NYC NOW - July 8, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: July 8, 2024

Mayor Eric Adams says he’s staying out of the debate over whether President Biden should drop out of his race for reelection. Plus, WNYC’s Ramsey Khalifeh reports a bike lane along the Brooklyn waterfront is becoming too busy. Also, WNYC’s Tiffany Hanssen and Rosemary Misdary discuss how dogs are overwhelming New York City’s animal shelters. And finally, WNYC’s Janae Pierre and Director of Archives, Andy Lanset, celebrate WNYC’s 100th birthday!

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jenae Pierre. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is staying out of the debate over whether President Biden should drop out of his race for re-election. I think that we're going to see the campaign season move forward. You know what I learned during this campaign seasons? There's ups and there's downs. There's twists and their turns. The mayor has clashed with the president over immigration before, but now he's the president.

is staring clear of conflict. Adams says Biden should adopt his own campaign mantra, stay focus, no distractions, and grind. There's growing pressure on the president to leave the race amid concerns about recent debate performance, his age, and dismal polling. Gerald Nadler, who represents parts of Manhattan in the House, reportedly said Biden should withdraw. His comments came during a private virtual meeting with minority leader Hakim Jeffries. President Biden is vowing to stay in the race. advocates say a bike lane along the Brooklyn waterfront is becoming too busy to be safe and needs a touching up. WMYC's Ramsey Califé has the details.

City bikes, mopeds, e-scooters, sweaty runners, shoppers at Trader Joe's, people heading home to their luxury condos. They're all vying for space on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. Over a decade ago, the Transportation Department redesigned the road to add a two-way bike lane. It was deemed a success at the time. But now, advocates in residents say another redesign is needed. Here's Gatlin Miller, who frequents the route. As a cyclist, my blood pressure is way, way up because I'm constantly yelling if people get out of the bike lane. As a runner, these sidewalks are pretty narrow, so you do kind of have to get out to the bike lane every now and again.

I wouldn't even say controlled chaos. It's pretty chaotic. Local council member Lincoln Wrestler is calling on the Transportation Department to consider an estimated $30 million redesign. He wants to make the bike lanes and sidewalks wider while adding a barrier protecting cyclists. It's been a tremendous success, but it was done with paint and some changes in signage. We never created long-term interventions to prioritize the safety of the cyclists. A transportation department spokesperson says the agency is reviewing the proposal, but is prioritizing historically underserved communities that need more safe and accessible cycling lanes.

New York City's animal shelters are overpopulated with dogs. More on that after the break. You might recall that adopting a pet became popular during the pandemic. That trend is over. And now, animal shelters in New York City say they're dealing with the consequences. They're overwhelmed with dogs. For more, my colleague Tiffany Hansen talked with WMYC's Rosemary Misdairy. Rosie, why are there so many dogs at shelters now?

The logical thought is that there must be more animals coming into the shelter system, but that's not true. In fact, the number of animals coming into the shelter are now back to normal, to the numbers they were before the pandemic. The problem is, is that adoptions are way low. Just to give you an example, the Animal Care Centers of New York, which are the city-run animal shelters, they averaged about 700 adoptions per quarter in 2018. Now they don't even make half that per quarter. Dogs are spending more time in the system, which is contributing to that overcrowding.

This is a description of how crowded the shelters are from Katie Hanson. She's the spokesperson for the Animal Care Centers of New York. We're completely overpopulated with dogs. We have dogs and cages in the hallways in offices, in every nook and cranny that we can find. Also, there was a critical capacity alert that went in effect last year. And it's still in effect now. And that just means that the shelter system is not accepting dog surrenders

because they're overcapacity. Why dogs in particular, not cats or, I don't know, birds, rabbits, whatever? Well, first, the number one reason last year why a pet owner might give up their animal was the cost of living. So it's more expensive to have a dog than, let's say, a cat, a gerbil, or a goldfish. The initial upfront costs are greater, as well as the amount of money that you have to put in each year. So the cost is greater, the responsibility is greater. And over the last decade, veterinarian services have gone up about 60%. And when we think about pet-friendly buildings, there are a lot more buildings that will accept somebody with cats and not put limits on them or size limits even.

