NYC NOW - June 22, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: June 22, 2023

A New York City Council oversight hearing got heated, after an official disclosed that some facilities housing asylum seekers lack showers. Plus, court documents show the family of Congressman George Santos helped secure his release on bond after his indictment last month. And finally, WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with Amy Cohen, the mother of Sammy Cohen Eckstein, who was fatally hit by a car a decade ago. The two discuss Sammy’s Law, a bill that would give New York City the power to set its own speed limits.

Good evening and welcome to NYC Now. I'm Jene Pierre for WNYC. Things got pretty heated at a New York City Council oversight hearing Wednesday night when an Adams administration official disclosed that some facilities housing asylum seekers lack showers. Zachary Iskell is the head of NYC emergency management. He made the disclosure before entering into a back and forth with council member Shahana Hanif. Iskul says he wished every facility were full. equipped with the necessary amenities.

That is not where we are today. I wish that I had plenty of spaces. I wish that I had plenty of spaces with showers on site that could do this. The alternative is people sleeping on the streets. And we don't want that. That's the alternative. Hanif has introduced legislation that would require all such facilities to have basic standards, including showers, toilets, and laundry.

Family of Congressman George Santos helped secure his release on bond after his indictment last month. WNYC's Bridget Bergen has the details on new court documents unsealed Thursday afternoon. Signatures of Santos's father, Gersino do Santos Jr., and his aunt, Elma Santos Previn, appear on the documents for a $500,000 bond that allowed Santos to go free after being indicted last month. The two lists the same address in Jackson Heights on federal campaign filings. Prosecutors accused the House freshman of bilking donors out of thousands of dollars, fraudulently receiving federal unemployment benefits and lying on House financial disclosure forms. Santos fought to keep the name sealed after the New York Times, NPR, and others

petitioned the court to make them public, but a judge ordered the documents unsealed. Santos returns to court next week. Stick around. There's more after the break. When a car hit and killed her 12-year-old son in Brooklyn, a decade ago, ago, Amy Cohen dedicated herself to making streets safer for children and other New Yorkers. A bill named for her son, Sammy Cohen-Extine, is now known as Sammy's law. It would give New York City the power to set its own speed limits, and it has the support of the governor, Mayor Eric Adams, and the city council. The state Senate passed it, and a majority

of assembly members said they'd supported too, but they never got a chance. The Assembly special session ended Wednesday, without Assembly Speaker Carl hasty bringing it to a vote. This is the second time the bill has gotten this close, only to die in the assembly. WNYC's Michael Hill talked with Amy Cohen about the importance of Sammy's law and why it fell short from passage this legislative session. It's been yet another deadly year in the streets in New York City. In just the last six months, traffic killed at least 41 pedestrians and 18 cyclists. Another 44 people died on motorcycles or other vehicles. Street's blog points out, Hastie's own district has seen an average of nearly three and a half

crashes per day this year. So what do you think happened? It is to me incredibly frustrating and unconscionable that the assembly adjourned without bringing Stanley's law for a vote. I mean, it had widespread support. Every single national traffic safety organization from across the country weighed in and support, as did organizations like consumer. reports, DC's 37 AARP health care providers, as you shared, every elected official, you know, a supermajority in the city council, the state Senate passed it 55 to 7. How could the Assembly adjourn and Speaker Hastie not bring this simple, proven, life-saving, popular measure for a vote? Some opponents of this bill have said they think it's just an excuse to issue more speeding

tickets that it would have limited effectiveness against people already willing to break the law and speed. How do you respond to that? I mean, everyone can get to their destination two minutes later to save a life. You only get a ticket if you go over 10 miles per hour over the speed limit, and lower speed limits are proven to save lives. You know, when people drive slower, the drivers feel division increases, stop times are shortened, reaction times are increased, So many crashes can be avoided. And when they do occur, they're much less likely to cause serious injury or kill someone like my son. You know, in Portland lowered its speed limits from 25 to 20, as we were proposing to do on residential streets. The number of Portland drivers traveling

between 30 and 35 went down 26 percent. And the number going 35 decreased by 47 percent. Lower speed limits alone are proven to work, and they're proven to save lives. Ms. Cohen, you spent a few days posted up at the entrance of the Assembly Chamber in Albany, asking every lawmaker who passed a sponsor this bill. What did they teach you about the way Albany works? First, I have to say, we not only stood outside, but I stood there with, you know, other members of Families for Safe Streets on the last official week of session without eating anything. We went on a nearly 100-hour hunger strike.

And that did really generate support for the bill. We got many more co-sponsors. Two-thirds of the assembly supported the bill. We had 50 co-sponsors, another 48, including 20 Republicans. This was a bipartisan measure, said they would vote yes, you know, because those assembly members outside of New York City do not usually co-sponsor a bill that affects only the city. But we had, you know, 61 percent of Assembly Democrats. in Hastie's conference, co-sponsors of the bill.

Clearly, this was a bill that was going to pass, but this was Albany backroom politics at its worst. You know, it's like we're not living in a democracy. We had the majority, far in excess of the majority, and the bill didn't even get brought to the floor for a vote. Now, as we said, Sammy's law is named in honor of your son, but now you say it has a different connotation. Would you explain that?

You know, we were honored when Senator Hoyleman called to ask our family if we would be willing to have the bill named after Sammy. You know, really the bill is about so much more. This is about saving, you know, this is really for all the families, like mine and families for Safe Streets, who have lost children or spouses or parents and other loved ones. This is also all about the lives we will save, unlike Sammy's. But, you know, now the law really has become a source of incredible pain

and frustration for our family. It's become really associated with an uncaring legislature that fails to take this common sense action to save lives. You know, it's become associated with, like, political dysfunction and a failure to put a popular, proven measure to a vote. So the session is now officially over? What's next for you? You know, the progress that we've made this over the last year, it has not been in vain.

You know, it's heartbreaking to us and our family and all of us who have been fighting for safe streets to end this year. legislative session without this crucial legislation. But we will do everything in our power to continue to fight for safe streets for all New Yorkers. You know, truthfully, we've already all in families for safe streets experienced the worst. So we will pick ourselves up and keep fighting. Before you go, I have to ask, I'm curious, have you ever spoken to Carl Hasty about this and not bringing it to the floor for a vote? I have. I have chased after him several times. The past few weeks. And, you know, I have to say the first few times, he would not even look me in the eye

or give me a response. But yesterday, he answered, I'm only one vote. I'm sorry. If a leader is saying they don't have the power to take action and bring a popular measure to the floor, I just don't understand his leadership strategy. That's Amy Cohen, co-founder of Families for Safe streets talking with WNYC's Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. We'll be back tomorrow.