NYC NOW - December 6, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: December 6, 2023

The MTA board is moving forward with plans to charge drivers $15 dollars to enter lower Manhattan under congestion pricing. Meanwhile, famed television producer Norman Lear, famously known for making 1970s sitcom “All in the Family” passed away on Tuesday night. He was 101. Also, the NYPD is investigating after a fiery crash involving a Lamborghini killed a 21-year-old woman in Inwood, Manhattan Monday night. Finally, an ongoing lawsuit filed by women who've worked as New Jersey State Police troopers alleges sexism and racism throughout the department's ranks. Now, according to a New York Times report, the federal Justice Department is looking into allegations of gender bias and racial discrimination among the New Jersey State Police. WNYC’s David Furst spoke with Tracey Tully who covered the story.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Wednesday, December 6. Here's the midday news from Lance Lucky. The MTA Board is moving forward with plans to charge drivers $15 to enter Lower Manhattan under congestion pricing. In the vote this morning, nine members voted for the plan. Only one member appeared to vote against it, David Mack, the chair of the Bridge and Tunnel Committee, which will implement the new tolling program.

hardships on local businesses, as well as those driving to Midtown for work. The approval means the plan now goes through a 60-day comment period. The MTA hopes to begin implementing the plan in the spring. Television producer Norman Lear has died. Lear is credited with making TV topical in the 1970s with his sitcom All in the Family, Setting Queens. It starred Carol O'Connor as diehard conservative Archie Bunker, who clashed with his liberal son-in-law over racism, feminism, and the Vietnam War. Lear appeared on WNYC in 2017. and reflected on the struggles to get the show on the air after CBS insisted on running a disclaimer at the beginning.

It just warned people that seeing something they recognize as taking place in their families or up the street across the street from each other, that that might upset them. Lear, who was 101, also founded the nonprofit liberal advocacy group People for the American Way. The NYPD is investigating after a fiery crash involving a Lamborghini killed a 21-year-old woman in Manhattan Monday night. Police say a 22-year-old man was driving the car when it hit a Hyundai Allentra, then slammed into an elevated subway pillar on 213th Street and 10th Avenue in Inwood. The Daily News reports witnesses say the Lamborghini was fleeing after officers tried to stop the car for running a red light.

The driver was hospitalized in critical condition and is in police custody. His passenger died at the scene. The Alantra's driver was also hospitalized in stable condition. 40 degrees now around 42 with clouds this afternoon. This is WNYC. On WNYC, I'm David First. An ongoing lawsuit filed by women who have worked as New Jersey State Police Troopers alleges entrenched sexism and racism in the department's ranks.

Now, the Federal Justice Department is looking into allegations of gender bias and racial discrimination among the New Jersey State Police. That's according to new reporting from the New York Times. Tracy Tully covers New Jersey for the Times, and she joins us now to talk about her findings. Tracy, according to your reporting, the federal government began investigating the New Jersey State Police after a lawsuit was filed by these female troopers,

three former troopers and one still on the force. Can you talk about the details of the suit? That's right. They filed this suit in 2021, but it was amended this year. And it's one of close to two dozen lawsuits filed by current and former troopers. They basically describe situations where it was very difficult to reach the upper echelons to the top command posts of the state police. Now, these accusations eventually led to a meeting between the DOJ, state troopers, and community. leaders earlier this year. What happened at that meeting? That's right. Well, as described to me

by four people who attended the meeting, just to make clear justice has not discussed this publicly, nor did it discuss it with me. But I think they had sent a letter that laid out their concerns about employment practices at the state police, which has somewhat of a long history of trouble in that department. And they asked basically for another set of eyes to take a look at their concerns. And I believe they sent the letter in July and in September, I think it was late September, September 19th, justice folks came and met with roughly a dozen people. There were people that traveled from justice and then they joined the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, who was also not spoken publicly about this. And they discussed their concerns. The contents,

of what was discussed was something that each person I talked with said they didn't feel comfortable disclosing but basically referred me to the letter that it sent that said basically that was the nature of the conversation. Has the New Jersey State Police responded to your reporting at all? It has not. The State Police in Jersey is essentially overseen or controlled by the Attorney General's office and it referred all questions to the Attorney General's office. Now, one incident described in the suit involves Governor Phil Murphy's wife, Tammy Murphy, who was also running for a U.S. Senate seat. What is this claim and how has Murphy responded?

That's right. And that is part of what was amended in May because the situation happened just this past January. There was a young trooper who had returned from having her second child according to the lawsuit. and she was part of this elite team of troopers who are assigned to cover to protect the governor, his family. And they're stationed in this trailer, you know, outside the governor's private home, which has always been the case. And I guess her supervisor took it upon himself to ask the first lady, according to the lawsuit, whether this trooper Claire Krauchuk could express breast milk in like a carriage house on the family's property in Red Bank. And the answer, according to the lawsuit, was that she got was that no,

based on the optics of who of other people that might be in the building in those carriage house, that she declined their request. Now, she has since, since, this. Initially, they have not addressed the specific allegation, but Mrs. Murphy has said that, you know, any characterization that she would not be completely supportive of breastfeeding moms or expressing breast milk was, quote, categorically false. But they have not talked about this with me, and nor have they addressed a specific allegation. These claims of bias, the New Jersey State Police, are not new. In fact, a law firm hired by the Attorney General's office has been looking into allegations of discrimination at the state police for years now. Where does that inquiry currently stand? That's a very good question. They've paid close to a half a million dollars to this firm. Many of the payments were like in 2020, 2021. So it does. lead you to the question of like, you know, what happened. And they claim that it will, it's still

underway. And that once the report or the assessment is ready, it will be released publicly. Okay. Tracy Telly is a New York Times reporter covering New Jersey. Tracy, thank you 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 occasionally. occasional deep dives and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.