NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Manhattan Judge Rejects City’s Lawsuit Against Big Oil, Pizzeria Di Fara to Sell Frozen Pies, Jetblue Adding New Flights, and NYPD Updates Car Chase Policy

Episode Date: January 16, 2025

A Manhattan judge has rejected New York City’s attempt to hold major oil companies accountable for misleading ads at the gas pump. Meanwhile, iconic Brooklyn pizza brand Di Fara is expanding with a new line of frozen pies available at ShopRite stores in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Also, JetBlue is adding more flights in and out of New York City this spring to destinations like D.C., Detroit, and Pittsburgh. Plus, the NYPD has introduced a new policy on when officers can initiate car chases. WNYC’s Michael Hill speaks with reporter Charles Lane to learn more.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. A Manhattan judge has rejected New York City's attempt to hold major oil companies responsible for misleading ads at the gas pump. The city argued that Exxon, Shell, and BP had deceived drivers about the environmental benefits of certain fuels. But the judge disagreed, saying the city can't claim New Yorkers understand the connection between fossil fuels and climate change, yet are somehow fooled by big oils advertising. The ruling adds to a string of legal losses for government suing the country's biggest polluters. A city spokesperson did not say if the decision will be appealed.

JetBlue is adding more flights in and out of New York City this spring. The Queens-based airline is launching new daily routes to cities like D.C., Detroit and Pittsburgh, as well as Honduras out of JFK Airport. JetBlue is also bringing back flights from Newark to L.A. and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The expansion comes after a major restructuring, which included cutting certain unprofitable routes. An iconic Brooklyn pizza brand is growing. Before his death in 2022, legendary pizza maker, Domenico Dom DeMarco ran the famous Brooklyn Pizzeria Dufara. Now his family is bringing that pizza to more people with a line of frozen pies sold at shopwright stores in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Margaret Mielis, one of DeMarco's daughters, says she and her siblings learn from the best. So my dad was making every pizza for many, many years. But we were also in the background. We grew up alongside him. I'm one of seven kids. I have five brothers and one sister. So we knew the process. The supermarket pie is currently come in classic and pepperoni.

Up next, the NYPD has changed its policy on when police officers can engage in car chases. We'll have more on that after the break. The NYPDs introduced a new policy on when officers can initiate car chases. The move comes after the department reported 570 chase-related crashes last year and is aimed at making roads safer. My colleague Michael Hill spoke with W&MIC reporter Charles Lane for the breakdown. Charles, what are the circumstances that led the new police commissioner to make this change? In announcing the change, police commissioner Jessica Tisch gave some statutes. gave some stats that were pretty eye-opening about in real terms what police chases mean in New York City.

She said that 25% of the chases last year in 2024 ended in a collision that caused property damage or physical injury. It's about 570 crashes from police chases last year or about a little bit more than one and a half collisions a day. What Tish didn't say, but what other news organizations have reported, is that these crashes, collisions have caused injury and death. NYPD has never released the data on this, but the news site the city has counted 17 deaths and over 600 injuries under this old policy. But in changing the policy, what Tish said was that police have nowadays just more ways of tracking down suspects.

And she said that she wanted to give officers, quote, clear, unambiguous parameters for when to initiate and continue and terminate these chases. Charles, what was the old policy? So the old policy largely lifted up to police officers at the moment to decide if the chase was dangerous or not. That was criticized as vague and opening officers up to potential lawsuits. Officers were supposed to end the chase when, quote, the risks to members of the service or the public were outweighed by the danger to the community if a suspect was not immediately apprehended. Critics said, like, in the middle of a car chase, that's just way too difficult to really understand. However, that policy was championed by then-chief of patrol, now chief of department, John Schell.

What Shell said was that cops are good at these vehicle pursuits and that he didn't want alleged suspects thinking that they can get away. What had Mayor Adams said about that? Adams has always sort of defended this new policy. He said last month that he didn't want people injured or killed, of course, but that he trusted the supervisors on the ground to make the termination. about when a police chase should be stopped. But, you know, it's important to remember that he appointed Jeff Madry and John Schell, who put this policy in place and kept it there. Now, let's talk about the new policy.

Charles, what is the new policy? So the new policy limits when officers can engage in a vehicle pursuit and limits it to only serious crimes, such as felonies or violent misdemeanors. It prohibits police pursuits for low-level offenses like traffic violations or nonviolent. misdemeanors. The policy also requires that the department track and report vehicle pursuits. So it requires supervisors to monitor the speed of the pursuits and report the number that occur monthly and then annually. The new policy also, and this one's interesting, it won't punish officers if they decide that the pursuit has just become too dangerous. I talked to Sarah Lind

about this one point and she runs the Safe Street Group open plans. She said giving officers cover was important. You know, obviously no police officer wants to be seen as, you know, kind of not fully executing their duty, but this makes it clear that you can also prioritize safety over, you know, catching the bad guy. Tish said that two-thirds of all the pursuits that happened in 2024 under the old policy would not be permitted under this new policy. And the new policy takes effect next month. Charles, what's reaction been so far? Police unions, and as we heard, street safety advocates, they, you know, they praised the policy. The PBA said that they had been advocating for a change on this and that they welcome the clarity.

And as we heard from Linde, the old policy caused injuries and they didn't like it and they blamed Eric Adams for this policy. Interestingly, even a chief of department, John Schell, praised the change. And remember, he was the one who was praising the change years ago. and under the old policy and under police commissioner Edward Caban. But now under Tish, he was quoted in the announcement yesterday that the revised policy strikes that critical balance between keeping the streets safe and our community safe. That's WNYC reporter Charles Lane in conversation with my colleague, Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNMIC. Catch us every weekday three times a day.

I'm Sean Carlson. We'll be back tomorrow. Thank you.