NYC NOW - December 8, 2023: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: December 8, 2023

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: A 28-year-old man is in custody after officials allege he fired a gun on the premises of a synagogue in Albany. Also, New York City officials are calling for an investigation into a claim that the outgoing city jails boss, Louis Molina, tried to cover up violence on Rikers Island, and retaliated against an employee who spoke up. Leaders from the Working Families Party, a progressive organization, say George Latimer's campaign for Congress will distract from Democrats' efforts to retake the House.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Friday, December 8th. Here's the morning headlines from David First. A 28-year-old man is in custody after officials allege he fired a gun on the premises of a synagogue in Albany. Governor Hokel says a shotgun round was fired in the Temple Israel parking lot around 2.30 yesterday afternoon. No one was injured. The safety of Jewish New Yorkers is non-negotiable. Every act, whether it's verbal or physical, any act of anti-Semitism is unacceptable and undermining the public safety at our synagogue, the first night of Hanukkah is even more deplorable.

The suspect's name has not yet been released, but Hockel says he's a local resident who was seen, quote, walking around outside the synagogue, acting very suspicious, unquote, before the shots were fired. York City officials are calling for an investigation into a claim that the outgoing city jail's boss tried to cover up violence on Rikers Island and retaliated against an employee who spoke up. WNYC's Jesse Edwards reports. An investigator who has worked for the Department of Correction for almost two decades is now filing a claim against the city. He says jail's boss Louis Melina and his appointees covered up problems and then retaliated against him when he spoke up. Ruben Benitez was an associate Commissioner. He says after he reported the misconduct, Molina demoted him to an entry-level job

with a $40,000 pay cut. Now, two city council members are calling for an investigation into the allegations. Melina is soon set to leave the Jails Department for a promotion at City Hall. City Hall would not comment on the pending litigation, but said Molina had the authority to make staff changes. A leading progressive organization says George Latimer's campaign for Congress will distract from Democrats' efforts to retake the House. The Westchester County Executive this week announced he'll challenge Democratic Bronx and Westchester Representative Jamal Bowman in a primary next year. Anna Maria Archela is co-chair of the state Working Families Party. She says the party has endorsed Latimer in the past.

Which is why it is so disappointing that in these moments he's choosing to not use his resources, his time, his energy to protect working families, but rather to do sort of an opportunist move against Bowman. Latimer says Bowman is fair game since the congressman successfully challenged longtime Democratic Congressman Elliott Engel just three years ago. Latimer says he's giving Democratic voters a choice. It's 40 degrees now. We're going up to 48 today with the partly sunny skies. It'll be partly cloudy tonight with a low of 42.

And tomorrow, mostly cloudy, a high of 52. Looks like there's rain coming on Sunday. 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 podcasts. See you this afternoon.