NYC NOW - June 2, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: June 2, 2023

A teeny tiny apartment in the West Village keeps going viral, WNYC’s Housing Reporter got a sneak peek. Also, Roxana Caivano the librarian at Roxbury High School in New Jersey, has worked for the district for 15 years. Now, she finds herself at the center of controversy -- and is suing four parents she says took their criticisms too far. She speaks with WNYC’s Sean Carlson about the case. And finally, it’s Pride Month and WNYC is speaking with LGBTQ+ older adults about their struggles, triumphs and what pride means to them.

Good evening and welcome to NYC now. I'm David First for WNYC. People heading down to the Jersey Shore this weekend could run into some serious traffic because of the wildfire burning in the southern part of the state. The Bass River State Forest Fire has caused officials to close the Garden State Parkway between exits 63 and 38. They say dense fog and smoky conditions make it hard to see on the highway. The fire which broke out on Wednesday

day has expanded to about 5,000 acres. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service says it's now about 50% contained. Because of the blaze, the Batona Trail and the state forest remains closed. In New York City, an empty apartment in Greenwich Village keeps going viral. WNYC's David Brand explains the fascination. In the market for a new place? An apartment on a swanky stretch of West 11th Street could be yours for 2350 a month. You just got to get used to the size. It's 7 feet by 11 feet. So this apartment is small. You can definitely touch both sides.

Not quite with my fingertips, but with one hand on one wall, my foot on the other wall. Let me see how many steps? One, two steps wide. Okay. And then there's the bathroom situation. There isn't one. The kitchen? Just a mini-fridge and a tinsie sink.

It's a single-room occupancy unit where 10-inch shared toilets and showers that are located in the hallway. But the microunits eye-popping price tag is driving comments, views, and upvotes across social media. Real estate agent Nikki Thomas says the pint-sized pad captures a certain fascination with how some New Yorkers live, either by choice or necessity. We just can't fathom. It's like, high on earth would someone pay that to live in, like, you have such a small space. On the bright side, there's no broker's fee. That's David Brand. Stick around. There's more after the break. The debate over LGBTQ inclusive books continues in towns across the country. Some parents say the books, especially those that include sexually explicit drawings,

have no business in a school library. Roxana Kvano, the librarian at Roxbury High School in New Jersey, has worked for the district for 15 years. Now, she finds herself at the center of controversy, and is suing four parents, she says, took their criticisms too far. She joined my colleague Sean Carlson, the host of WNYC's All Things Considered, to talk about the case. And I should note their conversation does include references to some sexual practices. Roxanna, welcome to All Things Considered.

Hi, thanks for having me. Can you tell us a little bit about the materials that have stirred up controversy in your school district? So far, there have been two books that have been formally challenged. The first one is a book called Let's Talk About It, a Teen's Guide to, sex relationships and being human, and the other is genderqueer. Those are the only two books that have been challenged so far this year. One of the books you mentioned, gender queer, a memoir. It's by Maya Kobabe. It's been at the center of controversies nationwide. It's won several awards for how it depicts the author exploring issues around identity like gender dysphoria, asexuality,

and coming out as non-binary. But there are some pretty explicit illustrations in the book of oral sex and masturbation. So what do you say to parents who say that that is just too explicit for a school library? I would say that the book has won numerous awards. And the information in the book is information that will help kids who have questions. The character in the book is trying to figure out what's going on in their life, trying to figure out what kind of person they are. And there are lots of kids in high school who have those questions. And if a book like this can help one student answer those questions for themselves, then I think the book is well worth it.

You allege in your defamation suit that some of these parents have called you a child predator and accuse you of luring children with pornography for making these books available. Those are some pretty harsh criticisms. We spoke to attorneys for three of the four people you name. They dispute some of the specifics there, but they also say people are entitled to criticize. how public employees like you do their job. What do you say to that? Well, I say no one has the right to say those things about another person. These books have been dragged through the courts time and

time and time again. And each time they, the courts have said that they are not photography. They are not obscene. You have to take the work as a whole. You can't just look at a couple of panels and say this is obscene. It's very upsetting that, you know, people are running around calling me a groomer and a pornographer and, you know, I'm luring children. I'm offering books to students who might have questions. The same way I would offer a book about the Holocaust. Kids have questions about, you know, sexuality and where they are in the world. This is a book that might help them get through that. So what is next for your, and the districts for that matter, is efforts to, explore what books are helpful or appropriate for children in schools?

