NYC NOW - Midday News: Probe Finds Ghost Plates Are Widespread in Bronx, New Report Highlights Brooklyn Inequities, and Hochul Rejects Trump National Guard Offer

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

A City Council investigation says the Bronx has the highest concentration of illegal out-of-state license plates used to evade tolls and fines, with one in five sampled vehicles citywide showing fraudulent or missing plates. Meanwhile, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso has released a report underscoring sharp disparities across neighborhoods. Plus, in this week’s Politics Brief: Governor Hochul says “no” to President Trump on sending the National Guard into New York, and Zohran Mamdani’s record in Albany.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Thursday, August 28th. Here's the midday news. I'm Jene Pierre. Out of New York City's five boroughs, the Bronx has the most vehicles with illegal out-of-state ghost plates that help drivers avoid tolls and fines. That's according to a new city council investigation out today. In a city-wide sample, investigators found one. in five vehicles without New York plates, either had temporary plates, plates that did match the vehicle registration, or no plates at all. The council says drivers of these vehicles are more likely to

owe more in outstanding fines. They're also more likely to evade tolls, speed and school zones, and block fire hydrants. A new report from Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso highlights the stark differences among the borough's neighborhoods, not always in good ways. WMYC's Arun Fentacol has more. report is packed with intra-borrow factoids like this one. Bushwick had a 27% rate of failed rat inspections in 2024, or 169 times as bad as Canarsie. The report known as the 2025 comprehensive plan for Brooklyn is meant to highlight inequities. Some neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Carol Gardens are blessed with more parks, transit, and schools than others like Red Hook or Coney Island. The

Borough president says these disparities should guide development decisions far more than they typically do. And he's urging other boroughs to come up with their own plans to address inequality. A look at your forecast on this lovely Thursday. It's 75 degrees. Currently a few clouds out there. It'll be sunny today with highs in the upper 70s. Partly cloudy skies ahead tonight with lows in the mid-60s. Stay close. There's more after the break. It's all things considered on WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. It is time for politics brief, our weekly segment where we break down the news out of both City Hall and Albany. Today, it's a double dose of Albany.

We're joined by WNYC's John Campbell and Jimmy Vilekind from New York's capital city. All right, Jimmy, we're going to start with you. President Trump has already sent the National Guard into Washington, D.C. Now, he says it's to combat crime. He's also raised the possibility of sending soldiers into New York to, Governor Hokel says she spoke to the president about it. What can you tell us about that conversation? Well, I can tell you that it happened on Saturday.

We don't know how long they spoke, but I imagine it was pretty quickly because Hockel's message had two letters, N and O. She told the president, you know, no thanks. I don't really need this to make the city stave. And she also noted that crime is down. And, you know, let's take a lesson to what she said. I was very gracious. I just said, I'll tell you what, Mr. President, if I think I need help from the National Guard beyond what I'm already doing, I know where to find you. You know, Hogle also said she told Trump that the state has tightened up its bail laws. Some listeners might remember that in 2019, Democrats in the state of New York changed the bail laws to eliminate cash bail for most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony offenses.

That has caused a firestorm because it coincided with a spiking crime during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Trump and other Republicans seized on it as part of their justification this week for mobilizing troops and sending them into cities. There was some discussion of that, as well as Trump and Hockel's reply to Trump during a marathon cabinet meeting on Tuesday. There was a reporter who asked Trump about it. Let's take a listen. Kathy Hokel said that she spoke to you on the phone, and you said you might send National Guard troops to New York. You mentioned that. So will you?

I'd love to do it. If she'd like, I get along with Kathy. If she'd like to do that, I would do it. Yeah, that's a big contrast to what Trump had to say about some of other Democratic officials, including Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. Yeah, and it's important to note here, too, that the rules for the National Guard are different for Washington, D.C. than they are for each of the 50 states. it's easier for President Trump to send the National Guard into D.C. In the states, like New York, governors are the commanders in chief for their National Guard. And another thing, too, Governor Hockel actually did send the National Guard into the New York City subway system just last year.

I mean, they're still there. You probably still see them at a lot of your subway stops. Yeah. Can we talk about that? Because, you know, ultimately, you know, we're making a lot of hay about Trump sending the National Guard to Washington. But like you said, Hockel's already done that here. She sent the National Guard into the Subways, administering of high-profile crimes in the subway system last year.

