NYC NOW - May 31, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: May 31, 2023

The New York City council is raising questions about the Department of Corrections effectiveness in bringing people at Rikers to their court dates; WNYC's public safety reporter Matt Katz has more on yesterday's hearing. Also, the news website NJ.com reports Port Authority officials have suspended 22 police officers without pay for alleged time and attendance violations at LaGuardia Airport.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, May 31st. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. The New York City Council is raising questions about the Department of Corrections' effectiveness in bringing people at Rikers to their court dates. W.N.C.'s Matt Cats reports on the hearing. One Rikers Island detainee claimed he was taken to a courthouse six times for

hearings on his case, but was never brought to the actual courtroom to see a judge. And defense attorney said their clients routinely miss court dates because correction officers failed to bring them and then falsely accused the detainees of refusing to get on a bus to go. Council members said the whole point of Rikers Island is to hold people to make sure they show up to court. But data shows court appearance rates for people locked up are about the same for those who are free before trial. The correction department's general counsel, Paul Sheckman, testified that the court's

the department recently improved its rate of court appearances. The news website NJ.com reports. Port Authority officials have suspended 22 police officers without pay for alleged time and attendance violations at LaGuardia Airport. The Port Authority told the website the agency's Inspector General is investigating the officers. That could result in penalties and even termination if the IG finds officers abandoned their duties at the airport. The officer's police union told NJ.com,

it was aware of the investigation, but it has not provided information about specific charges or incident details. The Port Authority has not immediately responded to our request for comment. 70 and sunny right now, and because of the haze and the smoke from the Canadian wildfires,

there is an air quality alert for northern New Jersey, so be careful out there. Today's forecast, widespread haze and smoke and a high of 77 with sunshine. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day,

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