NYC NOW - November 3, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: November 3, 2023

A federal judge has ordered the NYPD to stop enforcing a policy that prohibits people from recording inside police precincts. Also, the Department of Transportation and Citi Bike's parent company Lyft, say they plan to double the number of e-bikes in New York City over the next year. Finally, the FBI has raided the home of Brianna Suggs, a key fundraiser for Mayor Eric Adams, as part of an investigation into alleged corruption. An attorney for Adams’ campaign says the mayor was not contacted as part of the inquiry. WNYC's Elizabeth Kim explains.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Friday, November 3rd. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. A federal judge has ordered the NYPD to stop enforcing a policy that prohibits people from recording inside police precincts. The order is in effect while a lawsuit challenging the rule is pending in court. Activist Sean Paul Reyes sued the NYPD this year after police arrested him for filming inside precinct lobbies. He says the ban on filming violates a city law that protects New Yorker's right to tape police and also the U.S. Constitution.

The city's right to record act allows people to tape police as long as they don't physically interfere. The law department, which represents the NYPD, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. We're going to see a lot more electric city bikes on the streets of New York City soon. The Department of Transportation and City Bikes parent company Lyft say they're doubling the number of available e-bikes over the next year. They say almost half of City Bike rides are e-bike rides, despite e-bikes only being about a fifth of the current city bike fleet. They're also going to test charging stations at bike docks and launch a public awareness campaign about e-bike safety. The top speed for the e-bikes will be 18 miles per hour. Remember to roll back that clock an hour Sunday at 2 a.m. 52 in sunny now, sunny and 56 for a high-day.

Saturday and Sunday look dry, high temperatures in the upper are right there at about 60 under partly sunny skies. FBI agents are investigating a key fundraiser to Mayor Eric Adams. agents raided the Crown Heights home of Brianna Suggs yesterday morning. Suggs, who has worked with Adams since he was Brooklyn Borough President, raised money for his mayoral campaign and has also lobbied his administration on behalf of a real estate client. Adams, who was on his way to D.C. yesterday morning for a meeting at the White House, abruptly canceled the trip to return to New York. An attorney for his campaign says the mayor was not contacted as part of the inquiry.

Joining us now for the latest is WNYC's Elizabeth Kinney. who's been following this story. Let's just walk our listeners through the mayor's relationship with Suggs. Who is she? So, Brianna Suggs is someone who occupies a prominent role in the mayor's fundraising operation, and she's considered part of his inner circle. Now, what's interesting to note is her fairly quick rise in the world of New York City politics. She's only 25 years old.

So she started out as an intern in 2017 for, Adams when he was the Brooklyn Borough president. She quickly works her way up as a permanent staffer and she reports to deputy borough president, Ingrid Lewis Martin. Now, what's interesting to note there is Martin is one of Adams's closest confidants and she is now his chief advisor. Suggs eventually works on the mayor's first mayoral campaign in the fundraising arm. I'm told that at the time she was mainly involved. in the logistics of planning fundraising events. But she segues that role into what appears to now be the main fundraising contact on his reelection campaign. As you mentioned at the top, she's also a lobbyist.

She's been hired to work on a political action committee run by Al Cockfield. That's a very politically influential Brooklyn pastor, who's a close ally of the mayor. And she's also worked for East Broadway Mall. That's a real estate entity in Chinatown, where she's where she was lobby being the mayor and city council last year. Liz, I'm curious. What do we know about this investigation itself? So it's a very complicated picture at this point, Michael. What we know is that the FBI raided her home and they left carrying boxes.

Now, the New York Times was able to obtain a copy of the search warrant. And what they have told us is that the raid is part of a corruption investigation that involved conspiring with the Turkish government funneling illegal donations from Turkish officials. They've reported that there are a raft of potential charges that can also include the theft of federal funds. So there's an appearance here that this may have been a scheme to organize straw donors. Those are people who are given money to donate in their names, primarily to take advantage of the city's very generous matching funds program. But I want to be clear, there's no indication so far that the investigation is targeting the mayor.

And he's not been accused of any wrongdoing. Now, the mayor abruptly scrubbed his trip to D.C., as we said, to discuss immigration with several big-seating mayors. But he did attend a Gracie Mansion event for last night. Can you tell us about what happened last night? What was the mood there? So this was an event that the mayor had on his initial schedule in which he didn't cancel. you know, listeners may know it's the day of the dead. It's a widely observed holiday in Mexico.

And as far as the mood goes, it was a bit surreal. I mean, the mayor's office put together, you know, what they should do, which is a very festive event with good music. There are people dressed in traditional costumes. But then they're also reporters like myself who are there to see if and how the mayor addresses the raid. So the mayor does come out and he does say something about the raid very briefly. This is what he says. I have not been contacted by anyone from any law enforcement agency.

And that's why I came back from D.C. to be here, to be on the ground and look at this inquiry as it was made. So that quote in which he says, to be here on the ground, that's something that the mayor often says about a lot of things. In fact, you know, when he went to Latin America recently because he wanted to learn more about basically people who are, seeking asylum in New York City, that was one of the reasons he gave. Like, why did the mayor need to be there? He often says, I need to be on the ground. And it was very interesting that in that moment, he says the same thing. Liz, Suggs is not the first person associated with Adams to come under scrutiny. Is that right? No, she's not. Manhattan DA, Alan Bragg, currently has two investigations into people who are closely linked to the mayor. Oh, in one case

is yet another one involving straw donors. And that, among those indicted is a person named Dwayne Montgomery. Now, he's a former NYPD inspector who's known Adams for decades. And the other case he has is against Eric Ulrich, who was Adams' buildings commissioner.

Now, he's being indicted for taking bribes to dole out favors for friends, contractors, and other business interests. Liz, very quickly, here's just a couple of seconds left. Do you foresee this situation having any impact on the mayor's ability to govern New York City? Well, you know, the mayor had a slogan during the campaign, which was stay focused, no distractions, grind. But this is not just a distraction. You know, he's not been implicated, but given the other investigations, it casts a giant shadow of suspicion over his mayoralty. And the real problem is it's probably not over, right? That's the number one. question political observers are asking, who else in the mayor's inner circle is going to be drawn into this? And how much further does it extend? And of course, does any of it eventually lead back to the mayor? And we know that you'll be following this story closely. And this document and this

link to the Turkish government, that's quite puzzling or someone in Turkey. It's puzzling. Can you tell us anything more about that? Well, as a Brooklyn Borough president, the Adams was known to be sort of a globe-trotting, you know, elected officials. He'd like to travel. And even as mayor, there's no secret to that. You know, I was just talking about his trip to Latin America. And Turkey actually happens to be a place that he went to a lot. I mean, recently, he actually did, he often does flag raisings for different, different nationalities.

I'm afraid we're going to have to leave it there. But that's our Liz Kim there covering the mayor and talking about the latest investigation. Liz, thank you so much. Thanks, Michael. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

We'll be back this evening.