NYC NOW - August 19, 2024 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: August 19, 2024

The family of a man who died at the Rikers Island Jail in 2022 is suing the city of New York, for allegedly allowing him to ingest a fatal dose of fentanyl. Plus, New York’s law criminalizing adultery has been on the books since 1907, but WNYC’s Jon Campbell reports on a pending bill that would repeal it. Also, WNYC’s Bryant Denton looks into a popular activity in the gaming world that’s also gaining momentum in Bushwick, ahead of the return of Play NYC.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC, I'm Jene Pierre. The family of a 26-year-old man who died at the Rikers Island jail in 2022 is suing the city of New York. They allege Gilberto Garcia was allowed to ingest a fatal dose of fentanyl because Riker's staff didn't do their required rounds when he took the drug. They also say the staff took five minutes to notify emergency response. after other detainees called for help. According to the lawsuit, Garcia's brother, who was also jailed at Rikers at the time, intervened to administer first aid and the overdose medication Narcan when jail guards were

slow to respond. The city's law department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Believe it or not, if you cheat on your spouse in New York State, you could be committing a crime, but that may not be the case much longer. WMYC's John Campbell explains. Attorney Timothy Tippins smokes a pipe while we chat in his suburban Albany driveway. We're both sitting in camp chairs. He's wearing a ball cap that says, we the people, are pissed off.

I teach a course on matrimonial law and practice, and part of that is the grounds for divorce. He's been teaching at Albany Law School since 1986, and each year he gives his law students some advice. If adultery comes up, have your client plead the fifth, because in New York. York? Adultery is a crime. What reaction do you get from your student? Shock. Everybody's shocked. Nobody would think that in the year 2024, adultery is still a glass-be misdemeanor that could carry months or whatever it is in jail. New York is one of just 17 states with an adultery law in the books. It's been there since 1907 back when the state was trying to discourage people from getting a divorce. And it carries a maximum

of sentence of 90 days in jail. But that could soon change. State lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year that would remove it from the state's penal code. And now it's up to Governor Kathy Hokel whether to sign it into law. I would find it extremely surprising if the governor had a problem with signing this bill. That's state Senator Liz Kruger, a Manhattan Democrat who sponsored the bill.

She told me she first learned of the adultery law more than two decades ago when Republicans were trying to pass welfare restrictions for people evading her crime. She recalls flipping through a list of misdemeanors that she keeps in her desk. And it's this enormously long list of things that, frankly, I thought were somewhat amusing. When the bill came up for debate on the Senate floor in 2002, she started asking the Republican sponsor, what about this crime? What about that one? And adultery, that's also a misdemeanor. And the looks on my colleague's faces if I had had a...

camera. Oh my God. There were cameras, actually. Republican Senator George Maziarz was captured letting out the slightest chuckle as he broke into a huge, uncomfortable smile. It's not against me. It's misdemeanors. It's a misdemeanor, sir. Only about a dozen people have faced adultery charges in New York over the last 50 years. My name is Brian Degnan. I'm an attorney in Batavia, New York. Degnan took the law professor, Timothy Tippin's class. back in 2004. Seven years later, a married 41-year-old woman was charged with adultery in Degnan's hometown.

She was caught in a sex act with a man in a public park. Degnan took her on as a client. I had all kinds of people email and about it at the time. I mean, it made national news. It was over what? Over two consenting adults engaged in a private act. The charge was eventually dropped

and the woman pleaded guilty to public lewdness. But the damage was already, done. When she later faced charges in a totally unrelated case, all the news articles noted she was once charged with adultery. She would never escape that charge as long as she lived in Batavia and I was with her for life. And that's why I call it the Scarlet A. So far, there hasn't been much opposition to repealing the adultery law. But Bill Donahue is president of the Catholic League, a national advocacy group. He says the law should stay on the books. concerned about the cautioning of our society and the kind of nonchalant attitude that men will have,

it sends a signal, and I don't think it's the right signal. That's not to say all Catholics are against a repeal. The Catholic Church in New York hasn't taken a position on the bill, but says not all sins should be a crime. Governor Hokel has until the end of the year to sign or veto the legislation. A spokesperson says she's reviewing it. That's WMYC's John Campbell. New York City gamers are gearing up for the return of a major video gaming conference. We'll get into that after the break. The Jaffet Center will soon host the video gaming conference PlayNYC.

