NYC NOW - April 3, 2024 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: April 3, 2024

Starting July 1st, EV drivers in New Jersey will pay an upfront fee of $1,000. Also, WNYC’s Elizabeth Kim looks into why a heated segment between Mayor Eric Adams and activist Olayemi Olurin became a viral political sensation. And finally, WNYC’s Michael Hill and Nancy Solomon discuss the reshaping of New Jersey politics if the county line ballot system comes to an end.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jene Pierre. It's about to get more expensive in New Jersey for drivers to buy electric vehicles. Beginning July 1st, EV drivers will pay an upfront fee of $1,000. Governor Phil Murphy says it's needed to help fund improvements to the state's aging transportation infrastructure. Other cars pay a gas tax to support that funding. The governor has also proposed phasing out tax exemptions for EV purchasers that have been in effect since 2004. Auto industry insiders worry this will chill demand as the state looks to reach its goal of all new car sales being zero emission by 2035.

Last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was in a heated debate with a progressive advocate on a national morning radio show. The back and forth went viral, racking up millions of views. WNYC's Elizabeth Kim looks into why the segment resonated and became a viral political sensation. Do a Google search of Oliami O'Lurin, and you'll discover three things about her. She's a former public defender. She's a left-leaning political commentator with over 150,000 followers on X, and she's no fan of the mayor. Nothing impresses me about Eric Adams, and I do mean nothing. So here's what pisses me off about Eric Adams.

I am a certified Eric Adams hater, but I'm a hater with lots and lots of reasons. In fact, she's called him the quote, worst mayor in America, which is why O'Loran was surprised to learn that Adams would be joining her as a fellow guest on the breakfast club. They said to me, oh, you're going to be in with the mayor. And I'm like, what? I'm like, ain't a way. Absolutely not. There's no way that's going to happen.

Instead, she thought, they're punking me. But the mayor did show up. And six minutes in, O'Laurin criticizes him for supporting a decision to bring the National Guard into the subway system. I didn't put the National Guards in the subway. The governor did. I know, but I know what you said. But you said, Eric. You stood with Governor Kathy Hokel and you co-signed that decision.

You did. And I'm not saying that as someone who's following social media. I'm saying that as an attorney in the city and an activist who follows everything that you do. If you, I'm glad you do. Because then you realize how I turned the city around. If you follow everything I do, you realize that I would. I would say no, but we could get to that next. The host of the show, Charlemagne the God, then warns the mayor.

Lusen up your time, you, Adam. It'll be a long day. The sparring went on for 50 minutes. And they said that you have brought back stop and frisk policies that are worse than they saw even during the Bloomberg era. But more importantly, they analyzed the neighborhood safe. Show me that. I could show you the report is available. And I know it's been available to you because your spokesperson has commented on it.

They did an analysis of over 10 precincts. You can't keep putting out stuff. That's not true. Clips of the interview. went viral and had the political world buzzing. Christina Greer is a political scientist at Fordham University. She says the mayor was clearly outmatched. One, she's a lawyer, so she's a good debater.

And two, let's be clear, the mayor's out of shape. Like, he hasn't debated anyone in a long time. She also says the interview highlights the contradictory ways the mayor talks about public safety. All the things that she said, we've all been saying, which is not directly to the mayor, right? In the sense that you can't have it both ways. Is this the safest big city in America? Is this a dangerous health case that needs more police? Which one is it?

Clips of the video circulated almost immediately after the show aired. One social media post by O'Laurin garnered over 3 million views. Some praised her for holding an elected official accountable. Others disparagingly described her as a, quote, woke activist. But some political strategists had a question. Why would the mayor agree to do an interview? with a political adversary. I asked the mayor at his weekly press conference.

