NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Mexican Navy Ship Hits Brooklyn Bridge, 3 Dead in Weekend Shootings, Rutgers University’s New President, NYC’s Emergency Housing and Subway Service Returns to the Rockaways

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

We get an update on what caused a Mexican Navy ship to strike the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday night. Plus, police are looking for suspects in three separate shootings across the city. Also, William F. Tate IV will be named the 22nd president of Rutgers University. Meanwhile, New York City wants to make it easier for non-profits to own homeless shelters. And finally, subway service to the Rockaways returns after a four-month shutdown.

A Mexican Navy ship hits the Brooklyn Bridge. Three people dead in weekend shootings. Rutgers University names a new president. Emergency housing in New York City. And subway service returns to the Rockaways. From WNYC, this is NYC now. I'm Jinnay Pierre. We're learning more about what caused a Mexican Navy ship

to strike the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday night, killing two people and injuring at least 22 others. Officials say they believe the ship lost power before it veered off course. It was scheduled to sail out to the harbor, but instead drifted in the opposite direction. Its mast snapped as it struck the bridge. By now, you've probably seen a video of the incident on social media. It shows several crew members dangling from harnesses from the mast after it broke. For more, we turn to WNYC's transportation editor Clayton Guse.

Clayton, federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, board are now in New York City. And they gave an update Monday afternoon. What did you learn? So we learned a little bit, but there's still a lot, a lot of questions on the table that the investigators simply aren't willing to speculate about or come to a conclusion. This ship called Ewatemuk. It's this big sailing ship with a lot of mass. It's owned by the Mexican Navy. The federal government gave a little bit more of the timeline about the crash. They said that the ship arrived in New York City, docked in the downtown seaport, Pier 17 on May 13th. It was planning to leave for Iceland, kind of doing a big tour, and it was going to

leave out through New York Harbor Saturday night. But it veered off course. NYPD has said the engine may have failed. It wasn't planning to go under the bridge. It wouldn't fit anyway, but there was no plans for it to go towards the bridge. That was clearly an accident. The NTSP isn't saying exactly what caused it to veer off course. They're still saying that's up for investigation. They haven't talked to the crew on board yet. Many of the crew members are still docked in the city while this investigation is ongoing. We do know from our local reporting that any major ship coming in and out of Manhattan or out of New York Harbor is under the direction of a harbor pilot. A local pilot who knows the waterways is supposed to be the one managing that. We don't know what role that official or

that boat pilot may have had in the crash, but we do know that that's typically how it works. Like you don't sail into New York City and continue driving your boat into the harbor. Someone comes on board and takes control of the vessel who knows the local waterways. But Clayton, I want to ask about the tugboat that people may have seen in those social media videos. Was that supposed to help the ship and, you know, prevent it from veering off course? That's generally what happens. And there's a couple kinds of details here that we're still trying to figure out. Yesterday, Senator Chuck Schumer and some other officials said, hey, there was no tugboat.

It was supposed to be tethered there. Today, the NTSB says a tugboat did help it off the pier, but it's unclear when or how or if it became untethered from the boat. But that video, you see the tugboats like chasing after it. It's almost kind of like, oh, no, the ship's going off course. It's like chasing like a bouncy ball down a set of stairs. We do know at 8.24 p.m. There was a call out from the ship saying, I need more tugboats help. You even see in one of the videos that that tugboat actually tried to ram the boat to keep it from crashing into the bridge.

So we don't really know what the role is. It's normally up to the harbor pilot to decide if the tugboat is supposed to be tethered when it's not, how it's supposed to be guided. But yeah, it was, it should have been. I mean, it's easy to say now if it, I mean, if they did never. a tugboat and it didn't crash, no one to be complaining. But I think we're still waiting to learn more from the NTSB about that part in this whole fiasco. Okay. Was there any damage to the Brooklyn Bridge? No, they're saying there was no structural damage to the Brooklyn Bridge.

There was like what they call a traveler, like a platform for crews to survey the bridge. That took a hit, but no structural damage. Actually, the Brooklyn Bridge turns 142 years old next week. It's a way to celebrate a birthday. Right. Talk about birthday lifts. Can't take down that bridge. Yeah.

