NYC NOW - June 10, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: June 10, 2024

New York State is expanding access to doulas and other maternal health services for people enrolled in Medicaid. Plus, a group has put together a database with information on the state judges in New York City who are up for re-election or re-appointment. The new tool aims to help voters be better prepared when filling out a ballot. And finally, WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with artist and activist Aurora Flores Hostos about New York City’s shrinking Puerto Rican population.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WNYC, I'm Jenae Pierre. New York State is expanding access to DULAs and other maternal health services for people enrolled in Medicaid. Governor Kathy Hokel says the state health commissioner has issued what's known as a standing order so that culturally competent doula services can more easily be provided for pregnant, birthing, and new parents. hopeful also says the state is committing $8 million to create a new maternal health center at the Morris Heights Health Center in the Bronx.

I want others to look at what we do here as the model of how we protect moms and babies and give them world-class health care that they deserve. According to health officials, the Bronx has some of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in New York State. Do you ever feel stumped when you're filling out your ballot and get to the section on judges? well, a new tool could help. A group called scrutinize has put together a database with information on the state judges in New York City who are up for re-election or reappointment.

Scrutinizes database has information on judges' records, including links to decisions they've published. The goal is to help voters and elected officials make more informed decisions. You can find more about the scrutinized database on our news site, Gothamist. The Puerto Rican Day parade happened over the weekend. For some New Yorkans, it's also a real thing.

reminder of their culture's impact on New York City. But a new study finds that the city's Puerto Rican population is actually shrinking. More on that after the break. Puerto Rican culture is one of the most dominant drivers of culture in New York City history, both past and present. Hundreds of thousands of Buriquas gathered in Manhattan this past weekend to celebrate just that at the Puerto Day Parade. But a recent study from the Center for Latino American and Caribbean Latino Studies finds the Puerto Rican population in the city is shrinking. According to census data, the Puerto Rican population in the five boroughs fell by 20 percent between 2017 and 2022. For more, WMYC's Michael Hill talked with artist and activist Aurora Flores Ostas. One really big part of Puerto Rican

history in the Burroughs is the stretch of Manhattan, once known as San Juan Hill. Describe that area for us and the significance it once held? Well, the significance of San Juan Hill, especially at the turn of the last century, it was a place where many Puerto Ricans, African Americans, gathered and worked together and made music together, made culture together. And it was also the site of Lincoln Center. What happened in San Juan Hill was Robert Moses. the displacement of Latinos and blacks, especially at a time when Mamba and our music was all over mainstream,

yet Robert Moses was in our community blasting blocks like he was in war, and he started in East Harlem and ended in that San Juan Hill area where 7,000 black and Puerto Rican families were displaced. The CUNY study I referred to at the beginning attributes the drop in the city's Puerto Rican public, to the pandemic and its related economic challenges. What do you think is the reason why so many Puerto Ricans are leaving and where are they going? A lot of Puerto Ricans started leaving, especially when you look at the history, many of them own bodegas and stores. And they really worked hard so that their children would go to college. So once they went to college, they did not want to come back and run a bodega.

And I think it started there probably in the 80s and 90s. But the biggest change I found was after Maria, Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rico. And there were many Puerto Ricans that came here, but more Puerto Ricans started going to Orlando. Many of the salsa musicians had relocated to Florida. And after Maria, many, many of the professionals went to Orlando and continued going to Orlando. What does New York lose when it loses part of its Puerto Rican community? Well, it loses part of its built-in Latino flavor. I mean, we've been here for over 100 years,

and we have marked in New York with our music, with our culture, with our food. You know, everybody knows about rice and beans. Everybody knows about salsa music. It made an impact on rock. It made an impact on jazz. Unlike the American kids who rejected their parents' music, We embraced our parents' music, but we added our own reality, which was the reality of jazz, the reality of R&B with Bugaloo, of English lyrics, and everything that was affecting us in New York.

All of this was an influence on not only New York life, but the music. And then out of those remnants, when they took music out of the schools, hip-hop happened. What about the Puerto Rican Day Parade? How has sentiment about the one that takes place on Fifth Avenue, Manhattan? How has that changed over the years? It's changed a lot. First of all, you have to look at its history. It happened in 1958.

And that's significant because it was 10 years after a gag order was imposed on Puerto Rico that you could not fly the Puerto Rican flag, even in your home. You would be arrested. And when that gag order was repealed in 1958, one of the first, The leaders here in New York celebrated and were so happy, they decided to do a Puerto Rican Day parade. And then during the years, it got bigger and bigger because it was a source of pride. It's like showing your colors. It's like going out on a Sunday, which is Sunday best.

The Puerto Rican Day parade during the years has changed a lot because the bigger it got. Then you had people that were running the parade, and they brought in a lot of corporate sponsorship. Now, as a journalist, I was covered. covering that parade. And I remember doing National Peace in Northwestern magazine in the 80s about the parade and asking questions about why all the commercialism. There was more commercialism than the culture being exposed. Aurora, are you concerned about the future of the Fifth Avenue, Porto Weeking Day parade? Yes, I'm concerned about the future. And I remember back in the day, I think it was the early 90s. I mean, we had an artist like Eddie Palmieri. It's a 10-time Grammy winner. And I went to the head of the parade at that time, Ramon Bell is, with Eddie Palmieri's wife.

He wanted to play the parade. And the man basically told us we had to pay him $5,000 to have this Grammy winner artist be part of the parade. What I see today, I see this new incarnation. They are bringing up more of our artists. So it's good that I see this big parade recognizing those artists. But I think the young people are bringing it back to the communities. They're bringing it back to what the original parade organizers want. That's Aurora Flores OSTAS, talking with WNYC's Michael Hill.

Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.