NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Elected Officials Demand Disciplinary Trial for NYPD Officer in Off Duty Killing, Mayor Adams Tries to SpoilMamdani’s Plans, and “Fan-Man” Arrested For Flying Through Brooklyn

Episode Date: November 14, 2025

Elected officials are asking for a trial in the killing of an unarmed man and a bill to ban horse drawn carriages is voted down. Meanwhile, the Studio Museum in Harlem reopens on November 15th., Also, New York City Mayor Eric Adams tries to influence Mayor-Elect Mamdani’s Policy, and a Brooklyn man is arrested for flying in a fan-powered plane.

Elected officials are asking for a trial in the killing of an unarmed man. A bill to ban horse-drawn carriages is voted down. Mayor Adams tries to influence Mayor-elect Mamdani's policy and fan man fights back. From WNYC, this is NYC now. I'm Elizabeth Shui, in for Jenae Pierre. Dozens of elected officials are demanding NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to proceed with a disciplinary trial against a. an officer who killed an unarmed man in 2016.

Officer Wayne Isaac says he was off duty when he shot 37-year-old Delran small, so he shouldn't be disciplined. Public advocate, Jumani Williams, was among the local officials who signed the letter to Commissioner Tisch. I do have faith in Zora Mamdani, and I'm hoping that he's having conversations, letting the commissioner know that if we're going to move forward, we have to move forward with a different vision than what we've had for the past few years. The police union says the case against Isaacs should have been dismissed after a judge recommended dropping the charges last month.

Over at City Hall, a city council committee has voted down a bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. Councilmember Robert Holden tried to push the ban through in his waning days in office, but his colleagues rejected the bill. Holden says the treatment of the horses counts as animal cruelty. Living beings should be treated with respect and not tortured. He renewed his push for a hearing on the bill after the sudden death of a carriage horse in Hell's Kitchen in August. The union that represents horse carriage workers opposes an outright ban. Mayor elect Zoranamdani has said he supports shutting down the industry, but wants there to be a, quote, just resolution for the workers.

Roseville Island may see more housing in the future. That's according to city and state officials who say they're starting a planning and community engagement process for the island. It comes as the city and state have agreed to extend the master lease governing Roosevelt Island till 2078. Officials say the planning will include redeveloping a defunct steam plant site. It could also add more housing and better health care spaces to the city's Kohler, long-term care facilities campus. Coming up, how outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams is using his power to derail incoming mayor-elect Zeran Mamdani's policies.

That's after the break. Eric Adams. term is ending on December 31st. But before he goes, WNYC's Elizabeth Kim reports that he may be using his power to complicate incoming mayor Zoran Mamdani's policy goals. I'll start with reports last month that the mayor was looking to appoint new members to the rent guidelines board. The rent guidelines board decides whether and how much to raise rent on about a million rent-stabilized units. One of Mamdani's core policy promises has been to freeze the rent.

And he can do that pretty easily by appointing members who he knows would vote for a rent freeze. Elizabeth says that if Mayor Adams fills the board with pro-real estate members, mayor-elect Momdani's freeze-the-rent policies would be harder to achieve when he takes office. Adams is also adding over $300 million to the city budget to hire more NYPD officers. And while Mamdani can revise the budget, once he's in office? It's not so easy. You know, it's about the political optics. Opponents could, and they almost certainly would, accuse him of, quote-unquote, defunding the police. Now, it's important to note that

this kind of conflict between outgoing and incoming mayors has happened before. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was a baseball fan, signed the new stadium deals for the Mets and the Yankees. His successor, Michael Bloomberg, canceled them his first month in office. But what makes Adams' decisions noteworthy is that they so clearly clash with what Mamdani wants. Another example, Mayor-elect Mamdani said he would build affordable housing on Elizabeth Street Garden, a controversial lot of land in Lower Manhattan. Mayor Adams is now declaring the Elizabeth Street Garden an official park. Mamdani pointed out that Adams has made it virtually impossible to build housing there. It is no surprise that Mayor Adams is using his final weeks and

months to cement a legacy of dysfunction and inconsistency. Elizabeth says Mumdani could ask the state legislature to get involved, but he hasn't. Another potential way to look at it? On the surface, it seems like the mayor is thwarting his efforts to build affordable housing, but it also lets him off the hook of a fight that has lasted over a decade. That's WNYC's Elizabeth Kim. A Brooklyn man was arrested by the NYPD earlier this month for flying a fan-powered aircraft over the city. WNYC's Ramsey-Kleefe reports on the fan man, the city's newest local legend.

Calver Vaux Park sits on Gravesend Bay in southern Brooklyn. It's a sleepy area without much action. That is, until a man started flying through the air. The first time I saw it was a couple of months ago. Local resident Ali Ahmed is talking about a daredevil who began using the waterfront park as a launch pad. His name is Jonathan Warren, and he dangles from a parachute with a motorized fan strapped to his back, soaring like a bird. It was like sort of like maybe last summer, yeah. I was at the park and I just saw him flying

past, like next to the ocean area, next to the Verrazano Bridge, like flying past. And then he came back. He's a fan man, like Daredevil's before him that fly high on paragliders. But Warren isn't just famous in the neighborhood. He's popular among local helicopter pilots, too. Here are a few chatting about him on the radio as he flew near the Verasano Bridge. There's a paraglider. There's a paraglider. There he is. What's there?

Damn, you got radio, too? But on November 3rd, someone called 911 mistakenly reporting that Warren parachuted off the bridge. That prompted the NYPD to take notice of Warren's high-flying act. They surrounded him and arrested him at the Gravesend Park. Police then gave him a summons, seized his aircraft, and told him a judge would decide if his flights are actually legal. Their immediate question, which was excellent, was,

are you okay? And I kept insisting, yes, I'm fine. I landed here on purpose, yes. But then, you know, back of a police car. Warren estimates he's safely completed 33 flights around the city in the last two years. He says he's a model aviator who follows all the rules and isn't trying to make a name for himself. I don't put videos online on YouTube or on Instagram or any sites like that. I don't ask for followers.

I'm not selling anything. I'm not promoting anything. I just fly for me. His aircraft is classified as an ultralight vehicle. Federal regulation bars him from flying over congested areas. That's why he sticks to the skies above the city's waterways. Jonathan Carr is an administrator for the United States Power Paragliding Association. He says Warren should be vindicated.

It does sound like it was misinformation provided to police and they arrested him unjustly. If there's no proof of him flying over a congested area or present flying in a manner that creates a hazard to other individuals. Warren is expected in court on November 22nd. He aims to convince a judge his hobby is legal. After that, he says that the police should give him back his $12,000 aircraft, called the paramotor, so he can return to the skies. That's WNYC's Ramsey-Klefe. Before we go, in Harlem, the new studio museum is finally reopening. after being closed for more than seven years. The new seven-floor building takes inspiration

from the brownstones, churches, and sidewalks of Harlem. It will include a much larger artist-in-residence program, an education workshop, and more indoor and outdoor public space. The museum will feature artists of African descent nationally and internationally. It will open with Tom Lloyd, a sculptor from Queens, who was part of Studio Museum's first exhibition in 1968. 8. The mission is free to the public on opening day Saturday. It will run Wednesday through Sunday from 11 in the morning to 6 in the evening. On Friday and Saturday, it opens until 9 at night. The museum is pay as you wish with Sundays free for everyone. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. I'm Elizabeth Shui. Have a great weekend. Jenae will be back Monday.

Thank you.