NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Why a Walkway at Columbia Is Drawing Scrutiny, Former Sen. Menendez Seeks a Pardon, and How a New Crop of Lawyers Is Using the Subway to Get Attention

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch says she does not believe a walkway at Columbia University needs to be closed because of apparent security concerns. Plus, a look at the effort by former Sen. Bob Menendez to win a pardon from President Trump. And finally, how a crop of new lawyers is vying for attention on the subway.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNIC. I'm Sean Carlson. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch says reopening a pathway that cuts across Columbia University's campus would not pose a security threat. Columbia closed the pathway at 116th Street, saying they were concerned about outsiders getting on campus during Israel-Hamas war protests. Residents have since sued to reopen the popular cut-through. During a hearing on the police budget, City Councilman of Heshaunabray, asked Tish if the gates should stay shut. Is it the NYPD's position that the gates must remain closed,

and if so, what are the threats? It is not. It is not. That is not my position. That is not the department's position. A spokesperson for Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison, but he's hoping to get a pardon from President Trump.

We'll discuss the likelihood of that happening after the break. now. Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is scheduled to report to federal prison this June. That is, unless he can persuade President Trump to grant him a pardon. That might have seemed like a long shot just a month ago when a Manhattan federal judge sentenced him to 11 years in prison, but now the Department of Justice wants prosecutors to drop its charges against Mayor Eric Adams, and that makes a Menendez pardon much more plausible. WNIC's Nancy Solomon recently produced a segment about Menendez for the New Yorker Radio Hour, colleague Michael Hill spoke with Nancy about her reporting.

Nancy, so the headline version of the story is Bob Menendez, the senior senator from New Jersey, was convicted of taking bribes of more than a half million dollars in cash and gold bars. He helped Egypt attain military aid. He's been convicted and sentenced, but you wanted to tell a different kind of story about Menendez. Tell us about this. Right, because, you know, all the coverage about the Menendez case was almost cartoonish. And I guess for good reason, I mean, there was the envelopes of cash stuffed in his boots and jacket pockets. There was the gold bars, the defense strategy of throwing his wife under the bus.

But I was interested in trying to understand how someone who's so smart and who reached the top tier of political power in this country would do something so stupid, really. I mean, to leave all that money in the house. So I was interested in trying to understand Menendez. And what did you find out? Well, you know, there's an interesting moment in his career when he escapes conviction in his first bribery trial. You know, those charges involved gifts and trips from a Florida eye doctor. The case ended in a hung jury, so no verdict. And people who worked with Menendez told me he felt unfairly accused and that he never got over it.

I brought a short segment from the New Yorker Radio Hour feature. It starts with what Menendez had to say after he walked out of the court after that first trial. To those who were digging my political grave so that they could jump into my seat, I know who you are, and I won't forget you. The trial was also a pretty pivotal time in the senator's personal life. He and his fiancé broke up right before the trial began. And soon after the hung jury, he fell for someone new. Hi, mon amort de la vie.

He had met Nadine Arcelanian at his usual breakfast spot, the IHawk in Union City. I just wanted to hear your voice. Voicemails from Nadine were entered as evidence in the second trial. I can't wait for you to hold my hand and go to sleep. So you've got voicemails from Nadine to Bob Mendez. Yep. I mean, there were hundreds of texts entered into evidence, and a lot of those got reported on, but the voicemails really didn't get much attention during the trial, you know, out in the general public. And what you see, and what others told me as well in my reporting, is that Bob Menendez falls hard and fast for Nadine.

And, you know, and he's not a wealthy man. He basically lives on his Senate salary, unlike most senators. and Nadine had serious money problems. So let me play another voicemail. This one happens only weeks after they began dating. And Nadine is already trying to set up meetings with Egyptian officials. Hi, it's me calling my very handsome senator. I have a say, ask you. Hopefully you could do it, but just got off with the general.

since he has not met you before, he needs to have some kind of clearance from Egypt as to why he's meeting a U.S. senator out of his embassy. Yeah, that voicemail is a key part of the government's case against Menendez. There was lots of testimony in text showing meetings and dinners with Egyptian officials that did not include his staff or notifying anyone at the State Department. Now, Menendez appears to be asking President Trump for a pardon. What are his chances of avoiding prison? You know, Michael, I think they're pretty good. Trump is against prosecutions for corruption and white-collar crime. In his first month, he's already helped two other Democrats.

You know, Mayor Adams, of course, everyone in New York knows that story. And then he also pardoned former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. He's the guy who tried to sell a Senate seat to the highest bidder. If there is no pardon, the Menendez defense team plans to appeal the case. And the John Roberts Supreme Court has been making it much more difficult to prosecute corruption. So I think Menendez has a chance of succeeding there. Nadine hasn't been tried yet. So all these charges are merely allegations until she gets her day in court.

That's W&YC's Nancy Solomon talking with my colleague, Michael Hill. Injury attorneys, 8008888-888. Don't wait, call 8. It's been five years since New York City's most famous personal injury attorneys broke up. Salino and Barnes dissolved their company in 2020. Now a crop of new lawyers are vying for attention on the subway. WNYC's Hannah Frischberg has more on the battle to be the next Salino and Barnes. Ask Ross Salino why his law firm became so well known that it was spoofed on SNL and inspired in

off-Broadway play, and he'll say it all comes down to good timing. When Selina Barnes started, there really wasn't any other law firm that was using that medium for marketing efforts. And we became known because, frankly, we're the first in the market to use billboarding and radio and TV. When Salino and Barnes started in the 1990s, lawyers had only been allowed to advertise in the U.S. for less than 20 years. Mike Breen co-wrote a play about the lawyers.

He says they were ahead of their time. I don't know if Sillian Barnes did anything that remarkable aside from like forcing you to see them and hear the jingle constantly. And then that kind of became the mean. Other firms have tried to grab New Yorkers attention the same way, but the times have changed and it's harder now. Take it from Larry Chagoras, a professor of marketing at Pace University. Society has changed. We're highly fragmented in terms of what we do,

when we do it, and what we watch and what we listen to and when do we listen to it. When do we listen to it? And that's really changed how any entity gets its message across, including a law firm. So for now, Salino and Barnes may no longer exist, but they still remain New York's best-known injury attorneys. That's WNMIC's Hannah Frischberg. And before we go, some bad news for Yankees fans. Pitching Ace Garrett Cole will have season-ending surgery on his right elbow Tuesday, dealing the Bronx bombers another big injury blow weeks.

before they opened the season. Cole experienced discomfort following his second outing of spring training late last week. The Yankees will also open the season without rookie of the year pitcher Louis Heel and designated hitter John Carlos Stanton. Cole signed a nine-year contract with the Yankees prior to the 2020 season and won the American League's Cy Young Award in 2023. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNMIC. I'm Sean Carlson. We'll be back tomorrow.