NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Mayor Adams Explains Bronx Raid, State Trooper Shooting Labeled a Hoax, Congestion Pricing Critic Tapped for Federal Transit Role, Policing Shapes Mayoral Race, and Ice Rink Boom Across NYC

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams says the NYPD and Homeland Security collaborated on the immigration action in the Bronx on Tuesday. Meanwhile, authorities say a multi-state manhunt for a suspect accused of shooting a state trooper was a hoax. Also, policing and public safety are emerging as key issues ahead of the upcoming New York City mayoral race. WNYC’s Elizabeth Kim has more. Finally, WNYC’s Ryan Kailath reports on the business side of ice skating in the city.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. New York City Mayor Eric Adams says Tuesday morning's immigration enforcement action in the Bronx was done in coordination with the city. He says the city and Homeland Security regularly work together when it comes to finding criminal suspects. The NYPD says they were present as part of a task force Tuesday morning when at least one person was arrested. Police say that person was wanted for several crimes, including kidnapping. and firearms possession. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam says she was in the Bronx this Tuesday with

immigration agents as well. A multi-state manhunt for a suspect accused of shooting a state trooper in the leg may have been a hoax. That's according to state police who say their investigation revealed that Officer Thomas Mascia made up the story. Masia claimed he was shot in the leg alongside the southern state parkway in Nassau County in October by a stranded driver. But Nassau County's district attorney Ann Donnelly says Mossie says Mossie.

actually shot himself to sell the story. She says the details just didn't add up. The evidence uncovered and the absence of evidence told us everything we needed to know. Authorities say they recovered the weapon. Masia allegedly used to shoot himself and that he didn't use his service weapon. Massey pleaded not guilty Monday to several charges, but if convicted, he could spend three years in prison. He has resigned.

His attorney has not returned a message seeking comment. A former Republican Congress member who opposes conjected. Priced pricing is on deck to head the federal agency that oversees mass transit. W.MIC's Jimmy Veilkind reports. Mark Molinaro represented parts of the Hudson Valley in Congress until his election defeat in November. Sources familiar with the matter say Malinaro is now on track to lead the Federal Transit Administration in President Donald Trump's administration. The agency distributes around $20 billion a year.

It provided billions to the MTA for projects like the Second Avenue subway and also steered $7 billion to fund the Gateway Project for a new train tunnel beneath the Hudson River. Spokespeople for Molinaro and the federal government didn't comment. In social media posts this month, Malinaro described congestion pricing as a, quote, cash grab. He also said the MTA should be more efficient with its spending. Up next, New York City's mayoral race is heating up with policing and public safety emerging as key issues for all candidates.

We'll have more on that after the break. NYC now. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is running for re-election, leading on his background as a former NYPD captain to reinforce his political brand. But candidates running to his left are also working to show they can be tough on crime. My colleague Michael Hill spoke with W&MIC reporter Elizabeth Kim about how policing and public safety are shaping the mayoral race. Liz, let's talk through this. How public safety could shape this race? How could it?

So polls have consistently shown that New Yorkers' feelings. unsafe. And it's part of this broader reckoning that Democrats are dealing with post-Trump. Crime was a very big talking point for Republicans, even though both nationally and New York City in New York City crime was falling. But in New York City, we do see that assaults are up and coupled with high-profile crime incidents that's given way to a perception that the city isn't safe. So that therein poses a challenge for progressives who need to show a command on the issue of public safety. We have two progressives, Scott Stringer and Brad Lander. They backed the defund the police movement in 2020.

Now they're distancing themselves from that kind of rhetoric of police reform. Stringer this month came out with a plan that called for 3,000 more cops. Lander told me that he thought the defunders. movement was a, quote, failed political strategy. And you also have Zellner Myrie. He said in 2020 that police brutality was, quote, in the DNA of this country. That was after he was attacked by police during the George Floyd protests. Now he's often bringing up his mother, who he said was robbed at gunpoint and for whom, quote, feeling safe means seeing a police officer. Now, Mayor Adams has taken note of this. He's a moderate Democrat.

