NYC NOW - May 11, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: May 11, 2023

Mayor Eric Adams has announced that New York City will no longer fully comply with its longstanding right-to-shelter law, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine says handling the migrant crisis in New York should be a statewide effort, not just the responsibility of the city, and the New York Knicks dodge elimination by securing a victory over the Miami Heat in Game 5. Lastly, new recordings from NYPD interviews show that important questions were not asked of two officers involved in the death of Kawaski Trawick. WNYC's Michael Hill sits with journalist Mike Hayes and ProPublica editor at large Eric Umansky, to discuss their findings on this case.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Thursday, May 11th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. On WNYC, Mayor Eric Adams says New York City is no longer bound to comply with all parts of its decades-old right to shelter law. The landmark decree obligates the city to provide a bed to anyone who asks for one. Adams issued an executive order yet.

yesterday, suspending some of the requirements, including that people get a bed within a certain time frame and that families have units with access to a bathroom, refrigerator, and kitchen. The suspension takes effect immediately, remains in effect for five days unless the city renews it. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine says handling the migrant crisis in New York should be a statewide effort, not just the responsibility of the city. Levine expressed his disappointment in Rockland County Executive Ed Day after Day declared a state of emergency to prevent the busking of migrants to his area. Ed Day has been on a media tour on right-wing outlets and which he's invoked all sorts of xenophobic tropes, which is really, in

my opinion, reprehensible. Day says he believes Mayor Adams pushed to house migrants in Rockland County incentivizes illegal immigration and that the county needs to prioritize its own low-income citizens. The New York Knicks stared down elimination last line against the Miami Heat. Nick Star Guard Jalen Brunson led the way with 38 points and the 112 to 103 win in game 5. The heat, though, still lead the series three games to two. Game 6 Friday night in Miami, where the Knicks once again faced elimination and the end of their season if they lose. Your forecast now, 75 and sunny out there. Sunny, warm and 84 today, and then tomorrow mostly sunny and hot all the way up to 88.

We cool off on the weekend on Saturday chance of early afternoon showers and thunderstorms, on Sunday. New recordings give a rare glimpse into police department investigations of a shooting by officers and show why discipline in such cases is rare. A disciplinary trial for two NYPD officers accused in the killing of a man in his own home in the Bronx reconvenes today. One officer is accused of needlessly shooting Kawasaki-Traywick, and both are accused of letting him die without rendering any aid.

The NYPD interviewed the officers involved and later found they had not violated NYPD policy. Now, freelance journalist Mike Hayes, has gotten hold of recordings and documents involving that trial. He and ProPublica editor-at-large, Eric Umanski, who has also investigated the case, co-published a story this morning that shows investigators never asked the critical questions. They join us now to talk about what they've learned. Eric, would you remind us what happened in this case? Sure. So almost exactly four years ago, officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis arrived at a young man's apartment named Kawoski Traywick. He had called 911 after locking himself out. As it turns out, firefighters had also come and let him back into his apartment. So the two officers, Thompson and Davis, found Traywick in his own apartment. And he was. holding a bread knife and a stick. He asked them why they were there. And 112 seconds later,

Officer Thompson, who was white and less experienced, had shot Treywick, despite his partner, Officer Davis, who's black and more experienced, repeatedly, repeatedly telling him not to. Mike, what did you notice about these officer interviews as you listen to them? So thanks to Eric's reporting for ProPublica in the release of the video in this case, we were able to listen to these interviews with 2020 hindsight of what Davis and Thompson did during the incident. And the biggest thing that stood out when listening to these interviews was what investigators didn't ask Thompson and Davis. Most notably, neither officer was asked about Davis's numerous attempts to stop Thompson from tasing and firing his gun at Treywick. Instead, as investigators were going through the course of events at the

apartment that night, they asked the officers if there was any conversation between them. And they said, no. And we know based on the video, that was not true. In fact, the two officers were conversing with each other, specifically Davis was trying to stop his partner from using lethal force. Let's hear some of the tape. Now, you say this is Deputy Chief Kevin Muloney. questioning Davis, the officer who tried to stop his partner from shooting. In conversation between you and your partner at this point? No. I don't think we were talking about anything. We were talking about just mainly. We were focusing on him. We didn't want to really talk about anything. We were focus on him.

The officer's new Treyrick was in crisis, but they didn't follow protocols, and then investigators never asked about the critical questions. Okay, here's an investigator interviewing Thompson. Did you make any assessment of his condition? Does he appear intoxicated? emotionally disturbed? I would say yes. I mean, he might have been on something. I don't know what, but he's definitely, I'd say, emotionally disturbed. Okay.

Eric, what procedures should these officers have followed? So NYPD policy around handling people in crisis is quite clear. Officers are trained to de-escalate, to try to calm down people. And then if that doesn't work, they are. are instructed to, quote, isolate and contain. In this case, that would have meant literally closing the door to Treywick's apartment and then calling for help, calling for specially trained units. The two officers didn't do any of that, and then investigators never explored any of that either. Eric, you've done a lot of reporting on police misconduct. What can we

learn about the NYPD's disciplinary process from these recordings. So to be blunt here and listening to these recordings and reading the materials that my God, what you can see here is the blue wall of silence being built. The officers don't tell the truth about what happened and investigators had access to footage to know that that was the case and they never explored it. Instead, by way, at one point officers, the investigators, and these interviews last for 30 minutes total each, one time each. Instead, they asked about the weather. Mike, the NYPD determined that the officers did not violate policy, and the DA's office declined to bring criminal charges. What's a stake in this police watchdog agency trial that

resumes today? So the stakes here are incredibly high because based on the charges that the CCRB, the watchdog agency have brought in this case, they as the prosecutors here are asking the NYPD to fire these officers, the ultimate most serious penalty that can be handed down in a disciplinary trial. It's important to note that if either officer is found guilty by the department judge hearing the case, and she recommends they be fired or face any sort of penalty, the ultimate decision will be made by the police commissioner who has the final say on all disciplinary matters at the NYPD. She can follow the judge's recommendation, whatever that might be, or reach her own

conclusion, including foregoing any discipline at all. So there's a variable of outcomes here, which I imagine quite obviously creates a tremendous amount of tension for both the officers involved and the family of Kowalsi-Treywick, who has made it clear that they want these officers to be fired from the force. Eric Yomanski is an editor at large for the nonprofit news site ProPublica. Mike Hayes is a freelance reporter. They reached out to the NYPD and the officer's attorneys but did not get an immediate response to their questions. You can find their full story at propublica.org. Eric, Mike, thank you very much.

Thanks for having us. Thanks. 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.