NYC NOW - Midday News: Brooklyn Hookah Bar Mass Shooting Could be Gang Related, Mayor Adams Loses MTA Board Member, and Mount Sinai Offers Free Heart Screenings for Black Men

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

Officials say they’re concerned about possible retaliation after a targeted shooting at a Brooklyn hookah bar left three dead and ten wounded early Sunday. Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Adams is down a board member at the MTA as hearings on new fare and toll hikes begin this week. Plus, Mount Sinai Hospital and the Real Dads Network are providing free heart health screenings for Black men to address disproportionately high rates of undiagnosed disease.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Monday, August 18th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. Officials say they're concerned about the potential for a retaliation. After a targeted mass shooting at a Brooklyn hookah bar early yesterday, it killed three people and wounded 10 others. Mayor Adams says crisis management teams are already on the ground in Crown Heights. We're always concerned.

After a shooting, the retaliatory shootings will follow if we don't get on the ground without our crisis management team and other partners. The NYPD says the shooting at taste of the city lounge appears to have been gang-related. They believe there were as many as four shooters, no arrest reporter just yet. Mayor Adams is down a board member at the MTA. This comes as the public will weigh in on new fare and toll hikes at hearings this week. W.NYC Stephen Nesson has more. mayor of New York has up to four representatives on the MTA board, but he's only got three at the

moment. That's because one of his former deputy mayors, Mira Joshi, resigned from the board in late June. Adams never lined up her replacement, and he won't have a chance to get one confirmed until state lawmakers returned to Albany. The next session isn't scheduled until next year. Joshi had remained on the MTA board for several months after resigning as deputy mayor amid Adams' corruption scandal. The MTA Board is expected to sign off on a $3 subway and bus fare set to take effect early next year. The mayor has called the hike, quote, offensive to New Yorkers. We're in the mid-60s now with clouds, mostly cloudy today in 76 for a high, winds up to 15 miles an hour,

and then tomorrow, mostly sunny and still in the 70s. Stay close. There's more after the break. It's all things considered on double. WNMIC, I'm Sean Carlson. According to health experts, there is a disproportionately high rate of undiagnosed and life-threatening heart conditions among black men in New York City. Mount Sinai Hospital, along with a nonprofit group called Real Dads Network, are hosting free heart screening specifically for black men to detect serious heart conditions.

Joining us now are Mount Sinai Doctor, Isilma Fergus, and Kenyatta Rouse, who's part of the Real Dads Network and a former NYPD detective, both helped initiate free heart screenings for black men here in the city. So, Dr. Why are black men more likely than other groups to have undiagnosed heart conditions? Is it an issue of access to care or problems overlooked? Yeah, good afternoon, everyone. I'm happy to be here to answer such an important question. So it's multifactorial. It's not a simple answer, but part of it would be what you call the social determinants of health, social and or structural determinants of health, such as what you mentioned, access, etc. But I think that a large portion also has to do with understanding the culture of black men.

Sometimes there's pride involved or, you know, just feeling that they may not be manly enough going into the doctor all the time. So the type of thing that we're doing, going out into the community and reaching out to people where they can talk and they can feel that they can trust the individuals is really helpful. And we hope we'll help to eliminate some of these disparities. Kenyatta, can you briefly tell us about how changes in your own health led to increased awareness about the need for regular screening? Absolutely. Good evening, everyone. And thank you for having me here today. Actually, you know, we always say, and I'm going to take a quote from my brother, Puma, from the Real Dad's Network. I will die for my kids. And I would die for my family. I'll do anything for my family. So what we're trying to do at the Real Desert Network is change that narrative and say,

let's live for your kids and let's live for your family because we want to be around and we want to be healthy to see our family nourish and grow and for ourselves. Now, doctor, you mentioned social determinants, right? Lifestyle factors, things like housing, neighborhood safety, food deserts. How do those things affect cardiovascular risk? Absolutely. So food deserts for one, and, you know, in Harlem, there are many great places, but in the surrounding boroughs, for instance, where many of the blackmen live, there may not be healthy, accessible fresh foods. And so just to eat, people may be eating more processed foods. Processed foods may be higher in sodium, which of course will make the blood pressure higher, higher in sugar, which of course can give someone diabetes or make this. blood sugar elevated. And of course, if things are processed and fried, et cetera, then you have elevated cholesterol that can be a result of all of that. So right there, you have three major

