NYC NOW - July 12, 2024 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: July 12, 2024

Dozens of weed business owners attended a hearing this week as a judge considers whether to pause the crackdown on illegal weed shops in New York City. Plus, WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with New York City Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers about funding for a new long-awaited medical trauma center in the Rockaways. And finally, stargazers are in for a treat this month! WNYC’s David Furst and Rosemary Misdary discuss some astronomical highlights expected in July.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC, I'm Jenae Pierre. If the dozens of weed businesses suing New York City get their way, the ongoing crackdown on alleged illegal weed shops could come to a sudden halt. New York City says it shut down more than 500 stores suspected of selling cannabis without a license since May. The city is leveraging new laws that let it pat-lock a store on the first inspection. But the shops say that violates their due process rights. Law enforcement's padlocked Hasham Qasem's Brooklyn store a month ago.

He attended a hearing this week with other shop owners. Just treat us like human beings. That's it. Don't go in our businesses closing it down just because give us warnings, send us tickets, find us. Lawyers for the city say the shop owners they've gone after pose a significant threat to public health. For now, a judge is considering whether to pause the crackdown. Thanks to new funding in the New York City budget, residents in the Rockaways are one step closer to getting a trauma facility on the peninsula. But the council member representing the area says getting the center built is still a long way off.

More on that after the break. Residents in Far Rockaway are one step closer to getting a new long-awaited medical trauma center. Mayor Eric Adams and the city council included $50 million for the facility in the most recent budget. Adam says he's committed to seeing the project through. We think this is crucial and we would make it happen so we can deliver health care access to the people of Rockaway Peninsula. But council member Sylvana Brooks Powers says $50 million is only a fraction of what the plan needs to get the trauma center over the finish line.

Right now, the nearest hospital equipped to treat people with the most serious injuries is nearly nine miles away. For more, WMYC's Michael Hill talked with council member Brooks Powers, who represents Southeast Queens and the Rockaways. Your hope for this budget was to get the full $200 million you say it would take to fund a new center. Do you have a sense where the rest of the money, that is, 75% of that will come from and win? So in this recent budget, we were able to get not only funding from Mayor Adams and Speaker Adams, but we also were able to get a full commitment from the mayor to work in partnership with the council,

to seeing this through. And what that entails is us going shoulder to shoulder to Albany, calling on the governor to support this effort as well. It's our hope that we will be able to not only get the support from the governor, but also to have the state kick in funding for this facility as well. The money is not the only part that's missing. There hasn't been a location for the center or hospital operator name yet, for example. Is there any update on where this center might go and who would run it? There's a short list right now of potential locations. The land that we have looked at includes public and private land. Obviously, public land makes it a lot simpler in terms of the process. If it's public land versus if we have to do acquisition for a private land, there is a location in the

Arvon area that is most ideal. It is a city-owned land. And right now it's vacant. And the roadway that surrounds that site are wide roads. It's not too close to homes. It's very nearby. The train, so someone needed to visit a loved one. And it would be a lot that's large enough that could include parking as well. And as far as the hospital provider that will operate the hospital. Those conversations are ongoing. We are open to all of the hospital providers that exist. What we would like to see is something that is sustainable and can be able to thrive and offer excellent care to the peninsula. Now, this trauma center plan has critics. As you know, they say the project for Far Rockway doesn't meet the criteria. It's certified for a level one center.

That's the highest level, of course, due to low population in the area. How do you address that concern? I think it's interesting when I hear people say things like that because it's almost saying that the people in Rockaway do not deserve quality health care. And I think that's a very dangerous position to have. When I look at health care, I don't look at it through a lens of profitability. I look at it through a lens of lives that are being saved. And we have a growing community. According to State Comptroller, Danapolis report last year, he spoke

about how quickly the Rockaway Peninsula is growing. We are the fourth fastest growing community. In the last census, we grew by 8%. And that number did not even take into account a number of buildings that recently

completed construction and are now full at capacity. Jamaica Hospital is the nearest trauma center that can treat the most serious injuries like drowning, shootings, and car accidents, but children often go by EMS to Cohen Medical Center on Long Island. Is there so far a guarantee that this new medical center would be fully equipped to care for children? Right now, because things are still being discussed, I would caution saying a guarantee. But through the serving of the community, through the conversation that's been happening, we understand what the need is. And the goal is to be able to address that need in a community that's geographically isolated. Think about this.

