NYC NOW - November 3, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: November 3, 2023

New York City council member Inna Vernikov was arraigned in court this week on a charge of criminal possession of a gun in a “sensitive location.” Plus, the downtown design store, KIOSK, is looking for a new home. Also, WNYC’s Elizabeth Kim reports on Mayor Eric Adams’ relationship with the city’s muslim community amid the Israel-Hamas war. And finally, WNYC’s Charles Lane takes us over the Willis Avenue Bridge into the Bronx at mile 20, ahead of this weekend’s New York City Marathon.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We begin in Brooklyn, where New York City Council member Ina Verna Kov was arraigned in court Thursday on a charge of criminal possession of a gun in a quote, sensitive location. That's based on a new state law that bans most permitted gun owners like Vernikov from carrying a gun in certain areas, including schools and protests. She was arrested last month after images circulated online of the United States. the Republican lawmaker wearing a firearm on her hip at a pro-Palestinian protest at Brooklyn College. Vernacov did not enter a plea, and she stoop back in court in January. She represents Brighton Beach, Sheep's Head Bay, and other parts of Southern Brooklyn.

Now to Manhattan, where a beloved downtown design store is looking for a new home for its archive of more than 1,500 objects. WNYC's Ryan Kylath has the details. When the one-of-a-kind shop kiosk opened on Spring Street in 2000, the city's design community noticed. Yeah, I have so many memories of kiosk. Moment design stores Che Costello says kiosk was an inspiration. Owners Alyssa Griffo and Marco Tehar Romani traveled the globe, finding mundane but extraordinary objects.

A nice brush, a mesh net bag. Then brought them back and installed them like a museum exhibit, but for sale, cheap. Now an online store only, kiosk has stored one of each item in a growing archive. With storage prices increasing, the owners say they need to move the collection by Thanksgiving. You can learn more about kiosk and its archive at our news site, Got the Mist. Stay close. There's more after the break.

NYC. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has worked throughout his political career to build ties with the city's Muslim communities. But that bond has become strained amid the Israel-Hamas War. WMYC's Elizabeth Kim has more. Despite the impending rain, hundreds of Muslim New Yorkers gather outside City Hall. Men, women, and children of different sex and ethnic backgrounds are preparing to prey on a blue tarp that stretches down Broadway. There are Palestinian flags and signs calling for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas that has killed thousands of civilians.

Shahana Masum doesn't hold back her anger at Mayor Eric Adams. He forgot all these people. They're always friends to him, you know, supported him. Anybody wanted to attack him. They are always for him. But look at him. He doesn't care. When the Palestinian children are dying, our mayor is, he doesn't see that one.

He's the only one side. And he's so blinded, blindfolded right now. It's an unexpected turn for the mayor. The city is home to nearly a million Muslims, many of whom say they felt discriminated against after 9-11. Adams, a former police officer, often speaks about his stance during that period. When I speak with my Muslim brothers and sisters, I take them back to 2001, how I led to fight that young Muslims should not be forcefully incarcerated.

And in August, standing inside City Hall, Adam said the city would allow mosques to air a weekly broadcast of the Adon, the Muslim call to prayer. You would not live in the shadows of the American dream while I'm the mayor of the city of New York. This was a promise I made on the campaign trail, and with lists of so many other promises, this is a promise kept. But the mayor's commitment is now being questioned by some in the community. His statements around the October 7th attack by Hamas have focused mostly on Israeli casualties, and less on Palestinian deaths and the conditions they're currently facing in Gaza. I ask protester, Helsham El-El-Miligi, what he expects of the mayor in this moment.

I expect decency. I expect the justice. I expect the justice. and fairness of someone in office to represent everyone under their jurisdiction, not only one group or the other. A recent Zoom meeting, Adams held with Muslim advocates, apparently didn't help his standing with the community. Several people who attended say the mayor came off as patronizing and defensive. That includes Palestinian American attorney Lamis Deke. She says when she began criticizing Adams during the meeting,

she was muted on the Zoom call. The way that he's treated us as a community, has been with such abject condescension and erasure that we no longer believe him. Advocates like Deek say they want the mayor to realize that language matters in this politically charged moment. Both Muslims and Jews are concerned about violent threats. Following that Zoom meeting, Adams gave an interview on a streaming talk show called Good Music, Good Times, that seemed like a response to concerns from Muslim New Yorkers. Amaz actions were terrorism.

