NYC NOW - May 13, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: May 13, 2024

The New York City Commission on Racial Equity has released a list of 16 priority goals to reduce racial disparities in the city. In other news, actor Steve Buscemi's publicist confirms he is fine after being punched last Wednesday. Meanwhile, Williamsburg's Union Pool bar and music venue announced its lineup for the Summer Thunder series of free daytime shows. WNYC reporter Charles Lane explores the unique superstitions of New York Knicks fans. Finally, New Jersey lawmakers are advancing a bill to revise the state’s Open Public Records Act. WNYC’s Sean Carlson speaks with media and public interest lawyer CJ Griffin to learn more.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm NYC now producer, Jared Marcel. A list of 16 priority goals for reducing racial disparities in New York City is now available. The draft measures are from the new watchdog City Commission on Racial Equity approved by voters two years ago. They include eliminating tuition for most CUNY colleges, cutting the jail and prison population, and adding more health care centers across the city. Linda Tijani is the chair and director of the commission. I really see our sort of muscle or teeth as the power of the community.

We're here to increase their voice. So we will be as strong as our partnerships with community. The final list of goals will guide the creation of a new citywide racial equity plan, set to be released by years end. New Yorkers who want to weigh in on the list can visit the commission's website for more information. Actor Steve Bouchemy's publicist says he's okay after the boardwalk Empire Star was punched in the face by a man on a New York City street.

Police and his publicists say the 66-year-old was assaulted late Wednesday morning in Manhattan. He was sent to a nearby hospital with bruising, swelling, and bleeding to his left eye. The police department put out a nameless statement on the assault Wednesday, But Bouchemey's representative confirmed yesterday that the unidentified victim was the actor. The police department says there have been no arrests and the investigation is continuing. Longtime Williamsburg Bar and Venue Union Pool has announced the lineup for its summer thunder series of free daytime shows. The concerts run every Sunday at 2 in the afternoon from June 2nd to August 25th. The lineup includes acts like Latin soul legend Joe Bhutan, alt-rocker Mary Timmer,

and New York rap duo Armand Hammer. You could find more details about the lineup at our news website, Gothamist. The Big Apple has been jumping with the Knicks making a run in the playoffs, despite Sunday's disappointing loss. Right now, they're locked in a best of seven game series against the Indiana Pacers and are two wins away from making it to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years. and some fans have, shall we say, unique ways of supporting the team.

WNYC's Charles Lane spoke with some of them. Tim Ulio was leaving his apartment last week and he lost his lucky Knicks towel. I was like, where is it? Where is it? Where is it? And I almost left without it, but I found it at the last second. Ullio is a bartender at Stout NYC on 33rd Street where Nick's fans fill every seat on game nights. A few weeks ago, one of them left behind a small white and blue towel that fans spin above their heads during games. And ever since I grabbed it and I've been able to do it while watching the games on TV. And it's been like that lucky time that I've kept on me since then, and they've won those games every time I've had it in my hand.

Ulio says even the way he spins the towel matters for sending the NICs some positive vibes. So I always hold this corner. And you can see it on the towel that it's a little bit more like crunched up and frayed on the spot that I'm always holding it on. The 31-year-old bartender acknowledges that superstitions among fans may sound silly, but they're part of belonging to something bigger than just yourself. There's that little piece of you inside that goes, they won because I had my towel,

they won because I flipped my hat backwards, they won because I was sitting in my lucky bar stool. Sean Wilson watches the game on both TV and an app simultaneously. Dean Ramanathan skips the first quarter. A group of accountants has to watch the game at Tracks Bar and Grill across from Madison Square Garden. But some fans like Derek Washington can't help but remember the Nix's decades of mediocrity.

When you lose, there's no such thing in superstition this point. He's decked head to toe in orange and blue, waiting for a train in Penn Station. As he talks about the importance of team management and injury stats, Mike Selo walks by wearing a Patrick Ewing jersey. Washington calls on him to back up his point. Yeah, I agree with him. Absolutely. You lose, you lose.

