NYC NOW - May 30, 2024 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: May 30, 2024

It’s possible New York State lawmakers won’t pass a measure that would make it easier for prosecutors to convict people accused of sex crimes. Plus, a Brooklyn grand jury has indicted 18 alleged gang members in a takedown prosecutors say will help prevent more gun violence. Also, WNYC’s Sean Carlson talks with reporters Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky and David Brand about the looming expiration of a federal program that pays a monthly credit to internet service providers on behalf of low-income customers. And finally, WNYC’s Karen Yi attends a birthday celebration in one of New York City’s shelters.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC, I'm Jenae Pierre. We begin in Albany. It's looking as if New York State lawmakers won't pass a measure that would make it easier for prosecutors to convict people accused of sex crimes. The bill picked up momentum this spring after the state's highest court struck down the conviction of former movie producer Harvey Weinstein. It passed in a state Senate last week. But now the sponsor in the Assembly says she doesn't think the legislation will cross the finish line this year. Defense attorneys have warned the bill could violate the rights of criminal defendants.

The legislative session wraps up next week. Meanwhile, Weinstein was in court in New York for a hearing this week. Prosecutors told the judge they're evaluating new claims of sexual misconduct against him. A Brooklyn grand jury has indicted 18 alleged gang members and a takedown prosecutors say will help prevent more gun violence. WMYC's Bahar Oostodon has more. Brooklyn prosecutors say the group includes defendants as young as 14. They're being charged with murder, attempted murder, and gun possession. Officials say they're responsible for killing two 16-year-olds and injuring eight innocent bystanders

in a string of 12 separate shootings over the last few years. In 2021, prosecutors say the group mistook a man's car for the car of a rival gang member and shot him in the face. He survived. Prosecutors say the group went on later that night to shoot and kill their intended victim, 16-year-old Jaquan Gauss. They say, solving these cases helps end a cycle of retaliation between gangs. Attorney information for the defendants was not immediately available. Nearly one million New York City households are set to lose high-speed internet access. That's thanks to the looming expiration of a federal program that pays a monthly credit to Internet service providers on behalf of low-end. income customers. Here's Eli DeVorkin, policy director at the Center for an Urban Future.

High-speed internet is the portal to almost every opportunity that exists out there today. And it would be a real detriment to New Yorkers in general. We lose that access. The sunsetsetting of the federal subsidy could dramatically affect internet access in neighborhoods like East Harlem, Long Island City, and the South Bronx. For more, my colleague Sean Carlson talked with WMYC's Jacqueline Jeffrey Walensky and David Brand. Jacqueline, can you start by setting the scene for us? What do we know about New York City's digital divide? Sure. Well, we know that at least in 2021 before the program went into effect, something like a quarter of households didn't have internet at home. And it also varied pretty widely throughout the city. So in some of those neighborhoods that like East Harlem, also in Tremont, Hunts Point in Jamaica, there's something like 40% of households that didn't have internet at home. They might have it on their phone, but not like a Wi-Fi connection. And older New Yorkers and low-income New Yorkers were the most. most likely to not have broadband at home.

David, talk about this actual program, the federal program, the affordable connectivity program. What did it do? So this was a nationwide program, and the federal government paid a credit to internet service providers on behalf of tens of millions of people across the country. Here in New York City, that was hundreds of thousands of people who got internet access, low-income New Yorkers who couldn't afford their bill before this program. now we're able to connect to jobs to school, to friends and family living far away. You think about Zoom back in 2021, how often we still use it.

And even back then, probably even more so, connected people to the Internet who didn't have it. And now funding is running out. Jacqueline, what does the data tell us about the program? We looked at some data from the Center for an Urban Future. And they say that nearly a million households were signed up. So that means a million households that were getting heavily discounted, broadband or mobile. internet who weren't getting it before. And just like I said earlier, it also really varied by neighborhood. In East Harlem, in the South Bronx, it was two thirds of households or more that were

enrolled in the program. In Long Island City, it was 83%. And we think that's because that area includes the largest public housing complex in the country. And so all those people who signed up that nearly a million households, the same people are losing the financial aid at the end of the month. So it's close to a million households losing that lifeline. What's going to happen to these people, David? They're just going to have no internet? Well, this was giving people a $30 a month credit for internet, and a lot of people aren't going to be able to afford that once the credit ends. So we spoke to experts who said hundreds of thousands of people are probably just going to stop their current service.

