NYC NOW - November 20, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: November 20, 2024

A psychiatric expert in the trial of Daniel Penny, the former Marine accused of fatally choking Jordan Neely on a subway last year, called Neely’s paranoid schizophrenia one of the most severe cases he’d ever seen. Meanwhile, New York City's limits on shelter stays for migrants faced scrutiny during a City Council oversight hearing on Tuesday. Also, the suspect in a series of fatal stabbings earlier this week in Manhattan is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. AS WNYC’s Brittany Kriegstein reports, the case is raising questions about the intersection of public safety, mental health, and homelessness. Finally, wildfire smoke continues to impact air quality across the region. We hear from Dr. Barbara Mann, a pulmonologist at Mount Sinai, about the health risks.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC. It's Wednesday, November 20th. Here's the midday news from David Furze. A psychiatric expert testifying in the criminal trial of the former Marine accused of fatally choking a man on the subway last year says the victim had one of the most severe histories of paranoid schizophrenia he's ever reviewed.

Dr. Alexander Bardet testified yesterday. in the criminal trial of Daniel Penny. He's the man accused of killing Neely when he put Neely in a chokehold on the subway last year. Bar Day reviewed thousands of pages of Neely's medical and psychiatric records. He says Neely often experienced paranoia and delusions. Prosecutors did not ask Barday any questions. They urged to judge before trial not to allow defense lawyers to share Neely's medical records with jurors. Mayor Adams' 30 and 60-day stay limit. for migrants in city shelters are under a spotlight. Mary Cruz Perez testified before the city council in an oversight committee hearing yesterday. She switched shelters three times in the last four months because of the policy. She says her son has to miss a day of school when she goes to reapply for shelter, and she misses a day of work. When we don't talk to apply, my children has to pay that day of classes, I have to pay the day of travel. Council members say that's an all too common complaint from migrants. Adams' administration officials say the limits have been necessary to

make space for the newest arrivals. Under a new policy, migrant families are allowed to stay in the same shelter after receiving two 60-day eviction notices. Fifty-nine degrees now, mostly cloudy this afternoon. We do have more rain on the way. Sh showers expected overnight. The rain could be heavy at times. Showers, possibly a thunderstorm tomorrow. Stay close. There's more after the break. A man named Ramon Rivera is being held in connection with a series of fatal stabbing's Monday morning in Manhattan. Rivera is accused of stabbing and killing three people in three separate locations over the course of three hours. His attorney did not enter a plea at his arraignment yesterday. Rivera is slated for a psychiatric evaluation.

But the incident is also raising questions about the intersection of public safety, mental health, and homelessness in New York City. Joining us now to discuss is WNYC's Brittany Kriegstein, who has been covering this story. And Brittany, let's just start with the latest. What happened at Rivera's court appearance yesterday? Sure, David. So Rivera was arraigned yesterday after noon in Manhattan court on three counts of murder. He was held without bail. And the family of one of the victims, a 36-year-old Angelata Landi, a construction worker, who was actually the first victim in that string of attacks, they were there calling for justice tearfully, speaking with reporters outside the courthouse saying the whole incident is just completely devastating. He was an immigrant from Ecuador, and they just can't believe that this happened.

Rivera has been charged with things in the past. Is it true that some of those things could have resolved? in him being imprisoned? Sure. So this is a good question that many people have been asking, including that family of Angeloandi. In court yesterday, actually, his sister said, you know, Rivera had eight, something like eight arrests in New York City. Couldn't he have been imprisoned for a longer amount of time? And the truth is that Rivera was arrested, but most of those charges were burglaries and robberies. He pled guilty earlier this year. And then he served a sentence. at Rikers and was released according to schedule.

The only violent, basically, the only violent incident he was involved in during that time was actually an assault on a corrections officer, and he served time for that too. So legally, and the judge touched on this in court yesterday as well, there was really nothing that could have kept him behind bars at this time. He was released about a month ago. Well, you visited the men's shelter where Rivera has been staying. What did people say there? People were pretty shocked. They said they vaguely knew Rivera. They'd seen his face. Of course, when he came up on the news, they just couldn't believe it. They said they saw him around. They never saw him acting erratically. But of course, people do come and go in these shelters. So they did say it was hard to get to know him personally, of course. They never expected that this would happen.

Well, Mayor Adams fields a number of questions about this at his weekly press conference. Let's talk about that. What did he say? Sure. So Mayor Adams is calling this case an example of a, quote, failed system and alluded to Rivera's mental health history, but we really don't know too much about that yet. So in the next few days, obviously, we're going to keep an eye on that and see if anything comes out further about, you know, if he had any severe mental health issues. We just don't know at this point. Tough to make any sweeping statements about that right now, right? Yes, absolutely. Until we know if. If he had any diagnosed conditions or had episodes of any other alarming behavior, it's just hard to make a judgment call on what could have been done differently. And how common, you know, is something like this, one single person committing seemingly random violence throughout Manhattan on a given day? Well, it is still exceedingly rare. I mean, in a city of 8 million people, this is something that, of course, shocked everybody because it is just so terrifying, but of course, so rare.