It was not Islam, and I think it's wrong if we demonize Islam and Muslims based on the action of terrorists. But back at the protests, Muslims don't seem to notice any shift in the mayor's rhetoric. Again, Shahana Masum. We are really disappointed. But you know what? The election coming up soon. It's not that far. At one point during the protest, I spot a familiar face.

Are you with the city? Yeah. You're Muhammad? Yes, that's me, yeah. Muhammad Bahi is the mayor's liaison to the Muslim community, one of several Muslims who occupy key roles in Adams' administration. He was with the mayor the day it was announced the city would broadcast the Muslim call to prayer. Now he's helping organizers lay out a blue tarp where participants will pray and then protest his boss.

He declines to be interviewed. He tells me he's just here to pray with his brothers and sisters. That's WNYC's Elizabeth Kim. On Sunday, more than 50,000 people are expected to run in the annual New York City Marathon. Runners will come over the Willis Avenue Bridge into the Bronx and hit mile 20. That's what marathoners call the wall, when runners feel like they just can't go anymore. But if they can make it, just a few more blocks, there's a surprise ahead. Here's WMYC's Charles Lane.

Mile 20 in New York City's marathon is the most desolate spot of the course. It's a lonely stretch underneath the Major Deegan Expressway alongside gritty parking lots, chain link fences, and vacant storefronts. It's far from Manhattan soaring skyline and the thousands of cheering fans in Central Park. But the boogey-down Bronx runners see it as something else. We are known as the Party Zone. Jose Bravo is with the Boogie Down Bronx Runners, a group known as a group known as, the most enthusiastic supportive running group in the city. We have DJ, we have food set up, we have cowbells,

everything you need for a cheer station, pom-poms. And again, just to bring that vibe. Because as they come, it's really the only section of the Bronx they come through. And so we want to make sure that anybody that does come through that section of the Bronx remembers that this is what the Bronx is about. To show me what he's talking about, he invited me to a training run, the Bronx 10-miler, where even for this relatively small race, they have confetti cannons. Wendy Portillo gets one of the confetti cannons ready.

She holds it out with two hands, turns her head away, and... Portillo is new to running. She actually just finished her first 5K. Everybody has their purpose as to why they run. And it's, you know, you start at different levels, and it's... just amazing to see the growth, right? And I mean, it's just like it's a great camaraderie. You know, everyone's so supportive. It's like you join from day one and you feel like you're, you've just, you know, inherited a family. Even for non-runners, Boogie Down is infectious. And that's the

point. Public health researchers consider the Bronx the least healthy place in New York. Matt Moody has been running with Boogie Down for the last six years. He says Boogie Down's goal is to get the Bronx off the bottom of that list. You don't have to be the fastest runner. You can start off from couch to 5K. If you just want to start off walking, we have that for anyone's looking to get into running or just moving period. We're basically trying to get people to move. To keep the marathon party going takes weeks of planning.

Jose Bravo. We show up 5.36 o'clock in the morning. Mind you, the runners don't actually start from Staten Island until 7, 8 o'clock in the morning. So most of the time we're just there preparing. We have signs ready. We invite family. The cheer section alone is 50, 60 deep. 50 to 60 people cheering, motivating the runners past the wall, encouraging new runners.

But Bravo says what they are most famous for is cheering until every last runner passes by. We'll just run shifts. So there's a setup shift, and then someone will show up midday, and then there's a cleanup shift. But what ends up happening is that we all end up showing up at 5.30, and then we just rock out until 7.000. His message to runners this Sunday, don't give up before you make it to the Bronx. Boogie Down will give you the energy to make it to the finish line. That's WNYC's Charles Lane. A quick note before we go.

We're dropping the final episode of WMYC's five-part investigative podcast series, imminent danger, one doctor and a trail of injured women. You don't want to miss the end. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Quick shout out to our predictions. team, it includes Sean Boutage, Amber Bruce, Ave Carrillo, Audrey Cooper, Leora Noam Kravitz, Jared Marcel, and Wayne Schoemeister, with help from the entire WNYC Newsroom. Our show art was designed by the folks at Buck, and our music was composed by

Alexis Quadrado. I'm Jene Pierre. Have a great weekend.