NYC NOW - November 6, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: November 6, 2023

Teenagers at New York City's juvenile jails are being forced to sleep on hallway floors and in classrooms due to overcrowding. Also, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz says that after a 7-month investigation, 3 men have been indicted for illegally trafficking guns into the city. Plus, New York State is creating a statewide registry to make it easier for parents and those who are expecting to find doulas. Finally, WNYC’s Brigid Bergin tells us what we need to know heading into the New York elections tomorrow.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jinnay Pierre. Teenagers at New York City's juvenile jails are being forced to sleep on hallway floors and in classrooms due to overcrowding. And at least two teens say they were assaulted at night in shared spaces. That's according to jail staff and lawyers for the teens. This comes after state officials waived a requirement last month for the city to provide every teen detainee a bed in their own room. About 200 New Yorkers between the ages of 12 and 21 who are awaiting sentencing are jailed at two sites, one in the South Bronx, the other in Brownsville, Brooklyn. A spokesperson for the city's administration for children's services, which oversees the sites, disputed the allegations, saying detainees sleep importable beds.

Queen's District Attorney Melinda Katz says a seven-month-long investigation, sparked by an anonymous tip, led to the indictment of three men for illegally trafficking over 100 guns. into New York City from other states. Kat says an undercover officer tracked them in and arranged to buy guns from them on several occasions over the summer. Many of the deals took place in the parking lot of a PC Richard and Sons in Astoria. This much lethal firepower in the hands of people on the street, I can't even imagine how many lives were saved with this takedown.

The weapons included two ghost guns without serial numbers. Defense attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. New York State is creating a statewide registry for DULAs. Governor Kathy Hokel signed legislation Monday that will provide a place for parents and those who are expecting to find DULAs to help manage the physical and mental health needs related to childbirth. And starting in January, Medicaid will also cover Dula services for low-income New Yorkers, expanding access to maternal and infant health services. Hockel also says the state is investing over $4 million in prenatal centers,

which will provide care for people while for children. they're pregnant after they give birth and to their newborns. Tomorrow is Election Day. More on that after the break. Tuesday is Election Day. Poll sites will open all across New York. In the city, voters will elect 51 city council members, district attorneys in the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island, and vote in nearly two dozen judicial contests. They will also vote yes or no on two statewide ballot questions. My colleague Michael Hill set down with WNYC's senior politics reporter Bridget Bergen to discuss what voters should know before casting their ballots. The polls are closed today for nine

days of early voting. Any early indicators have turned out so far? Yeah, Michael, so as you said, we've had early voting going for the past nine days. Today's the reset day. The Board of Elections shuts everything down. Polls will reopen across the city tomorrow. So far, we've seen. We saw just shy of 86,000 people turn out to vote during early voting for context. Last November, when we had those congressional midterms, a gubernatorial contest, state legislative races, we saw 432,000 people vote, Michael. So we're talking roughly five times as many people last year. It's pretty striking.

As is often the case, turnout was the highest in Manhattan so far, even though most of the competitive races are in Brooklyn and Queens, which came in second and third, respectively. And then we've got the Bronx and Staten Island where two district attorneys are on the ballot, although unopposed, coming fourth and fifth. For those of us going to vote tomorrow, any tips you recommend before going to the poll side? Yeah, first, it's really helpful to decide what time you want to vote. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. while, as we've said, you know, turnout's been lower. there probably will be less traffic. It may be busier around the morning and evening rush hours.

So if that's something that's an issue for you, you know, shoot for mid-morning or mid-afternoon if you want the quietest times at the polls. Also, be sure to go to vote.n.YC, that's the Board of Elections website. Use their poll site finder. Keep in mind, last year's redistricting process changed council district lines. So you may be in a new council district. So take a look at what's on your ballot, all of the offices, you still have some time to look candidates up before you go and vote. What about those statewide ballot questions we've talked about? What should we know about those? Well, first, promotion for my colleague, John Campbell. He wrote a really great explainer at gothamist.com. So go to our website. I just tweeted it out. I think we can still say tweet,

Michael. And you can find the article there. These are two short questions. They both relate to debt limits and spending restrictions set in the state constitution. One would raise the debt limit of small city school districts. We're talking places with fewer than 125,000 people like White Plains or New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Newburgh. If you vote yes on this question, it would bring those cities basically in line with the rest of the state in terms of how much they can borrow to make repairs to their schools. The second question is about allowing cities to borrow money to make repairs to their sewage treatment systems, something is very important, without that counting against their debt limit. Now, in John's reporting, thorough as it was, he found no organized opposition. And while

neither of these questions really impact people living here in the city, since they affect the state constitution, that's why we are being asked to vote on them. So be sure to make sure you vote on those two ballot questions. Bridget in general, is there anything unusual about the ballot this For instance, do we need to think about rank choice voting? It's a very fair question, Michael, but not in this election. Ranked choice voting is only for special and primary elections here in the city. You do not need to worry about rank choice voting today. The only thing you want to make sure you do is, as I said, make sure you know your district.

Those lines have changed, and if you were on the edge of a district, you may find that you're voting for some names that you don't recognize because your ballot has changed slightly. Also, don't forget those ballot questions. You may need to flip your ballot over so that you don't miss them. Any words of advice for any of us voting by absentee ballot? Yeah, keep in mind today is the last day to apply in person at your local Board of Elections Office. If you can't make it to your poll site tomorrow, those ballots must be then returned tomorrow. They need to either be postmarked by Election Day or you can actually drop it off at any Election Day poll site or at a Board of Elections Office. so it's a pretty easy process there. I'm curious, as a preview, what are you watching on Election Day?

Well, we've talked about some of the more hotly contested races. So, you know, one of the ones that I will have a very close eye on will be in South Brooklyn, Council District 47. Those lines changed so much in redistricting that we actually have two incumbents, Justin Brannon and Ari Kagan, running against each other. And Michael, things have gotten a little intense over there in the final few days. So we're going to be watching what's happening both in Brooklyn on Election Day and then certainly as the results come in. And when will we know the results?

Well, polls close at 9 p.m. Tuesday night. We're going to see a big dump of unofficial returns probably by about 10 p.m. And so for those races that are not close, we're probably going to know pretty easily on election night. But if there are close races, that may take more time. And Michael, keep in mind, there is nothing wrong with that. It is more important to get the count right than to get it fast. And so we will be there with you. WNYC will be keeping you posted all along the way.

And we will give you the results as they're coming in and when they're final. That's WMYC senior politics reporter, Bridget Bergen, talking with my colleague, Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday, three times. a day. I'm Jenae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.