NYC NOW - October 10, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: October 10, 2023

Former three-term Long Island Congressmember Tom Suozzi has announced that he’s planning to run for Congress next year. Also, police have arrested three teenagers in connection to an anti-LGBTQ attack on a 72-year-old man in Chelsea last month. And starting Tuesday, travelers can use OMNY readers to ride the AirTrain to and from JFK Airport. Plus, according to recent estimates, a quarter of New York City kids can't swim, with children of color less likely to be able to than their white counterparts. To address this problem, the City Council is moving to require second graders to receive swimming instruction. For more, WNYC’s Janae Pierre spoke with Paulana Lamonier, founder of the organization Black People Will Swim.

NYC now. Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Tuesday, October 10th. Here's the midday news from Kerry Nolan. Former U.S. Representative Tom Swazi is planning to run for Congress next year. In a message posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, the former three-term Long Island Congress member cited the recent turmoil in Washington and the, quote, absurdity of Representative George Santos holding his former seat as his reasons for running. Swazi skipped the House race in 2022 to instead challenge Governor Kathy Hokel and others for the Democratic nomination in the race for governor. He says he'll kick off a formal campaign after the local November elections. Asked for a comment, Santos told Gothamist via text message that he didn't think Swazi would make it out of the primary.

Police have arrested three teens in connection with an anti-LGBQ attack on a man in Manhattan last month. The three boys are 13, 14, and 16. They were arrested on the Lower East Side yesterday. Police alleged they assaulted a 72-year-old man in Chelsea in September, calling him an anti-gay slur. They then allegedly attacked him, leaving the victim with a broken jaw and lacerations. The teens are charged with assault as a hate crime and weapons possession. police are still looking for a fourth suspect. And you can now tap and go to ride the air train to and from JFK airport.

Starting today, travelers can use the new Omni Readers at the Jamaica and Howard Beach stations. You can tap your debit and credit cards, your digital wallet, or Omni card. Omni is operated by the MTA, which says there'll be Omni readers at all JFK Air Train gates by the end of next year. Mostly sunny and breezy today. H highs in the mid-60s. It's 58 degrees in New York City. N. Y.C. Swimming is a life-saving skill, but New York City estimates show a quarter of city kids can't swim, with children of color less likely to be able to than their white counterparts.

To try and address this problem, the City Council is moving to have the city require second graders to receive swimming instruction. My colleague, Jene Pierre, spoke with Polana Lamonier, who founded an organization called Black People Will Swim. Before we get into it, Paulana, how old were you when you first learned to swim? I was in elementary school, so I would probably say nine or ten. I learned how to swim at a local swim program that my parents put my sisters in eye in just to keep us out the house and to avoid making a ruckus. And then as I've gotten older, I ended up joining the college swim team where I've really learned how to become a competitor.

Why did you start Black People Will Swim? What was the motivation behind it? When I started it, it was simply a mission to teach 30 black and brown people how to swim one summer. And then as I was teaching, I realized that I can't teach 30 people while also having a full-time job. So I recruited my sister and my cousin, certifying them and also paying them. And then during that time, while I was teaching them how to swim, there was this young lady. She joined my class and said, I can't swim because my bones are too dense. And I'm like, where did you get that from?

Yeah, and she was very confident in saying that. Like, I cannot swim. I cannot float because my bones are too dense. And I'm like, sis, I'm with you. I'm right here and I can swim. And everybody else in this class can swim as well. And from that moment, I did my research and realized that there are so many other obstacles and stereotypes that are taking place in the community that leads to black people drowning

at higher rates than any other demographic and ethnicity. I want to talk a bit more about those misconceptions. Like, what are some of the fears and insecurities keeping people of color away from the pool? Black people do not have enough access to pools. Affordability, swim lessons are really expensive. Representation. There's not enough black and brown people in the sport

to encourage people to learn how to swim. And let's think about it this way. There's not enough black instructors, right? And then, of course, education, especially with our hair. There is a learning curve when it comes down to hair maintenance, hair education, and what to do when you're learning how to swim. So when you think about that, in addition to the racist stereotypes, there's a ton of reasons why black people don't know how to swim. We talked a little bit about the insecurities and fears for black people surrounding swimming and going to the pool if they have access to one. how do you teach young black kids to overcome these fears and insecurities?

I simply remind them of how far they've come. They've realized that they needed to learn this life skill. I remind them to think of the hardest challenge or the hardest moment of their life and how they've managed to overcome it. And that swimming is the same thing. But this time, they have someone with them to guide them through that process and help them come on the other side. Now, we're having this conversation because,

Thanks to a new bill passed by the city council, second graders in New York City public schools will now be required to learn this life-saving skill. Paulana, why is it so critical to learn to swim at this particular age for second graders? Drowning is the number one cause of death for children under the ages of four, right? But I think for eight-year-olds, right? Second graders, that's where curiosity and their fearlessness comes into play. A lot of times parents are not always there. on field trips, parents will always have an eye on them. And so curiosity and adventure tends to get the best of our kids. And so with that being said, it's important that, you know, we equipping

not just eight-year-olds, but and everybody that should be really learning this life skill. You know, part of this bill that the New York City Council passed will also require the city to collect more information on drowning incidents and increase pool access to lower-income communities, two things that you briefly touched on. Here's council member Sylvina Brooks Powers, who co-sponsored the bill. Every New Yorker should have the opportunity to swim, not only enjoy the city's waters, but to protect themselves from danger. New York City is surrounded by water. Talk about the benefits of learning how to swim. One, swimming, it is a life-saving skill. That's number one. It's good for physical health. If you want to lose weight, it's easy on your joints because you're

You have the buoyancy. And it's also really good for your mental health. When you think of it from a sports standpoint, you're learning about sportsmanship, teamwork. And so those are few of many benefits that the sports swimming can provide. This summer, three teenagers separately drowned in the Rockaways and Coney Island. We hear of these tragedies far too often, right? But I wonder how many lives would have been saved if folks were equipped with the right skills. And it's beyond just knowing how.

to swim, right? So, Paulana, can you elaborate on that a bit? Yeah, it's definitely more than learning how to swim. And that's what makes our program really unique. We really teach you life-saving skills. Drownings happen for a few reasons. One, because they panic. Two, because they're tired and three, because they don't know how to swim. So if we eliminate two, the panic and the tiredness, we eliminate that by teaching you how to flow on your back. You catching a moment to catch your breath, talking yourself down, getting that moment to recuperate to then being able to turn around and swim to get to your destination. That's what makes our program different. It is a life-saving swim program as opposed to a learn-to-sim program.

Paulana LaMoneye is founder of Black People Will Swim. Thanks for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. 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.