NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: NJ Military Base to Hold Immigrants, Central Park Carriage Horse Driver Not Guilty of Abuse, Battery Park Fieldhouse Gets Upgrade, Brooklyn’s Bike Lane Controversy, and Air Quality Concerns Renewed

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

New Jersey Rep. Herb Conaway is calling out the Trump administration for its plan to detain immigrants at a military base in the state. Meanwhile, a jury found a Central Park carriage horse driver not guilty of abusing the horse that collapsed in Midtown in the summer of 2022. Plus, a run-down building in Battery Park is getting a big upgrade. Also, Mayor Adams is trying to remove protections for cyclists on a stretch of Bedford Avenue near South Williamsburg. And finally, a new report examines the effects of congestion pricing on the air quality in and around the tolling zone in Lower Manhattan.

A New Jersey military base will be used to detain immigrants. A Central Park carriage horse driver is found not guilty of abuse. Battery Park's fieldhouse will get an upgrade. A bike lane controversy in Brooklyn. And air quality concerns renewed with congestion tolls. From WMYC, this is NYC now. I'm Jene Pierre. A New Jersey Congress member is calling out the Trump administration

for its plan to detain immigrants at a military base in the state. The Defense Department has identified Joint Base McGuire Dix-Lakehurst as one of the two sites for detainees. Representative Herb Conaway posted a video to social media reacting to the announcement. It seems that the administration wants to use the joint base as their northeast alligator alcatraz. Let's call it what it is. I don't want to see the equivalent of Gulloch in our Garden State. Civil rights groups say the move could endanger due process and strain military resources. The administration says its goal is to boost the state.

detention capacity from 60,000 to 100,000 beds as part of its crackdown on undocumented immigrants, even those with no criminal records. In a previous episode, we looked into the case of alleged animal abuse by a Central Park carriage horse driver. Well, here's an update. A Manhattan jury found the carriage horse driver Ian McKeever not guilty of abusing the horse that collapsed in Midtown on a hot summer day back in 2022. Prosecutors charged McKeever with overdriving, torturing, and injuring animals.

The DA's office argued that McKeever pushed an old horse named Ryder too hard. McKeever's defense attorney said the incident was heartbreaking, but that his client did not do anything wrong. DA Alvin Bragg says his office will continue to investigate and prosecute cases when animals are hurt or mistreated. A rundown building in Battery Park is getting a big upgrade. WMYC's Liam Quigley has more. The Battery Park Fieldhouse was built in 1951.

It's overgrown and only used as a break area for parks workers. Now the city is planning a $6 million overhaul. They want to level the building and put a new one in its place. Luke Popatix says the current building serves as a reminder of the park's dingier days. I was just sitting in the lawn over there, and the lawn was a lot more lively and maintained. This looks kind of worn. now and sad. The new building will feature bathrooms and a ticket booth for the nearby carousel.

Parks Department officials say it will be finished by the spring of 28. Cycling advocates are in a back and forth with some members of the Orthodox Jewish community in a controversy over bike lanes. More on that after the break. A Brooklyn bike lane is stirring controversy once again. Mayor Eric Adams is trying to remove protections for cyclists on a three-block stretch of Bedford Avenue near South Williamsburg. The bike lane is at the center of an election year battle that's pitting cycling advocates against some members of the Orthodox Jewish community. WMYC's Stephen Nesson has more. Two months ago, a three-year-old girl hopped out of a double parked car on Bedford Avenue and bolted for the sidewalk.

She ran between parked cars and into the path of a man on an e-bike, zipping down the bus. bike lane. He clipped the girl flinging her to the ground. Children first. We saw some of the horrific video of children almost being hit in this bike lane. That's Mayor Adams. The girl only had minor injuries, according to police. But a few weeks later, surrounded by Orthodox Jewish children, Adams announces that he's removing the protected bike lane there. The redesign separating cyclists from traffic was installed just last year. And we find in government that some, something is done that needs to be corrected. We need to be bold enough to correct it. The move comes as Mayor Adams is running for re-election as an independent, fending off multiple

challengers. Democratic primary winner, Zeran Mamdani, is in the lead, and former Governor Cuomo and Adams are both courting moderate voters. Eric Adams' decision to rip out the Bedford Avenue protected bike lane and send cyclists back into three lanes of vehicular traffic. is purely political. That city council member, Lincoln Wrestler. He supports the bike lane and represents the neighborhood, where he's popular with Hasidic voters. The Department of Transportation had data to show

how this was making Bedford Avenue safer, and the mayor ignored it and decided to disregard the safety of cyclists to try to secure votes. It's nakedly obvious what this is. This isn't the first time the bike lane has become a political issue during an election. Shortly after winning a third term, Mayor Michael Bloomberg removed a different section

of the Bedford Avenue bike lane following complaints from the Orthodox community in 2009. The mayor needs Jewish voters. He needs Hasidic voters. That's Chris Coffey, CEO of the political consulting firm Tusk Strategies. He says Adams needs this voter base, which lean toward Cuomo in the primary. It's complicated, and he's, looking to use this as one of the issues that he galvanizes support behind. For many residents, Adams is doing the right thing. It's dangerous. Everyone is happy that they move it.

That's 23-year-old Mike Joel. He rides a two-wheel electric scooter to get around, but he wants the bike lane removed. I think the kids are more supposed to be safer than the bikes. Cycling advocates sued to block Adams from removing the lane, which puts bikers back into the road with cars. The Department of Transportation, admitted in court filings that removing the bike lane would be more dangerous and could open the city to lawsuits if any cyclists are injured. For now, an appeals court has blocked the city from changing the bike lane, and if the city does remove it, a new mayor could always restore it. That's WMYC's Stephen Nesson. A new report examines the effects of congestion pricing on the air quality

in and around the tolling zone in lower Manhattan. Congestion pricing is the program that charges drivers who enter Manhattan below 60th Street. The toll has sparked concerns among some communities who worry that it might incentivize drivers to go through other already congested parts of the city and worsen the air quality there. Sarah Johnson is the executive director of the city health department's air quality program. We are committed to protecting New Yorkers' well-being. Johnson's department closely examined the city's air quality three months before the tolling

program began and three months after. they found that levels of PM2.5, or fine particulate matter, is either holding steady or slightly decreasing. While that looks initially like good news, we are really reserving our conclusions until we have more data, not only more data about this pollutant, but also data about other pollutants that are associated with traffic, that we will be continuing to collect and will be able to report out on those in the coming months. Johnson says her team will soon be able to report from additional sites in neighborhoods that are near areas of concern. Communities like the South Bronx near Hamilton Bridge. Advocates there say even incremental increases to air pollution can have serious health effects.

Johnson says her team is focused on getting more data to better understand the pollution. Fine particular matter comes from a wide variety of sources in that area. We know that there are buildings that are burning heavier fuel oils or more. more polluting oils that could be contributing to the patterns that we're seeing there. That's Sarah Johnson, Executive Director of the City Health Department's Air Quality Program. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Junae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.