NYC NOW - May 18, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: May 18, 2023

The death of a woman on Staten Island is raising questions about the NYPD’s duty to protect people dealing with domestic violence. WNYC reporter Brittany Kriegstein shares the story of Dora Howell and how, ultimately, the city's criminal justice system failed her. Plus, WNYC’s Stephen Nessen joins a record-seeking subway enthusiast as he tries to break the record for the fastest trip to visit all 472 subway stations.

NYC, how I see. Good evening and welcome to NYC now. I'm Jenae Pierre for WNYC. Last year, Dora Howell brought a case before the highest court in New York. She claimed that NYPD did not protect her against an abusive ex-boyfriend and she was suing the city for damages.

Months later, Howell was dead. WNYC reporter Brittany Crickstein tells the story of Howell's troubled life and how ultimately the city's criminal justice system failed her. As a woman dealing with domestic violence, Dorahowell did everything she was told to do. The first time her boyfriend Andrei Gaskin assaulted her in 2008 when she was pregnant with their child, she filed an order of protection against him. When he ignored that order and continued to harass her, threatening her and once trying to break her door with a metal pipe,

court record shows she called the police. It didn't help that they lived in the same building in Brooklyn, which made crossing paths easy. that odd case where a person follows the instructions of a police officer and it doesn't work out from them, right? She did what the police told her and was hurt. That's Howell's lawyer, Gary Rollins. The police who arrived on the scene each time didn't arrest Gaskin, according to the lawsuit. Instead, they asked questions, like, why don't you move and warned Howell that they'd arrest her if she called again. One day, Gaskin dragged her upstairs to his apartment and brutally assaulted her. When she tried to call for help, he threw her out of his third-story window.

She fractured her spine and broke other bones, and the same police officers told her that she, quote, should have listened to them, according to the lawsuit. She was upset. She felt like she did what she was supposed to do, and she felt that the people that she called to protect her didn't. Gaskin was eventually arrested for the abuse, pleaded guilty, and served almost five years in prison. But Howell's friends tell me she was still struggling to get her life together. She ended up in a homeless shelter at one point where she became close with Ranisha Durham. To be honest, she's one of the reasons why I was able to leave the shelter and get an apartment because I was real young when I met her.

But you could tell she was going through her own things. In 2011, Howell filed her case against the police officers, accusing them of negligence. The case made its way through the courts. More than a decade later, it landed in New York's Court of Appeals, where a panel of judges decide whether or not lower courts have made correct rulings. After reviewing the evidence from the case, the majority decided in October 2022 that the NYPD officers didn't owe Howell any, quote, special protections under the law. Basically, it meant that she wouldn't be awarded anything.

Rollins, the lawyer, says the Vertical Fowell feeling frustrated. At this point, she was living in an apartment in the Bronx, and he tried to stay in touch with her. But around Christmas time, Howell stopped answering his messages. I called and couldn't reach her, and I think I made a missing person's report. I assumed the worst because she normally stayed in touch with me. Rollins heard nothing until months later,

when her body was found buried in a crawl space under the basement of a boarding house on Staten Island. She'd been shot multiple times, and her remains were identified by police based on the injuries she'd suffered from her abuse. Police don't know exactly when she was killed. Andre Gaskin got out of prison in 2014 and found jobs in construction and masonry, which she wrote about in a Huff Post blog. There's no evidence to link him to Howell's killing.

Reneisha Durham found out about Howell's death from news reports. I feel like the system has failed her. Even Howell's oldest daughter, 26-year-old Jean-Tal Torres, didn't know about her mother's violent end until she was reached by a reporter. Police are still investigating, but haven't released much information about the case. That's WNYC reporter, Brittany Craigstein. Stick around. There's more after the break. It's been a busy few weeks for the folks at Guinness World Records,

and it's been even busier for record-seeking subway enthusiasts. Last month, former New Yorker Kate Jones broke the record for the fastest trip to visit all 472 subway stations. She completed the feat in 22 hours, 14 minutes, and 10 seconds. But this week, a new challenger entered the ring. WNYC's Stephen Nesson went along for the ride. It's 1 a.m. at the Far Rockaway Mod Avenue A-Train stop. Queen's resident Daniel Wells is about to embark on a grueling marathon,

known as the Subway Challenge. He has his route all planned out. This one was a lot of guess and check. When can I make these transfers? It's going to take me X number of minutes, make it from this stop to this stop by running. And there are rules he must follow to ensure his time is official.

He needs to take a photo of each station. He carries a clipboard to document what time doors open and close. He also needs video evidence of every transfer. And dangling from his neck is a stopwatch, tracking his time. His wife sees him off at the first station. All right.

I think we're good to board the train here. And we're off, but already there's a problem. The A train is leaving more than 10 minutes behind schedule. But Wells knows that's part of the challenge. I mean, in the end, MTA is going to MTA. It's New York, it's crazy, weird things happen. A lot of it's just luck. He'll need better luck if he hopes to beat the record set by Kate Jones,

who flew in from Switzerland just for the challenge. She nearly gave up after her third attempt when arrived. when she got on a train going in the wrong direction. But her fourth try was a winner. Wells has just one shot. I only have so many vacation days. They're doing a lot of construction over the summer. You need to visit every station.

Jones and Wells both agree, you have to knock out the A line first. It's got those pesky shuttle stops, and it's just really long. And they agree you need to end on the seven line in flushing. All other plans can change on the fly. Running? I'm going to call an audible.

Yeah. At the Ozone Park stop, Wells thinks if he sprints, he can catch an A-train at Rockaway Boulevard, possibly shaving an extra 20 minutes off his wait time. All right, it's one mile. He makes it, but it doesn't save much time. And three hours later... A-train adventures are over. That's just one line completed.

Next, it's a brisk walk to the one train. Seven hours later, after going to lower Manhattan, we're back in the Bronx. I call it quits. While I wait for Wells to finish, I called Jones to find out about her run. She says months before she broke the record, she'd injured her ankle.

I lost the instincts to, like, run. You know, the way, like, a light changes and you want to run across an intersection. Turns out it was a major fracture. She had two rods, two plates, and ten screws in her ankle. But she says the subway challenge was her motivation to run again. When there's a train on the platform and the doors are closing, you have to run down the stairs and dive onto that train.

My brain took over again, and it was really wonderful. It was such a wonderful experience for me. Nearly a day later, Wells finally checks in with his time. He finished, but it took 23 hours, 27 minutes, and 9 seconds. So for now, Kate Jones remains the undisputed champion of the Subway Challenge. That's WNYC's Stephen Messon. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day.

We'll be back tomorrow.