NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Proposed State Budget Could Cut Child Care Vouchers, Adams’ Attorney Urges Judge to Decide his Criminal Case, Progressives’ Plan to Take Mayor’s Seat and Women’s History Month

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

Lawmakers in Albany are pushing Gov. Kathy Hochul to add more money to a state voucher program that helps families pay for child care. Plus, a key filing deadline in the mayoral race is this Thursday and Mayor Adams’s defense lawyer is asking the judge for a “prompt resolution in the case.” Also, a progressive mayoral candidate shares some of the strategies left-leaning democrats will need to win the mayor’s race. And finally, we wrap up Women’s History Month with a profile of a local musician and their journey through the music industry.

A proposed state budget could cut child care vouchers. Mayor Adams' attorney urges a judge to decide his criminal case. City Progressives plan to take the mayor's seat and Women's History Month. From WMYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Jinné Pierre. Lawmakers in Albany are pushing the governor to add more money to a state voucher program that helps families pay for child care. Governor Kathy Hokel is proposing flat funding for the Child Care Assistance Program that gives families an average of $300 a week.

But with more families enrolled and eligible for the voucher and higher costs for the program, the city will have to prioritize subsidies for the lowest-income parents, kicking higher earners off the vouchers. Assembly member Emily Gallagher says more funding is crucial for working families who can't afford to live in the city or state. A lot of New Yorkers are moving away because of the cost of living. And it's not wealthy New Yorkers that are moving away. It is low and middle-income people that are the backbone of our workforce. City officials estimate four to seven thousand families could lose their monthly vouchers. An attorney for New York City Mayor Eric Adams is urging a federal judge to decide whether to drop his criminal charges sooner rather than later.

In a letter to the judge, Adams' defense lawyer, Alex Byron, said a key filing deadline in the mayoral race is this Thursday. He asked the judge for a, quote, prompt resolution in the case. Adams was indicted last September on bribery and other corruption charges. Then, weeks after President Trump took office, newly appointed Department of Justice officials, directed federal prosecutors to dismiss Adams' case. The case is now in the hands of U.S. District Judge Dale Hill. This feels like the perfect time to remind you about our podcast series unpacking

a chaos that has led Adams to this moment in the first place. For the past two Saturdays, we've been discussing Adams' relationship with Trump and Governor Hogle. Take a scroll through our feed and take a listen. New York City progressives are hoping to replace Mayor Adams with one of their own. So what's their plan? More on that after the break. Progressives are hoping 2025 is the year they elect one of their own as New York City

mayor. To do that, they'll have to beat a former governor that's been topping the polls. WMYC's Elizabeth Kim recently joined Zoran Mamdani on the campaign trail and explains the strategy he and other left-leaning Democrats are hoping can send one of them to City Hall. It's a Sunday morning, and I've just arrived in Bushwick to follow Zoran Mamdani as he campaigns. Do you like petitioning? It's the best part of cannabis. Because you get to speak to the most number of people. Is it disheartening when you meet people who, like, they've never voted, you know, they don't know if they're going to vote? Is that disheartening?

No, I would say it's more of an opportunity to let them know about the impact of local politics in their life. And it's also a chance to listen to them as to why they haven't seen that relevance and offer them an alternative. Mamdani is the progressive candidate of the moment. The 33-year-old Queen's Assemblyman is a Democratic socialist. His policies include free buses, freezing the rent on stabilized units, and city-owned grocery stores. And his ideas seem to be landing with a certain cohort of voters. He's climbing in the polls, fundraising at a historic clip, and garnering a lot of attention on social media. But in this left-leaning corner of Brooklyn, he's walking around relatively unnoticed.

Josh Bighton Miller is a 26-year-old local who works at Trader Joe. He's the first person I see recognized Mamdani, and he walks up to him and introduces himself. I'm a big fan of everything you've been doing. I can't believe your competition is Andrew Cuomo. That's insane to me. But, yeah, best of luck. Thank you.

I really appreciate it. It might seem insane to Biden Miller, but multiple polls show that Cuomo is the frontrunner in the race. The former governor's campaign message might sound familiar. New York City is in trouble. and we all know it. Our turnaround starts with public safety. Cuomo is a moderate Democrat. He's a household name, but he's got plenty of political baggage. He resigned in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations and criticisms that his administration

mishandled its policy on nursing homes during COVID. Anna Maria Archela is the co-director of the New York Working Families Party, a third party that fought with Cuomo when he was governor. We see this year as an election between the champions for workers and their families versus the scandal-ridden, power-fungry, old-school politicians. And when I think about who the scandal-ridden power-hungry politicians are, it's Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams at the top of that list. This is only the second time New Yorkers will elect a mayor using ranked choice voting, where voters can pick as many as five choices. It puts candidates with high name recognition at an even greater advantage, because voters might simply fill in a name they know as they move down the ballot. And candidates who pick up enough votes in the lower slots can come out on top, which is why

progressives are telling voters to leave Adams and Cuomo off the ballot. They're calling it Dream, which stands for don't rank Eric or Andrew for mayor. Andrew Cuomo is the chaos. But for all this to work, the progressive candidates and their supporters need to band together. It's not a natural instinct for politicians, according to John Mollinkoff, a political science professor at CUNY. Dom Dani has done very well in getting contributions, and that is a kind of trial run or pilot project for how you campaign. So the questionnaire I would have is, would other candidates be willing to rank him? With Republicans having made gains in the city over the past few elections, other progressive

candidates might be reluctant to support Mondami. They may not want to alienate moderate voters by cross-endorsing a socialist. Back in Bushwick, Mamdani is talking to Madeline Payot. Thank you so much. You're welcome. So you just sign your name on the top line? She's a 64-year-old lifelong New Yorker. What's your number one priority for a mayor?

She doesn't hesitate. Safety, the train system, and every category for real, in every aspect. Crime could overshadow affordability in the race, which means progressives may need to keep on dreaming. That's WMYC's Elizabeth Kim. We're wrapping up National Women's History Month, which means we have one more artist to highlight in our series profiling local musicians and their journey through the music industry. Raquel Delgado is a 22-year-old singer, songwriter, producer, and audio engineer. She currently attends New York University.

Ever since I was a child, I had completely envisioned myself being a artist, being a singer, more specifically a rock star, and I just saw myself performing and writing songs for myself and for other people. My music would definitely be indie folk. I think that's where me as a songwriter, like I really fit into. And then there's rock, which is very hard-hitting, heavy. It encapsulates another part of me at the core of my artistry. My greatest inspiration while growing up was definitely the Spanish music that my family would listen to. My parents immigrated from the Dominican Republic,

So the music I grew up on was primarily Batchata, but we also listened to a lot of salsa and merengue as well. And those three genres really formed my love for rhythm. Another inspiration is just the things that people would say, I would draw inspiration from my everyday conversations with friends, families, teachers, and for some reason, that just became poetic. And I would just transform it into a song. Music is an art form.

And in order to keep making that art, you need life happening around you. And to do that, you need community. You need to be interacting with the world. And for me personally, I just can't really imagine what my art would be like. Or if I would make any art, if I didn't have an expanded worldview. I've dedicated almost five years to this field. I think it almost feels like, you know, to make way in this industry. You're constantly popping through hoops just to get where other people are.

And it's dealing with being the only woman in the room full of men where they see you as incompetent. And I think specifically as a woman of color, you're going to have to boast about what you've done, all the hard work that you've put into this moment and keep reminding yourself of your purpose. because I deserve to be in the room. That's Raquel Delgado. She composed this song called Meaning of Eye. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. I'm Jenae Pierre.

We'll be back tomorrow.