NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Mayor Adams Scales Back Schedule, A New Candidate Enters Public Advocate Race, Holocaust Exhibit Debuts, Subway Safety Report, and Lunar New Year Events

Episode Date: January 27, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams is scaling back his schedule this week for doctor’s appointments. Meanwhile, State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar has announced her candidacy for New York City Public Advocate. Plus, the Museum of Jewish Heritage unveils an AI-powered exhibit commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation. Also, WNYC’s Brittany Kriegstein looks at a new report that shows how time and location impact subway safety. Finally, Lunar New Year celebrations kick off this week, starting with a firecracker ceremony in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jared Marcell. Mayor Eric Adams is scaling back his schedule this week and will attend several doctor's appointments. That's according to his spokesperson Fabian Levy. Levy posted on social media Sunday night that the mayor hasn't been feeling well in recent days and will undergo routine medical tests. He emphasized the mayor's right to privacy, but said updates would be provided if Mayor Adams becomes unable to perform. his duties. Levy declined to share details about Adam's symptoms. By law, the mayor is unable

to fulfill his responsibilities, the city's first deputy mayor, Maria Torres-Springer, would assume leadership. State Assembly member Jennifer Raj Kumar is officially running for New York City Public Advocate. The Democrat who represents parts of Queens like Glendale, Richmond Hill, and Woodhaven had previously considered a run for city comptroller this election cycle. The public advocate acts as a watchdog for the mayor's administration and is second in line to the mayor at city hall. Raj Kumar joins the race alongside fellow Democrat and incumbent, Jobadi Williams. While Williams has been a vocal critic of Mayor Eric Adams, Raj Kumar is considered one of the mayor's closest allies.

New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage is launching a new exhibit to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The exhibit features artificial intelligence technology, allowing visitors to interact with virtual versions of Holocaust survivors and hear their stories. Toby Levy, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor from occupied Poland, says she's proud to be part of the project. I'm scared when I am gone, all the deniers will come up to say it never happened. Well, we have live witnesses forever now. The museum interviewed nine of the survivors for the interactive exhibit,

which is one of more than 100 programs open to the public. Up next, a new report shows how time and location affects subway safety across New York City. That's after the break. A new report reveals that when and where you ride the subway in New York City can affect your chances of encountering violence and criminal activity. My colleague David First spoke with WNYC's Brittany Kriegstein about the findings following a series of high-profile subway crimes. Brittany, what are the riskiest times and places to ride the subway, according to the data? This report was put together by Vital City, which is a nonprofit organization that analyzes crime data in New York. They looked at incidents on the subway from the early 2000s through 2024, and their data tells two stories, I'd say, about the risks to subway riders at different stations.

Overall, the highest number of crimes against commuters are recorded during peak hours at state. stations like 125th Street in East Harlem, Lexington Avenue, 59th Street, Jackson Heights, Roosevelt Avenue, then 59th Street, Columbus Circle, Franklin Avenue, and Grand Central. So those big stations. However, the report says that commuters are more likely to encounter violence at smaller stations during overnight or early morning hours when they're likely to be alone or among few other people. That's just statistics, you know, fewer people. at a particular station and on the train means higher risks to individuals, even though we have to say the risks still remain relatively small. Well, we've been hearing a lot about crime in the subways these days. Does the report explain more about what's actually happening on trains and in stations? Yes, and that's what the researchers say is a little bit disconcerting. The report deles into different kinds of crimes being committed and how the trends have changed over time. These days, say and the data shows that we're seeing fewer robberies and burglaries on the trains, but more of

the serious assaults that leave people with injuries. The vital city researchers say that these assaults on trains have almost quadrupled since 2009, and they largely happen between people who don't know each other. And how does crime in the subway system compare to crime in the city in general? Right. So we have to start off by saying that riding the subway statistically remains really safe. We know about 4 million people ride each day and only a handful, a handful of crimes are actually committed. Gun violence and murder on the subway remains extremely rare, but commuters are still fearful, David, and the data about assaults supports those fears. I mean, in in 2023, according to the data, there were about 28,000 assaults above ground. So that's people walking down

the street. About 540 felony assaults were recorded in the subway system that same year. So obviously there's a huge difference between those two numbers. But the nature of the subway system, of course, with people, you know, next to people that they don't know in a fairly confined environment, definitely has sparked a lot of fear amongst commuters that we're seeing now. What can you tell us about who is committing these crimes? So that's another interesting. branch of this report. Vital City was able to get arrest records from the NYPD, which show that the people arrested in subway assault cases are most often people with long criminal records, people with histories of mental health issues, and people with histories of homelessness.

And we'll hear from Paul Reaping, the organization's director of research. Even when we look at them the top decile of overall subway arrests, who had a history of subway violence, you know, 89% were homeless or EDP at some point. So that's, that's really high. And I should say EDP refers to emotionally disturbed person or people who have severe and documented histories of mental health challenges. Reaping says it's hard to understand exactly why these assault are spiking, even as other major crimes decrease. One thing we do know is that violent assault at street level are also on the rise. As we discussed, they actually went up 5% citywide in 2024. So,

The researchers all say there's something larger happening here. We don't quite know what the cause of it is, other than a prevalence of people suffering for mental health and homelessness who are committing these kinds of crimes and often in public transit. Well, what are police and the MTA doing about this? And is it helping? So, of course, we know that Governor Hokel asked for police officers to patrol every subway train overnight. The NYPD has also increased efforts to crack down on things like fair evasion,

which often leads them to catch people who would have committed a crime otherwise, they say. But about 150 million people evade the fare each year. So that's a lot of arrests to make. By comparison, there are only about 2,000 subway crimes reported every year. So that's kind of a difficult numbers game if you're trying to arrest people who are going to be committing crimes and evading the fair. The MTA has also improved the system itself. They've installed cameras in every car, which has been helpful in catching perpetrators. they've said. And in response to all this data, an MTA spokesperson says the agency is calling on the

courts to find better ways to keep repeat offenders from getting back out onto the streets and making it to the subways. And our few moments we have left, can you mention a few practical things riders can do to keep safe on the subway? Absolutely. So we have a story on our new psychothymus by my colleague Samantha Max that I would recommend checking out. Talks about this in detail. But of course, be aware of your surroundings. Don't stand right next to the tracks. experts recommend not having headphones in while riding the train so you can hear what's going on around you. Once you get on the train, the safest cars are in front with a conductor or the middle where another MTA worker is stationed. And if something doesn't feel right, just get off at the next stop and wait for another train.

That's WNYC reporter, Brittany Kriegstein, in conversation with my colleague David First. Before we go, a quick reminder that Lunar New Year is this week, marking the beginning of the year of the snake. Wednesday, January 29th is the annual firecracker ceremony from the Better Chinatown Society. The festival begins at 11 in the morning as Sarah D. Roosevelt Park on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In some Asian traditions, the year of the snake marks a year of transformation. In New York City, schools are off on Wednesday in honor of the holiday. The big Lunar New Year parade kicks off at one in the afternoon in Chinatown on Sunday, February 16th. A longer list of Lunar New Year events are available at our news site, Gotham.

Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Jared Marcel. See tomorrow.