NYC NOW - June 20, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: June 20, 2024

A handful of New Jersey schools are rescheduling high school graduations due to the heat wave. In other news, Jenny Dubnau of the Western Queens Community Land Trust says her organization hopes to turn a city-owned building in Long Island City, once slated for Amazon's headquarters, into a community space. Meanwhile, residents and politicians in Summit, New Jersey, have been debating what to do with downtown land occupied by a soon-to-be relocated firehouse. But officials now plan to sell the property to the highest bidder for upscale apartments. WNYC’s Mike Hayes reports not everyone is happy about the plan. Plus, summer is the season for block parties, barbecues, and music blasting on some New York City streets. WNYC’s Michael Hill speaks with reporter Samantha Max to discuss ways to navigate the noise.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Thursday, June 20th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. A handful of New Jersey schools are rescheduling their high school graduation ceremonies over the next several days because of the heat wave. Clifton will move its graduation today from 3 to 7 this evening because of the heat. And Westfield High School's graduation originally scheduled for. today will now take place tomorrow morning. Temperatures in northern New Jersey and central

New Jersey are expected to hit the mid-90s today with the heat index making it feel even hotter, much hotter in fact. Community advocates have their own vision for a corner of Long Island City where Amazon once planned to build its corporate headquarters. Jenny Dubnell is with the Western Queens Community Land Trust. Dubnell says her organization wants to turn a city-owned building into what they're calling the Queens Borough People's Space. And it would be permanently affordable for all kinds of small businesses, manufacturers, artists, community-based organizations, street cart vendors, to have affordable space to do their work and serve the community.

The 600,000 square foot building now houses employees of the Department of Education. The city has proposed to rezone the area, a town hall in the future of the neighborhood takes place at CUNY Law School on Monday. That's next Monday, June 24th. Stay close. There's more after the break. For years, residents and politicians in the affluent city of Summit, New Jersey, have fought over what to do with downtown land occupied by a soon-to-be relocated firehouse. Now, Summit officials plan to sell the property to the highest bidder for upscale apartments, a move that would maximize profits for the city, but W&6 Mike Hayes reports, not everyone in the community is happy about the plans. Mark McBride retired a couple years ago after a long career in affordable housing finance,

but he hasn't been able to stay away from his life's work. We all need a hobby when we retire. I mean, I don't play golf, so what else am I going to do? I think that's a really important issue. Obviously, I spent my entire career in it. McBride recently got pulled back into the world of affordable housing by Dennis White, a 30-year resident of Summit, New Jersey. The city had recently killed a large 140-unit development plan for the firehouse property, a prime spot in the downtown. But White says he still wanted to figure out a way to generate the 20-plus units of affordable

housing the project called for. The city owned it. Again, it's near all the social services, transportation services, employment opportunity, so it's an ideal spot for affordable housing. They came up with a plan that would create not just 20 affordable, units, but 42. The idea was to entice a developer to build an all-affordable complex using state and federal incentives, but they'd need buy-in from city officials. White got them a meeting with the city to pitch the project earlier this year. They were very, you know, appreciative and

actually thought it was a great idea. But White and McBride say, that's when things got complicated. They were invited to a second meeting with a larger group that included Summits Council President Lisa Allen. The day before, Alan, had made comments at a state Senate hearing that if the legislature passed a new affordable housing bill, which it later did, it would lead to increased crime in places like summit. There will be no escaping the noise, the pollution, the cars, the expanding schools, and the expanding crime that has seeped in to our communities. Two senators told Alan her remarks were disrespectful and appalling, and she was rebuked

by residents of the city in a local public meeting. You, Council President, delivered prepared remarks, rife with dog whistles, dog whistles that were not so subtle. For the record, Ms. Allen's comment in no way represents our values because what she said isn't true. At the meeting, Alan tried to walk back her comments. I value affordable housing. I value affordable housing. I value affordable housing. Local pastor, Blake Scolette from St. John's Lutheran Church stood up.

So I don't want to talk about what has happened. I want to urge you to move forward. How are we going to put more affordable housing for all of its people in this community now? But when White and McBride met one last time with city officials, they were told that they weren't going to move forward with their proposal. White says instead they were told the city wanted to sell the property to the highest bidder. They wanted to have a market sale and get as much money as possible for the site. Lisa Allen and other summit leaders declined to be interviewed for this story.