risk factors, which are risk factors for the heart and heart disease. And heart disease is 80% preventable, but if people are not addressing these risk factors, they can lead to heart disease, including heart attacks, heart failure, and or cardiac arrhythmias, which are heart irregular beats. Kenyatta, you work with a lot of block fathers, right, while doing your work with the Real Dad's Network. Yes. What message would you want to give to Black Fathers who might be listening right now and

are hesitant to engage with the health care system? Well, to definitely go to your doctor and also the Real Dad's Network, Fatherhood and Family Center, which is located in Spanish Harlem. I know the address is going to be given later. with the joint partnership that we have with Mount Sinai and our other partners, it's a welcoming, warm place. You know, I know a lot of people, men don't want to go to a clinic or a hospital or their personal, private physician.

But the real dads is a warm space, welcoming, no judgment. You know, a lot of us, men, we have egos. and you can just come in there. The staff of Mount Sinai is there. The doctors, the nurse practitioners, are there to do the screening, and we'll get you in and out, give you a beverage,

have something to eat after your testing is done. And it's a non-judgment space for men of color. Doctor, knowing the disparities that do exist in this population, what steps can the medical community and doctors take to improve early detection in black men beyond free heart screenings. Yeah, and I think exactly what Kenyatta just spoke about, having a space that people feel comfortable, they feel welcome, they feel warm, they're not judged, they don't have to worry about distrusting the healthcare provider or, and also access because their location is right across a Mount Sinai medical center. Our clinics are there,

our cardiovascular health clinics are there. So I think that, again, and going out into the community, meeting people where they are talking to them, listening to them, hearing about maybe some of the cultural contributors. You heard Kenyatta talk about ego or other things that could be preventing them from seeking help. Just being able to talk and help to mitigate some of these hangups can get people diagnosed. We get them screened. We get the blood pressures done. We talk to them.

And then they could go right into Mount Sinai offices or clinics to be seen and taken care of. And I think that's a great help. So let's talk about this free screening tomorrow. Like we said, it's at 1445 Madison Avenue. That's the address where folks can get that free screening. It's at the Real Dad's Network and Fatherhood and Family Center on the Upper East Side from 4 to 7 in the afternoon. Kenyatta, you could listen to all things considered on WMIC while you're going. It is during this time slot.

Yes. But in all seriousness, what should people expect to experience at that free screening tomorrow? Well, you're going to experience, again, a warm, welcoming feeling and with great people, obviously fathers and men are welcoming you to try to get you healthier and to assist you with whatever you need. I just wanted to, if it's okay, just to mention our other partners quickly, the Carver Houses, Resident Association, the Black Nurses Association, the Black Nurses Association. Obviously, Real Dads Network. I also would like to because I wear multi-hats. Medina Temple No. 19, which is Prince Hall Shriners, which is a Harlem fraternity organization that we're out there in the community.

And this is also with the Prince Hall Shriners, our national community health initiative. So that's why we partnered with Mount Sinai as well. And hopefully this is because tomorrow's our second event, but hopefully this is the second. of many to come in the near future. Right on. Dr. before we let you go, we wanted to ask you, if folks are feeling like something maybe off or they feel like maybe they do have a condition, what symptoms should they be looking

out for when it comes to these kinds of heart conditions? Yeah. So typically you describe like an elephant sitting on your chest, maybe pain radiating down the left arm or into the jaw, shortness of breath, raising heart. feeling dizzy, any of those. But I would say, simply put, if you're just not feeling yourself and it's pervasive, it's ongoing, seek help. We're doing things tomorrow. We'll be screening blood pressures, and we will be also swabbing for cardiac amyloidosis, which is a condition that can affect 4% of African-American men with symptoms. But we will also be talking about high

blood pressure in words that they can understand men's health. And we have experts as Kenyatta discussed doctors and Sinai, nurse practitioners, nurses, student coordinators, researchers, all there to help to facilitate this for the men. And I'm her patient, by the way. So you can vouch for it. That's my doctor. All right. Yes.

Well, that was Dr. Isselmo Fergus and Kenyatta Rouse. Thank you so much to the both of you for joining us. Thank you. Pleasure being here. Thank you. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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