partially because of the political structures in New Jersey. And I think this is probably the first time that I can remember as a grown adult where the race for Congress in the 8th District is an election, not a selection. And that's what democracy is about. The mayor is the son of Indian immigrants and a civil rights attorney.

Days after Bala was taking his campaign to Menendez turf, the Congress member was holding an event hosted by a Hoboken city councilwoman that featured a long list of elected officials from the city. Menendez is 38. He's a lawyer and was a commissioner for the Port Authority before becoming a congressman. He proudly touts his office's strong constituent services, which he says handled 1,500 requests in his first two years in Congress. At the forum, he offered detailed answers on transportation, immigration, and the political divide in Congress. Menendez also spoke to very. about the problems his father's indictment has caused for his re-election.

People know me, people trust me, and they know that I'm always going to show up for them. That's why we have the support that we have. That resonates with voters. It resonates with people who are stakeholders that, despite the challenges that exist because of my father and because of the last name, they trust me, they know that we're two separate people, and I know that I do the work and we'll continue to do the work. That's why we have the support that we have. The 8th Congressional District is the only one in the state that has a majority of Latino residents.

and Menendez supporters say it should be represented by a Latino, like the incumbent congressman. But Dan Casino, a pollster with Fairleigh Dickinson University, says the Menendez name, once a door opener, is now causing problems. When we tell voters when you're polling this race, you have voters saying, wait, Menendez is on the ballot? Like, they don't recognize that it's not his father. So that Menendez name now, in most of the state, is really just so toxic. And, you know, in the last public release poll, they've got Menendez's favorable is at 4%. And I think a lot that is probably people thinking he's his father, but he also hasn't done much to distinguish himself from his father in the past year.

Rob Menendez, of course, does think he's distinguished himself from his father. But the name that surely helped get him the congressional seat may be his undoing in the June 4th primary. Nancy Solomon, WNYC News. Our guests for this year's final Friday of Poetry Month is a 10-year-old from Harlem by the name of Caden Hearn. He made local news last year after he stole the show at Governor Kathy Hokel's inaugural ceremony. He stood on his tiptoes to see over the podium and delivered his poem to a standing ovation from the crowd. Caden goes to the Harlem Academy School and is a New York State Poet Laureate, he joins us now. Hey, Caden, how did you get to be invited to recite your poetry at Governor Hokel's inauguration?

I hear she invited you herself. Is that true? So how I got to be invited, I was, you know what the Apollo is, right? Yes. I got invited to Apollo to recite my poem there. And people were like, we have a special guest coming. And when she walked outside, it was the governor. And then I wanted to take a picture with her. So my grandma let me take a picture.

And I just wanted a picture. And she asked me, what did I do? I said I recited poems. I wrote and recited poems. And she said, let me hear one in my ear. And I told her one. And that she said, if I become the state governor, I'll invite you to my inauguration. And she kept her word.

That's great. You performed in front of so many people that day, Caden. I have to ask you this. Were you nervous at all? No. But there's the only reason why. Here's the reason. And before, when I spoke, I was nervous.

But I got used to it after. I used techniques, like, not looking at a lot of people and, like, looking in one straight direction when I speak. So you stay focused. How did you get into writing poetry in the first place? All right, so during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protest, I asked my grandmother a lot of questions because she used to watch the news a lot. and she said to write it down a piece of paper, my thoughts, and what I, if it was fair or not.

And it eventually became a poem, and then I just started writing more and more. What is it about poetry that you love? Poetry is a way that you can express yourself in different ways. And you brought a poem to share with us? Yes. Would you read it to us? Voices, so strong and proud. My ancestors used their voices to speak up.

loud, like Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, and John Lewis, our strong black voices they all bring. Some people don't listen to our voice. We should not have to fight with our fists. We fight with our words. Come on, let us be heard. I have a voice and I wanted to be heard, not silent like a little bird. Voices, we should be able to cheer and not be scared because our ancestors left us some powerful gears. Voices. We should have fun, bring joy and peace. Be free, fill the breeze of the wind.

Sit back and marinate in the sun. That sounds like so much fun. Voices. We should not have to run. We should have hope in our ancestors and the happiness they have brung to us. Our ancestors we always can trust. Voices.

Our genes are so strong as we thrive in a black aura. Our skin tones are so beautiful, with beautiful natural hair. Like they say, black don't crack, and we should never hold back. We stand up and fight. We never forget all our civil rights. Voices, they thrive in my head. I have no remorse or dread. Our ancestors fought through slavery

To me, they aren't dead I still hear voices in my head Voices That was great It's beautiful Our guest has been 10-year-old poet Caden Hearn, Kaden, thanks for joining us

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