NYC NOW - November 25, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: November 25, 2024

The New York City Council will question CUNY officials Monday about updates to its antisemitism policies after a third-party review. Meanwhile, transportation advocates and elected officials in the Bronx are protesting Governor Kathy Hochul’s plan to add connector roads to the Cross Bronx Expressway during highway repairs. Also, severe drought in the Northeast has experts urging updates to water policies and conservation technologies. Plus, Mayor Eric Adams is pushing for changes to state law to make it easier to hospitalize people for psychiatric care against their will, following last week’s deadly Manhattan stabbings. WNYC’s Caroline Lewis has details on the mental health proposals being debated. Finally, Thanksgiving is near, and we want to hear your traditions! Nancy Peer of New Jersey shares her family’s playful twist on the holiday.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC. It's Monday, November 25th. Here's the midday news. I'm Jene Pierre. The New York City Council will question officials with the City University of New York this week. WMYC's Michelle Bocanegro reports on the hearing about how the college is updating its anti-Semitism policies after a third party identified some areas for improvement.

Shortly after October 7th last year, when war broke out between Hamas and Israel, Governor Kathy Hokel commissioned an outside review of how CUNY responds to allegations of anti-Semitism on campus. She released the findings this fall. And on Monday, the city council is holding a hearing on how the university system is progressing with the report's recommendations. Investigators found inconsistencies in its anti-Semitism policies and some lackluster oversight for complaints. But the report says that anti-Semitism at CUNY is not widespread and that incidents are limited to what the author described as a small vocal minority on campuses. Transportation advocates are joining elected officials in the Bronx today to protest Governor Kathy Hokel's plans to add new roads near the Cross Bronx Expressway. The State Department of Transportation plans to repair portions of the highway but also wants to add new connector roads to move traffic while the work is completed.

Advocates like Jackie Cohen with the Tri-State Transportation Campaign say that would effectively expand the cross-bronx, which is completed. Advocates like Jackie Cohen with the Tri-State Transportation Campaign say that would effectively expand the cross-bronks, which is already a major source of pollution in the borough. There's an entire process happening right now that's exploring what can become of this bad transportation infrastructure while simultaneously exploring ways to widen the highway. It's like the left hand isn't talking to the right hand. Last month, officials put out proposals to, quote, cap the expressway with public plazas and parks. The U.S. Northeast is experiencing an unusually severe and widespread drought during months that are typically the wettest.

Experts say major changes need to happen to avoid future critical shortages of water, and as the climate warms, droughts will continue to intensify. The Northeast could stretch the available water by updating technologies and policies, including reporting. replenishing more water underground, paying people to conserve water and reusing it. 45 degrees sunny skies. It will remain sunny throughout the day with highs around 52. Cloudy skies tonight with a chance of overnight rain, expect lows around 40. And Tuesday, the rain will stick around with chimps reaching 58 degrees. Skies will be clear on Tuesday night with lows around 36. Stay close. There's more after the break.

New York City, Mayor. Eric Adams wants to change state law to make it easier to hospitalize people for psychiatric care against their will, but he's struggling to get support in Albany. The renewed push comes in response to a violent incident last week when three New Yorkers were stabbed to death in Manhattan. Some state lawmakers are now suggesting their own set of reforms that don't go quite as far as the measures being pushed by Adams. WMYC Healthcare reporter Caroline Lewis is here to talk about the mental health proposals that are on the table as lawmakers prepare for a new session in January. So what are some of the changes that Adams is proposing and why does he say that they're needed? So for the past couple of years, Adams has been pushing for legislation called the Supportive Interventions Act. It would codify into law,

state guidance from 2022 that said people can be hospitalized involuntarily if they appear unable to meet their own basic needs, even if they don't pose an imminent threat of harm to themselves or others, which has really been the longstanding standard. And Adams has been advising police and clinicians to follow that guidance, but he says that without a change in the law, some are still too hesitant to put the standard into practice. I think what's tough is we don't really know how much of a barrier this presents, since we have limited data from the city on Adams' effort, you know, to push more involuntary hospitalization. But so far, state lawmakers have not shown much interest in putting their weight behind this. And it's drawn a lot of criticism from