Here's what he said about his progressive challengers this month. And I'm going to use every item, dollar, we need to keep them safe. I'm not like other people who call for the funding police department and now have a different belief about funding police department. I'm going to keep New Yorkers safe. So that's classic criticism on the campaign trail. He's saying that his rivals have flip-flopped. You mentioned Stringer, Lander, and Mirey, are all the progressors

in the boat, same boat when it comes to being more pro-police right now? No, you have someone like Zoran Mandani. He's a Queen State Assembly member who identifies as a Democratic socialist. Now, he didn't say explicitly that he'd cut the police budget, but he told me that he wants to eliminate the NYPD's controversial strategic response group. That's a group that has been sued for police brutality during protests. He also wants to scale back Adams' plan to build a new lease training facility in Queens. And overall, many of these progressives are hoping that voters this time around will have a more nuanced view of public safety.

You have multiple candidates rolling out plans to address homelessness and mental health. Someone like Jessica Ramos, she's a Queen state senator. She wants to hire more mental health workers. Brad Lander has come out with a plan. to house people with mental illnesses who are living on the streets. What they're saying that altogether is that if we tackle these underlying issues,

that this will help New Yorkers feel a greater sense of ease on riding the subways and walking on public streets. So, Liz, listening to your explanation, I have to ask this, who does a race focused on public safety? Who does it favor? You know, Michael, a lot could change.

There are five months. to go. But this moment feels very similar to 2021. You know, we had, you know, around May, there was a Times Square shooting. There was a spade of attacks on the subway. And that gave Eric Adams a narrow path to victory. But some progressives, they want to change. They want to change the conventional wisdom about crime and candidates. Here's what Mandani told me he thinks is wrong with the way politicians talk about policing. I think part of it is because we are led at the city and state level by executives for whom, no matter the question, the answer seems to always be more police.

And New Yorkers are told that they have two options, either suffer through that which they are living in the crisis of seeing so many New Yorkers who are experiencing mental health episodes or living through homelessness, especially within our subway system, or to have police officers respond to those things. So what he's saying is that he wants New Yorkers to try to think about other approaches to public safety. You know, whether they have the confidence in trying these approaches is something that we'll see play out. In 2021, Maya Wiley ran on a platform to divert police funding and put it towards social services. She came in third.

We have so much more to talk about that with our Liz Kim on public safety and policing in New York City and this mayor's race, but Liz will have to leave it there. WNIC's Liz Smith Kim. Liz, thank you. Thanks, Michael. Ice skating rings are popping up all over New York City from Hudson Yards to Dumbo and South Street Seaport,

adding to classics like Rockefeller Center and Central Park. WNC's Ryan Kaila stopped by one and found out these rings aren't just for fun. They're big business. It's going really well, my boy. What's up, man? Straight out of New York. Right here, Brian Park.

You're like the fastest skater out here. The fastest skater on the ice at Bryant Park the other day is off before I can get his name. It's 13 degrees, too cold to stop moving. The perfect day is 40 degrees, sunny, and no wind. I'm a marketing genius on those days. Tom Hillgrove runs 24 ice rinks around the country, including three around New York.

The rink at Bryant Park is on track for 10 million in revenue this year. Almost a third of the park's revenue for the entire year from a few thousand square feet of ice. I mean, this is a well-oiled machine. We did 5,000 skater visits probably 10 times this year already. 5,000 skaters in a day. Getting in, renting skates, getting on the ice, off the ice, returning the skates, leaving. That's an average of 90 people every 15. minutes. Dan Biederman, the president of the nonprofit that runs Bryant Park, says the busiest season

is Thanksgiving to New Year's. When skating started here in 2005, there weren't many rinks in town. Now, they're everywhere. Maybe we were influential on that because it's such a nice thing out there's skating. I remember when we first did this, we weren't even sure people would come. Skating is free in Bryant Park, thanks to a subsidy from Bank of America. But rentals are not. And that has allowed it to be very profitable and fund a lot of the rest of what we do every year. Movie screenings, concerts, lectures and games, all free. Back on the ice, skate attendant John Carlos Gutierrez is watching our speed skater. But not to bust him.

I don't know him too well. But I'm going to go skate with him today, see what he's got. Gutierrez says they're both rink rats, self-taught skaters from the city who take advantage of the free skating. He says you can't go too fast to Bryant Park because of all the tourists. Rink rats prefer Riverbank State Park or Woolman Rink in Central Park. If you really want to see a show, try to go there Friday and Saturday nights after 7 o'clock. We'll see some action. Brian Kaila, WNYC News.

Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNMIC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Sean Carlson. We'll see you tomorrow.