NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: MTA Bus Crash in the Bronx, Queens Woman Charged in Super’s Death, TikTok Ban Upheld, and NYC Prepares for Trump’s Inauguration

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

An MTA bus crash in the Bronx left vehicle – with the driver still inside – dangling from an overpass this morning. Officials say no passengers were on board, and the driver was eventually rescued. Meanwhile, a Queens woman is charged with killing her building’s superintendent, allegedly over a rent dispute. Also, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law n that requires that the social media platform TikTik be banned or sold by its China-based parent company. Plus, as President-elect Trump’s inauguration approaches, the New York City Council is working to ensure the city complies with its sanctuary laws. WNYC’s Michael Hill speaks with City Council member Alexa Aviles.

Welcome to NYC now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. Officials are looking into a crash in the Bronx Friday morning that left an MTA bus and its driver dangling from an overpass. Officials say the driver was rescued from the bus, which had no passengers at the time. According to police and the MTA, the crash happened around 8.40 a.m. on the Henry Hudson Parkway and K. Poc Street in Spight and Dyval. Officials say the driver missed a turn, skidded into a wall, and ended up partially hanging over the side of the overpass. The BXM1 bus was traveling between the Bronx and Manhattan.

A queen's woman is accused of killing her building superintendent. Prosecutors say it may have been a dispute over rent. WNYC's Brittany Crixton reports. Prosecutors say the super went into Sandra Cotto Navarro's apartment in Kew Gardens Hills on Tuesday morning to collect rent and never came out. That evening, police say officers discovered 55-year-old Jose Portillo dead and wrapped in garbage bags under a bed in her apartment. Court documents say the place smelled like bleach and the officers found him up. Cotto Navarro could be sentenced to 25 years to life if convicted of the murder charge she's facing, among other charges. Prosecutors say the 48-year-old has pleaded not guilty.

Her lawyer didn't respond to her request for comment. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday morning to uphold a federal law banning the popular social media platform TikTok starting on Sunday unless its China-based parent company sells the app. The court says the app's ties to China pose a serious national security risk, outweighing concerns about free speech for its 170 million users in the U.S. Experts say TikTok won't disappear immediately once the law takes effect. Current users will still have access, but new downloads and updates will stop. eventually making the app unusable. Up next, as President-elect Trump's inauguration approaches, the New York City Council is working to ensure the city complies with its sanctuary laws.

We'll have more on that after the break. Immigration advocates are ramping up resources aimed at helping undocumented individuals protect themselves and their families. It comes as President-elect Trump, who takes office next week, threatens mass deportation starting on day one. So what is the City Council doing to ensure New York City stays in compliance with its own sanctuary laws? They held a hearing Thursday to address the issue. For more, my colleague Michael Hill spoke with City Council Member Alexa Avila's chair of the committee on immigration. Let's be clear. Sanctuary City protections do not prevent immigration and customs enforcement, or known as ICE, from enforcing immigration law and deporting someone.

So what does the law say and why is it important? Yeah, thank you. That is correct. Our sanctuary policies are actually a bunch of different policies that have been passed over the years that include protections around data that include protections around engaging with enforcement. But the law does, in fact, allow ICE to enforce. It allows for deportation, particularly our law 258 allows it with 177. violent crimes. Are there exceptions to the laws? The exceptions in particular in local law 258 are if a person is convicted of a manner of 177 serious and violent crimes, which is a very

extensive list, that our agencies can in fact collaborate and share information with ICE. Mayor Adams, the city wants to roll back some sanctuary city protection, though he said only for those who have committed crimes. I want to dive into that just a bit because I think when politicians talk about someone committing a crime, is it a matter of, and subjecting them to federal law and potential deportation, is it a matter of them actually being convicted by a judge or a court of law as simply because someone is alleged to have committed a crime? Yeah, I mean, this has been what has been so crazy making about, the mayor's statements and the rhetoric.

Because in fact, what he is suggesting is allowable by law. It can be done. However, what he's really talking about is not allowing due process for people, particularly for immigrants. The very due process that he himself is enjoying. Exactly, accused, which is what the movement we're seeing at the federal level is merely an accusation can lend you an indefinite detention. That is a pure violation of due process rights. Do you see the city council getting behind any further steps to loosen or, for that matter,

strengthen sanctuary protections in New York City? Well, we're standing firm with the legal protections that have been built over years. They are public safety instruments. They are effective instruments. So we're going to stand very firm with our laws. We will not be rolling back our laws. Now, how we need to strengthen them, that is certainly another matter that we are exploring, but we have no intention of rolling back laws. How do you envision strengthening them when you have a mayor who says that he wants to roll some back? Well, this is, you know, part of the democracy. We have a legislative body and a co-eco branch of government, and we will move back and forth.

I mean, this is certainly not our first disagreement, who will probably not be our last disagreement. but we will deliberate very closely. We will look at the facts on the ground of what is happening and its impacting communities. If Trump, in fact, does as he has threatened over and over again and has policies to back up, we will have to really look at our options. In a Quinnipiac poll in December, this is more than a year ago, 62% of voters said they agreed with a statement by Mayor Adams at the surge. of migrants seeking sanctuary in New York City could destroy the city, 33% disagreed.

What do you think of that? Yeah, I think it's a sad situation. I think when you have a mayor who is out there ever consistently scapegoating migrants saying that they are the reason New York City is, you know, their quality, that people's quality of life is not excellent because migrants, because we're spending all these money. when you constantly hear those message from the mayor, I see how that shapes public opinion, which is why his rhetoric and using his bully pulpit is so damaging.

When in fact we saw IBO and other agencies say, actually those spending numbers, that's not right. And you know it. The city council called him out on all the spending lies that he was saying that, you know, the city didn't have money for anything else. So, you know, it's a very divisive messaging, and we see it reflected in public opinion, which is why leadership is so critical. The mayor has been saying one thing, but his Office of Immigrant Affairs testified yesterday that they're actually hosting staff trainings on the city's sanctuary laws and urging agencies to comply with those protections.

Is there anything else the city should be doing? Well, I think I'm, I was glad and I'll continue to be glad and push for city agencies to follow the law. It is the law and they should be preparing to follow it. And all city employees should know their duties and obligations under the law. Other preparations, 100%. I mean, I think as a city, we need to be nimble, flexible, but also, you know, thinking about scenarios. So how will we be distributing information to community? communities in real time? What are some additional protocols? And obviously the city bureaucracy is

quite large and making sure that everyone is on the same page is going to be quite a amount of work. So there's a lot of work yet to be done. Our guest has been New York City Councilmember Alexa Avelis, the head of the Committee on Immigration for the New York City Council. Councilmember, thank you so much for joining us on this. Thank you so much. Have a great day. That's City Council Member Alexa Villas in conversation with my colleague, Michael Hill. Before we go, we need to make a quick correction. In our midday episode Friday, we ran a story about a federal investigation into the NYPD around an alleged pay-to-play scheme. In it, we misdated a claim made in a new court filing.

The filing says prosecutors interviewed NYPD employees about whether police officials have traded only cash for promotions. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. Make sure to bundle up this weekend. I'm Sean Carlson. We'll see you on Monday.