NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Manhattan Prepares for the UN General Assembly, NY’s Top Court Weighs Plan to Reschedule Local Elections, AG James Defends State’s Shield Law, and a Harlem Man Finds Out He’s Overpaying Rent

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

The United Nations is in town and will bring lots of traffic to Manhattan, as usual.. Plus, New York’s top court is weighing a change to local elections. Also, New York State Attorney General Letitia James is going toe to toe with the Texas attorney general to defend the Empire State's shield law for abortion providers. And finally, a Harlem man recently found out the apartment he’s been living in for more than 20 years was supposed to be rent stabilized.

Manhattan prepares for the UN General Assembly. New York's top court weighs a plan to reschedule local elections. Attorney General Letitia James defends New York State's shield law. And a Harlem man finds out he's been overpaying rent for 20 years. From WNYC, this is NYC now. I'm Jinné Pierre. I'm the type I really like to prepare for the day. And so a heads up about the UN General Assembly would be great.

And that's what this is. The U.N. is in town and will bring lots of traffic to Manhattan, as usual. Most of Midtown East will be a nightmare, but drivers should generally expect traffic below Central Park. Streets are blocked off mostly from the FDR drive over to 6th Avenue and from 60th Street down to 34th Street. People can expect even more traffic from September 22nd through the 30th. That's when the most heads of state are expected to be in the city. Thursday will mark 24 years since the September 11th attacks. Expect additional road closures and traffic that day, too.

New York's top court is weighing a change to local elections. Republican-led counties argue a law-moving races for county executive from odd years to even years violates the state constitution. WNYC's Jimmy Vilkine reports. Counties challenging a 2023 law faced pointed questions in court. court. They say Democratic state lawmakers don't have the authority to change the election calendar just by passing a state law. The statute applies to local elections for county executive, as well as other local offices outside of New York City. Those officials now run in odd years. Elections for

president and governor happen in even years. Supporters say moving local races will boost turnout. Janet Callahan represents Onondaga County. She argued with Court of Appeals Judge Shirley Troutman about the merits of the new law. One of the reasons for that is because they don't want the local issues to be buried in national and state issues. But how is ensuring maximum participation, not a substantial state interest? Callahan says lawmakers would need to change the state constitution to shift the election calendar. Chief Judge Rowan Wilson gave a skeptical reply. It was given by a constitutional amendment. It must be taken away. So it cannot be legislatively amended by changing the statute.

Correct. A ruling is expected this year. County executives are the top elected leaders in upstate areas as well as on Long Island. Any ruling won't affect a separate push to change New York City's election calendar to even years. Jim Evelkind, WNYC News. New York State Attorney General Letitia James is going toe to toe with the Texas Attorney General to defend the Empire State's shield law for abortion providers. The Shield Law aims to protect New York doctors who provide abortions across state lines.

It prevents New York courts from cooperating with other states to prosecute them. The Texas Attorney General has sued a New York court clerk in Ulster County for refusing to enforce a judgment against a doctor who used telemedicine to prescribe abortion pills to a Texas resident. Attorney General James says she's intervening in the case. Legal experts say this fight could make it to the Supreme Court. Imagine paying market rate for your New York City apartment when it's actually supposed to be rent-stabilized. Well, that really happened to a man in Harlem. That story after the break.

A Harlem man recently found out the apartment he's been living in for more than 20 years was supposed to be rent-stabilized. But he had no idea. And he's been paying almost three times as much as the renter before him. WMYC's Samantha Max has more. The oven stopped working. Then the refrigerator. Richard Carroll says his stove doesn't work. His windowsills are rotted.

His ceiling lights are broken. And his bedroom door has fallen off the hinges. Carol says the railroad apartment seemed okay when he moved in in 2004. As an artist, he liked how natural light spilled into the cozy living room. And that's where I do a lot of my painting and work. But Carol says over the years, his apartment has. falling apart. This is all stuff that was, you know, covered by nice pain, you know, made to look decent.

But as time went on, it didn't, it didn't withstand. It didn't hold it at all. Recently, the landlord tried to evict Carol and said in court papers his lease had expired. It wasn't until then that Carol learned the prior tenant was rent stabilized and had been paying less than $500 a month. records show Carol's most recent rent was more than $1,400. I was robbed for $1,000 a month for 20-something years. That's how I felt.

In stabilized departments, the rent can only go up a certain percentage set by a nine-member board appointed by the mayor. And tenants have special protections that make it harder for landlords to evict them. Property owners used to be allowed to get units out of this system if they raise the rent passed a certain threshold after making renovations to an empty apartment. Carol's landlord says a prior owner did just that. That's according to court papers. But housing attorney Sherwin Belkin says landlords need lots of receipts to prove enough money

was spent on upgrades. The owner would need paid invoices and canceled checks, friends and backs, for all of the improvements that were made to the apartment. In Carroll's case, a housing court judge ruled the landlord did not prove enough money had been spent on renovations. The judge said his unit should still be rent-stabilized, and he should not be evicted. Carol isn't the first New Yorker to unknowingly live in a rent-stabilized apartment. City Council member Sandy Nurse says she learned her home was rent-stabilized after a neighbor knocked on her door and asked if she had checked her rent history. It was like, oh, I actually haven't.

And they were like, well, you should check it out because most of the units in this building are rent-stabilized. New York renters can see if their home has ever been rent-stabilized by requesting a rent-history from the Division of Housing and Community Renewal. Nurse sponsored a new law that will require owners of properties with rent-stabilized units to post signs with guidance on how to check the rent history. And they'll have to alert residents that there are regulated apartments in the building. Good morning and welcome to today's New York City. Council vote for the committee on housing and buildings.

At a hearing, Nurse said she hopes the information will give tenants more power. And the absence of this information about the status of the unit is really allowing bad landlords to illegally raise rents, do harassment and ultimately lead to eviction. Carol says he wishes he had gotten this information before he was facing eviction. I would never know. Now that a housing court judge has ruled in his favor, Carol is waiting for his landlord to set a new rent. In spite of the issues, he says he's relieved he gets to stay in his apartment. I mean, it's my home.

And he says everyone should check their rent history. That's WNYC's Samantha Max. It's that time of year again. Mulberry Street in Manhattan's Little Italy is getting ready for the annual feast of San General. The celebration will start Thursday and run until Sunday, September 21st. The festival began back in 1926, when Italian-American families started a block party to commemorate San Janeiro, the patron saint of Naples. The festival is 11 days long and runs for 11 blocks.

It features music, performances, and of course, world famous food from longtime restaurants on Mulberry Street. Plan to check it out. Thanks for listening to NYC now from Doe, WMYC. I'm Jenae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.