NYC NOW - August 26, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: August 26, 2024

New York State's "Freelance Isn't Free" Act takes effect this week after initial delays. Meanwhile, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is waiving transit fares for buses, trains, and light rails starting Monday through September 2nd. Plus, a double chocolate chip muffin that went viral on TikTok is now making waves in the East Village, thanks to two women who imported it from the Olympic Village in Paris. WNYC’s Catalina Gonella reports. Finally, New York’s highest court has upheld the right for voters to continue voting early by mail, rejecting a Republican lawsuit aimed at overturning the nearly one-year-old law. WNYC Senior Politics Reporter Brigid Bergin has more.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Monday, August 26. Here's the midday news from Carrie Nolan. New York State's Freelance Isn't Free Act takes effect this week after some initial delays. WNYC's Tiffany Hanson has more. The law was meant to start in May before it was amended, pushing the start date to Wednesday. The Freelance Isn't Free Act known as FIFA is meant to provide new protections for independent contractors, requiring written contracts and timely payment for services worth $800 or more.

It also prohibits retaliation against freelancers who assert their rights. The state law builds on a similar New York City law that took effect in May of 2017. To comply with the new statewide law, employers must update contracts for freelance workers to ensure fair treatment. and provide clear payment terms. Transit riders are in for a treat. Starting today, Governor Phil Murphy is implementing a week-long transit fair holiday through September 2nd. Fairs will be waived on buses, trains, and light rail. Those who already got August passes will get 25% off their September passes.

The agency says it's a thank you to loyal customers after a summer of delays and disruptions. But not everyone's happy. The New Jersey Business and Industry Association says the fair holiday isn't, well, fair. That's after businesses were hit with a recent tax hike to shore up NJ Transit's finances. A double chocolate chip muffin that went viral on TikTok is making waves in the East Village, after two women teamed up to import it from the Olympic Village in Paris. WNYC's Catalina Ginella reports on its unlikely journey. A pop-up bake sale of the muffins at a chicie-money,

in the East Village sold out in 90 minutes, with fans lining up down the block. It started when Brooklyn-based designer Killeen Carolyn Zong saw the videos of Olympic athletes raving about the pastry earlier this month. She says she just needed to try it. This is the chocolate muffin that for Olympic athletes who are about to have the most intense competition of their lives, they're willing to set aside whatever strict diet that they might have. She first tracked down the French wholesale supplier couped a pot. but she needed a business to import them too. This seems still so much more attainable than me going to the Olympics

and eating a muffin as an Olympic athlete. That's why she teamed up with Angel Zang, who owns Ishiki. It was like, yeah, I'll do it. Like this sounds like a fun project. I really also, for selfish reasons, want to try these Olympic muffins. Together they convinced the French company to send them 300 muffins. They were soon navigating FDA approvals and customs to finally deliver the hyped up treat.

and the muffins didn't disappoint. The flavor is surprisingly intense, given how light the crumb is, and is very moist. Ishiki is now working on securing another shipment this time of 1,000 muffins. Partly sunny skies today. We'll see scattered showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Some may produce gusty winds and heavy rainfall. It'll be humid today with highs in the mid-80s. Mostly cloudy tonight.

That chance of showers extends into the evening and then partly cloudy after. midnight with lows in the lower 60s. Stay tuned. There's more after the break. On WNYC, I'm David First. The state's highest court said New York voters can keep voting early by mail. The court rejected a Republican lawsuit to overturn a nearly one-year-old law that grants all eligible New Yorkers that right. Here with more on this week in politics is WNYC senior politics reporter.

Bridget Bergen. Welcome back. Thanks, David. First of all, what were the objections to this law? Well, David, Republicans opposed it for a few different reasons. First, they say it ignores the will of voters who rejected a proposed ballot amendment back in 2021 that would have allowed for no-excuse absentee ballots. Now, under the absentee ballot provision, which used to be the only way a person could vote by mail in New York, a voter needed to check a box giving the excuse for why they couldn't go to the polls. these Republicans argue the state legislature didn't have the right to then just go ahead and pass this new law, which they consider basically an end run around that constitutional change. And ultimately, you know, they tried to make a historical case that the state constitution requires in-person voting.

