NYC NOW - March 22, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: The owner and manager of Grimaldi’s at 20th and 6th in Manhattan are being accused of stealing $20,000 worth of wages from at least seven workers. Meanwhile, the notorious New York City landlord, Daniel Ohebshalom, turned himself in to the city sheriff on Thursday to start a 60-day jail sentence after ignoring a judge’s orders to correct serious problems at a pair of Upper Manhattan apartment buildings. Plus, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez says he won’t run for reelection as a Democrat. Finally, WNYC’s community and partnerships editor, George Bodarky, visits laundromats in New York and New Jersey to hear from local residents about the issues they want to see addressed in the upcoming presidential election.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Friday, March 22nd. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. The owner and manager of the Grimaldes at 20th and 6th in Manhattan are being accused of stealing $20,000 worth of wages from at least seven workers. Anthony Pascina and Frank Santora pleaded not guilty and were released after being charged with one,

felony and seven misdemeanors each. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that even as their workers begged for their pay, the two men strung them along and taunted them. When one former employee told the defendants that he would hire a lawyer to recoup his wages, they told him in substance, I've got three complaints on me. The state is not going to do a thing. Near the Piscina nor Santoria returned phone calls their lawyer to not answer the phone. Grimaldi's originally opened in Dumbo, Brooklyn, and now has dozens of of locations across the country. A notorious New York City landlord is heading to jail after blowing off a judge's orders to correct

serious problems at a pair of Upper Manhattan apartment buildings. Daniel O'Hip Shalom turned himself into the city's sheriff yesterday to start a 60-day jail sentence. The city's housing agency sued O'Shebelo to force him to fix hundreds of violations at two buildings in Washington Heights back in 2021, but he still had not done the job more than two years. later, so a judge issued an arrest form. Oh, Heep Shalom, was ranked number one on the public advocate's annual list of bad landlords last year. The arrest isn't his only legal problem, though, a queen's judge issued a separate ruling, giving him 14 days to fix problems at another

building or face even more jail time. An attorney for the landlord has not responded to our request for a comment. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez says he will not seek re-election as a Democrat. I will not file with the Democratic primary this June. I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election. The Garden State Senior Senator has been embroiled in legal troubles for months. He and his wife have denied accepting bribes. Their trial is in May.

Several people have announced their candidacy for Menendez's seat. 30 and clear now. Sunny and 45 today, the windchill will make it feel colder than that. A lot of rain on the way tomorrow, the flood watch installed. Stay close. There's more after the break. With Election Day just a handful of months away, as part of our local coverage,

we're turning some laundromats in the New York metro area into hubs of civic dialogue. We're calling the project Suds and Civics. George Bodarki, who leads our community partnerships desk, will stop by morning edition from time to time over the next several months to share what his desk is hearing between you, well, you know, wash cycles. George, you've visited several laundromats over the last few weeks. What issues are people most focused on? Across the board, issues related to the economy are top of mind. People are concerned about rising housing and food costs. Immigration is also a huge issue locally. At Jason's laundromat and Huntington Station out in

Suffolk County, Orlando Yanis had strong opinions. He came to the U.S. from Guatemala around 40 years ago, and says he wants to see tougher border control. He says too many bad people are coming to America. This country is built by immigrants, and everybody has some opportunity to do something good. And those guys sound like garbage coming to America, and we're sick and tired of seeing those things. We met Fernando Mateo at the same laundromat.

He also came to the U.S. from Guatemala. He's been here for six years. Mateo says the challenges of not yet being a citizen have forced him to put his dreams of becoming a graphic designer on hold. He says he wants to see a faster path to citizenship. Things are getting really, really harder and impossible for us to live. So that's what made me to drop college. The money I was earning wasn't enough.

Even though my parents were helping me, it wasn't enough. I applied for scholarship and all that stuff, but they said that they couldn't be able to help me because of my immigration status and all that. I feel like I'm tired of my both hands because I really want to do so many things in my life. George, housing and the cost of it are such pervasive issues in our area. Did those come up? Yeah, for sure, Michael.

