NYC NOW - February 13, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: February 13, 2024

New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks apologized to students and families for major difficulties logging in to remote learning Tuesday morning. Plus, a state funded report says New York���s $700 million film tax credit is a bust. And finally, WNYC’s Tiffany Hanssen and Arya Sundaram discuss how New York City is managing a new wave of West African migrants

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC, I'm Jenae Pierre. New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks is apologizing to students and families for major difficulties logging into remote learning Tuesday morning. So to say that I am disappointed, frustrated, and angry is an understatement. And I want all parents of our school, of our students across the entire city. to understand that I share the frustration that many of them had to endure from this morning. Banks blamed IBM, which handles user authentication, for buckling under a surge of more than a million

students and teachers locking in at once. He said by noon hundreds of thousands of students and educators had logged in successfully. But some families told us they simply gave up and took their kids out to play in the snow instead. It feels like it's better for them to be outside and playing. we so rarely get snow that it seemed like this was the thing to do. That's Vicki Moller with her kids at Prospect Park. Students and teachers at city schools are expected to be back in person on Wednesday. New York spends billions of dollars on tax breaks each year to attract businesses. But a new state-funded report questions whether taxpayers are getting a good bang for their buck.

WMYC's John Campbell has the details. The new report from outside consultant, FFM examines each of the state's major tax incentive programs, and it found some of them might actually be doing more harm than good, like the state's $700 million a year tax credit for TV and movies. Elizabeth Marcello is a policy fellow for government reform group Reinvent Albany. Now is the time to quit wasting taxpayer dollars on these uses subsidies and invest in a better New York for all. Governor Hockel's office says she's reviewing the report. A spokesperson says the state's business tax incentives play a big role in growing the economy.

Stay close. After the break, we'll discuss some of the challenges facing a new wave of migrants from West Africa. When we talk about New York City's migrant crisis, we often think about the thousands of Venezuelans and other Latin Americans who were bused north after crossing the southern border. But a growing number of African migrants, particularly young men from West Africa, are also landing in New York City. The share of African migrants staying in city shelters has at least tripled over the past year.

My colleague Tiffany Hansen talked with WNYC's ARIA Sundaram about how the city's managing the uptick. You reported at the beginning of last year there were just a few African migrants in city shelters so much so that city hall included them as a, quote, other category in their data tables. By the end of last year, about 15% of the asylum seekers staying in the city's care were from either Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea. So talk to us about what's driving this increase. I think it's important to know that this is not just a New York City trend. It's a national trend as well. So the number of African migrants crossing the southern border more than tripled over roughly the last year.

That's from about 13,000 in fiscal year 2022 to nearly 60,000 in 2023. And most of those folks are coming from West Africa. And this is all according to data from the federal customs. and Border Patrol. You know, some folks are telling me that they're fleeing persecution and political turmoil. Others are looking for economic opportunity. And there's so many very longstanding reasons that they're coming to the U.S. is what experts tell me. Many migrants, even outside of Africa, would come to the U.S. because we need workers, for example. And a few dollars here can often go a long way back home. But migration researchers say there are a few factors that are leading to the uptick right now.

That's in part because Europe has tightened border restrictions in recent months and years. And routes to the U.S. have become more publicized, especially on social media accounts. You know, many African migrants here told me that they went through Nicaragua, for example, which doesn't have immigration restrictions for Africans. Well, I'm wondering why New York City specifically. So for one, New York City has the largest black immigrant population of any metro area in the United States. So according to census data, there were just over. over a million black immigrants that were living here in 2019, and there are many neighborhoods that are home to longstanding African immigrant populations. And many Senegalese migrants

told me back home that they had heard about 116th Street in Harlem specifically where many Senegalese businesses and restaurants are located. Also, the word has gotten out that New York City has free shelter and resources for migrants as well. Talk to us about how their experiences are different from other migrants in the city. Just for contact. The majority of migrants right now, at least in city shelters, are from Venezuela and other Latin American countries. And the biggest challenges are the same, you know, across nearly all groups. People want to get a job. That is, file for asylum and get a work permit, and then save enough money to get their own apartment and support themselves.

But African community groups tell me it's been harder for African migrants to get services, like legal help, for example. And that's in part because of a language barrier, a lack of staff and interpreters and shelters and other city agencies who speak French and West African languages. And also because there are just so many fewer African nonprofits that are smaller and have less funding and capacity to help. And I should also add that there have been some culture clashes too, you know, particularly in Harlem, for example, on 116th Street where neighbors say large crowds of West African migrants sometimes block the sidewalks. And what has the city done to help some of these new African migrants? At the federal level, the city has pushed for more migrants from different countries to be.

eligible for an immigration program called temporary protected status, which would give them the right to be here for longer and speed up the process to get a work permit. The cities also helped fund immigrant rights workshops and legal help and social services at nonprofits across the city, but also including some African nonprofits as well. City shelters also generally provide halal food and set up some prayer spaces and rugs. You know, many of these West African migrants are Muslim. And apparently City Hall staff have also been in contact. with local African community groups, at least according to spokesperson Kayla Mamalak. And she told me they've made a bigger push to hire shelter staff who speak French in West African

languages. But African community groups are still telling me there is a massive language barrier, and many African migrants aren't getting served. So, for example, the head of the local Senegalese Association told me that West African men staying at one hotel shelter were going days without bathing. That's because staff only called once a day for shower availability. and only in English and Spanish. And the West African residents just couldn't understand.

So what are the African community groups saying is needed specifically to support this new wave of migrants? So many things. I think they're providing the services they've always done, like translation services, legal help, but now on overdrive. You know, they're seeing so many more people coming into their offices at this point. And they're saying there's been a particular strain on their nonprofits because, you know, they're smaller than many other immigrant groups. newer, have less funding and capacity to help. And so the big thing that they're looking for is, you know, just more support from City Hall. You know, like I said, City Hall's offered them funding, but, you know, they're hoping for more at this point. Much more of the city funding has gone

to organizations that serve Spanish-speaking migrants. That's WMYC's ARIA, talking with my colleague, Tiffany Hanson. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Jenae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.