NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Adams’ Attorney Seeks Full Dismissal For Good, Push to Disbar Cuomo, and National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Mayor Adams’ defense attorney submitted a motion to dismiss the case with prejudice.. Plus, a New York state panel is looking at a request to disbar former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And finally, an annual event turns the spotlight onto the many disorders that fall under the eating disorder spectrum.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jenae Pierre. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is asking a federal judge to drop his criminal charges for good. Defense attorney Alex Spiro submitted a motion to dismiss the case with prejudice. That means prosecutors cannot bring the charges back in the future. The Justice Department has already asked for the case to be tossed with the possibility of reviving it after the mayoral election. But Spiro says prosecutors shouldn't be allowed

to pursue the charges anymore because he says they violated the mayor's rights. He claims Internal Justice Department correspondence was leaked that would prevent Adams from getting a fair trial. The U.S. Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A New York State panel is looking at a request to disbar former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The request comes as Cuomo lays the groundwork to run for New York City mayor. WNYC's John Campbell has more. The attorney grievance committee is looking into a complaint against the former governor, a licensed lawyer who used to be the state attorney general. That's according to documents obtained by WNYC. An organization known as the Sexual Harassment Working Group first filed the complaint in 2022. Erica Vladimir is a member of the group.

She says Cuomo should face discipline for the sexual harassment claims that led to his resignation. The governor and having a law license, having her view and oversight of enacting New York state law really abused his power in that position. And so I personally think that disbarment is warranted. Cuomo spokesperson says Vladimir's claims are without merit. He accuses her of trying to weaponize the process. The two sides have spart over whether the grievance committee can rely on reports from the state assembly and attorney general's office. Both concluded the governor violated the law.

But Cuomo says they're biased and. political. The 21-member panel is appointed by the courts and can recommend attorney discipline. Hofstra Law Professor Ellen Yaroshefsky says it's clear the committee is taking the complaint seriously. But she says it's unlikely Cuomo will lose his law license. The chances of disbarment in this case, I think, are not significant. The law professor says the panel usually likes to wait for any related civil lawsuit to be resolved first. In other words, it probably won't come to a decision anytime soon. That's WMYC's John Campbell. This is National Eating Disorder Week, ultimately an effort to raise awareness. After the break, a discussion on eating disorders and how to

support those experiencing them. It's National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. The annual event turns to spotlight onto the many disorders that fall under the eating disorder spectrum, which research shows are the most fatal mental illnesses. My colleague Michael Hill talked with Dr. Evelyn Attia, who directs the Center for Eating Disorders at New York Presbyterian. I think when we hear eating disorder, most of us think of things like anorexia, bulimia, but what else falls under the spectrum of eating disorders?

These are common disorders. They affect almost 9% of the U.S. population. They do include anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, but they also include binge eating disorder. There are some new kids. newer described conditions that we worry about. There's one that's called avoidant restrictive food intake disorder or ARFID. There's significant restriction in what someone takes in, but for reasons other than overfocus on body shape or weight. So this could be somebody who develops a great

sensitivity to certain feelings when food is ingested. Maybe food is too thick or too scratchy. Maybe they've developed that sensitivity because they have another condition like autism, spectrum disorder. And this discomfort leads them to greatly restrict what they consume and that can get them into a lot of nutritional trouble. Or maybe they once had an episode of vomiting or choking. And then they develop a great fear that if they eat anything, this might happen to them again. This is a condition that usually starts in childhood and can get someone into a lot of trouble. There's also an atypical anorexia nervosa pattern where somebody develops lots of the typical restriction and fear of weight gain and overfocus on body shape and weight, but they may not have

landed in a weight range that's significantly low. And we now know that those individuals get into lots of medical trouble too. And we really need to pay attention to that group. They frequently present to our centers and they need help. And we're really trying to better identify folks who get into the kind of behavioral disturbances that are under the larger category of eating disorders. Which disorders does the center treat the most? Well, we see the whole range and we see teens and we see adults. We tend to see the folks who are most severely affected. So I would say most commonly, we see anorexia nervosa.

We see some of the atypical presentations of anorexia nervosa. And we're really trying to help people with that double mission of medical stabilization together with the mental health improvements that they so need. New York City is obviously a place where people come from a lot of of life, as we know. Are there any specific cultural factors or systemic barriers you encounter when it comes to treating eating disorders? Well, I think it is important to acknowledge that eating disorders can affect folks from all different backgrounds. There isn't any one group that's immune to developing these conditions. And yes, as we do see individuals who may come to us from a different

place, may have different cultural practices around food, we need to be sensitive and we need to try to understand family life, meal time, food preferences. It can't be one size fits all. We need to do a little bit of homework in understanding who the individual is and what has changed for them in terms of their eating behavior so that we can help them get back on track. It's estimated about 29 million Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetimes. What are the best ways we can support people with eating disorders, whether they're pursuing recovery or not? Well, I think the first most important thing for everybody to know is the earlier we identify these individuals, the better the clinical outcome is. So understanding that significant changes in eating behavior could represent a problem.

So when somebody avoids eating with others, begins to say that they've just eaten or they, you know, they will eat later or all of a sudden foods that used to be favorites are no longer liked by that individual. Maybe somebody that we care a lot about, maybe a child, right? I don't like pizza. I don't like hamburgers. When those used to be favorite foods, we want to pay attention if we're in a family of such a person that that might represent the beginning of some trouble. And we want to pay attention because if we can intervene early, we can make a tremendous difference. I think that it's important to stay sensitive and balanced and healthy when we communicate with folks about eating. We don't want to overemphasize, wow, somebody looks

great. Their weight seems to have changed in some direction or other. We want to be supportive. We want emphasize health, not thinness, because we know that people can get into a lot of trouble when they have unrealistic expectations for weight change. That's not what we're after. We really want someone to feel healthy in their body and be able to eat from balanced food groups and eat socially as, you know, that's such an important part of society and healthy being. So we want to pay attention to all of that. That's Dr. Evelyn Attia, director of the Center for Eating Disorders at New York Presbyterian. talking with my colleague Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC.

I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.