NYC NOW - March 6, 2024 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: March 6, 2024

New York City Councilmember Pierina Sanchez wants to revive a program that takes dilapidated properties from landlords who fail to pay fines and property taxes. Plus, Governor Kathy Hochul opens up to negotiations on her controversial school funding proposal. Also, migrant families experiencing medical or mental health disabilities find relief from having to move out of their shelters every 60 days. And finally, WNYC’s Sean Carlson talks with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman about an executive order banning trans women from participating in women’s sports at county-run facilities.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC, I'm Jenae Pierre. We need to be able to move a building like this from irresponsible ownership to responsible ownership. No question that's, just moving. The head of the New York City Council's Housing Committee is calling for the revival of a program that takes dilapidated properties from landlords who fail to pay fines and property taxes. Councilmember Perina Sanchez says one, A particular building on Davidson Avenue in the Bronx is a perfect example.

She says the owner owes the city $25 million and isn't fixing hundreds of housing code violations, but the city has exhausted all the tools it has to compel repairs. A property owner that has derelicted their duties and used New York City, your taxpayer dollars, as a piggyback for no results. Sanchez wants the city to turn a building over to a non-profit city. profit manager and eventually to the tenants themselves. But the city suspended a program that would allow them to do that four years ago. The city's housing agency says it's up to the council to create a new version of the program. A top aide to Governor Kathy Hokel says the governor is open to negotiations on her controversial

school funding proposal. As WMYC's John Campbell reports, it could be key to getting a state budget deal. Legislative leaders oppose the governor's school aid proposal, which would end a longstanding policy that districts get at least as much state funding as the year before. Blake Washington is the governor's budget director. He says Hockel is open to changes. The leaders have both said that looking at the overall proposal on school aid is something on top of their mind. So sure, you know, modifying that, I think is probably fair game. A rosier economic outlook could make it easier for Hockel to make the change. Her office

struck a deal with lawmakers on a revenue forecast last week. It boosted the state's estimates by more than a billion dollars. Migrant families experiencing medical or mental health disabilities are finding relief from having to move out of their shelters every 60 days. WMYC's Karen Yee has more. Arezo Mohammedi is watching her kids coat their hands and fingerpaint. She says she feels relieved now that her family can stay a little longer in their Brooklyn hotel shelter, where they've been living since fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan. Yes, yes, I'm so happy because they have a lot of friends.

over there on the school and the hotel. Mohamedi had to leave her shelter in January under the city's 60-day limits for families. But when her 5-year-old showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder from what she saw crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, the shelter let her family stay. It's light purple. Sasha Allenby is a global trauma expert

and a volunteer with the nonprofit Evie loves NYC. She says migrants experiencing PTSD or other disabilities are protected under law. able to request what's called a reasonable accommodation from programs. That can mean wheelchair accessible rooms, dietary restrictions, or more recently, the ability to stay in their shelter instead of reapplying and moving to a new one. City agencies say they've received more than 2,000 of these requests, and so far a majority have been granted.

PTSD is a disability, and in order to heal trauma, you need stability and you need consistency. Allenby says she's noticed signs of PTSD and the migrant children who come to the nonprofit. Parents say their kids have screaming nightmares, get sick constantly, which is a sign their immune systems are in distress. Or, if anybody touches them on the shoulder, say when they don't know that they're there, you see them really jumping out of their skin and really like going into a PTSD reaction, like screaming, going into a ball. She says creating community, whether at school or home,

is the least they can do to give kids a sense of security. Karen Yee, WNYC News. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakman announced a lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James. It comes after James issued a cease and desist order against the executive over the county's ban affecting transgender athletes. More on that after the break. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakman has until Friday to rescind his recent executive order banning trans women from participating in women's sports at county-run facilities. The deadline was set by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who threatened to take legal action if he doesn't.

But at a press conference Wednesday, Blakman struck first, announcing a lawsuit against the AG. We were left no choice whatsoever. We had this order that was sent to us from the Attorney General, and we had to go to federal court and assert our rights and assert the rights of the young girls and the women of Massaul County. Just the day before, on Tuesday, WMYC's Sean Carlson talked with Executive Blakman about the county's controversial order.

To start, can you explain what you're hoping to accomplish with this decision? Yeah, so the executive order merely says that biological males, who identify them as transgender females, cannot play on teams that are for all women or all girls. They can definitely play on teams for biological males. They can play on co-ed teams. They can play on transgender. It's just wrong, in my opinion, to have biological males who are bigger, faster, and stronger,

compete against biological females and young girls. You recently told Newsday that you hadn't heard of any specific examples of transgender girls attempting to compete in women's sports in Nassau County. So what problem are you trying to solve and what message are you trying to send? Well, it's a nationwide problem right now, and our ball fields and our leagues haven't started. for the summer season. So this is the period of time where we're setting out our schedule of events for all our boss leos and facilities for the summer. And typically leagues and teams sign up to use our fields and they enter into a use

agreement or a license to use the fields. So this was the proper time to do it. And as we can see of the situation that occurred recently in Massachusetts where a coach of a women's or a girls basketball team took her team off the court because, because they were competing against the biological male who was over 60 and, quite frankly, injuring the girls. We don't think this is a good thing. Women and girls are a protected party under the Constitution and under federal law, and we are protecting women and girls of their rights to compete.

Since Title IX, many years ago in the 70s, gave women equal access to athletics. Now we believe that the position of transgender biological males injecting themselves and quite frankly bullying themselves onto all girl or all female teams is wrong. And it's a violation of women's and girls' rights. Now there is plenty of evidence executive that shows members of the trans community are themselves targets of bullying and abuse. So does this order put them at risk? No, not at all. And we don't want to put any transgender individuals at risk. We are against bullying of all kinds here in Nassau County.

We're a welcoming community. We accept and welcome every lifestyle. Transgender males who are biological females can compete against biological males. Everybody can compete in co-ed leagues and teams. And if someone wants to start a transgender league or team, they're welcome to do so in Nassau County. But we're talking about science here. We're talking about biological males who are bigger, stronger, and faster. taking opportunities away from girls and females to get scholarships, to play professional

sports, and to compete in a safe environment. So it's unfair competition. It's a safety and security issue. And we're very confident that we're on the right side of the law and that, in fact, we are doing the right thing for a protected class, which is women and girls. You know, when we talk about the science of it, there also have been studies that show that there's just not enough evidence to show that it makes the playing field understand. even. Oh, stop. What sources are we saying when we talk about that?

That's nonsense. Come on, use a little common sense. Adher to science. Don't tell me about some crazy study that basically refutes what is obvious and what is science. That's total nonsense. You know and I know it and everybody out there knows it. That biological males, by and large, have a tremendous advantage over biological females. That's why there's an NBA. That's why there's a WNBA. That's why there's a men's tennis tour. That's why there's a women's tennis. tour. People who say that biological males don't have an advantage, obviously are not paying attention to science. And they certainly have no grasp on common sense. The state attorney general is calling the order blatantly illegal. How do you respond to that? Well, we feel that we are doing the right thing.

Actually, we think her cease and desist order may be illegal because, as I mentioned, under the federal constitution and federal law, women and girls are a protected class. And their rights are being violated. Why was Title IX established? It was established to protect women in sports, so they got a level playing field. They had fair competition, and they had an equal opportunity, as well as men, to compete on a college and professional level. And I fully support that. That's Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, talking with WMYC's Sean Carlson. 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.