NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: NYC’s Rat Czar Resigns, a Queens Council Race Between Friends, and Low Morale Plagues NY Prisons

Episode Date: September 24, 2025

Kathleen Corradi is leaving her post as New York City’s first ever rat czar. Plus, Democrat Phil Wong and Republican Alicia Vaichunas are work friends and political rivals in the Queens council race. And finally, prison staffing and morale are low at New York prisons, six months after a wildcat prison strike ended.

The rat czar resigns. A Queens council race between friends who happen to also be political rivals and staffing shortages, and low morale continues to plague New York prisons. From WNYC, this is NYC now. I'm Sean Carlson. New York City's rat czar is stepping down. Kathleen Karate was appointed to the job by Mayor Adams back in 2023. The city says even though the rat czar is leaving, her efforts have not been in vain.

City data shows rat sightings are down more than 5.000. 15% over the last year. Part of Karate's job was running city programming to educate New Yorkers about the rat population and ways to fight back. The city's first Ratsar drew a lot of attention as the mayor declared a war on rats. Councilmember Sandy Nurse said she never quite understood the role. To me, it just seemed like this was a position that was made up to appear like they're taking action when really it's unclear exactly what action was taken. The mayor's war on rats has centered around containerizing the city's garbage, taking trash bag piles off the curb that are a food source for rodents. But that effort was led by the sanitation department, not the rats are.

Karate hasn't announced her next move. Mayor Adams says she will still be working to serve the city in a different capacity. The city's new 15-mile-an-hour speed limit for e-bikes goes into effect a month from now on October 24th. Mayor Adams says it'll make the streets safer, but some advocates worry could also be a way to crack down on delivery workers, many of whom are immigrants. The regulations come as the NYPD is cracked down on conventional cyclists who break traffic rules by issuing them criminal summons. The new rules say those bike riders can still travel up to 25 miles per hour because they are lighter devices compared to e-bikes. A queen's family is facing an unimaginable decision this week as they weigh taking their 13-year-old son off life support. The teen was shot on his way to school on Monday. W.NIC's Brittany Crixton has more.

High school freshman Sanjay Samuel was excited to start playing basketball at his new school this year. His family says that was just one of his passions besides music and dancing. But those dreams were cut short Monday morning when Samuel was shot in the head in front of a Duncan in Cambria Heights. His mom, Valene Griffith, says she's struggling to understand. Why you had to go and get a gun? Why you had to shoot Sunday to kill him? Samuel's mother says doctors have declared him brain dead. Police have not yet identified as suspect or motive in the shooting.

The race for a council seat in Queens is between two work friends who are political rivals. We'll have more on that after the break. The final stretch of campaign season in New York City is nearly upon us. And there's an unusual race for a city council seat in Queens. WNIC's Jodi-Milab reports on the rival Democratic and Republican candidates who work together in the same office. On paper, Democrat Phil Wong and Republican Alicia Vichunis are rival candidates, seeking to represent City Council District 30, which includes Mass Beth, Middle Village, Ridgewood, and Elmhurst.

But in their day jobs, they share an office with their boss, Term-limited City Councilmember Bob Holden. I guess everybody's worried about the dynamic of the office, how it would be. You know, what I make it awkward, would feel make it awkward. But both candidates are keeping things cordial. We sat down and we said, you know, we're going to do this, but the job comes first. There's the agreement. We cannot have an office that's divided or is ready to pack and leave. Wong and Vichunis have known each other since elementary school. They both attended PS102 and Elmhurst and reconnected in 2016 while protesting the conversion of a holiday inn into a homeless shelter, which Holden also opposed. They went on.

to volunteer on Holden's campaign for city council. After Holden was elected in 2017, Vichunis became Holden's deputy chief of staff, and Wong later became his budget director. I always said he was my work husband, and I was his work wife when we volunteered. We were together more than our own families. Vichunis ran unopposed in the primary and helped Wong during his Democratic primary, handing out Palm Cards to voters. You know, I found out Phil I was happy.

I was so relieved, the community is going to be safe. So how's a voter supposed to pick? I don't see the difference in our policies that much. I'll be honest with you. You know, we don't want the city of yes. We're not looking for the IBX. She's referring to Mayor Adams' policies intended to streamline the construction of new housing, as well as Governor Hockel's Light Rail project linking Brooklyn and Queens.

The choice may come down to personality. Wong says he takes a more diplomatic approach to politics. I would invite everyone to the desk. To get anything resolved, you need to people. come to your table. So that's my strain. By chunis, on the other hand. Phil has a more calm approach to a lot of things. I don't take no for an answer.

When I sit down with a constituent, I go with my gut. And when an agency tells me no, I don't accept that when I know I'm right. Councilmember Holden says he's remaining neutral. He says both candidates are good choices. I think their allegiance will always be the community and not special interests. Ultimately, neither will be without a job. Both candidates have agreed to hire the other, regardless of who wins. That's WNIC's Jodi Milar.

New York's prisons are still understaffed, leaving incarcerated people isolated and correctional officers exhausted. WMIC's Jimmy Vilkine reports there's been a little improvement since the three-week wildcat strike forced lockdowns at prisons around the state. Sean Pika has run college programs in New York State prisons for almost 30 years. But since the prison strike last winter, classes keep getting canceled. Even though the strike is ended, the staffing conditions are worse now than they were before the strike. The State Corrections Department says there are 2,500 fewer officers and sergeants working in state prisons than before the strike started in February. Guards say morale is low, and the lives of incarcerated people are still disrupted. Lockdowns happen regularly.

Programs like the college classes that PICA coordinates are often put on hold so guards can focus on basic operations. My name is Joseph Desmond. Joseph Desmond is serving 25 to life for murdering an off-duty firefighter. Our conditions here is thinking. He says programming and activities gave him hope. Anything that would help rehabilitate, anything that would help us feel some type of normality within our lives without just being incarcerated and locked in a cell in excess of 22 hours a day, has been taken away from us.

The corrections department says facilities are resuming programming, quote, as staffing levels permit. The department says its screening more. or mail to reduce contraband and its recruiting new guards. There are also about 3,000 National Guard soldiers deployed throughout the state prison system to help fill staffing gaps. But officers who walked off the job in February still worry about their safety. They say one of the root problems is the 2021 law known as halt. It restricts how much time people can spend in solitary confinement. Opponents say the law makes it harder to maintain discipline. You know, they feel like nobody's

listening to them and nothing is changing in the prisons. That's Andrea Dumas. She's the Republican mayor of Malone, a village a dozen miles from the Canadian border that's near three prisons. She represents a lot of corrections officers. We're still having action officers coming out and telling us how dangerous their atmosphere is at work. The corrections department and unions recently proposed ways to change the halt law. Their proposal broadens the type of offenses where solitary confinement can be used. Matt Keough is Executive Vice President of Niskova, the union that represents corrections officers. He supports the proposal. If you could modify the HALP program so there could be a little more internal discipline, that would be a huge step in the right direction.

The proposal faces an uphill climb. Democratic State Senator Julia Salazar chairs her chamber's corrections committee. She says the Halt law wasn't properly implemented, and it hasn't stopped guards from using solitary as punishment. The law also mandates programming for incarcerated people in solitary confinement. Those requirements were suspended during the strike, and in some places, programming hasn't returned. Legal Aid Society attorney Anthony Gemmell is suing the corrections department on behalf of several prisoners. He says the department is violating the law by not offering the programs. Programming is being resumed in dribs and drabs, but there's no firm commitment about when things will return to what halt requires.

That lawsuit is pending. WNIC's Jimmy Fieldkind. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. We'll be back tomorrow.