NYC NOW - May 17, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: May 17, 2024

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is scrambling to reassure families they’ll get a spot in the city's free 3K program. Meanwhile, WNYC’s Karen Yi follows a homeless outreach team around Grand Central Terminal that helps people find services and housing. In other news, the 31st annual New York African Film Festival starts this Friday. Finally, due to pandemic-related financial issues, Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, is looking to sell off land to be developed for housing.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. New York City Mayor Eric Adams' administration is scrambling to reassure families they will get a spot in the city's free 3K program after some received notices to the contrary. WNYC's Jessica Gould reports. A majority of applicants got offers for 3K on Thursday. But some didn't and found themselves on wait lists that seem impossibly long. Some tearfully wondered how much longer they could stay in the city, or if they need to quit their jobs to cover child care. The Adams administration says there are definitely enough seats, and they'll be following up to make sure everyone who wants one gets one.

But parents are anxious after the mayor rolled back the planned expansion of 3K and proposed a $170 million cut to early education. Governor Cathy Hokel launched an outreach program two years ago to help the chronically home. find housing and connect them with services. WNYC's Karen Ye followed one of these outreach teams as they canvassed Grand Central Terminal. The team members meet under the iconic clock at Grand Central as morning commuters zoom past. The four of them starts scanning the crowds and look for people who look like they've been hanging around for a while. A worn suitcase topped with a plastic bag is usually a giveaway.

Cherise White is. is the team leader and a social worker with nonprofit services for the underserved. With her is a clinician and two case managers, all wearing black jackets or vests with a bright yellow SOS logo. It stands for Safe Options Support, the name of the governor's initiative. White says their approach is simple. Just say hello. Good morning, showing that you do care regardless of what the exterior is and their clothing that they're wearing at the time. White's team snakes in and out of the main concourse, checking dining tables, bathroom areas, around electrical outlets, train platforms, or corners with dark marks on the wall, indicating someone's been there a long time. Most people don't want services, but some accept a snack, a bottle of water, or a business card.

If they don't, then we can at least build a relationship with them. Maybe the next time they're ready to be placed into a shelter. and then the next step, our main goal is to get them house. The governor's office says more than 450 people have been placed in stable housing since the program launched two years ago. There are 14 teams across the city and plans to add at least three more as homelessness rates reached record highs. Outreach worker Richard B. M. Gisha approaches a woman just waking up from a nap at a table.

She says she doesn't want to go back. back to her shelter after an altercation with another resident. She's going to try and stay with a family member tonight. Another team plans to come back and check on her. Most of the homeless people at Grand Central haven't had a place to live for many years. Many have mental health issues or don't want to be bothered. Beam Gisha gets rejected by another homeless person. friendly, but again, he keeps saying, leave me along. Maybe down the road, he's going to say, okay, now I'm ready to listen to you. It's a lot of work, but the team's job is to slowly build trust until eventually someone decides to take the help. Karen Yee, W.NYC News.

The 31st annual New York African Film Festival starts this Friday. This year's program will feature more than 90 films from dozens of countries. It starts at 5.30 this afternoon with the U.S. premiere of the Brazilian film Solange at Maisel's Documentary Center in Harlem. The festival runs through the end of the month with screenings at Lincoln Center and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as well. For a complete schedule, visit African Film NY.org. Up next, a college known as the University in the Forest is trying to sell off some land to pay the bills. Below that story, after the break. Drew University in Madison, New Jersey is known as the University in the forest.

The liberal arts college is seated alongside more than 50 acres of woods and wetlands. It's one of the region's environmental gems. But the university is facing financial issues brought on by declining enrollment and the pandemic. Now the school wants to sell off land to be developed as housing. WNIC reporter, my case, as school officials say they hope that doesn't include the forests, but they won't rule it out. Professor Sarah Webb runs the restoration program at Drew University, where she leaves the effort to care for the Drew Forest. She sees the good in each of her plants.

Garlic mustard. It has a wonderful little smell to it. You can actually eat it. But she also says that garlic mustard is not so innocent. It looks like a harmless thing. It changes the soil chemically. So it actually kills off baby tree season. If you want to understand the landscape, there's no better guide than Sarah.

She took me for a stroll through the woods of the 157-year-old campus and told me it's not just important for its biodiversity. It helps clean water for the region. This is poison ivy, so don't get your microphone in that. Drew University and the borough of Madison have been negotiating over the future of the forest and two other parcels that the school owns for years. Drew won a big victory in court two years ago that made its land much more valuable to a potential buyer.

It convinced a judge that Madison should have listed the properties as available for development when the borough worked out its affordable housing plans with the state. Both sides say they ultimately want to work out a deal. Madison buys the forest for conservation and rezones the two other properties so Drew can sell them to a housing developer. But so far, Drew and the borough can't agree on how much housing is okay. That has them heading back to court next week where a judge will ultimately decide how much they can build. My guess is we'll probably end up with the trial. That's Mayor Bob Conley.

He worries a judge could rule that not only does Madison have to allow high-density development on Drew's land, it has to reason on the forest for development too. Drew officials say that's not what anyone wants, but they won't rule out developing the forest if it means that's the best way to get a good price on their land. For Sarah Webb, this would be a big loss. To her, there's a clear solution. Parcel A and B, do what you want. Leave the forest alone as my attitude.

She says this would be a win-win for the town, the school, and the future of the forest. That's WNYC reporter Mike Hayes. And thank you for listening to NYC now from WNYC. We're not done yet. Gotta shout out our production team. it includes Sean Boutich, Amber Bruce, Ave Carrillo, Audrey Cooper, Owen Kaplan, Learanoam Cravitz, Jared Marcel, Jenae Pierre, and Wayne Schollmeister, with help from the mighty WNMIC Newsroom. Our show art was designed by the people at Buck, and our music was composed by Alexis Quadrato. I'm Sean Carlson. Have a great weekend. We'll see you on Monday.