But in public meetings, Alan said the city is prioritizing inclusionary development, projects with a lot of market rate units, and a few set aside for affordable housing. For instance, the current plan for the firehouse site would build at least eight affordable rentals. And Alan has said the city is on track with New Jersey's requirements to make affordable housing development possible in their city. New Jersey assigns towns requirements for affordable housing every 10 years. with the latest round ending in 2025. But according to town records, Summit has constructed just 16 affordable units over the last decade

instead of the 50 the state wants. Pastor Scalette says, Summit's missing a chance to make the city more affordable for more people. Incredibly disappointing, incredibly frustrating, incredibly short-sighted, and quite honestly, just not the right moral, ethical,

and community focused vision for the kind of town that I think we want to be. Summit's mayor Elizabeth Fagan said at a public meeting this month, the firehouse property will be auctioned off to developers. So far, there's no timetable for when that will happen. Mike Hayes, WNYC News. The temperature is rising, the sun is setting later, and New Yorkers are spilling out of their apartments,

and into the streets. Summer is the season for block parties and barbecues and a whole lot more. Air conditioners and car radios blasting. Oh, you hear there, the Mr. Softy jingle echoes through the neighborhoods across the city. Mommy, Mommy, can I get an ice cream? In other words, summer is loud. Double NIC, Samantha Max is here to tell us how to navigate the sounds of the season, whether you love them or loat them. Sam, good morning. When does noise go from the light? background of the city to something worth filing a complaint about. Is it subjective, right? Yeah, I mean, there are some parameters in the city law that basically it's if a noise is considered excessive and unreasonable. So there are different types of limits depending on what

kind of noise we're talking about. Like if it's your neighbor's loudspeaker playing on the sidewalk versus a construction site or a nightclub, there are typically certain. like decibel levels that you're not supposed to exceed. And then there are some types of noise where you might need a permit. Like if you are having a block party, you need a permit or a street festival. If you want to be having an event with, you know, some sort of amplified sound. And you can find applications for those permits on the city's website. What should New Yorkers do if there's a noise in the neighborhood that they think is just too loud?

Well, you know, the first and perhaps most obvious option is just to talk it out. If you feel comfortable, you know, if it's late in the night and you hear your neighbor is like outside playing a bunch of music on a loudspeaker, screaming and singing late into the night, you can just try going out there say, hey, you know, got to get up for in the morning early. Do you mind just turn down the volume a little bit? If it's a recurring issue, the city actually offers free mediation services. So if you go to the NYC 311 website, you can find in every borough there are organizations that will do mediation. And particularly if it's an ongoing dispute with a restaurant or a bar or some other sort of nightlife venue in the neighborhood, there's a special city program that specifically will help to mediate those kinds of situations.

Now, Sam, I'm curious. Suppose none of that works to a certain extent and the noise persist. What if someone wants to file a complaint? What's the process for that? It's actually pretty simple. I mean, the traditional option is you can call 3-1-1 and you'll talk to someone and just explain a little bit about what's going on. And then the police are theoretically supposed to come within eight hours when they're not responding to emergency calls. But given that, you know, this is the modern era, there are also websites and apps for it.

You can go to the NYC 311 website or there's even an app. I have it pulled up right now. You're going to hit the plus bottom at the bottom of the page. Select noise. And then from there, you're just going to put in the address, what type of location it is, whether this is a recurring problem, and just add some details. And then from there, someone theoretically should handle. it. I get that some people, probably all of us, like their peace and quiet at some point,

but it is the city that never sleeps. Any advice for people who are looking to let loose and make some noise this summer? Yeah, I mean, this is, of course, New York City. I don't think any of us should expect for it to always be quiet. You know, there's actually been some essays written about how tolerance for noise has changed over the years with gentrification. I do think it is important to honor and respect the sounds of summer. I spoke with Rishon Brown. He works with a community group in Brooklyn called We Build the Block. He said sometimes he's seen police break up situations where people are just getting together

even to celebrate someone's life. We playing music. Everybody's chilling. And then the police will come. You know, that's what sticks it off because, you know, we people in my community get mad when, you know, we're having a good time. Listen to the music. And then the police want to, like, shut it down. And it's like, yo, we're not even having no violence.

His advice is that if there is noise, you should try to be respectful of people who might want things to be quiet, turn down the volume if they ask you to. But to also remember that it's summer, it's a time for people to let loose. And especially on the weekends, if you can, try to enjoy in a respectful way. Yeah, I see people on the subway sometimes with speakers and they're blasting music, not just to themselves, but to all of us. on the train. And even out walking, there are people who carry speakers. You know, isn't that what a headset is for? I, you know, I enjoy some of the music, but I mean, if it's your music, shouldn't you want to enjoy it yourself? I understand you want to share it, but some people may not want to hear that. I guess to each their own, Michael. It is indeed. Samantha Max for us. Thank you, Sam. Thank you.

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