NYC NOW - June 5, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: June 5, 2023

In Brownsville, Brooklyn, there’s a new vending machine that dispenses essential health tools for free, including naloxone kits and birth control. Journalists from various local publications stage a walkout in protest against newspaper chain Gannett and lawmakers push to regulate the manufacturing of 'ghost guns.' Finally, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is expected to announce a second run for president in the coming days… Despite there being no indication that the GOP base even wants it. WNYC’s David Furst reunites with former co-host of “The Christie Tracker Podcast”, health and safety reporter Matt Katz to discuss the move.

NYC. Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Monday, June 5th. Here's the midday news from Lance Lucky. This is WNYC in New York. I'm Lance Lucky. If you're in the area of Broadway and Decatur streets in Brownsville, Brooklyn, you may notice something new.

A blue vending machine stocked with naloxone kits, fentanyl test strips, birth control, and tools. for safer smoking. Best of all, the items are free. The city's health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin-Vosson, says he hopes it's a path for people to get all the help they need. This isn't more than just a vending machine. It's a gateway to services and support and recovery. The Brownsville machine is the city's first. Public health vending machines. Several more sites are planned around the five boroughs. Journalists nationwide have walked off their jobs at publications owned by Gunnett, the largest newspaper chain in the U.S. in our area. That includes the Journal News, and as Park Press. Their unit says it's a mostly one-day strike to protest the company's leadership

and cost-cutting measures imposed since its 2019 merger with Gatehouse Media. The walkout coincides with Ginnett's annual shareholder meeting. New York lawmakers want to close a loophole to make it easier to prosecute people who make homemade, untraceable firearms known as ghost guns. WNYC Samantha Max reports. Now, it's technically legal to manufacture a ghost gun. It's just illegal to possess or sell one. The new measure would close that loophole and make it possible to prosecute people if they create a gun at home with a 3D printer or if they share instructions with others. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg says technology has made it easier for people to build their own firearms. Right now you don't need a pipeline. You can sit at your kitchen table and print out guns and weapons of destruction.

There's just one week left in the legislative session. Sponsors say they hope they can rush the measure to a vote. On WNYC, I'm David First. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is expected to announce a second run for president, even though there's no indication that the GOP base has been clamoring for his return. For more, we are joined by WNYC's Matt Katz, who covered Christie for years, wrote the book American Governor Chris Christie's Bridge to Redemption, and hosted the Christie Tracker podcast with me for two years.

Matt, welcome back. David, it's a mini reunion. Whoa, is this our old podcast theme music? That's enough of that. Let's move on. Okay, what's going on here, Matt? Why is Christy running? Why not, right?

I'm reminded of Chris Christie's response nine years ago after he got made fun of at the White House Correspondence Club dinner. He said afterwards, listen, baby, it's better to be relevant than ignored. And I think that's exactly what's going on here. The fact of the matter is, it's good business in America today to run for president.

You get paid media gigs out of it. of it. You can be a consultant or a lobbyist, thanks to the connections you make in the party on the campaign trail. Running for office keeps you relevant and flush with cash. So if you've got a billionaire to fund your campaign like Christy does with Mets owner Steve Cohn, who backed Christie last time he ran, there's really little reason not to run. It seems like Christy has been trying to establish himself as the GOP candidate who will stand up to Trump. But he was the first establishment Republican to endorse Trump back in 2016. Here's just a little of what he said back then. Elections are about choices. And my choice is Donald Trump. He will make sure that people

around the world know that America keeps its word again. Donald Trump is someone who, when he makes a promise, he keeps it. And we're going to be working real hard right up until election day tomorrow to get the wins for this guy and put him in the White House. How can Chris Christie credibly carve out this new role as the Republican anti-Trump voice. Yeah, it's going to be hard for him to explain. He says that January 6th was the tipping point for him, but he ignored all of the other litany of scandals and hateful rhetoric and an impeachment that defined the Trump presidency. Christie now calls Trump Putin's puppet, but where was that criticism when Trump was in office?

Christy flipping on Trump will get a lot of scrutiny here in terms of whether Christie is following his moral compass or just being opportunistic. And he's not going to start out with the benefit of the doubt necessarily. According to a Mamath University poll, Christy is the only contender in the race who gets a higher unfavorable than favorable rating from the National Republican electorate. So that's bad. Well, remind us how we got here, how a guy who ended up in sixth place in the New Hampshire primary back in 2016 and then promptly dropped out of the race, only to become the first establishment Republican to endorse Donald Trump. How is this person now running to be the anti-Trump Republican?

This Trump-Christy relationship is really sort of Shakespeare-and-friends since the early 2000s, relationship of convenience even then. Trump reached out to Christy because Christy was U.S. attorney in New Jersey at the time. Good guy to know for something like Trump. They would have dinner with their wives. Trump would order Christy's food for him, true story. and then they ran against each other for president, only went after each other once toward the end.

Then when Christie lost the primary, he endorsed Trump because he thought, A, Trump would get the nomination, and B, when Trump got the nomination, Christie could get VP. Christy, of course, did not get that. He was instead named chair of Trump's transition team, only to get fired and have his whole transition plan throwing the garbage.

Then Christy thought he might become Trump's Attorney General, but that didn't happen. Still, he acted as an informal advisor, got COVID from Trump, and finally, after January 6th, started to separate himself from the former president. Now, Christy's a full-on anti-Trumper, and some people think Christy's the only guy with the rhetorical skills to dismantle Trump on a debate stage, but Trump will certainly punch back, so Christy's gambit is not without some risk here. Well, I'm thinking back to his time as governor, do you expect Christy to run on his record in New Jersey? Not really. His most shining moment as governor was.

in the wake of Superstorm Sandy when he displayed considerable leadership and bipartisanship. But it was also a moment that because he brohugged then President Obama right before the 2012 election, it became a huge problem for him with the Republican electorate when he ran in 2016 because of that association with Obama. Perhaps his most lasting policy legacy in New Jersey is signing bail reform legislation, but I can't imagine he focuses much on that, given that Republicans now see bail reform as soft on crime. So I think what you'll see him do is try to exude leadership, back that up with the force of his personality. He will lean on his good resume and law enforcement as U.S. attorney and as an executive as governor and as an informal

advisor to the president for several years. And that bridge, is that going to be a problem? Bridgegate. Yes, the scandal in which Chris Christie Associates closed land. of the George Washington Bridge in order to punish the mayor of the town at the foot of the bridge for not endorsing Christie's reelection. Well, the case did get eventually thrown out by the Supreme Court, and it's mostly forgotten by Republican voters. The more lasting scandal will probably be Beachgate. That's the scandal in which Christy was photographed sunbathing at the governor's beach house in the Jersey Shore when state beaches were closed due to his. budget impasse with the legislature while he was governor. Yeah, photos that will never go away.

Never go away. Memed to the nth degree. You know, Christie is still hugely unpopular in New Jersey, and that unpopularity is really personified by the picture of that moment. People thought he had abandoned them to pursue his futile dream of being in the White House and was sitting on the beach not caring about the fact that there was no mistake budget. At least this time, when he's running, he won't have to worry about having a day job to distract him, you know? Okay.

WNYC's Matt Katz, former ChristieTracker podcast co-host. Good to see you again, and thanks for joining us. Great to be with you again, David. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More this evening.

Thank you.