NYC NOW - Midday News: Mamdani Criticized for Not Denouncing Protest Slogan, New Details on City Student Detained by ICE, a No Swimming Policy at Manhattan’s Newest Beach, and Preparing for NYC’s First Heat Wave of the Year

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash for not denouncing the slogan “globalize the intifada,” which critics say promotes violence against Jews. Meanwhile, new details have emerged about Derlis Chusin Toaquiza, a 19-year-old Queens high school student detained by ICE at an immigration court hearing. His legal team says he has no criminal record and was preparing for exams and school activities. Also, an environmental group is pushing for a new policy that’ll allow visitors to swim at the city’s newest beach, if the water is good. And finally, New York City officials are urging residents to prepare for the first serious heat wave forecasted to move in early next week.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. Most of our team is out of office to observe Juneteenth, but we couldn't leave you without getting you caught up on what's happening in our region. So here's your news headlines from Michael Hill. Zoran Mamdani is facing criticism for not rejecting the slogan, Globalized the Intifada. A phrase that some view is threatening to Jews. WNIC's Elizabeth Kim reports. During an interview on the bulwark podcast, Mamdani was asked if he was uncomfortable with slogans like Globalize the Intifada and from the river to the sea. I know people for whom those things mean very different things.

And to me, ultimately, what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights. His comments prompted outrage from mayoral rival Andrew Cuomo. The former governor said, quote, words matter and pointed to a right. and violence against Jewish Americans. Asked about the controversy, Mamdani said he has, quote, repeatedly condemned any calls for violence. He accused Cuomo of trying to weaponize anti-Semitism. New details have emerged about a Queens High School student detained at an immigration hearing this month. WNIC's Jessica Gould reports. Der Lees-Chucin-Toakisa is 19 and in 11th grade at Grover Cleveland High School. He was training to become a

lifeguard, had just tried out for the varsity soccer team, and was studying for the Regents exam. He's being held at an ICE facility in Texas. He's one of two New York City public school students who were detained at immigration court by ICE after appearing for scheduled hearings. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to an inquiry. A spokesperson previously said the agency arrested a 19-year-old who tried to grab the weapon of a federal officer. But Toa Kisa's legal team says he has no criminal record. They cite letters from classmates and teachers saying he's a respectful and responsible young man. 87 and sunny out there now. We have a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly late this

afternoon. Some of those storms, though, could be severe. Mostly sunny on this Juneteenth, a high temperature near 90 degrees, and then tomorrow we cool off just a bit sunny in 83, Saturday, mostly sunny mid-80s, and then on Sunday, partly sunny and near 90. We're about to have quite a stretch there of hot weather. not just warm, but hot. 87 and sunny now, Michael Hill, WNYC News. Stick around. There's more after the break. Nearly two years ago, New York officials hailed the opening of Manhattan's first public beach. It's on the Hudson River, but no swimming is allowed.

WMYC's Rosemary Misdairy took a ride on a pollution patrol boat to find out why folks have to stay out of the water. All right, so let me fire this up. The Fletcher is a 36-foot fishing boat that patrols the waterways from Troy to New York Harbor. Yeah, this is the Fletcher requesting outbound clearance. Clear outbound, no reported traffic in this time. Have a great good. Lewis Melendez is the boat's captain. We are looking for any signs of pollution. Some forms can be any discharges from drainage pipes or sewage pipes. There are 460 sources around the city for him to check on.

They range from two-foot diameter pipes to 30-foot concrete openings. They dump a mix of sewage and stormwater into the waterways during heavy rain. Two of them are in the Hudson River, just west of Chelsea and Manhattan. They happen to be right by Gansavort Beach off the coast of Manhattan. Governor Kathy Hokel cut the ribbon at the beach's opening in 2023. This is so New York to take a place that had been abandoned and overlooked and forgotten and, my God, and turn it into a gathering place for people from around the world, to walk, to stroll, to bring their dogs to kick a soccer ball, play in the sand. But not swim. That's because of those pipes, which are just north and south of the beach. They didn't come up at Hokel's event. Michael Doolong is the legal director of the Environmental Advocacy Group Riverkeeper.

which owns a pollution patrol boat. The group wants Gansavort Beach open for swimmers. They say the spot is ideal because it's protected from tidal action and boat traffic. It would take a dedicated legislative change to examine the area, to get the state and the city department of health to certify it as a public beach.

They need to test that beach, make sure that the water quality is good. The Billion Oyster Project has tested the water in the area as part of their effort to restore the Hudson's oyster population. The results from last year weren't great. The beach was safe for swimming for just over half of the tests during dry weather.

During and after rain, the water was at or approaching unsafe levels. Shannon Robeck is the science director at Riverkeeper. It's a lot of sewage, and there's a lot of bacteria, things like PFAS, things like pharmaceuticals, personal care products, anything that goes down the drain in your house. And so all of that stuff dumps into waterways every time that. it rains. Let's say magically all the sewage sources out of the Hudson River would stop. What would that mean for the river? It would mean you would have much safer swimming locations.

We want people to get in the water. We want them to be able to enjoy the river. And that's what we can look forward to if we can get these discharges under control. For now, Riverkeeper would like New York City officials to change its policies regarding swimming in the Hudson, East River, and elsewhere. The advocates prefer a policy that boils down to when it's safe to swim, let him swim. We're looking at this on a horizon of 20 years, where we're improving the water quality enough so that it's not only that you can swim at Gansivore Peninsula, you could swim anywhere in the city.

And we want to open that up for every neighborhood. But their vision is a ways off. Officials say swimming at Gansavort Beach is still banned for the foreseeable future. And any place along the waterfront beyond public beaches, could be contaminated by sewage after rain. That's WMYC's Rosemary Mystery. Friday marks the official start of summer, and it'll really start feeling like it soon.

New York City officials are urging residents to prepare for the first serious heat wave forecasted to move in early next week, with temps expected to hit the upper 90s several days in a row. And while many of us do enjoy our share of hot fun in the summertime, the heat can also pose some health. risks. Dr. James McDonald is the New York State Health Commissioner. He explains why heat is so dangerous. When you think about heat, we're used to it. It comes every year. But it really isn't just the heat. It isn't

just the humidity. It's the ventilation. You add it all together. You get what is called heat risk. When you look at New York City, in particular last year, seven heat-related deaths, but almost 600 that were exacerbated by heat. Just to give you another number, You know, one of the things that happens, sometimes people go to the emerging departments. June 19th last year, 150 people went to emerge departments last year because of the high heat. And so really what we're trying to do is really address that. Help us have more tools to succeed and prevent the injuries. McDonald says there are early warning signs when it comes to heat illness, like nausea or lightheadedness.

If you find yourself in this situation, McDonald advises that you move to an air-conditioned space as soon as possible and drink as much fluids as you can. And when it comes to preventative measures, McDonald says the State Health Department has teamed up with the National Weather Service to create an interactive dashboard that lets people know what to expect

before they leave the house. What you want to do is maybe build this into your daily routine where you start looking at the dashboard and you can see, like, what is my risk for today? And then you can see for the next seven days, what do we see as the forecast? It's just another tool you have now deal with this changing climate.

And the website is health.n.y.gov slash heat dashboard. That's New York State Health Commissioner, Dr. James McDonald. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. Enjoy the holiday. We'll be back tomorrow.