NYC NOW - July 22, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

York City Mayor Eric Adams is officially endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris following President Biden’s decision not to seek reelection. Meanwhile, today is the deadline for New Yorkers to apply for a free air conditioner. Finally, President Biden’s decision to end his campaign is causing ripple effects across New York State, where some key congressional races could determine which party takes control of the House of Representatives. WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with Albany reporter Jon Campbell, who spoke to prominent New York officials from both parties.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Monday, July 22. Here's the midday news. For WNYC in New York, I'm Alec Hamilton. As you've been hearing, President Joe Biden has said he will not seek re-election. Mayor Eric Adams spoke with WNYC last night. He says there are several key issues Democrats must hone in on if they want to seize this opportunity.

I think the person that runs this country in the future needs to be dealing with the affordability issue, the housing issue that we're facing, the border of security that we need, and really zero in on focusing the future for our country. Mayor Adams held back an endorsement yesterday, but this morning said he is supporting Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee. Today is the new deadline for New Yorkers to apply for a free air conditioner. The deadline for the city and state run program was, Friday but it was extended after a worldwide IT outage wreaked havoc on many computer systems the program gives AC units to eligible low-income people including those who receive food assistance or have a medical condition made worse by heat eligibility details can be found on the city's access NYC website and another baby tree kangaroo can be seen at the Bronx Zoo after her months of hiding in its mother's

pouch New York zoo officials say the Machis tree kangaroo was born in December but just started poking its head out in public. The species is endangered in the wild, and the Bronx Zoo says the birth is significant to keep up the tree kangaroos genetic diversity. It's cloudy out there today, a chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Temperature falling to about 76 degrees by 5 p.m.

More rain expected overnight. Maybe quite a lot of rate up to half of an inch possible. The rest of the week looks very much the same, really, until Friday. It's WNYC. Stay close. There's more after the break. On WNYC, I'm Michael Hill. More about President Biden's decision to drop his re-election bid.

It's causing a ripple effect across the November ballot, and that's particularly true in New York State, where a handful of congressional races could help decide which party takes control of the House of Representatives in D.C. John Campbell spoke to prominent New York officials from both parties yesterday, and John joins us. Now, John, let's lay out. the stakes here. New York has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee for the last 40 years.

Is Biden's exit really that big a deal here? Oh, absolutely, Michael. I mean, for one thing, Biden was polling very poorly in New York, even before that rough performance in the presidential debate. Last month, Sienna College had him with just an eight-point lead against Donald Trump in New York, which is a really small margin in a deep blue state like New York. But the bigger deal is in these down-ballot races, particularly those congressional races you mentioned. There's a handful of districts throughout the state on Long Island in the Hudson Valley, in Syracuse that could really go either way. And Biden was polling particularly badly in the New York City suburbs.

Democratic candidates had real concerns that the president could pull them down with him. John, you talked to the state Democratic chair yesterday. What did he have to say? I did. Jay Jacobs is the head of the state Democratic Party. he has nothing but praise for Joe Biden and says he made the right decision. He also says he believes Biden's exit will help Democrats in those down-ballot races we just talked about. We need to field a candidate who can campaign vigorously and strongly and counter the misinformation, the lies that come out of Donald Trump.

That was similar to what a lot of Democrats in New York and throughout the country were saying, Many of them frame this as a patriotic act. They said it was the right thing to do. And what about New York Republicans, John? How are they taking this news? Well, I spoke to Representative Mike Lawler. He's a Republican who represents New York's 17th district in the Hudson Valley. He says it doesn't matter who's on the top of the ticket.

Voters are upset with Democratic policies on immigration and the economy. These were the policies of the Biden-Harris administration, and it doesn't change with Joe Biden leaving. He is one of these Republican lawmakers that Democrats really have their eye on in November. Lawlers in a battleground district. He's facing a challenge from Mondare Jones, the former Democratic representative. And now some other Republicans are going as far as to call on Joe Biden to resign from office. That includes Ed Cox, the state GOP chair, and Elise Stefanik, the influential Republican from northern New York. They say if he's not fit to run for office, he's not fit to hold office now.

but Biden, for what it's worth, says he's staying in office. John, there's a lot at stake for the delegates to the Democratic National Convention. New York has 307 of them, and they'll help decide the next Democratic nominee. What are they saying so far? Well, at first, Jay Jacobs, that New York Democratic chair, he called on the state's delegates to kind of hold off on endorsing for a few days, kind of see how the field plays out. But that didn't stop delegates in New York and throughout the country,

from throwing their support behind Kamala Harris. That's Joe Biden's vice president, who immediately threw her hat in the race. That includes Bill Clinton, the former president, who's a New York delegate. It also includes Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, AOC, the Bronx Democrat, who's a hero to the progressive movement. By the end of Sunday night, Governor Kathy Hockel endorsed Kamala Harris, and just a bit after that, Jay Jacobs did too. So that was a about face from earlier in the day. John, it seems a lot of Democrats are coming on board now. Kentucky Governor Bashir just announced that he would endorse Harris,

and he also says that he wouldn't mind being a running mate. Now, what about Mayor Adams? What does the mayor have to say about Kamala Harris? Well, the mayor did a few media hits yesterday, including on WNYC, where he stopped short of endorsing Kamala Harris. He said, not yet. He wants to hear from whomever the next nominee is going to be about how they'll make the country more affordable,

how they'll crack down on immigration at the border, which has obviously been a big topic for the mayor. But just this morning, Mayor Adams endorsed Harris on MSNBC's Morning Joe. I think that she is the voice that the party needs right now of that we're imaging African Americans, we're imaging Hispanic voters, we're imaging of those broken class people

who don't realize the Democratic Party has a good product. So far, Chuck Schumer and Higgins, Keene Jeffries have not endorsed Kamala Harris. That's WNMC's John Campbell. Thank you, John. Thank you. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC.

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