But there are a lot less buildings that are dog-friendly. And even dog-friendly buildings have limits to size and the number that you can have. Do shelters have any advice for someone who really does want to keep their dog but is kind of struggling at this point? If a pet owner can't afford to keep their pet, they should seek help at the shelter. They have many supportive services, such as housing lawyers, if you're having trouble, keeping your pet in your building, a pet food pantry. And there are many veterinarian services that are fully subsidized. But if you have to give up your pet, never abandon. It's illegal, and it makes it harder for the pet to be adopted because they don't know the history of the pet or

its medical history either. What can shelters do if somebody's on the fence? Maybe they think they want to have a dog, but they're not really sure. You know, one of the ways that if you're on the fence, but also you can really, really, really help out is being a foster parent of a dog. It has almost no commitment. It's as much commitment as you want to put into it. But it also lets a dog get out of a cage. And it also reduces the overcrowding in the shelter. But also if you're ready to adopt, most people get their pets from breeders and pet stores.

You can get your pet from a shelter. And it's also much cheaper. You can get a pet that's fully neutered, spayed, vaccinated, and might be a pet. microchip for $75. Well, if you go to a breeder, you'll pay several thousand dollars and still have to pay all those other upfront costs. Well, as a dog lover, I might not want to know the answer to this question, but what happens when a dog doesn't get adopted? I can imagine there are a lot of dogs at this point that are, as you said, are not getting adopted. So what's happening? Eventually, a dog would be euthanized if it's not adopted. 42 dogs in May were euthanized at the animal care centers of New York City. You know, Nation,

why the euthanasia rates are climbing, but in New York City, they're steady because shelters say they'll do anything to save a dog, including having dogs stay longer. Some of the dogs that are up for adoption have been in a cage for more than 100 days. And the problem with that is the longer they stay, the more likely they will get sick or kennel crazy, which is, you know, they spin around, they'll bite the cage, they'll go crazy. And this increases their chances of euthanasia. Animal care centers of New York says they try to keep the dogs as long as they're healthy. That's WMYC's Rosemary Misdairy, talking with my colleague Tiffany Hanson. Today is a special day, folks, because we have an important birthday to celebrate.

Ours. Today is officially WMYC's birthday. The station has been on the air since July 8th, 1924, capturing sound of the city and its people. Andy Lancet is the station's director of archives, and he's been part of the station for years, not the full century, of course. Andy, how long have you worked with WMYC? Well, let me see how many years. No, it's been 24 and counting. And how would you describe your job? Well, we decided in the year 2000 that the station needed a central repository for its assets,

its broadcast assets, and that they needed to be cataloged and stored and preserved and also to act as a showcase for the materials as well. Get them out to the web, to researchers, and in-house to producers so that they could repurpose all of that material and basically make good use of what we have here. And I'm sure over the past 24 years, you've come across so much good tape, and you're here with me to briefly share your most favorite bit of tape

from our airwaves over the past century. Tell me, what are you sharing with us today? Well, I'd say they're all my children, but in this instance, I can pick one in particular from 1961, late October, when Oscar Brand, who was on our air for more than 70 years, interviewed Bob Dylan, and Bob took him on a little bit of a fanciful tour. Now, November the 4th Saturday, Bob Dylan will be singing at the Carnegie Chapel. And that should be a very eventful occasion. Bob was born in Duluth, Minnesota, but Bob, you weren't raised in Duluth, were you? I was raised in Gallup, New Mexico.

Did you get many songs there? Got a lot of cowboy songs there, Indian songs. Carnival songs, type vaudeville kind of stuff. Where did you get your carnival songs from? People in the carnival. Did you travel with it? Did you watch the carnival? Traveled carnival when I was about 30.

13 years old. For how long? For all the way up until I was 19. Every year, off and on, I join different carnivals. Well, I'd like to hear one of the kinds of music that you've been singing, and I know you've been doing quite well, and you'll be singing at Carnegie Chapter Hall. Do you want to pick something out?

Well, I'll pick out a carnival song that I learned. I wrote there. Want to hear one of them? Andy Lancet is WMYC's Director of Archives. Thanks, Andy. Thank you. has been broadcasting for a full century.

Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. I'm Junae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow. I'm gonna get you, Saudi girl, I'm gonna get you Saudi girl, I'm gonna get you a solid guy,

I'm gonna get you a solid guy,