Important bridge. But the NTSB is still super sensitive about any ship hitting a bridge. Remember last year in Baltimore when a cargo shit hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge. That bridge, it went down. The whole thing went down. So the NTSP pointed out they actually recently put out guidance and a report about safety measures to take to prevent bridge strikes right before this happened. Curious, what were the sailors doing up on the mess as the ship crash?

So that's like part of the shtick of this ship. The Watamak is like this training vessel for the Mexican Navy. It's been, they've had it since the 80s. But part of it's kind of like a diplomatic boat too. They put on a performance. Whenever the ship comes in or out of a port, all the sailors go up in the mass, like a Mel Brooks musical, and they get all proud. And they everyone claps. And it's a great, it's a hell of a show.

And they were up there and they harness themselves in, but they didn't have time to get down. It crashed into the bridge less than five minutes after it departed, which is really tragic. We don't know if the people who were severely injured or the people who were killed were up on the mass. We don't know where they were on the ship yet. We're still waiting for more information. That's WMYC's Transportation Editor at Clayton Goussa. In other local news, police are looking for suspects in three separate shootings across the city over the weekend that left three people dead. NYPD officials say one of them happened around 1145 Sunday night, behind.

the 28th precinct station house in Harlem. Police have not released the identity of the victim or a potential motive. Several hours earlier, police say a person opened fire in Fordham Heights, killing a 57-year-old man and injuring a 34-year-old woman. And on Saturday, a shooting in East New York left an 18-year-old man dead and an 18-year-old woman injured. Dena. Ruckers University has a new president. The school says William F. Tate, the 4, will become its 22nd president, on July 1st. Tate is a social scientist who has led Louisiana State University system for the last four years. He'll also be the university's second ever black president replacing its first, Jonathan Holloway. Holloway's tenure included the university's first ever faculty strike,

among other controversies. Rutgers also saw significant gains in Holloway's time, including its campus' first ever academic rankings and record-breaking first-year enrollment. New York City wants to make it easier for nonprofits to own homeless shelters. We'll explain why after the break. You're listening to NYC now. A brand-new family homeless shelter in the Bronx is changing what emergency housing can look like. WMYC's Karen Yeep has more. Oh, my goodness.

The Ruby D shelter for families with kids looks like a brand new apartment building. So this is LVT luxury vinyl tile. Anthony Andriano is the director of real estate for Wynn, the largest provider of family shelters in the city. He says the 95-unit shelter is meant to be inviting. It gives you a sense of walking into your home. Each unit has recessed lighting, closets, a stainless steel refrigerator, glass top stove, cabinets that... Soft clothes cabinets. She's good for the kids.

Wynn says it was able to design a space that meets the needs. of the families who will actually live there until they find permanent housing. That's because for the first time, Wynne owns the building rather than a private landlord. This is how we should be building. This is how we should be designing. When CEO Christine Quinn

says the shelter system is largely dominated by for-profit real estate, and that needs to change. These shelters should be made with the purpose of ending the family homelessness crisis. And you can do that without breaking the bank. While the city, pays nonprofits to manage shelters, the groups usually lease buildings from private landlords because

it's hard for them to get the money to build. But the Department of Homeless Services is now encouraging nonprofits to be their own landlords, using their city contracts as a guarantee to private lenders that they can pay them back. The city says the arrangement saves taxpayer money in the long run. It's like paying a fixed rate 30-year mortgage, rather than paying rent to landlords who can jack up the price. Kisha McFarlane is the shelters program director and says when a family enters the shelter system, that's automatic trauma.

She says having a space that doesn't feel institutional that's painted in cool blues with soft lighting can go a long way in reducing that trauma. To reach the ultimate goal of permanent housing. The shelter has a laundry room in the building, a daycare, and soon a playground. The city says about two dozen more shelters owned by nonprofits will soon replace

older buildings and more expensive hotel shelters. That's WMYC's Karen Yee. Before we go, some good news for beachgoers without a car and locals in the Rockaways. Subway service to the area is back after a four-month shutdown. It's welcome news ahead of beach season and even better news for locals who've been stuck without train service since January. The MTA closed the A-line south of JFK Howard Beach to upgrade infrastructure. including equipment that was damaged in 2012 by Hurricane Sandy.

Cruise installed new wave barriers and debris shields to protect the line from another storm or natural disaster. They also replaced the old and busted South Channel Bridge that would often cause delays when it would get stuck while it opened up to let ships pass through. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.