All three major internet providers in New York City are offering some kind of discount for customers, low-income customers who can qualify for these. So customers should check with their internet service provider to see if there's a program they qualify. Jacqueline mentioned people living in NYCHA. NCHA residents do have broadband access through a city program called Big Apple Connect. That's going to continue even after this funding expires through the federal government. Their mobile bills may still increase, though. So speaking of city programs, Jacqueline, is the city going to do anything to step in where the federal government leaves off?

So Big Apple Connect does cover internet bills for something like 330,000 New Yorkers, which is a significant chunk. but it's not all of the million people who are losing access through the affordable connectivity program. The other things on offer from the Adams administration, they're more like communal areas where you can go get internet. So it's like more link NYC hotspots, libraries, senior centers, these things called gigabit centers that are like there's one computer center in each borough. We also heard from city officials this week that they have some kind of digital equity plan coming out, but we don't know the details or when we can expect to see that. That's WNYC's Jacqueline Jeffrey Walensky and David Brandt talking with my colleague Sean Carlson. The Birthday Party Project returns to celebrate with kids in New York City shelters with its first in-person gathering since the pandemic. We're crashing a party after the break. Stay close.

A group that organizes birthday parties for children living in homeless shelters recently through their first in-person bash since the pandemic started four years ago. WMYC's Karen Yee was there for the celebration inside a Brooklyn shelter. As soon as the kids arrive to the party, they get to pick their own superhero disguise. There's tapes and masks of every color. I mean, I want this color. Green? Okay, let's get you a green.

Around the shelters rec room, organizers set up flying Superman toys, large Hulk gloves, and stations to decorate their superhero headbands. There's a spread of gifts and cakes and games like ring toss. and blazon with the words, zap, bam, and pow. If I have to share a superhero, I must be a bad thing. Derek Bates is one of 20 kids celebrating their birthdays. He and his twin brother are turning 14, the oldest of the group. Most of the kids got their hand for right now.

I'm not about to have it in-phone. This is the first in-person celebration the Birthday Party Project has held in the city since the pandemic paused their operation four years ago. You are a birthday boy, kid or girl. Founder Paige Lohafer says they celebrate. every child living in a shelter who has a birthday that month. She says the party isn't just for the birthday kid. It's for the whole community.

We want them to feel a part of this as well, and we want them to see that there are people out there that are cheering for them, that are acknowledging their existence and wants to celebrate. The parties are resuming at a time when the city's homelessness crisis is reaching new highs. 30,000 children stayed in a shelter last year. That's more than the capacity at Madison Square Garden, and the highest number in a decade.

That's why bringing a little bit of party magic can go a long way. Like for 8-year-old Yormari Tejadas, superhero names? Super Yomari. And what are your superpowers? To fly. She runs around the room, playing ring toss, and showing off her orange cape. I like the party to draw, play, be friends. Talia Herez was there with her daughter too.

Bella turned five in September, but Herez said, She couldn't throw her a party then. I was so down in having money for her birthday. I couldn't give her a birthday that she wanted. So this is a birthday that she can have that's hers, but not on her birthday. It really means something because it brings, like, an empowerment to my child. And Bella is fully embracing this celebration as being for her. She waited all day for this.

Well, she waited all week for this. Shamin Santos is the rec manager here and says living in a shelter can be a restrictive space for children. She says a birthday party. It may be something small for a lot of people, but they don't understand what it's like living in a shelter. It's like a bit of normalcy for them. There's always a smile in their face when they see it

because they can't believe, like, oh, the party is for me. As the party winds down, the organizers pull out. several mini cakes and gather the birthday kids behind a table. Some kids say they wished for toys, others to get their nails done, and 14-year-old Derek. Maybe, like, get a job because I'm already 14. I want to get a job. The organizers say goodbye and promise to come back next month to celebrate the next group of June birthdays.

This is the best day ever. That's WMYC's Karen Yee. 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.