Did you know that Olayemi was going to be there before you sat down for that interview? Or did they kind of pump you? Well, one thing for sure, I'm not a punk. He went on to say that he's willing to debate anybody. But O'Laurin says she's not expecting a rematch. I would be inclined to bet every dollar in my account right now. We are never going to see the mayor do want to vote. those again. We're never going to see it. In any case, the mayor knows how to reach her. After the show,

the two exchanged phone numbers. That's WMYC's Elizabeth Kim. In New Jersey, a judge's ruling dealt the county line ballot system a near fatal blow, and it could radically reshape politics in the Garden State. More on that after the break. The way New Jersey designs its election ballots is on the ropes. A federal judge granted Senate candidate Andy Kim, a temporary injunction last week, stopping the use of the state's county line ballot system for the June Democratic primary. That's a pretty good sign the judge could find the county line unconstitutional. He's also eventually going to consider a previously filed lawsuit that challenges the ballot design. For more, my colleague Michael Hill talked with WMYC's Nancy Solomon. This is all about that unique. Only in New Jersey system where

each county political party committee endorses candidates in the primary race, then those candidates all appear together on one line from the president all the way down to local city council members. What effect does the county line have? How would it be changed? It gives the impression that candidates on the county line are legit. And those, you know, out at the right side, what we call ballot Siberia are the fringe candidates or crackpots. Here's what Hetty Rosenstein, the former director of the communication workers of America and a leading progressive in the state told me about it. The ballot itself puts a thumb on the scale.

It has like a big giant neon light that says, vote everybody here. And don't look to the right. Without the line, party bosses will still run county political machines, but they won't have so much influence. Many candidates have been deterred from running because they know how hard it would be to win off the line. So we could see more candidates who challenge the establishment really, you know, step up and run.

So it sounds as if we'll see a lot more competitive primary races in New Jersey? Yeah, exactly. In 2023, when the entire state legislature was up for re-election and there were a record number of vacant seats available, there were still few competitive primaries, 13%. If you start seeing more competitive primaries, reformers and outsiders have an actual chance of winning some of those elections. You know, and so then we could start to see other significant changes in New Jersey politics. Like what, Nancy? Well, I spoke to about a half a dozen people this week who say the state legislature and specifically the majority Democrats will have to worry more about their re-election when they're fast-tracking unpopular bills.

Here's Mike Erasmussen, the director of the Rebovovich Institute for New Jersey politics. The impunity, right? The sense of the sense we can do what we want. It's not going to matter. We have these tools that shield us from public accountability. And I hope that goes away. Now that Tammy Murphy has dropped out of the Democratic primary for the Senate, what other races are on the ballot that could play out differently without the county line? Well, the House of Representative seat held by Democrat Rob Menendez is now in play. He's being challenged by Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bala, and without the Hudson County line, that could be a very close race. Rob Menendez now finds himself in kind of like a perfect storm of election problems.

In some ways, it was his father, Bob Menendez, who kicked off the whole series of unfortunate events when he was indicted. Tammy Murphy jumped into the race and got the immediate endorsement of a lot of the major party bosses. That ignited a revolt by the grassroots, which ultimately made the county line a central campaign issue. Then Andy Kim sued to stop it. The Tammy Murphy candidacy also raised the nepotism issue. So all this is to say, Junior Menendez is now facing a very tough re-election. And the end of the county line would also have an impact on next year's governor's race, wouldn't it? Yeah, it's going to be fascinating to see how this shakes down because, you know,

none of the candidates expected to run have any kind of statewide base, which is understandable. But now, if there's no county line, then it's not just 19 county chairs that they have to woo. They've got to go out and build support across the whole state. Besides the county chairs and the elected officials who run on the line, is anyone sad to see the line go? Not too many. I spoke with Rebecca Shear, who's a progressive activist and a member of the Essex County Democratic Committee. She's been working against the line and would be happy to see it go. But she made an interesting point, which is that she doesn't want to lose the positive elements of the party machines. I think having a strong Democratic Party is good. Big D Democrats. I see a lot of problems with the Democratic Party and things. I'd like to change, but it's still my party. And I think it's great that we can have this apparatus to turn out the vote. I just think we need to be more small D Democratic about it.

And then, Michael, I got a completely different perspective from John Bramnick, a moderate Republican state senator who's running for governor. He makes the argument that if the county party organizations all voted on endorsements at conventions with a secret ballot, then the system would be fair. He said the party organizations are and should continue to be gatekeepers to keep extremists out in ballot Siberia. It's an interesting point from one of the few moderate Republicans in the legislature. I mean, this is the guy who's watched his party shoot themselves in the foot in New Jersey by choosing far-right candidates who typically, you know, lose statewide general elections. It doesn't sound like the county line that was going to change that dynamic anytime soon.

No, I don't think it will. That's WNYC's Nancy Solomon talking with my colleague Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Junae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.