NYC NOW - October 22, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

Queens state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani announces his run for mayor of New York City. Plus, members of the Central Park Five file a defamation lawsuit against former President Trump. And finally, WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with reporters Brigid Bergin and Michelle Bocanegra for a breakdown of six ballot proposals New York City voters will weigh in on on Election Day.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jared Marcel. Assemblyman Zoran Mamdani has entered the race for mayor of New York City. He becomes the fifth primary challenger to current mayor, Eric Adams, who's facing federal corruption charges. Momdani, a Democratic socialist representing Western Queens, says the mayor is facing a crisis at City Hall. New Yorkers are being crushed by rent and child care, working people. are being pushed out of the city that they built. And Eric Adams has no answers to this crisis.

Mom Dani says he'll campaign on faster and free buses, a rent freeze for all rent-stabilized units, and universal health care. The five men wrongfully convicted and exonerated for the rape of a woman in Central Park in 1989 are suing former President Trump for defamation. WNYC's Catalina Garnella has more. The lawsuit stems from comments Trump made during the, the presidential debate last month. He was responding to Vice President Harris, who invoked the infamous full-page ad Trump took out in local papers in the wake of the attack, which read,

Bring Back the Death Penalty. Central Park Five, they admitted, they said they pled guilty. But the men never pled guilty. They were convicted after making false confessions. The suit alleges Trump knowingly made the false statements further defaming them. It seeks to clear their names once again, along with damages. Trump's spokesperson Stephen Chung says the lawsuit is, quote, just another frivolous election interference lawsuit. Election Day is two weeks away. Aside from the key races, New York City voters will consider a few ballot questions.

More on that after the break. You are listening to NYC now. If you're planning to vote in the upcoming election, you'll see a lot of name. on your ballot, candidates for president, as well as candidates for Congress and the state legislature. But what about those big blocks of text on the back of the ballot? New York City voters will have the chance to weigh in on six proposals this year. For a breakdown, my colleague Michael Hale talked with WNYC reporters, Bridget Bergen, and Michelle Bocanegra. Bridget, let's start with the only

statewide proposal being put before New Yorkers this year. It's been called the Equal Rights Amendment, but it will show up as Proposition 1 on Listeners' Balance. What would it do? This is a proposition that would add new constitutional protections to the state constitution in the Equal Protection Clause, and specifically it would prohibit discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, reproductive health, and autonomy. So protections across a broader set of classifications and a very explicit constitutional protection for abortion, even though the word abortion is not one of the words I just read to you. Currently, the language in the state's Equal Protection Clause dates back to 1938, and it only includes race, color, creed, or religion. Now, Bridget, there are opponents to this. What are their arguments against her?

So opponents have seized on what they describe as vague language in the measure. This, you know, is something that came about in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. way two years ago. But as I mentioned, the word abortion isn't actually in the text of the ballot question, even though, you know, supporters really say this is what this measure is about. So those opponents warned that the law would undermine what are sometimes referred to as parents' rights and allow more trans kids to play on girls' sports teams. Those claims have been deemed false by the nonpartisan New York City Bar Association. the amendment would not change existing laws related to parental consent when it comes to health care or gender affirming care for minors, and it doesn't change anything related to participation in sports teams.

The other five are citywide making changes to the city charter. First thing, what is the charter, Michelle? Because a lot of people may not know we hear charter, but what does the charter do? What is it? Well, Michael, it's effectively the city's constitution. It's a set of rules that govern how the city functions. And just like the Constitution, we can make amendments, which is what ballot proposals two through six would do if passed. So the first one of those questions would affect the sanitation department, right, Michelle?

What would change? First and foremost, it would expand the sanitation department's powers to clean what has been described as no man's lands in the city like street medians. And it would also codify the department's authority to clean city highways in the charter, which for a long time, time had been under the purview of the Department of Transportation. And really, the sticking point for this particular proposal is what it would mean for street vendors. It would broaden the sanitation department's mandate to issue fines and broaden enforcement. Street vendor advocates for that reason have spoken disapprovingly of the proposal, but the sanitation department, for a whole gamut of reasons, has spoken in favor of it.

Let's look at the ballot questions three and four. They would alter the city council making laws. Michelle, would you explain to us what those would do? Yes, and you were right to think about these in duality. So the first one ballot question number three would require the council to estimate how much each bill would cost to implement into law before any hearing or vote. And also, the mayor would need eight days notice before the council can have a hearing or vote on legislation. And that's because they would like to carve out additional time for a separate estimate, which would be prepared by the mayor's office of management and budget.

Some budget deadlines would also get pushed back under the proposal. And the next proposal about question number four concerns public safety related legislation, essentially, it spells out that before the council can vote on any bill affecting the police, fire, or corrections departments, the council would have to give the mayor relevant agency commissioners and the public 30 days notice. And in that time, the mayor or the relevant commissioners can call additional public hearings to solicit feedback from the public. And the council says both of these proposals could bog down the lawmaking process, but the commission, which was, assembled by Mayor Adams argues that this is all in the interest of transparency. And Michael, if you remember earlier this year, the mayor vetoed one policing bill and one criminal justice bill, yeah, which the council eventually overrode.

So it does hit at a sore spot for the dynamic between the two bodies. Two more for you, Michelle. Questions five and six affect infrastructure and a hodgepodge of city processes, including film permits, right? What would those change? So ballot question number five pertains to the city's infrastructure. It would require additional details on city facilities in an annual report called the citywide statement of needs.

And the final ballot question here, ballot question number six, it's kind of a marriage of three seemingly unrelated things. A hodgepodge, as we called it. Yeah, a hodgepodge. It would enshrine the role of chief business diversity officer. into the charter, it would punch the city's authority to issue film permits from the Department of Small Business Services to the mayor's office of media and entertainment. And lastly, it would fold two separate boards that are both focused on the city's archives into one being.

It seems as if some politicians are calling on voters to vote no straight down the line on questions two through six, but one is a very different story. Is that right, Bridget? Yeah, Michael, that's right. You'll hear some pretty outspoken opposition to those ballot questions that Michelle just went through from a pretty large group of elected officials. They even have a little tag phrase. They want voters to nix two through six. And that's basically because of the process that these questions were developed through. It was a charter review commission, but they see it as something that was very rushed and intended to really subvert the power of the city council. In terms of prop one, it's a much different debate. It really breaks down along partisan lines. Left-leaning lawmakers and

organizations are largely in favor of it. While those on the right tend to oppose it, and just to give you a flavor of some of those arguments, I want to play a little tape from some of the most recent rallies and press events just yesterday at City Hall. Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli organized a group of opponents to speak out against the measure. They were joined by attorney Bobby Ann Cox, who describes herself as a constitutional expert. Among her issues, she says it's disingenuous for supporters to call this the Equal Rights Amendment and emphasize that neither those words nor even the word abortion shows up in the actual text. That language does not appear on your ballot. That language does not appear in the language that will go into our Constitution if this passes. It is not an

All rights amendment. Then on Sunday, State Attorney General Tish James, with a large group of elected officials, Democrats, organizers in Manhattan, rallying to support the measure. She says this is about making sure government does not make your health care decisions. My friends, everything is at height. And Michael, that partisan split is reflected in new polling data out from Santa College that found 89% of Democrats support this issue, while 50% of Republicans oppose it. That's WNYC reporter's Bridget Bergen and Michelle Bougain.

We're talking with my colleague Michael Hill. You can read more about the ballot questions at our new site, Gothamist. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Jared Marcel. We'll be back tomorrow.