Let me just say first off that genderqueer has gone through the challenge process. A committee looked at it and it was deemed a book that can remain on the shelf. I will continue doing what I'm doing. When I buy a book, I look at reviews. I look at summaries. I look at award winners. I go through a very, very stringent process and that's what I will continue to do. Can you outline for us real quick how that review process goes? So a parent, they come forward with a complaint about a book and then there's a committee that reviews it. How does that all go down?

We have what's called the challenge form and that's available on our website. The parent fills out the challenge form. It is imperative that the parent read the entire book and fill out the questions. I think there are about 14 or 15 questions about, you know, what part of the book did you feel was inappropriate? Why did you feel it was inappropriate? appropriate. Once that form is filled out, it's generally it should be submitted to me and we form a committee to review the book. The committee should consist of teachers, the superintendent, the principal. We can have students on that committee. We can have parents on that committee. Everyone reads the book in its entirety that is not optional. And then we discuss it. You know, it might take one meeting. It might take, you know, six meetings, and then we decide whether or not we feel it should remain on the shelves. That was Roxana Kavanaughano speaking with my colleague, Sean Carlson.

Corinne Mullen and John Coyle, two of the attorneys representing some of the parents named in the lawsuit, both tell WNYC they don't know of any statements made by their clients that would be defamatory. They also both say issues around what materials are appropriate for children deserve a robust public conversation. A third attorney, Walter Schneider, declined comment. June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate LGBTQ-plus communities. To mark the occasion, WNYC is talking with LGBTQ-plus older adults about their struggles, triumphs, and what pride means to them.

My name is Donna Sue Johnson, and I'm from the South, South Jersey. I grew up in Willingboro, New Jersey. I live in Westchester County now. Identify as a big, black, beautiful, bohemian, bogey Buddhist butch. I'm a lesbian. I came out when I was in the military, which was very difficult to say the least, because it certainly wasn't do-ass do tell. It was more like witch hunts.

It wasn't don't ask, don't tell. Here I am stationed at Travis Air Force Base, which is situated between Sacramento and the Bay Area. and I go to my first Gide A parade in 1980 or 81, and I see Sister Boom Boom, and the sisters of perpetual indulgence, throwing out condoms, the bathhouses had just closed. So I was born in 1956, so I'm 66, and I'm old enough to have survived two major epidemics. The first one being AIDS, and the second one being the COVID pandemic.

I remember seeing Dykes on Bikes. And I remember calling my grandmother, and I said, wow, Mama Dot, we called her Mama Dot. I said, wow, Mama Dot, I can't wait to get a motorcycle. She said, we don't have no dikes on bikes in this family. I said, Mama, Doc, how do you know about Dykes on Bikes? She said, I watch Phil Donahue. What a magnificent epiphany of blissful pleasures to be able to understand and embrace who I am as a black lesbian who is aging with.

grace, aging in place, and aging intelligently. Not all of my cohorts are able to do so with the hate that is going on in this country toward the LGBT community. It's essential that we let our voices be heard that this is wrong. This is causing older LGBT folks to go back in the closet and be stealth. Going back in a closet after working so hard to be out is a disgrace. Pride is certainly important so that folks can see that we're here, we're queer, and we're here to stay. That was Donna Sue Johnson of Westchester County reflecting on her personal journey as we mark Pride Month. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Our production team includes Sean Boutich, Ave Carrillo, Audrey Cooper,

Leora Noam Kravitz, Jared Marcel, and Wayne Schulmeister, with help from the entire WNYC Newsroom. Our show art was designed by the people at Buck, and our music was composed by Alexis Quadrato. I'm David First. We'll be back Monday.