NYC NOW - May 16, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: May 16, 2024

Mayor Adams' controversial policy of limiting shelter stays for migrants could cost New York City up to $2 billion a year. Plus, New York University is requiring students who were arrested during recent protests over the war in Gaza to write essays on ethics, morality and character. And finally, WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with Newark Deputy Mayor Lakeesha Eure about the city’s Summer Safety Initiative, which includes a wide array of social programs. wnyc, new york, bronx, queens, brooklyn, manhattan, staten island, new york city, local news, new jersey

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jene Pierre. Mayor Eric Adams' controversial policy of limiting shelter stays for migrants could cost New York City up to $2 billion a year. That's according to a new analysis from the Independent Budget Office. The city's fiscal watchdog says the administration hasn't taken into account negative consequences of its limits on shelter stays. That includes the cost of health care for migrants who become homeless, transportation costs for students who switch schools, or the overall economic impact of missing work authorizations.

City Hall says the report makes several inaccurate assumptions, including that a quarter of migrants forced to leave shelters will become homeless. The mayor has argued that limiting shelter stays saves money, including a projected half billion dollars through summer 2025. New York University is requiring students who were arrested during recent protests over the war in Gaza to write essays on ethics, morality, and character. WNYC's MacC has the details. Documents shared with WNYC show that students are required to write a reflection paper

reconsidering their actions. Others must rank a list of values like patriotism and safety in order of what's most important to them. They're also required to read the Wikipedia page on the Ten Commandments and watch an episode of The Simpsons in which Lisa cheats on a test. Students interviewed said the assignments felt like a dystopian. an attempt at re-education, and they're either appealing or refusing to do the work. Failure to complete it could result in a permanent ban from NYU and a permanent mark on their

transcripts. An NYU spokesperson said such assignments in college discipline cases are common. City leaders in Newark, New Jersey, have implemented its curfew for minors. More on that after the break. Earlier this month, Newark, New Jersey began enforcing a long dormant curfew for minors. People younger than 18 must be accompanied by an adult if they're out after 11 at night, with only a few exceptions. Otherwise, police can stop them, call in a trained social worker, or try to contact their parents. City officials are framing it as part of a citywide summer safety initiative, which also includes a wide array of social programs. Lakeisha Yure is Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. WMYC's Michael Hill talked with her about what residents can expect this summer. Tell us a bit about what prompted city officials to begin

reinforcing this curfew for minors? We have had our Safe Summer Initiative. This is our fourth year institute in the Safe Summer Initiative with our youth and young people and families. And so last year, we had an increase in our crime and violence in terms of homicides during the month of May. And so we have had an increase in youth violence. And so we're trying to get ahead of it this year and not be reactionary.

And so we added the component around enforcing the curfew because we recognize that our young people are outside after hours. And so with them being outside after hours, it increases their likelihood of becoming a victim or a perpetrator of crime and violence. So we want to mitigate those things and get in front of it and try to have a prevention strategy. The city began the renewed enforcement early this month. What kind of results have you seen? We know it's early on, but what kind of results have you seen so far? This is our second week. So we've only started, you know, the first two weeks. And the first week, we ultimately, there were two the first day, two, the second day, three the next day.

And then we were approaching crowds or groups to kind of ask them, you know, hey, it's after the curfew time. Where do you live? And so we've been able to transport them home. We've been able to take one person to our reengagement center to offer them resources until we were able to find a parent or guardian or someone. that was willing to vouch for them or sign for them. Tell us a little bit about the dynamic the city is hoping to achieve by having a police officer and a social worker on the scene. So ultimately, when we first implemented Mayor Baraka, rolled it back because we wanted to

make sure that it's a community-led initiative. We ultimately know that the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery and our Brick City Peace Collective, has been working diligently to be able to have a community-based public safety. We know that law enforcement can't do this work alone, and we are implementing a strategy to have a community-led approach. So we ultimately decided that the police will be out. And if they see a young person, then they'll dispatch or call the Office of Violence Prevention together with law enforcement, just talking to the young person. So it's a young person. So it's a young person. Hi, my name is Keisha Yuri from the Office of Violence Prevention.

It is 12.30 at night and we see that you're out after hours. Do you need assistance or help getting home? How far do you live? Do you live nearby? Are you getting off of work? And so it's just a conversation. We're not looking to penalize anyone. We're not looking to make it punitive at all.

It's really a way to have better engagement. That sounds like a very compassionate approach to these young people. What happens, though, if the minors resist or run away when officers just approach to start a conversation? Can they be arrested in any way or anything like that? Not at all. Again, this is not punitive at all. If they run away, because we know that young people are going to run away, they're not all going to be in compliance, and they're not all going to be in agreement with this. So if they run away, they just run away. We're not going to chase them. We're not going to do any of those things, we just document the stop or we just document that we, you know, engage with them.

And that's ultimately it. Ultimately, it's a harm reduction strategy. So they at least know someone put eyes on this person. Someone saw them. Now, Newark is not alone when it comes to use curfew. Some of Newark's neighbors, West Orange and Cranford, their curfews have been struck down by a superior court judge in the past. What makes the Newark curfew different from ones that have faced legal challenges?

Ultimately, we are trying something different, new and innovative, right? So we're not making it a law enforcement issue. We've looked at other cities. We've had conversations with Baltimore and Louisville and Jacksonville and other cities who are looking to figure out their curfew. Some of them don't have a curfew at all. Some of them do. And again, like Newark, we just haven't enforced it. And as we're looking at cities nationally that have an increase in youth violence and crime,

then we have to do something even though data says that it doesn't work. Data says curfews don't work. But data also says that it's the enforcement that determines if it's successful or not. And so we're trying a different type of enforcement. We're trying a different approach. So this community led, so when we see them, it's people that they know and it's not necessarily law enforcement. This curfew is rolled into the summer safety initiative. Does that mean enforcement will come to an end, August?

or September? Probably not. Depends on the success of it, then we may be able to just roll it all year. So right now, until school is out, we're doing Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays, just the weekends. When school is out, it will be every day enforced. And it depends on, you know, the success of it, or the need, right? Because we're doing things based on need, based on the data, based on what the data tells us. That's Deputy Mayor LaKisha Yuree, talking with WMYC's Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Junae Pierre.

We'll be back tomorrow.