NYC NOW - August 1, 2023 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: August 1, 2023

New Jersey’s Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver has passed away. Plus, members of the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild rallied in New York City as the City Council voted on a resolution to support them. And, the city is in the market for a new head of housing. Also, Mayor Eric Adams says there’s no more room for migrants in the city. And finally, there’s a boom of street vendors across the five boroughs. WNYC’s Arya Sundaram takes us to Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights.

Good evening and welcome to NYC Now. I'm Jenae Pierre for WNYC. We begin in New Jersey, where Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver has passed away. The 71-year-old was hospitalized Monday for an undisclosed medical issue while filling in for Governor Phil Murphy, who's out of the country for a planned vacation. That leaves State Senate President Nick Scutari as acting governor. Murphy is scheduled to return to the U.S. on August 13th. the administration hasn't yet announced how or if those plans will change in light of Oliver's death.

The Essex County Democrat made history as the first black woman to serve as Speaker of New Jersey State Assembly. In a statement following her death, Murphy said Oliver's legacy served as an inspiration for millions of women and girls everywhere. The unions representing striking actors and writers gathered at City Hall Park Tuesday as the City Council voted on a resolution to support them. Members of the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild were joined by city council members along with Representative Dan Goldman. SAG after President Fran Dresher led the rally. A few weeks ago, she went viral with an impassioned speech that blasted Hollywood Studios. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us.

This is the first time actors and writers are striking together since 1960. They're hoping for better pay and protections from artificial intelligence technologies. Mayor Eric Adams is once again in the market for a new head of housing, as New York City faces record high rents and surging homelessness. WNYC reporter David Brand has more. The mayor's office is looking for a candidate to help steer the city through its deep, affordable housing crisis. The new executive director for housing position, position pays up to $210,000, according to job listings. But it's not exactly a housing czar.

It's more like a functionary who will coordinate city housing agencies and report to Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. That clear hierarchy addresses a problem with Adam's last attempt to put someone in charge of housing. He hired Jessica Katz as the city's first chief housing officer, but created a power vacuum where she and Torres-Springer split responsibilities. A city hall spokesperson says the position is crucial to reaching Adams' goal of 500,000 new homes over the next decade. There's no more room for migrants coming to New York City. That's according to Mayor Adams. In Midtown Manhattan, more than 100 people have been left to sleep on the street outside the city's central intake center at the Roosevelt Hotel. Most of them are waiting for shelter placement from the city.

Fufana Ahmed says he's been sleeping outside the hotel for five days and hasn't been able to bathe or brush his teeth. Advocates say the city has a legal obligation to promptly place people in shelters in a timely fashion. Stick around. There's more after the break. Neighborhoods across New York City have seen a boom in street vendors in recent months. WNYC's aria Sundaram reports from Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights. Every few minutes, the train, maybe the 7 or the F, rattles from above. Generators buzz from the back of food trucks and oil crackles for cooking empanadas.

This high traffic street has long been a hub for immigrant street vendors, but now there are more than ever. Anna Kareto and her husband started selling tamales outside the train station two. years ago. When we came here, it was like three vendors. And already, look, pool house. As locals lost their jobs during the pandemic, many like Anna and her husband turned to street vending. And now the city's latest wave of migrants has joined them.

Over 50,000 are now staying in city shelters. Among them is a man named Yvonne and his wife and two kids from Colombia. They've been in the city for seven months, and Yvonne's been struggling to get a steady job without a work permit. Three weeks ago, they set up shop down the street, selling fried plantains. Over the years, what we've seen is that newer waves of immigrants are, of course, held back by the lack of immigration reform and how hard it is to get working papers. That's the state's senator in the area, Jessica Aramos. So they end up doing what's easiest, or perhaps the easiest business to put together,

which is, of course, to cook food and sell it. For some elected officials, the vending boom has come with more complacent. complaints, like the newcomers not taking out their trash or blocking the sidewalk. But many just don't know the maze of rules they're supposed to follow. So the non-profit street vendor project has been canvassing the new vendors on Roosevelt Avenue, handing out flyers and checklists to help them be better neighbors and stay out of police crosshairs. This year, the project's been getting more. This year, the project's been getting more calls, walk-ins, and requests for trainings and outreach than ever before.

That's according to their deputy director, Karina Kaufman Gutierrez. But their group is small and doesn't always have the capacity. These services are in such demand. Like, we need our city to step up and help these entrepreneurs do their job well. Yvonne said he was so thankful for their help, because he just wants to play by the rules. He says he says he wants to help buy his family clothes and food, but also provide jobs and support the city he's grateful to. And he hopes soon to do it all on the books. That's WNYC reporter Aria Sundaram.

This summer marks the 50th anniversary of hip-hop's emergence on the streets of the brink. Bronx. To celebrate this milestone, we're shining a spotlight on women from the region who've been impacted by hip-hop and are making their mark on its culture. My name is Tatiana Desarduan. I'm based in Jersey right now, working in New York, and I'm a street and club dancer, specifically hip-hop and house. Those are my two main styles. I am originally from Switzerland and originally, originally from Haiti. My both parents are Haitian, but I was born and raised in Switzerland. And I started dancing. doing Afro-Hatian dance.

I did a little bit of ballet when I was little, but really the predominant stuff that I was doing was mainly Afro-Hasian dance, and then very early after I started doing street and club dance, specifically hip-hop. What I love mainly is the music. That was the first appeal to what I was drawn to was the sound, the way, the expression,

and the representation he would give me. That's what I love about hip-hop. There were so many things into the music that I could connect to. I could relate because of the message, because of the people. You know, I'm a black woman. So for me to see black people affirming themselves or something, I guess, at a specific time, was needed. So very earlier, I was attracted to that. The women I was always being, they have always been part of the history, the narrative, an important part of the culture.

a lot of my mentors, male dancers, would tell me that the reason why they dance is because of women, from various reasons. The women has always been a true inspiration to them on the dance floor. And it's true that it's a male-dominated culture, but what we bring in the community is a sense of connection. In every places I've been, all the women in many countries I've been from the street and club dance culture, always have been the people bringing people together in terms of organization, making sure the culture keeps going. And this is the most inspiring thing for me to be around people that constantly elevate. There's no limits of age, time. It's constant elevation. That's one thing that inspires me a lot. Tatiana Deserdois is a street and club dancer based in New Jersey and working in New York.

Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. We'll be back tomorrow.