NYC NOW - March 27, 2024 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: March 27, 2024

The chair of the New York City Council's criminal justice committee is calling for an oversight hearing in light of WNYC's new investigation into sexual assault on Rikers Island. Plus, state officials say Beth Israel hospital has delayed lifesaving care by cutting services. Also, WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with Annemarie Gray, executive director of Open New York, about the new super PAC Abundant New York. And finally, we visited Rainbow Garden of Life and Health, in the South Bronx. It's one of New York City's many neighborhood gems.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC, I'm Jenae Pierre. The chair of the New York City Council's Criminal Justice Committee is calling for an oversight hearing in light of WMYC's new investigation into sexual assault on Rikers Island. The detailed analysis of more than 700 lawsuits filed when the state temporarily lifted its statute of limitations last year, revealed patterns of alleged abuse across decades. Council member Sandy Nurse says the flood of sexual assault lawsuits adds to a long list of reasons why the City Council voted to close Rikers Island by 2027.

The Department of Correction has a problem. It has a problem with accountability. It has a problem with supervision. Sexual assault is one of the most terrific problems. Mayor Eric Adams has called for a thorough investigation into the allegations. The Correction Department says it has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault and harassment in city jails. New York State officials say Beth Israel Hospital has delayed life-saving care by cutting services. WMYC's Caroline Lewis has more. A new state health

department report says Beth Israel was operating well below capacity when inspectors visited the Manhattan Hospital in late January. The report concludes that Beth Israel violated state orders to stop cutting beds and services without permission. During their visit, health officials reviewed incidents in which patients were transferred from Beth Israel to other facilities. According to the report, one patient arrived at the ER unresponsive and was diagnosed with internal bleeding in their brain. They were transferred to Mount Sinai West because Beth Israel's intensive care unit was full, the report says. Beth Israel is working on a response to the allegations. Housing advocates have created a new super PAC to help elect candidates who support building

more housing in New York. After the break, we'll talk about how they want to pressure lawmakers to take action on the city's worsening housing crisis. Stick around for that conversation and more. A new political action group is looking to usher in more candidates dedicated to increasing housing in New York. The super PAC, abundant New York, is throwing its financial weight into the run-up to the 2024 election. It hopes to pressure lawmakers to combat the worsening housing crisis. WMYC's Michael Hill talked with Anne-Marie Gray. She's the executive director of the advocacy group Open New York, which created the Super PAC. Both Open New York and Abunded New York described themselves as pro-housing organizations. Amory, what does pro-housing mean in this context? So rising housing costs

affect millions of New Yorkers every year, and this is not inevitable. This is a policy choice. Housing affordability is the number one issue for New York voters across ideology, geography, demographics. And Open New York and now abundant New York, we're really focused on a broad, comprehensive platform that is about just building more housing opportunities for people of all types all across the state. The good cause measure, which requires better tenant protections and lease renewals unless there's a good cause not to do so, such as non-payment of rent, has split pro-housing. lawmakers. How does good cause play into the group's priorities to back which candidate? Fundamentally, our platform is that we need to be building homes of all types for people. And the housing shortage is at the center of our housing crisis. We believe in a comprehensive approach. We believe tenant protections are an important part of that because really we're a city of majority renters, a state of majority renters. And your landlord should always be worried

that you can find another apartment. And so we really, think that we need a comprehensive sort of all of the above approach to the housing crisis, but all of the issues that we think about in terms of eviction, homelessness, displacement pressures are really fundamentally driven by the fact that we simply do not build enough homes, and we have to center that as part of a comprehensive platform. You told the New York Times that you wouldn't take any money from the real estate industry. Instead, abundant New York will target what you call a diverse donor network. What does that specifically mean?

So Open New York is a grassroots group of New Yorkers. We're a membership-based organization. We have 600-plus members across the state. And all of our work is driven by the best policy solutions to address the crisis. So we actually have never been funded by real estate interests. It's really imperative that we maintain our independence. We work in really broad coalitions across the spectrum to really make sure, you know, we're just, we're about what the right solutions are.

And we're filling a void as a group that's just fundamentally focused on what the types of policy solutions we need to see are. And we'll work with anyone to really make sure that happens. As we know, it's in election season this year. How much is abundant New York looking to spend before November? So we're starting this effort to build a foundation for what will be a multi-year, multi-million dollar effort as part of all of Open New York's work. This year, we're expecting to spend well into the six figures with some of this first effort. But we're really building this for the foundation to be multiple years because we just absolutely have to address the housing affordability crisis. Has abundant New York already starting endorsing candidates?

Our announcement included our first three endorsements at the state level. Who did you endorse? So our first slate of candidates that Open New York endorsed are Sarahana Shresta, who's been a champion of ours in the Hudson Valley and facing a primary challenger. Rachel May, who has been a really strong champion of ours and incumbent who's facing. a general challenger in the Syracuse area in western New York. And we endorsed Michael Lashar as an open seat in the Upper West Side. And why did you endorse them? So all of the candidates that we, you know, and last year we endorsed six city council candidates, all of whom won. So we, you know, all of our candidates go through a vetting process with our staff, with our members, with our board.

And again, for the state, it's really, really essential that all of our candidates understand and the importance of the state government stepping up to address our housing crisis as part of a comprehensive approach. So we make endorsements and then Abundant New York will be available to help support candidates alongside all of our grassroots organizing grassroots support, depending on what the race needs. That's Anne Marie Gray, Executive Director of Open New York, talking with WMYC's Michael Hill. Ever stumble upon a place that feels like a secret slice of heaven in the midst of the city bustle? like specialty cafes that serve as community hubs, or that little park where locals gather for impromptu picnics. Those sorts of places are the heart and soul of New York City's neighborhoods.

For the next few weeks, we'll be highlighting some of these neighborhood gyms across the five boroughs. Today, we visit a community garden in urban farm that one local calls the central park of his South Bronx neighborhood. My name is Angel Garcia. I'm a member of Rainbow Garden of Life and Health. located here in the great Melrose neighborhood in the South Bronx. We're surrounded by multifamily buildings all around and larger buildings and structures. And here, this is this open space. And when you're in here, you're in a different world.

We don't have a lot of green space in this area. We've got a lot of people with asthma and other health diseases. So to be able to come here, breathe fresh air. You see bees. It's refreshing. It gives us animal, as we would say in Spanish. Real spirit. We're proud of what we create to, like, grow on, you know, a four-by-eight garden bed.

We've got about 27 over there, maybe another 15 or so here. So we've got about 40-plus. When I see tomatoes that I've grown and I'm able to eat them, that feels great. It's a garden. It's our central park. My name is Francisco Javier Marchant. I'm one of the members of the board of directors here at Rainbow Garden. Basically, there's a lot of stuff in the city that sometimes can get to us, right?

Stresses us out as much as we love New York, and I love New York. But when you come in here, you're digging in dirt, and you're seeing things grow, and you're picking fruits and vegetables and stuff and taking it home, it's a blessing. There are people in this community who come by, They don't grow a thing, and they come. They use one of our benches. They have their lunches. They're there for hours.

This is the backyard for everyone who doesn't have a house for the backyard. Rainbow Garden of Life and Health is located in the Melrose neighborhood of the South Bronx. It's one of New York City's many neighborhood gyms. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.