NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Dispute Over Evidence in the Luigi Mangione Case, Rent Aid Dries up for Thousands of New Yorkers and a Mayoral Candidate Runs on Afterschool for All

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Luigi Mangione's lawyers say prosecutors are withholding key evidence in his case at the same time that law enforcement is leaking information to the press. Plus, the Trump administration announces that a federal rental assistance program is out of cash, leaving nearly 8,000 New York City households wondering what’s next. And finally, Brooklyn state Senator Zellnor Myrie lays out the opportunities and potential obstacles for his plan to expand the city’s childcare offerings.

A dispute over evidence in the Luigi Mangione case. Rent aid dries up for thousands of New Yorkers, and a mayoral candidate runs on after-school for all. From WMYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Jenae Pierre. Lawyers for the man accused of killing a healthcare CEO in Manhattan last year say prosecutors are withholding key evidence in his case, while law enforcement leaks information to the press.

Luigi Mangione faces charges in both state and federal court, including murder and furtherance of terrorism. Prosecutors say he killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. In new court filings, Mangione's attorneys are urging state prosecutors to turn over the rest of their evidence. They also want him to get a laptop he could use in jail, only to review records. A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA's office says they'll respond in court papers. A $5 billion federal rental assistance program has helped thousands of New Yorkers find and keep stable housing. But the Trump administration says it's almost out of cash. WMYC's David Brand covers housing in New York City.

Hey. After huddling up at the newsroom coffee machine for a midday pickup, David explains the voucher program and the people losing it. So about 7,700 households in New York City get these vouchers that were. issued in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan. You might remember from COVID. And this was one of the things in there was supposed to help low-income New Yorkers get back on their feet.

And it was a 10-year voucher program. It was supposed to expire in 2030. Earlier this month, the Trump administration informed housing agencies across the country that's ending at the end of this year. And so, yeah, they need to start planning for people to transition off of these vouchers and either pay the rent,

themselves or come up with some new plan through the city or state. So, David, what does a transition like that look like? Yeah, that's a good question because I think this caught a lot of people off guard. So New York City has about 7,700 households receiving these vouchers. That's way more than anywhere else in the country. I've been covering this pretty closely the last four years. When they first issued these vouchers, they did 70,000 nationwide. That means more than 10% went to New York City. The city was very deliberate about who they gave these two. They prioritized domestic violence survivors, families in shelter, frequent hospital patients, homeless young adults. And so the people who have them are scared. They don't know what they're going to do to replace this

money. David, this is weird timing. Is this like one of those Trump administration things? Like he's just out here slashing funding? That's unclear. The Trump administration, the Department of housing and urban development is saying that the money just ran out that because of inflation because of rising rents that the money expired a lot faster than everyone thought because it was supposed to be funded until 2030 and so now it's early 2025 and they're saying they're about to do their last batch of funding here you're right it is interesting timing with everything we're seeing about slashing spending cutting programs but they say that it just ran out of money and what are city and state officials saying about all of this well here in new york city

Two agencies run the emergency housing program. There's the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, HPD. They have about 2,000 of these vouchers that they administer. New York City Housing Authority. We know them as the public housing authority, but they also get a lot of housing vouchers more than anywhere else in the country. They have about 5,500 of these vouchers, and they're kind of being cautious.

They're saying they're not sure what the next steps are. The city does have its own voucher program, So at least in some cases, they may be able to transition people from this emergency housing voucher from the federal government to the city FEPS program. And then they could just replace that money and not have to worry about making up two thirds of their rent with money they don't have right now. There's a proposal for a state voucher program called the Housing Access Voucher program, or HAVP. The state Senate and State Assembly have both put money for that in their budgets that they've submitted to the governor. and the governor has been really resistant to that because it just adds more money to the state budget. But that's another option, you know, a state voucher program that, you know, a lot of low-income New Yorkers could get,

but also people transitioning from these emergency housing vouchers. So we'll see. But I think it's scary for tenants who are relying on this money and have their housing because of this program. That's WMYC's David Brand. Candidates challenging Mayor Adams for his seat at City Hall support various ways to expand the city's child offerings. But only one candidate is focused on making after-school enrichment programs. More on that after the break. This is NYC Now. Expanding child care options has emerged as a consensus issue for Democrats challenging New York City Mayor Eric Adams in the mayor mayor mayoral primary.

But only one candidate has made after school for all his lead child care proposal. That's state Senator Zelnor Mirey of Brooklyn. WMYC's Bridget Bergen joined by for a tour of programs in Southeast Queens, and has this report on the opportunities and potential obstacles for his plan. Okay, all right, okay, I got it. In the cafeteria of PS-176Q, hours after the regular school day has ended, a group of energetic fourth graders are shouting suggestions and questions at mayoral candidate and Brooklyn State Senator Zelmer Myrie.

Okay, lowering prices in stores. I heard lower food prices as well. What's he doing with mayor? What do you do as mayor? That's an excellent question. What MIRI wants to do is make after-school programs like this one available to all families citywide, starting from age three through high school. Because I used to sit exactly where you sat. I was in an after-school program every single day.

While all the candidates challenging Mayor Eric Adams support various ways to expand the city's child care offerings, Miri is the only candidate focused on making after-school enrichment programs, like the one he attended at the Crown of, Heights Youth Collective as a kid, a universal offering. What after-school does is that it's an opportunity to give them another exposure to different things, like different careers. Cheryl Cattle is the executive director of community youth care services, the nonprofit that runs this after-school program and another at a nearby school in Cambria Heights and Southeast Queens. She's been doing it for 16

years now. We find when we expose them to coding and dance and music and all the things we've done over the years. It doesn't matter what it is, what it's cosmetology or what it's anything. They sort of go for it. And even a child is not doing well academically, they'll be a star in something else. So I think that after-school programs in context is an extension

to the school day. For fourth grader Aidan Reed, it's a little extra boost at the end of a long day. It could help me with academic skills. If you really need to finish a homework, I only want free time when you get home, you can quickly do your home

care, I do also get, like, rewards. Like, we can go to the gym and play. Myri's plan is to invest $400 million into the city's existing after-school infrastructure and make programs like this one available to all. That's more than double what the city spends now. But Myrie says that investment will pay dividends for the city's future. The data tells us that every dollar that we invest as a city, we get it back many times over. not just in the future economic opportunity of the student getting on a different career path,

but we also save on public safety costs and we stem out migration. I think it's incredibly encouraging that there's so much consensus among the candidates that the city needs more solutions around child care. Eli DeVorkin is the editorial and policy director for the Center for an Urban Future. He says after school is an important part of the continuum of care that families need, but he says the funding from city, state, and federal dollars is complicated. People call me all the time asking me to come in their schools and start another program. Cattle says she's been reluctant to do so. You really have to give some thought about who is going to support after school this particular service to keep it consistent quality every day.

And she has questions about Myri's plans. And so that's a conversation we need to have with him. We have a lot of thoughts in that. For now, she's focused on the kids in her care. Like these first graders, rehearsing a song about abolitionist Harriet Tubman for an upcoming Black and Women's History Month performance. They're just practicing it. Myri says this is how the city should invest in its future. Voters will decide if they agree in June.

That's WNYC's Bridget Bergen. A quick heads up about something pretty cool we're working on. This Saturday, we continue our series, NYC Now Explains, how the Adams administration fell into chaos. This week, we unpack the complicated relationship between Mayor Adams and Governor Kathy Hokel. Keep an eye on your podcast feed for that. And if you missed the first episode, go back and listen to the drop this past Saturday. We don't want to leave you behind. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.