Last year, when we had a weather event where there was heavy rain and the city responded to it, the two bridges that take you off of the peninsula were closed. And then the alternative route that takes you through NASA County, through what we call the five towns, was also shut down for us. So at that moment, for that day, we were on the peninsula unable to get off. Now, if there was a crisis or trauma incident at that time, they would have no fighting chance. So when we really put this into perspective, this is something that is critically needed. The people on the peninsula, the people in Southeast Queens, they pay taxes just like any other part of the city.

And in some instances more. And we don't have access to a trauma hospital. That's New York City Council Member Sylvana Brooks Powers talking with WNYC's Michael Hill. These next few weeks are the perfect time to look at the night sky, even in New York City. Stargazers can catch planets, constellations, and two meteor showers. My colleague David First talked with WNYC's Rosemary Miss Derry about the astronomical highlights. I don't always associate New York City. city or the cities around it, for that matter, with stargazing. We have a lot of light pollution

here, but you're telling us we can see this stuff in Manhattan or the Bronx? You have a better chance in the dark areas of town. Like go to a park or something where there's less lights, and you have to be patient because if you stare up into the sky looking for stars or planets, you won't find them right away. You have to let your eyes get used to the darkness. sometimes it takes up to a half an hour of gazing up at the sky before you start being able to see stuff. And there's a whole lot of different stars and constellations you can see in the summer that aren't visible during the rest of the year. Now, what can be seen without a telescope or binoculars this month? Well, the big thing to see in the sky right now is the summer triangle.

It's made of three bright stars from three different constellations. Altair in Aquila, which is an eagle constellation. You also have the star Denab, which is from Cygnus, the Swan. And then you also have Vega, which is from Leira constellation. And these three stars make up a very bright triangle that you can see in the night sky. There's also something else that's a little bit different. There's a star called Spika. It's a very bright, brilliant blue star in the sky, and it's in the constellation of Virgo.

And it's going to do a magic trick on July 13th, around 11.25 p.m. Okay. What's it going to do? Well, what you're going to see is you're going to see this beautiful bright blue star. If you keep watching, you'll see the moon edge closer and closer until the star disappears behind it. Oh, this is a star eclipse? You can call it that, yes. Are any planets visible? Definitely. Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter.

The way you can pick them out from stars is that planets don't twinkle. stars twinkle. So you'll see the planets. They're very bright pinpoints of lights in the sky, but they do not twinkle. And your best bet is Saturn, because at the beginning of the month, it's going to be high in the sky at midnight, but by the end of the month, you'll be able to see it as early as 10 p.m. What else is there to see? There are two meteor showers. The first one is the Southern Delta Aquarids, and that runs from July 18th to August 21st. Its peak happens on the evening of July 2,000. 29th. You can see as many as 20 shooting stars per hour. And you'll see them in the southern part of the sky. They look like they're originating from the constellation Aquarius. Hence the name.

The Southern Delta Aquarets. Yes. And these meteor showers, they're just space debris left over from comets. The second meteor shower is one of the brightest, most beautiful of the year. The Perseids, and it runs from July 14th to September 1st, and it peaks on August 11th. And you can see up to 100 meteors per hour streak through the sky at a speed of 37 miles per second. Okay, so chances are this would be a hard one to miss if you're paying attention. That's true. And it comes from a very large comet. It's 16 miles wide. It's nucleus. Is there any particular location you would suggest going to if you want someone to help point out some of these things for you? The Amateur Astronomers Association, several times a week,

They have public viewings all over the city. They're free. You can look through a telescope. Experts are on hand. So it's worth it to get out there to one of the free public viewings. That's WNYC's Rosemary Mystery, talking with my colleague, David First. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Shout out to our production team.

It includes Sean Bowdage, Amber Bruce, Ave Carrillo, Audrey Cooper, Leora Noam Kravitz, Jared Marcel, Jen Munson, and Wayne Schollem, with help from all of my wonderful colleagues in the WNYC Newsroom. Our show art was designed by the people at Buck, and our music was composed by Alexis Quadrado. I'm Jene Pierre. Have a lovely weekend. See you on Monday.