They are still there. Folks probably see them all the time, right? So how is what Trump is doing in Washington, D.C., any different than that? Yeah, Sean, I mean, the governor has pushed back pretty hard against any comparison between the two. I mean, for one, the New York National Guard has been working in collaboration with the NYPD and MTA police. initially they were there to kind of assist police officers at these bag checks going into subway stations. Now they're kind of more of a visual presence in their camo uniforms. Whereas in Washington, Trump sent the guard in over the mayor's objections there, which that's what Hockel says is the big difference.

I mean, there is a big similarity in that both Trump and Hockel deployed soldiers to combat crime or deter crime. as Hockel says. And every day you can still find those uniform soldiers in the subway system, whether it's at Barclay Center in Brooklyn or, you know, the Washington Square stop in Manhattan. They've been spotted there in recent weeks. Yeah. Okay. Let's shift to the New York City mayor's race. The latest polling shows Democrat Zeran Mamdani continues to be the frontrunner. John, you dug into his record as a state assembly member for this week's Politics Brief Newsletter. What did you learn?

Yeah, we decided to take a look at the bills that Zoran Mamdani. Donnie has co-sponsored in Albany this year. And that's about 240 or so bills. And part of the reason we did that is because Andrew Cuomo, one of his main rivals in the mayoral race, has kind of ramped up his criticism of Mom Donny's record in recent weeks. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff in that legislative record that's good political fodder. So I've been waiting for this to happen. What is what is Cuomo highlighted, John? Yeah, well, one bill that he's highlighted is a bill that would decrease. criminalize prostitution in many cases. And that's one of many bills that Mom Donnie has co-sponsored. And when you look at these bills, they kind of give you a window into his platform, even if many of these bills, the vast majority of these bills didn't pass, you know, a lot of these bills that he signed on to kind of fit into the themes of his mayoral campaign. I mean, there were bills to hike taxes on the rich and hike taxes on corporations and capital gains. And

he himself has a bill to put three free bus routes in each borough, and he signed on to another bill to make state college tuition free. And then there's some of the kind of what I would call perennial bills that are reliably supported by those on the left, including Mom Dani. That includes the New York Health Act, which would create a single-payer universal health plan in New York. Yeah, all of that really is pretty much on brand. And I think it's one of the of the reasons that business groups and some wealthy New Yorkers who have strenly opposed these measures for years are so worried about Mamdani. They just say that he supports policies that will cost billions of dollars to implement for the government. But it's also pretty clear.

I mean, he is a democratic socialist. He'd be proud to tell you about it. So I don't know that this means much of anything. You know, I also think, though, it's worth noting that most of these bills that Mamdani signed his name to didn't pass. You already said that, John. But I think it's 15 of them that passed both houses of the legislature this year. Now, that's not unusual the way Albany works. You know, lots of things get introduced. A few of them pass and fewer of them get signed into law. Literally, there are thousands of measures that are never put to a vote. So, you know, lawmakers sometimes sign on its co-sponsors, knowing that they're making a statement, not necessarily making a law.

Yeah. Well, let's drill a little deeper. on all of this. Jimmy, both Mayor Adams and Andrew Cuomo have been critical of Mamdani's record in Albany. They say he hasn't passed many bills. They say he missed a third of this year's legislative session. Fact-checked that for us. Is that true? And you think it'll resonate with voters? It is true that Mamdani hasn't passed many bills. He's been the lead sponsor of just one, two, three, four that have made it through the legislature. You know, Albany is a seniority-based system, so that's not so surprising for a newbie. But fact, check true. And on the question of attendance, it's also true that Mamdani did miss a lot of votes this year while he was running for mayor. The Albany Times Union tallied up those figures, and they found

that Mamdani missed 24 of the 71 days where the legislature was in session for the year. A lot of those absences did come in the heart of his mayoral campaign. Remember, the primary was in June, and that's just as the legislature wraps up its lawmaking time. So there was a big deal of overlap as a crunch period there. And we should also note, too, Mom Dani did get a big legislative win in 2023. That's when he and State Senator Mike Gianaris were able to get a free transit pilot program into the state budget, which is a big part of his campaign now. In that pilot program, they made one bus route free in each of New York City's boroughs for one

year, although Mom Dani has not been able to get that re-upped and expanded like he had hoped to. WNYC's Jimmy Vilkine and John Campbell. As always, thanks so much. Thanks, Sean. Thank you, Sean. That's Politics Brief. If you want to hear more from our politics dean, be sure sign up for emails at gotthmus.com slash newsletters.

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. More soon.