NYC NOW - November 12, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: November 12, 2024

A wildfire on the New York–New Jersey border that claimed the life of a young parks worker continues to burn. Meanwhile, Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal has launched its annual holiday fair in Vanderbilt Hall. Plus, New Jersey Congressman Andy Kim made history last week as the first Korean-American elected to the U.S. Senate. WNYC’s Michael Hill spoke with Kim about his recent win.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jared Marcel. A fire that killed a young parks department worker is still burning on the border of New York and New Jersey. The wildfire at Jennings Creek has consumed more than 3,500 acres between Passaic County, New Jersey, and Orange County, New York. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service says the fire is about 20% contained. Local police officials say 18-year-old Dariol Vassie. Vasquez was killed Saturday while battling the blaze alongside firefighters at Greenwood Lake. Vasquez was a Ramapo High School graduate and had been working for the New York State Parks Department.

Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal is looking a little more festive this week for its annual holiday fair. Small shops are set up as part of a winter wonderland in the terminals Vanderbilt Hall over the next six weeks. Rob Freeh has the Long Island Railroad. He says the fair isn't the only reason shoppers should take public transit this season. We all know New York is the best place to be, right? But during the holiday season, New York City seems to take it to a whole other level. The Grand Central Fair was open from 10 in the morning to 7 at night, from Mondays to Saturdays, and from 11 in the morning to 6 at night on Sundays.

The MTA says it will be open on Christmas Eve, but closed on Thanksgiving. Last week, Congressman Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, became the first Korean American elected to the U.S. Senate. We hear from him after the break. With a win in last week's election, Andy Kim is set to become the first Korean American to serve in the U.S. Senate. Ken gained national attention in 2021 when he was photographed cleaning up the U.S. Capitol after the January 6th insurrection. His political profile has only grown since then. My colleague Michael Hill spoke with Kim about his victory. You take the Senate at the same time that Republicans,

retake control of that chamber as well as the White House, what do you expect these next four years to look like? I think the next four years are going to continue to be a continuation of just a lot of the challenge that we've been facing over the last eight years and before that as well. You know, we live in what is obviously a very turbulent time in American history right now. A lot of strong differences in the vision for what America should look like. So for me, you know, whether it's in the House or now in the U.S. Senate, you know, I want to continue to deliver for my constituents, continue to show that this broken politics, this turmoil, this chaos, that this is not the new normal for America, that there's a way that we can try to change that.

Well, your path to this seat required you take on the state's party bosses and even the governor's wife and fighting to change the way ballots were drawn up. What do you expect the legacy of that to be? Well, I hope the legacy, first and foremost, is a better, stronger, more participatory democracy in New Jersey. You know, New Jersey, we were, you know, we have unfortunately a terrible reputation when it comes to our politics. You know, 84% of people in New Jersey believe that their politicians are corrupt. You know, that is a devastating number that's really hurting our ability to be able to, you know,

just make sure we're delivering for people. But that aside, like, I believe that a reform agenda is powerful, not just in New Jersey, but throughout this entire country. You know, I think the election results, what we see from that, I see a lot of people who are just so distrusting, frankly, just disgusted with our politics in this country right now. What do you think the people are disgusted with and what's leading to this broken government that you mentioned? Yeah, I mean, look, I think a lot of it just stems from this question of like, who do your elected officials, who does your government work for? Who are they serving? And I think so much right now, people are worried that people in elected office.

that they're just chasing their own ego, their ambition, they're trying to increase their own bank accounts. You know, like probably the most popular piece of legislation I ever introduced in Congress was legislation that would ban members of Congress and senior government officials from owning and trading individual stocks. You know, I look, that's not going to change the whole world, but like it gets to the heart of this question. It's just like we need to show that this is something that is focused on the people. You know, having the campaign finance reform, the ending the gerrymandering. You know, these are critical steps to be able to create a more responsive government that isn't going to be beholden to special interests, big corporations. You know, and they see it right now just in their daily life. You know, we got billionaires building rocket ships outer space while we got, you know, people really struggling with putting food on the table, paying their rent or their mortgage.

And it's the difficulty that's out there. And they just don't feel like the government really cares at all. Well, how much is that going to be helped that cause that you're talking about if the new administration is going to have probably more than one, two, or three billionaires helping to run the government? Yeah, look, I mean, you know, I think that part of the appeal, though, that we saw with Trump, and I say this as, you know, I was a Democrat that wanted congressional districts that Trump won twice. So, you know, I had experience engaging, talking to a lot of people on a daily basis that voted for Trump. And we estimate quite a number of voted for Trump and voted for me. What people are looking for is some acknowledgement that this system is broken. And they want leaders to come at this from a different approach.

And look, Trump is bringing that different approach. I think it's the wrong approach. And I think that there's other ways to be able to show that we are trying to change the way in which this system is working. So, yeah, look, I mean, I think what we saw with Trump before, I mean, he put forward tax cuts to the billionaires, the biggest corporations. He unleashed a salt tax cap on us here in New Jersey that's been devastating to a lot of families. And I hope that we can continue to show, you know, that he is not being representative. He is not trying to create the kind of system that I think many people are hoping for and that we need to move in a different direction.

Is New Jersey turning into a swing state? We've seen the trends all over the country in terms of this election. election cycle. So, you know, I think for me, I always see it as as specific to these elections. I mean, we had, you know, the governor a couple years ago win by only three points for re-election. And then, you know, I think it was a year after that, you know, I was able to win, you know, a congressional district by double digits. I think it was like 12 or 14 points. So, you know, like, it really kind of oscillates there. But I think the most important thing is that we need to show that the Democratic party in New Jersey is moving in a different direction.

What are your political priorities come January? Are they any different than they would have been if Democrats had secured the presidency or majority in the Senate? Well, look, the priorities are the same. Like, I want to make sure we're focused on lowering costs, you know, really trying to address it. I want us to have a decade of building, to build more housing units, to try to stabilize this housing crisis that we are experiencing that's hurting so many people.

I wanted to continue to lower health care costs, prescription drug costs. So a lot of that is the same. The concern, though, is that I just worry about what direction we're going to go in. That's U.S. Senator-elect Andy Kim in conversation with my colleague Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Jared Marcell. See you tomorrow.