The event returns on August 23rd and will feature playtesting, a popular activity in the gaming world that's also gaining momentum in Bushwick. Reporter Bryant Denton has the details. In the back room of a bar in Bushwick, a number of gamers are gathered around a laptop, taking turns to play a video game. There's just a bunch of tables set up here, and a lot of people had their games up because I opened up my name. That's Vivat Madan, a video game developer visiting the U.S. from Hong Kong. He's at Brookland in Bushwick, presenting his game Run Gun at a playtest. The concept behind playtesting is pretty simple. Attendees play unfinished games and give feedback to the game's developers.

I get to kind of focus on, you know, writing more code, implement new features, but also talking to people who are interested in helping me out with the game, you know, like I'm not working on this by myself. For independent creators like Madan, the events are a way to gain exposure and get input. They've become hugely popular in the underground gaming community where a DIY spirit prevails over corporate gaming. Alec Polsley is the owner of Brookland. He was drawn to playtesting after going to the gaming conference.

PlayNYC, but says the events weren't happening as often as he would have liked. So in March, he launched a mini version of PlayNYC with the events organizers play crafting. How do we like keep the buzz going? How do we allow for developers throughout the year to come out and playtest? And obviously a smaller setting than play in YC, but kind of keep the community engaged. Yeah, I mean, I was excited when we started brainstorming what a monthly series would look like. A few blocks south of Brooklyn is Wonderville. That's where we're going to be able to be in I met Mark Klebeck and Stephanie Gross. The husband and wife team got their start working with music venues over a decade ago.

Some were synonymous with the DIY music scene that sprung up in Bushwick and Williamsburg in the neighborhood's industrial spaces. We were in this warehouse. It was like totally not legal and it just feels... Well, it had... No, it wasn't. I'll just say it's nice to have licenses and like, you know... We're very illegal now.

We're all completely legal now, but... The couple got into playtesting. when Wonderville opened in 2019. But as they tell it, this is always something we've wanted to do because we've always seen the value in playtesting and everybody's making games, they need feedback. And so just having a venue for you to, like, show your game to people

and, like, let them... And inspire other people by, like, showing your game, you know. Bushwick's small but energetic playtesting scene isn't unlike the music scene that took root there in the early odds. Instead of indie bands, Wonderville makes it a point to feature games only made by indie developers. The running joke is like, you won't find Pac-Man here. Can you kill the potato or no?

Yeah, you can kill him, but he's huge. On a typical night, as many as 15 games may be featured at Wonderville, and things can get pretty loud. Sam Pownell came to Wonderville from Harlem to try out playtesting for the first time. I played a lot of really cool games, and it was a good time. It's fun to talk to people who are creative in a sort of interactive sense. It's something you don't get in a lot of other art forms. Indie creator Madonna says the energy in Bushwick's playtesting scene is unmatched anywhere else.

But yeah, there is a scene in Hong Kong as well. It's obviously like over here the intensity of it is at a different level. For their part, Klebeck and Gross have built sort of an incubator for DIY developers. Klebeck says it's gratifying to see video games come to life. And it's amazing to see progress people make from one month to another. all play a game that'll have one character and then the next month it has five characters. And you're like, oh my God, you like did all this work because it's a month later. Wonderville and Brookland host free playtest nights every month.

PlayNYC returns as part of anime NYC on August 23rd. That's reporter Bryant Denton. It's Fan Week and the U.S. Tennis Association is rolling out the rare carpet for the U.S. open seven days before the first official match. grounds at the Billy Jane King National Tennis Center in Queens are free and open to the public all week long. Events include exhibition matches between current and retired tennis grades, as well as concerts and food. A full list of events is up on the U.S. Open website, and the main event, the tournament itself, starts next Monday. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC.

Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Jenae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.