No such thing is superstitions. I don't really believe in superstitions. I find them a little crazy, to be honest. It's a little stupid. Superstitious are excuses. Excuses. That's a good way to put it. Before parting, the pair nods at each other. We got this, they agreed. We got this.

Charles Lane, WNYC News. The Knicks and Indiana Pacers are now tied up at two games apiece after dropping games three and four in Indiana. The Knicks will try to turn things around in game five on Tuesday night at the Garden. Up next, lawmakers in New Jersey appear to be moving ahead with an unpopular bill that would make it more difficult for the public and the press to access government records. That story is after the break. Lawmakers in New Jersey are moving ahead with a bill that would revise the state's Open Public Records Act, or Oprah.

The controversial measure was just passed by the Senate in a vote of 21 to 10, and now heads to the Assembly for the final vote. And by the time you're listening to this, could already have passed. My colleague, Sean Carlson, spoke with C.J. Griffin, a media and public interest lawyer who focuses on Oprah. She's also a fierce opponent of the bill. Can you just briefly explain what Oprah is and what would change if this bill is passed? Sure. Oprah is the shorthand name for the Open Public Records Act. And what that is is the statute that provides the public the ability to access public records, which are records that public agencies, local governments, schools, state agencies create every day as they're doing work and those belong to the public.

And so Oprah is the statute that allows us to access them. And right now, there's a full frontal assault on Oprah. All of these towns and local agencies have complained about having to comply with the law or getting sued for not complying with the law. And so they've convinced the legislature to gut the statute. Yeah. So the bill sponsors say that the bill is necessary. to do things like protect against privacy invasions or stop abuses by commercial firms and unnecessary requests from residents who take up clerk's time. Why don't you agree with that?

Well, I think that they have been arguing that it's about dealing with commercial requests, but their recent amendments show that that's just not true. The original version had a ban on data brokers, and now that is removed from the bill. The most recent version of the bill also gives priority to commercial requesters. They can pay a small fine, a small fee to the agency and actually get a guaranteed response within seven days. But if you in the media or a general member of the public file in OPA request, it's almost impossible to get a response in seven days. You get a response far down the line, you know, 14 days, 21 days, two months, three months. I've seen people have requests go on for years, actually. So this actually gives a benefit to commercial request.

So a version of this bill was introduced months ago and like right away saw overwhelming objections from journalists and good government advocates, but then even more lawmakers have joined as co-sponsors since then. What's going on here? Why do you think legislators are pushing this hard for this right now? Well, all of these towns and counties and other local agencies are really complaining and they have big lobbying groups, the League of Municipalities, the Association of Counties, all of which, by the way, are funded with tax. pay or money. And they are coming out very hard against the bill. And they are telling lawmakers that they need this relief from commercial requests and those sort of things complaining. And I also think that there's some conflicts of interest because many lawmakers either work for local governments, some are mayors, some are parts of county governments. Some of them have legal clients who are these county and local agencies. And so I think they have the lawmakers ear more than the public. But A recent poll shows 81% of the public doesn't want this.

And there is outrage about it. There are changes in the latest bill, though, right? Can you tell us why you're still not satisfied? Well, they did some changing to wording that really just amounts to synonyms that do the same thing. But the major cut is that they got the fee shifting provision. What that does is allow the average person, as well as the media, to find a public interest lawyer who will represent them without charging them anything. and then when the agency loses the case, which they usually do, then they have to pay the requester's fees.

That is gone now. So the average person in the media won't be able to sue to enforce their right to access records. The only people that will will be people with money or these commercial entities that they're complaining about. And then it contains so many other provisions that got access to emails. We would no longer be able to get the time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee email because you couldn't sufficiently describe it. Metadata, all sorts of other things.

things are now exempted under the bill. And none of that really changed from the prior version. That's my colleague, Sean Carlson, in conversation with media and public interest lawyer, C.J. Griffin. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Jared Marcel. We'll be back tomorrow.