NYC NOW - February 1, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: February 1, 2024

The U.S Postal Service is honoring New York's First Black woman Senator, Constance Baker Motley, as part of their Black heritage stamp series. Plus, Holtec, a company in New Jersey, has agreed to pay a $5 million fine over what state officials say was a fraudulent tax break. And finally, WNYC’s Michael Hill discusses New York’s Rape is Rape Act with Assembly Member Catalina Cruz and Lydia Cuomo.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC, I'm Jenae Pierre. The U.S. Postal Service is honoring New York's first black woman senator and legendary attorney Constance Baker Motley as part of their Black Heritage Stamp series. The Columbia Law School graduate was also the first black woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court and the first to serve as Manhattan Borough President. During her more than 20 years with the NAACP, Motley represented Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. after he was arrested for marching in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. Modley worked in law and public service for more than 50 years. She died in 2005 in Manhattan at age 84.

The U.S. Postal Service says the new stamps hold the same value as first-class mail stamps. A New Jersey company that makes equipment for nuclear power plants has agreed to pay a $5 million fine, over what state officials say was a fraudulent tax break. WMYC's Nancy Solomon has the details. The state attorney general says Holtec and another closely related company lied when they claimed to both be involved in an investment that entitled them to a combined $1 million tax break. Now, neither company will get those awards. But Holtec is still benefiting from a much larger $260 million tax break awarded in 2014, the second largest in New Jersey history. Holtek is one of 13 Camden companies connected to power broker George Norcross that got generous

tax breaks under Chris Christie. Norcross, who sits on Holtek's board, worked with Christie to develop the tax break program. Stay close. After the break, we'll discuss New York's Rape is Rape Act, a new law that expands the definition of the crime. A new state law in New York will make it easier for prosecutors to prove rape charges in court by expanding the legal definition. This week, Governor Kathy Hokel signed into law the Rape is Rape Act. It's about calling out violent, horrific acts for what they are, so survivors can reclaim their power and dignity.

For one woman who survived an attack in 2011, this is a moment that has been a long time coming. A warning, this story includes detailed language about sex crimes. Lydia Cuomo was 25 years old and on her way to her first day at work at an elementary school in the Bronx in 2011 when an off-d-d-police officer attacked her. Her fight to get what happened to her called rape under New York State law set in motion a 13-year battle to redefine the term. WMYC's Michael Hill talked with Lydia Cuomo and assembly member Catalina Cruz about the new law and its importance to survivors statewide. Lydia, this must feel like the culmination of such a very long effort for you.

Why did this become such an important issue for you? It feels a little surreal at this moment, recognizing that it has taken so long for us to get here. For me, going through the trial back when I was 25 and having this language repeatedly in my face. over and over that was and was not rape was really, really difficult. And especially in terms of my own healing as a survivor, not having us acts recognized for what they were in the eyes of the law was really, really challenging. And I think when the bill was first introduced, it just seemed like, oh, this made so much sense. And, you know, back then when I was 25, it was obviously very personal for me and really just about, you know, I think it felt, you know, this is what I need.

And the longer I was on that road, the more I just became so clear for other survivors. And that that language is just so archaic and so limiting. Or so many people in this world who may experience rape, you know, based on so many different things. And I think the longer I was on the journey, the more it became really, really important to me. Former Assembly member Aravella C. Motors introduced the Rape is Rape Act in 2012, inspired by Lydia's fight to change the definition. As assembly member Cruz, you picked up the fight after Simodas left the assembly in 2020 and pushed it over the finish line. Why was it such a long process to get this into law? When Aravala Samodas introduced this bill, the unfortunate reality is that I don't think our political playing fields, for lack of a better word,

had the will to get it done through and throughout. What happens is for a bill to become a law. You have to pass it from the assembly, even the Senate, and then the government. governor has to sign it. And, you know, politics got involved. But then also archaic views on who should be considered a rape victim and who should be considered a rapist that also played a pardon to this for a very long time. One of our biggest detractors was the district attorney's association and I'm proud to say that now they actually support the bill and it took a while for them to truly understand that the language was not going to deter how these survivors could get justice. And frankly, their leadership

change. The district attorneys association had different leadership back when Aravella was the sponsor. And a lot of things came together. We made some slight amendments to provide even, you know, more clarity in the language as to who could be charged and when they could be charged and that it was not retroactive, and it provided everyone the tools that we felt are needed to get people justice. Some people who had supported the idea in theory worried it could prevent consecutive sentencing if there were multiple violations during the course of a single attack, that they would all be defined as a single rape and therefore treat it less severely. There were also concerns that a jury might be less likely to convict on a rape charge and the charge of sexual assault.

Representative Cruz, how were you able to address those concerns? You know, it was one of the arguments that would come up constantly on debate over the last 11 years. And we would always address it with what's clear. If you have a district attorney that pleads the case exactly how they're supposed to as separate charges, a separate incident, and frankly, because we already had case law that supported our view in saying that their notion that we couldn't get separate convictions for separate acts and separate sentencing and that it would, in fact, get somehow muddled in the mind of the jury was wrong. And I gave our juries and New Yorkers who would be on them a lot more credit than to think that we presented them with the

facts, the way that they happened, pled the case, the way that the courts requires to plead them, that we would get the convictions that survivors deserved. Lydia, would you tell us how this struggle has affected you in the 13 years since the attack? In the beginning, I was 25, which is a lot different than where I am now in life. And I think I hadn't fully processed what this was going to look like long term for me at that point in my life. I think the further away from it I get, the more clarity I'm able to have, although I do think it's something I will never fully have full closure on. But I do think there are definitely times when this felt really left pill battle that was not going to get done. And I think it can just incredibly disheartening to be like, this thing seems so clear cut.

And yet I'm having these conversations with people saying like, do you really think oral is that bad? And it really dulls your flame a little bit at some point and makes you feel like I'm not sure I can keep going. I am very fortunate to have had such an amazing support system. And when Catalina came on, knowing, like, we're going to continue to get this across the finish line, you know, definitely profoundly impacting in ways they don't think you can quickly describe. And I think that's different for every survivor. Now, again, it feels a little feel that we're finally here and over it. Tell us what you think now that the law has been changed, finally. I'm thrilled.

I think this means so much for so many people, for people who now don't, not just women can be tried. I think there's a lot of reasoning this is great and I'm really excited. I'd love to see it pass on in other states and continue to have this impact it does for survivors as we're able to change this language. That's Lydia Cuomo and assembly member Kathleen Cruz talking with WNYC's Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Junae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.