It's such an important issue for so many people. Take Ali Hoffman, who we met at Fountain Square Laundry in Beacon, New York. She's originally from North Carolina, but was living in New York City before moving to the Hudson Valley. When I moved here, it was kind of like a reprieve from city rental prices. But now here, it's almost like instead of being a town that's benefited from tourism, it's kind of changing economically. 29-year-old Pierce Johnson, who grew up and Beacon, echoed that sentiment. I would love to be able to live, you know, not on the outskirts of town. I know a huge thing here is just the crazy rent prices you get.

You get people that buy houses here, flip them and try to sell them for over a million dollars. It's one thing for people to talk about it, George, but are these issues driving more people to the polls? Yeah, well, at 14th Laundry and Astoria Queens, we talked with Dan Rodriguez. He was born in Puerto Rico and moved to the city some 20 years ago. Rodriguez describes himself as a progressive, Michael. He says he goes to the polls, but doesn't think his vote matters considering where he lives. The more you're already in an area where everybody else more or less agrees with you, the less your individual kind of vote feels like it matters.

Like, yeah, I mean, this area is going to go blue no matter, no matter whether I personally go out and vote or not. But also, yeah, it's part of the whole deal with, you know, being a citizen. You want to be part of the country. All right, well, go and, you know, let the country know what you think. Alan Yew is washing and folding alongside Rodriguez. He says the last time he went to the polls was to vote in the mayoral election in 2021, and he does have plans to cast a ballot this November.

I feel like we have to keep our elected responsible or accountable, and voting is just the basic way of doing that. So that was in a story of George. You also spend time at laundromats in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey. What did you hear there? Bruce Baxter was washing his clothes at Stey, wash, and dry in East New York. He says he's politically active but thinks a lot of people are disillusioned with their choices at the polls. As far as voting goes, I usually go out and do my voting. But to be honest, with you, a lot of people have become very jaded about voting, local politicians, because there's a lot of corruption there. So when the public starts to realize that there's a lot of corruption in politics and voting, they lose interest and they simply don't come out and vote.

We met Jessica Markano at Bubbles or Us in Patterson, New Jersey. She also expressed feeling a bit jaded, but says that's not going to stop. from casting a ballot. This year, I'm going to vote. I don't know for who, but, you know, you know what it is too? Like, all they do is just promise. That's what they do. Empty promises. But let's see what happened.

On Staten Island, Joseph Esposito was doing a wash at Star Laundry. He's from Brooklyn, but it's been living on Staten Island for nearly two decades. He says he already knows who he's voting for in November. Trump is all the way. There's no ifs and sands or butts about Trump, all the way. Did you ever go to the grocery store? Philadelphia went to the grocery store. It cost me $200.

I got nothing, brought nothing back. I think he's going to bring back our economy. Close the borders. That's just me. George, have you come across people in laundromats who are not eligible to vote? And if so, what are you hearing from them? Yes, for sure. We've been talking to people who can't vote because they aren't U.S. citizens like Fernando Mateo, who we heard from just moments ago. And overwhelmingly, they want to vote. They say that they want their voices heard. Angel Hernandez was doing his wash at Jason's laundromat and Huntington Station. He's from Honduras and has been in the U.S. for two and a half years. Hernandez says he works in construction, but he's struggling to make ends meet, and he just wants to see a leader in office who will help migrants.

I don't know because one elige the president that's a good, that promise, and that he'll help the emigrants, too, because I would like that, also, I would have a, a access, because we have an opportunity that God gave a So I'd just So I'd like to all, of that God'sito vied and putia

the man. So that's just some of what we heard at laundromats across the region in the last several weeks. Our Suds and Civics project continues, Michael,

and you can expect to hear more of the voices we capture in the weeks and months ahead on Morning Edition. And if you don't wash clothes at a laundromat but still want to tell us

what's on your mind, email me at Suds and Civics at WNYC. org, linked to a survey we put together with our partners at a group called America Amplified. George, what are the goals of this project and how will you use what you're hearing at laundromats? We have a few goals with this project, among them to better understand local concerns and share diverse voices and perspectives. We're going to distill what we learn and use those insights to help inform WNYC's election coverage over the coming months.

And we also hope our chats at laundromats about voting and political participation encourage more people, people to take part in the democratic process. And maybe visit a laundromat as well, George. Get a wash done. That's right. George Bodarki is Community Partnerships editor in the WNYC Newsroom. Look for him and a laundromat near you. George, thanks for stopping by.

Thank you, Michael. 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 podcast. See you this afternoon.