NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: NY Young Republicans Chapter to Close, Push to Honor Super Hero Co-Creator Jack Kirby, and What’s in Season?

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

Judge Lewis Kaplan is ordering the Trump administration to release $33 million for counter-terrorism to the MTA. Plus, a pop culture historian is pushing to name part of Essex Street after Jack Kirby, the co-creator behind some of the Marvel characters we know and love. And finally, you've probably already noticed an abundance of brassicas at your local market. We’ll share recipes that include kale, broccoli, bok choy and more.

The New York Young Republicans Chapter is closing, push-to-honor superhero co-creator Jack Kirby, and what's in season? From WNIC, this is NYC now. I'm Sean Carlson. Top Republicans in New York say they're closing down the state's Young Republicans chapter. It's the latest fallout from elite group chat containing offensive messages. WMYC's Jimmy Vilkine has more. The NYGOP Executive Committee is suspending the operations of the Young Republicans in the wake of the scandal.

Broom County GOP Chairman Benji Federman says the Friday vote was unanimous. That was an easy decision to make. And we just need to move on and frankly take this for what it is, you know, and basically go on offense. Politico reported this week that former New York State Young Republicans Chair Peter Junta led a group chat that included racist comments and jokes referencing Adolf Hitler in the Holocaust. Junta has apologized and lost his job after the messages were made public. The condemnation in New York is more severe than Washington. Vice President J.D. Vance downplayed the messages as, quote, edgy jokes.

Governor Hokel signed a bill into law this week that bans landlords from using algorithms to set rents. WNYC's Julia Hayward has more. The new law updates the state's antitrust laws to include rent-setting algorithms. These algorithms analyze public and private rental data to give landlords' price recommendations. The Council of Economic Advisors estimated price-fixing algorithms cost renters nationwide $3.8 billion in 2023. And last year, the Justice Department filed the lawsuit against the software company Real Page. California also banned algorithmic price fixing earlier this month. Similar legislation has also been passed in Philadelphia and Jersey City.

New York State health officials are warning the public to stay out, of the Hudson River. Scientists have observed the largest and thickest outbreak of algal bloom on the Hudson in the last 40 years. The blue-green bacteria is the result of drought conditions and sewage entering the water. Physical contact or ingesting contaminated water is a health hazard to humans and pets. Drinking water is considered safe because contaminants are filtered out. But the cold weather comes with at least one upside. The bacteria will dissipate as cooler weather sets in. A pop culture historian is pushing to name part of Essex Street after Jack Kirby. the co-creator behind some of the Marvel characters we know and love.

We'll love more on that after the break. New York City Comic-Con came and went last week, but there's another comic book storyline brewing in our backyard. It's the push to co-name a street on the Lower East Side for Jack Kirby. He's the co-creator of some of Marvel Comics' most popular characters, and he was born on the LES. Despite being one of the most influential comic book artists ever, it's often said that he didn't always get the credit he deserved in his lifetime.

joining us now as pop culture historian and critic Roy Schwartz. He's one of the people pushing to name part of Essex Street after Jack Kirby. So just to start, Roy, for those who aren't familiar, who is Jack Kirby? Jack Kirby born Jacob Kurtzberg, was born in 1917 and 147 Essex Street, the tenement building that still stands in New York's Lower East Side. The son of immigrants, son of refugees, grew up in poverty, had to drop out of school to help support the family. But he had an uncanny artistic talent. So he found job in the brand new medium then of comic books.

And he went on to co-create, as you said, Captain America and Iron Man and the Avengers and the X-Men and Black Panther and Fantastic Four, et cetera. Name of superhero, he was involved in its creation one way or another. And he, as you said, was denied recognition during his lifetime, certainly compared to creative partner Stanley, who happened to also be the editor-in-chief and the owner's cousin. Jack Kirby was never not a freelancer. he did not own his characters any more than you or I do. Talk more about the significance of the location you'd co-name that street, Essex Street between Stanton and Riverington.

One, it's the block Jack Kirby was born and raised in Gropin. Second, the Lower East Side in general and that street in particular have been featured consistently in his work throughout his seven-plus decade career. It's where the Fantastic Force Thing comes from, which was really Jack Kirby's avatar and fiction. The Thing's name is Benjamin Jacob after Jack's. father and Jack. He looks like a cartoon exaggeration of Jack Kirby. He has the same mannerisms, same patterns of speech. And he also comes from the Lower East Side from Yancey Street, which is a fictionalized version of Delancey Street. Other influences,

Captain America's famous origin. If you've seen the movie, if you've read the comics, he comes from the Lower East Side, not from the Heartland, not from a Mayflower family, but from the ethnic ghetto of the Lower East Side. Grew up impoverished. He was a bully small artistic youth. That is Jack Kirby's life. It's directly based on his own childhood. There's an entire neighborhood in Superman's metropolis based on Jack Kirby's childhood Lower East Side.