Now, this may sound like just kind of a legal dispute, but I should note that there's a lot of politics woven through this case and those arguments. Yes. So, you know, what is the political backdrop of all this? We obviously have a big consequential election coming up. Yeah, of course. And so, you know, I mentioned that failed ballot amendment. It actually passed here in New York City. It failed in the rest of the state. And that's also where Republicans and conservatives from the state party and some of their very deep-pocketed supporters actively campaigned against. In fact, they sunk more than $4 million into this last-minute campaign. to blanket the airwaves and sink long signs in counties, notably outside of New York City, urging people to, quote, just vote no. And they did that kind of raising the specter of voter fraud, albeit without any evidence. So the measure failed.

Then the Democratic-controlled legislature introduced the law, which is at issue now, which allows any voter to request an early mail ballot. The state constitution says it is the legislature that can determine the manner by which votes are cast. And when Governor Hokel signed this new law last September, Republicans led by Representative Elise Stefonic filed a lawsuit that very same day. Now, keep in mind, their presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, has cast a very negative light on voting by mail. Yes, an understatement. An understatement for sure. And as I reported just earlier this year, looking specifically at

that special election in the third congressional district. district out in Queens and Long Island, there is further evidence that Republicans really have an early vote and vote by mail problem. Their voters just turn out at much lower rates for both. And so part of the opposition, I think, stems from the awareness that this is actually a problem for them. Okay. So what did the court say this week? So the state court of appeals was forced to determine whether the language of the state constitution mandated in-person voting. And Chief Judge Rowan Wilson noted that this was the first time in the court's history. It had been explicitly asked to decide this. Ultimately, they ruled the state constitution did not require that.

And while they did acknowledge that it was, quote, troubling that the state legislature passed this law that essentially does the same thing as that amendment that voters rejected, he said the court's role was just to determine what the constitution required, even if that finding is unpopular. Well, what has the reaction been to this decision? And is this matter settled? Is there a chance this could go further, go to the U.S. Supreme Court? Well, in terms of reaction, it did come down in that same predictable partisan split. Stephanic really blasted the decision and the court itself. She called the court system corrupt and disgraceful. She said the ruling, quote, essentially declared that for over 150 years, New York's elected officials, voters, and judges misunderstood their own state's constitution and that in-person

voting was never required outside the current legal absentee process. On the other side, Democrats, including State Attorney General Tish James, whose office had to defend the law in court, as well as Governor Hockel, who signed it, and Deputy State Senate leader Mike Janaris, who was the key sponsor of the bill, all were celebrating the decision as a further protection of voting rights here in New York. Now, in terms of how settled it is, this is the highest court in New York State. So it's settled in the state. The last option would be to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But keep in mind, we're very close to the election. And so for something to happen that would have an impact on this upcoming election, things would have to move very, very fast. Okay. So what does all of this mean for New Yorkers voting in this election? Well, in some respects, it means voters don't have an excuse at this point. Because if you can't get to the polls on election day or the nine days of early in-person voting before that, any eligible voter can request a mail ballot. Okay. So before we wrap up, Bridget, help us get prepared. Yes, we have that general election coming up in November. Are there any voter registration deadlines or anything else right now we should be aware of?

Yeah, you know, of course those deadlines are a lot closer to the election, so people are going to hear me talking about them throughout the fall. but the deadline to register to vote is 10 days before election day. So that means Saturday, October 26th. That is also the deadline to apply for a mail ballot online. If you want to go in person to your local board of elections office, you can request a mail ballot or an absentee ballot up until the day before election day. And just another interesting note on that October 26th deadline, which is both the deadline to register and request the ballot. That's also the first day of early voting. So that is what some voting rights advocates refer to as the Golden Day.

It is the one day when a new voter, someone who has never been registered in New York, can both register and vote on the same day. We're already circling the Golden Day on the calendar. That's just about two months away. WNYC's Bridget Bergen. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Thanks for listening.

This is NYC Now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.