mental health and homeless advocates. And the bill Adams is championing also includes several additional reforms. What other changes will the bill make? So it would also add homeless shelter staff to the list of people who could send someone to the hospital involuntarily for a psych evaluation. And then once they arrive at the hospital, it would expand the types of clinicians who could determine that someone should be held involuntarily. So right now it's just psychiatrists, but it would add, you know, psychiatric nurse practitioners and social workers. And it also includes several provisions related to court-ordered outpatient treatment. So for instance, it would require every psychiatric patient being released from the hospital to be evaluated to determine whether they should

be placed in court-ordered outpatient treatment, which could then land them back in the hospital if they fall out of compliance. Let's talk about where things stand right now. How far has this bill made it so far? Not far. The bill has stalled in the State Assembly for the past couple of sessions, and it's only now about to be introduced in the state Senate. But that hasn't stopped Adams from trying to push the bill, especially when, you know, we see these types of violent incidents take place like we did last week. You know, he called on lawmakers to pass the bill last year also when Jordan Neely, Amanda, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia was killed on the subway. And then, you know, after the stabbings last week, Adams again renewed his calls for state lawmakers to act. So we're still, you know, finding out exactly what role any specific gap in mental health services played in that attack. But the suspect in the case, Ramon Rivera, was hospitalized for psychiatric care in the past. And his lawmaker, I mean, his lawyer is also seeking a mental health evaluation. So it's, you know,

prompted all of these different responses. And how are state lawmakers responding? Well, Senator Brad Hoyleman Siegel and a newly elected assembly member, Michael Lashar, have announced their introducing their own legislation called the Help Act. It would adopt certain aspects of the Supervised Interventions Act, like the piece allowing for more clinicians to evaluate whether patients should be held involuntarily. But Hoyleman Siegel emphasizes that it wouldn't change the existing standard for involuntary hospitalization in the mental hygiene law. which hinges on the threat of substantial harm to sell for others.

That definition is considered sank or synchr-synced, I think, by a number of my colleagues. And what is considered feasible in Albany is an important North Star for when you are introducing legislation. The senator said he's been working on this legislation for a while, but he did ultimately release the announcement. right after the stabbings that took place last week. And I think there is this pressure to take, you know, some kind of immediate action when there's an incident like that. But some advocates I've spoken to said we really need more of a robust mental health system overall, not just a push for more involuntary measures. That's WMYC Healthcare reporter Caroline Lewis. Thanks so much. Thanks. Thanksgiving is around the corner.

and we want to know how you make the holiday unique. Nancy Pier from New Jersey sent us a voice memo with her tradition with a playful twist. In my family, I started a tradition. I made up a board game years ago. And every year, I make my family play the game because I always thought as a kid, Thanksgiving was boring compared to Halloween and Easter and obviously Christmas, which is all about kids. So my father being an artist and I being an artist, we collaborated and each year the game gets a little more refined.

I torture my family and make them play, but honestly, we all look forward to it. This year there's actually two games, one that's quick and for the kids. And the second is a trivia game kind of like trivial pursuit that includes clues that are about the mythical first Thanksgiving and food in general, which we all know a little bit about in one way or another. I originally thought I would go to Macy's with my idea. Actually, my father put a big red star on the game board for Macy's. And with the 100th year of the parade coming up in a couple years, I'm still hoping I can knock on their door and get some interest from this. them. Anyway, even if the game goes nowhere, it's a tradition in my family and everyone's used to

having to play it. We want to hear from you. What are some of your unique holiday traditions? How did they come to be? Send us a brief voice memo at your voice at WMYC.org. That's your voice at WMYC.org. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Check us out. Check us how for updates every weekday, three times a day, for the latest news headlines and occasional deep times. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back this evening.