Even the comic book cliche of superheroes fighting on rooftops comes from Jack Kirby as a member of a youth gang due to the Depression, having fights across the huddled tenement rooftops of the Lower East Side. So he really did immortalize that neighborhood in the early to mid-20th century in his comics.

And now that is a famous locale in the comics, in video games, and cartoons in the movies. The Lower Re-Signed Community Board voted earlier this week in favor of the co-naming, but there is a long road ahead. Can you talk about what is ahead? I have been very, very lucky to have the support of people. And one is Karen Green, the curator for comics and cartoon arts at Columbia University Libraries, who really gave me the idea to do this. She said, somebody ought to do this. And I said, I will be that somebody. So we're part of the same team. We're the Avengers.

surprisingly there's been no pushback. Quite the opposite. There's been enthusiastic support. We encountered people who we never thought would know who Jack Kirby was or would care, and their face just lit up. Everybody returned back to their 10-year-old selves and filled with excitement. They lit up like a Christmas tree. Jack Kirby, absolutely.

And it's been a joy to see that happening again and again and again. The next step is a wider community board meeting, followed by the district council members' approval, followed by the city. County Council's approval followed by the mayor's signature. So the road ahead of us is still long. Now, if this effort is successful, what do you hope people take away from seeing Jack Kirby's name on a street sign? And what part of Kirby's legacy do you feel is the most important for the public to recognize, especially for people who say don't care about comics? You don't need to care about comics to realize we live in culture. It's a construct we all live in. Jack Kirby is a founding

father of modern popular culture and of a beloved American mythology. His groundbreaking artistic innovation and his moralistic storytelling have brought joy and inspiration to generations of New Yorkers, of Americans, of people around the world. That's something worth recognizing and celebrating even if you could not care less about the medium of comics,

although you should because they're awesome. True. Richard Hamilton's 1956 collage, just what is it about today's home, is considered the first significant piece of pop art. At its very center includes a cover for Jack Kirby's Young Romance, which is a genre he actually co-invented. Similarly, Roy Lichtenstein's 1963 painting image duplicator, which is known for its bold composition,

is essentially traced over Jack Kirby's art from the first X-Men comic. Jack Kirby helped birth pop art as we know it. And he has also been credited as a direct inspiration by countless creatives, including Michael Sheebon, The Amazing Adventures Cavalier and Clay, which won the Pulitzer, is partly based on Kirby's life and is dedicated to him. George R. Martin credits him, George Lucas, Guillermo del Toro, and the list goes on and on. Jack Kirby grew up in the harshest conditions, and he did not have an easy life.

But he was a dreamer, and he never, ever gave up on his dreams. And I think there's a lesson in there for all of us, that it doesn't matter where we come from, we can all see ourselves reflected in these heroes, and we can all become these heroes if we decide to. That was Ray Schwartz. Pop Culture Historian and Critic, Roy,

thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for having me. Every now and then, we'd like to keep up with what's in season at your local market. And this week, Amelia Tarpie, with Grow NYC Green Market, says there's an abundance of brassicus these days. So many things are in the Brasca family. Cales, collards, bachoy, broccoli, cauliflower. They can all, you know, with some colder temperatures, and with those colder temperatures, they begin to produce more sugars, which makes them sweet.

So even if you're somebody who doesn't love broccoli, or like maybe some of the greens like collards, kale, et cetera. You might find that this time of the year you really like them. Sometimes you can find brothel with the leaves still on them, and those leaves are actually edible as well and quite tasty. You can saute it and treat them like you would, any kale or collard green. There's different types of sprouting cauliflower or collolini,

and they are breeding the cauliflower to have those more loose florets, so it's easier to break apart and make. work with. Sometimes you slice into a cauliflower and all the little cauliflower crumbs fall out. And the Romanesco is, you know, this bright, like, chartreuse-colored, kind of like in between broccoli and cauliflower. It grows all its florets and these like fractal-like spirals and they're just so, so beautiful and you can like pluck each little spiral cluster off. With any of these vegetables, roasting them really just brings out the flavor, the nuttiness, the earthiness of the vegetable. It's best just very simply prepared. Roast it whole with a generous amount of olive oil,

some salt, pepper, and then I like to finish it with thinly sliced garlic with a mountain of palm and a squeeze of lemon. It's really nice. Perhaps some red pepper flakes if you like things a little spicy. Oh, yeah. Or why not try a at broccoli cheddar soup this season. The weather surely calls for it. Amelia Tarpie is a program and publicity manager for Grow NYC Green Markets. She says right now, broccoli and cauliflower are going for three to four bucks a pound. Special varieties like the sprouting cauliflower can go up to $15 a pound.

Get a little and do a lot. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNMIC. I'm Sean Carlson. We'll be back tomorrow.