That said, most large crime categories are going down in the city currently, murder, rape. However, there is a slight uptick so far this year in felony assaults, which are actually these kinds of assaults where somebody attacks someone else and leads, you know, to permanent injuries potentially. So we are seeing a slight increase there. And so obviously that's something that the NYPD is keeping a close eye on. But in terms of walking down the streets, this is something that really, really rarely, rarely happens. Well, we'll continue to check in on this story.

Of course, thank you for your coverage. WNYC's Brittany Kriegstein. Thanks for joining us this morning. Thanks so much, David. We've been dealing with wildfire smoke in the air over the last days and weeks, with fires burning everywhere from Brooklyn to New Jersey. And our bodies don't just smell smoke in the air. We also feel it in our lungs. Wildfires contaminate the air with pollutants and drive up the air quality index, which is a measure of how

safe it is to breathe outside. Dr. Barbara Mann is a pulmonologist at the Mount Sinai National Jewish Health Respiratory Institute. She's also an associate professor of medicine at the Icons School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. And she joins us now to talk about the current state of the air we breathe. Dr. Mann, I'm happy to say that rain might be making things much better on this front. We saw some last night. We'll see more tonight and tomorrow. But over the last several weeks, people in our area have gotten sporadic alerts from local officials about wildfire smoke and air quality. What impacts does smoke exposure have to people in the short term? Hi, thanks for having me. In the short term, the biggest effects people might feel are itchy eyes, running nose, wheezing, coughing, effects like that.

Does that? Oh, sorry, go ahead. Oh, but more serious effects can include things like asthma exacerbations, increased risk of respiratory infections. We also see an increased risk of cardiovascular issues like heart attack and arrhythias. Yeah, how quick do those effects become? concern. You know, this really changes when people are exposed to smoke over a prolonged period of time, right? Sure. I mean, the greatest effects are over a long period of time, but even short-term exposures and people who are at high risk can cause effects like respiratory, increased exacerbations from asthma, COPD, and cardiovascular disease. For people with respiratory illnesses,

should they come up with a plan with their doctor if smoky conditions? persist or if they return? Sure. I mean, I think one big part of that is keeping an eye on the air quality index. When it gets high, planning to do activities indoors, if you can't do that, planning on what you'll do if your respiratory conditions get worse, things like using your rescue inhaler, potentially having a low threshold to treat respiratory infections. Yeah, I always read that, you know, don't go outside as much. But there's some of those smoky days where even inside, I'm smelling it inside as well. Oh, definitely.

And there's things that you can do to improve the air quality indoors. One, obviously, is keeping the windows closed. But also, you might want to invest in a high-quality air filter. Try to avoid things that make the indoor air quality worse. And this may seem obvious, but don't burn things inside. Don't smoke. Don't light candles. Don't burn incense.

Don't use indoor fireplaces when the air quality outside is bad. Mm-hmm. So for people, you know, without any known respiratory, related illnesses who may not be used to thinking about this stuff, to thinking deeply about air quality. When would it be time to contact a doctor if you're feeling any symptoms? It's tough, right? Because sometimes we cough and we're not immediately thinking about the air quality. Definitely. I mean, I would say if you're having increased shortness of breath that's not getting better, increased cough that's not getting better, and then also things like chest pain and palpitations, those would be reasons to contact your doctor. It's not just pulmonary issues.

Because those particles are so small, they get deep into your lungs and get into your bloodstream. And that's why we see an increased risk of things like cardiovascular issues like heart attack. Are you concerned that events like the one we're currently living through are likely to become more common? And, you know, are there any personal precautions people can take as we approach a future where this is maybe happening a lot more often? Yeah, definitely it's becoming more common with the increased temperatures and drier, climate. The Clean Air Act has largely improved the air quality in most parts of the United States over the last few decades, but those gains have been diminished by the increased wildfires. And I think we're going to see more and more of this. So things that people can do, again,

to invest in a high-quality air filter and just keep an eye on the air quality index and plan your activities accordingly. Are you making adjustments? Are you thinking about this as you're walking around? I am. It's hard. You know, most of the things I do. for my physical and mental health involved things outside, like running outside, walking to and from work. Right. Yeah, I mean, last weekend, I went outside for a run and the air looked beautiful. It was a crisp day, but it smelled like a campfire.

And when I got home, I realized the air quality was pretty bad, and probably it would have been better not to have done that. Well, pulmonologist, Dr. Barbara Mann, with the Mount Sinai National Jewish Health Respiratory Institute. Thank you so much for your time today. Thanks for having me. Thanks for listening. NYC Now from WMYC.

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