NYC NOW - August 9, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: August 9, 2023

New York City officials will limit the number of homeless families relocated to Newark each year through a controversial rental voucher program after the two cities reached a settlement in federal court. Meanwhile, Councilmember Lincoln Restler says his office is facing threats after he introduced a climate-friendly bill targeting idling ice cream trucks. Also, Councilmember Vickie Paladino of Queens, known for confronting tenants who she claims are rule breaking, faces scrutiny. But, a WNYC investigation reveals that she's dealing with her own housing and renter challenges based on multiple 311 complaints claiming her home is being used as an illegal hotel.

NYC. Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, August 9th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. On WNYC, New York City officials will limit how many homeless families they relocate to Newark each year through a controversial rental voucher program. WNIC's Karen Ye reports the two cities reached a settlement

in federal court. New York City will only relocate 28 families from city shelters to Newark every year under its special one-time temporary assistance program. The city rolled out the program in 2017, paying landlords from the region one year's worth of rent up front

to house homeless families. Data obtained by WNYC shows more than 1,300 families were moved to Newark in the first four years of the program. But Newark sued the city in 2019, alleging families, were living in illegal and often uninhabitable units. Under the agreement, New York City will have

to vet the homes before relocating families and share that information with Newark. New York City Council Member Lincoln Wrestler says his office is fielding threatening messages after he introduced a climate bill last week. The measure would require ice cream trucks to switch their gas generators to ones powered by batteries or solar. Here's the council member. I love ice cream trucks as much as the next guy But there are real quality of life concerns that come about from an ice cream truck being stationed on the same block for 12 or 15 hours every day, week after week, month after month for a community. A handful of conservative-leaning national news outlets picked up the story. Restless says threats from outside the city are bombarding his staff. 82 with sunshine out there right now.

Sunny and 86 in the city today, rain and shower chances tomorrow, and then sunshine in Texas. temperatures in the mid to upper 80s. Once again, 82. NYC. I'm Sean Carlson for WNYC. Councilmember Vicki Palladino of Queens has made a name for herself as an elected official who's not shy about confronting renters in the community for what she deems as rule-breaking. In videos on social media, she's seen shouting down tenants who she claims aren't paying rent or squatting. But a WNMIC investigation found that the freshman lawmaker

who has made law and order a central part of her political identity is facing her own housing and renter issues. So joining us now to discuss as W&MIC's David Brandt who broke the story. Hello to you, David. Thanks for joining us again. Thanks for having me. So Palladino is a Republican. She's running for re-election in the fall. And as we said, she's been known to confront tenants in videos for not paying rent. Some of those videos have gone viral. But it turns out that she's dealing with her own accountability questions. Can you tell us what you found? Well, Palladino lives in a beautiful home with a large front yard on a quiet suburban block of northeast Queens. But for years, people have been calling 311 to complain about it being rented out illegally.

The complainants have called it an illegal hotel or a boarding house, a single room occupancy or SRO building. Paladino's son and spokesperson blamed those complaints on a disgruntled neighbor and told me they have nothing to hide. But inspectors from the Department of Buildings have tried to investigate those complaints over and over. And each time, either no one was home or a resident tells them to go away and at least at one time with threats of violence. Wow. Though the most recent complaint came in June when someone said the house was being used as, again, an illegal hotel or a short-term rental. And that was at least the 24th similar complaint since 2005. Wow. Two dozen complaints? That's not a small number. What did neighbors have to say about their neighbor?

Well, I stopped by a few of the houses in that area. I talked with neighbors. A few of them said they get along well with the council member and her family or at least have no issues with them or the occupants there. But two others said the Palladinos have been renting out their home for years and that tenants are taking up parking spots or trashing the street. Local zoning does allow for two residences on the lot, so they are allowed to have one apartment there at least. But it's notable that, you know, last year, Governor Kathy Hokel proposed a plan. that would allow homeowners to legally add an additional unit on their property. And Palladino opposed that plan.

Presumably she would support it if she was disclosing this. So speaking of disclosing things, right, normally elected officials file annual reports that disclose their finances and outside income. So if Palladino has been renting to several people, presumably making money here, why are we just finding out about this right now? Well, this specific situation with Palladino highlights a bigger problem in New York City's disclosure laws. So every year elected officials are required to submit financial disclosure reports to the city's conflict of interest board. And those reports ask specific questions like, do you earn rental income? And on her forms, Paladino Mark No for that question. So her son, again, serves as spokesperson, says that's true.

Paladino's husband is the one who makes the rental income. So even though they live together and Paladino frames herself as a homeowner and landlord, the conflicts of interest board says it's fine for her not to disclose that, as long as the husband claims it on a separate report that's filed by spouses. The problem is those spousal reports are confidential under New York City law. That's not the case for state officials who have to share household income and income sources. I spoke with John Caney of the government watchdog group Reinvent Albany, and he said this exposes a serious loophole in disclosure law.

Elected officials can basically stash assets under their spouse's name and public would really never know. Yeah. So you have found that the Paladinos have not paid their mortgage since 2021, September of that year, and that their home is also in foreclosure. Why should this matter to voters in the area or listeners? Well, New York City is expensive, and it's hard to buy and maintain a home here. There's no doubt about that. Palladino's husband wrote in a loan modification agreement back in 2019 that he was facing a financial hardship. And the son says they're not wealthy.

They struggle like many other New Yorkers still. But it's also generally important to know about elected officials' debts because they're in a position of power with access to people with money who are looking for influence. You know, just look at how many New York elected officials have been charged and convicted of corruption in recent decades. Not that that's the case here at all, but transparency is important for accountability and trust in government. David Brand, breaking down the controversy swirling around Queens Councilmember Vicki Palladino. Thanks for your time. Thanks for having you. Thanks for listening.

This is NYC Now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcast. We'll be back this evening.