NYC NOW - January 4, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: January 4, 2024

Authorities are investigating after a Bronx fire killed a 5-year-old boy on Wednesday night. Also every year landlords fail to register tens of thousands of rent-stabilized apartments with New York State's housing agency, but face few repercussions. WNYC's David Brand reports. Meanwhile, 11 of the city's public hospitals are requiring masks due to increased cases of COVID-19, RSV and the flu. Plus, 57 years ago New York City experienced its first ever transit strike, led by the Transport Workers Union. WNYC’s Michael Hill reports. Finally, for a lot of people, the new year is a chance to turn the page on the past and set their sights on the future. WNYC’s Community Partnerships desk is highlighting stories in our communities that focus on the idea of fresh starts. Meet Saul Serrano of Manhattan.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Thursday, January 4th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Authorities are investigating after a Bronx fire killed a five-year-old boy last night. Officials say the fire started in the basement of the Barnes Avenue home. Police said the boy was taken to Jacoby Medical Center where he died. Two women treated for smoke inhalation, also in the hospital, they're stable, no word yet on the cause.

Landlords fail to register tens of thousands of rent-stabilized apartments with New York State's housing agency every year but face few repercussions. WNIC's David Brand reports on sharper penalties against owners who submit their paperwork late or not at all. A new state law hits landlords with $500 monthly fines for every rent-stabilized apartment they fail to register with the state. Those registrations allow ten. to check and see if they're being charged the legal monthly amount in about a million units

citywide. The penalties can add up. A report from the state's affordable housing agency shows at least 46,000 apartments went unaccounted for last year. It was about the same the year before. Owners say it's another costly regulation, but tenant advocates say it's necessary to protect New York's rent-stabilized housing. Some local hospitals were bringing back extra precautions after an increase in respiratory illness. New York City Health and Hospital says 11 of the city's public hospitals are requiring masks because of cases of COVID-19 RSV and the flu. They're spiking. The mask mandate also applies to 30 community health centers and five long-term care centers run by NYC Health and hospitals. 43 with clouds now mostly sunny today and 43 and breezy, mostly clear and cold night down to

27. Wind chill will make it feel like 20. and tomorrow's sunny and just 37 for a high. Stay close. There's more after the break. On this day, 57 years ago in New York City history, the city was trapped in gridlock. Four days into the first strike ever against the New York City Transit Authority, buses and subways rolled to a stop. Traffic was everywhere,

and newly sworn in Mayor John Lindsay had a message for the city. I want to express my gratitude. to every New Yorker for their toughness and their courage, their willingness to stretch themselves a little extra, to help the city cope with this problem. And there certainly was a problem. Congestion plagued the bridges heading into Manhattan. School attendance was affected.

The schools were 70% full today, a very high percentage in the elementary schools. Where the fall off occurred, very heavily was in the high schools, of the long distances that many high school students have to travel. Besides the disarray in the streets, a second crisis had been brewing for the new mayor. Just hours before, New York police had arrested the union leader in charge of the more than 30,000 striking workers.

But Transportation Workers' Union founder, Mike Quill, had a heart attack and was taken to a hospital shortly after his arrest. Lindsay assured listeners that Quill was expected to pull through. I've been in close contact with medical officials to check on Mr. Quill. condition. I have directed that everything be done to make him comfortable and to see to it that he gets every assistance. I'm advised that his condition is satisfactory. Negotiations continued, and Quill did survive to see the strike through, though he would die before the month ended. But on January 4th, with no end to the strike in sight, then Mayor Lindsay had just a few requests for New Yorkers.

Please don't relax your cooperation. Please don't use an automobile in the crowd congested districts, avoid the Manhattan bridges by automobile, if it's absolutely essential to use an automobile, group ride, gang up with your neighbors and friends and come in together. And those of you who don't mind taking a hike, that's probably the best way to travel of all. Thank you very much. Mr. Mayor, how would you describe it? The strike would go on for eight more days. Thank you to the New York City Municipal Archive for giving us.

access to this tape. On WNYC, I'm David First. For a lot of people, the new year is a chance to turn the page on the past and set their sights on the future. As we ease our way into 2024, WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk is highlighting stories in our communities that focus on the idea of fresh starts. My name is Sol Serrano. My age is 51. I really like my career now. My company is Super physique, personal training, and it's amazing. I have about 10 clients. I'm from New York City, born and raised, midtown Manhattan.

Once I graduated from high school, I went in the Bronx, I joined the Marine Corps. And I was there for four years during Operation Desert Storm. It was a lot of racism in there. I was bullied a lot in there. Then it gets interesting. So this is the part where everything kind of goes.

I was doing the right thing, and Marine Corps. I started getting involved with illegal activities and stuff like that. And it got kind of weird. I got discharged from the Marine Corps. I lost a lot of my honor and a lot of respect there. I came home and I changed myself. I got a little better. I got a job.

But once again, I kind of screwed myself up and got involved with some illegal activity. I got involved with what they call a wire fraud scheme. I violated my probation. I got caught up with some other stuff. The judge gave me 13 months and three-year probation. I got out of that. I kind of changed it around finally. I got some therapy in there.

I took a drug treatment program, started understanding why I was doing the things I was doing. And once I understood why I was doing these things, I stopped. It's social acceptance, trying to have money, trying to fit in, trying to be that person. Those 13 months in jail may really reflect on that. I took the course, the certifications,

and I started seeing what the kind of income you can make being a personal trainer, and it's like, whoa, this is a good opportunity. I can see myself making money here. I can see myself doing this. The thing is, words stay with you in titles, right? So if you say somebody, they're kind of ugly, they start thinking they're ugly, right? So that's the thing, right? He's a felon.

He's a felon. He's a felon ex-continent. No, you're a person who did something wrong, and you did your stuff, and you came home, and you're a returning citizen. And you're reformed, and you need to do the right thing. And that means that you've got to start it over. And that's okay. It's not a game.

It's my life. So making better choices, better decisions now, and giving back. to my community is what I need to do. Saul Serrano is a personal trainer in New York City. He came up through a program called Second You, which helps formerly incarcerated men and women build careers in the fitness industry. Thanks for listening.

This is NYC Now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back this evening.