NYC NOW - October 25, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: October 25, 2024

New York State students in the top 10 percent of their high school class will be automatically accepted to one of nine SUNY campuses. WNYC’s Jessica Gould reports. Meanwhile, New York Liberty fans and Brooklyn politicians gathered at Barclays Center Thursday night to celebrate the WNBA champions. Plus, WNYC’s Sean Carlson speaks with Councilmember Shaun Abreu about a new bill that would allow workers to use paid sick leave to care for sick pets or take them to the vet.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Friday, October 25th. Here's the midday news from Alec Hamilton. New York State students in the top 10% of their class will be automatically accepted to one of nine Sunni campuses. WMYC's Jessica Gould reports. The Directed Missions Program will begin with students from New York. city public schools and dozens of other school districts and will eventually expand statewide.

SUNY will notify eligible seniors this fall. Governor Kathy Hochel says the goal is to reduce barriers to higher education. The number of freshmen at colleges across the country went down this fall, possibly due to problems with federal financial aid forms. In another effort to boost higher ed, SUNY, CUNY, and more than 50 New York colleges are offering students a chance to apply for free through early November. New York Liberty fans descended on the Barclays Center last night to celebrate the WNBA champions. And New York, Brooklyn, we have won a champion.

Team mascot Ellie the Elephant tore up the dance floor and the stadium erupted in cheers when the team took the stage. Brooklyn politicians also showed up, including Attorney General Letitia James. She says this team will inspire a new generation of female basketball players. They're watching their players, their mothers, they're taking care of it. James also called for better pay for the WNBA team. Sunny today with a high of 63 degrees, this is WNYC. Stay close.

There's more after the break. Your employer may grant you paid sick leave for yourself or a family member, but what about your pet? city council member Sean Abraeu represents the 7th council district in uptown Manhattan. He introduced a bill this week that would allow New Yorkers to use their paid sick leave to take their pets to the vet or care for them when they're sick. If passed, New York City would be the first major city to include companion animals in paid sick leave law. My colleague Sean Carlson spoke with Councilmember Abraeu to learn more. Councilmember, can you just tell us what inspired you to introduce the bill?

introduce the bill? We can all agree that we are experiencing a mental health crisis in New York, and there's a lot more that we can do. And one easy way to tackle mental health is a resource that's already available to us, and that's by making pet ownership easier. The benefits of pet ownership are considerable. By having an animal, such as a dog, you're engaging in physical activity. That's known to counter depression. By having an animal, you can reduce cortisol levels. that's associated with stress and increased dopamine and serotonin, which is associated with relaxation and your well-being. Right.

For our young ones especially, it can teach them about routine, such as taking your dog out for a walk, feeding them, taking care of them, engaging them when they're bored. And these are things that in the long term are going to benefit our young ones too to lead a structured life. And so I'm a cat dad, as many refer to me. I have two cats, Rocky and Nina. And when they're in front of me, when Rocky especially is in front of me, all my anxiety melts away.

And it can melt away the anxiety, I believe, of a lot of people. Tell us more about your cats. When did you get them? I got my cat in September last year. We adopted them from an animal shelter. They were living out on the streets in Washington Heights. And we were lucky that they were rescued and taken to a shelter. and ever since then, I've been living with them,

but I've lived with cats for my entire life. Yeah. Is this issue not being able to take your pets to the vet or care for them and not being able to take sickly for that? Is that an issue you've been hearing from your constituents? For a very long time throughout my life, even, I know of a lot of people who have had to take time off to take care for their animals. Right?

Animals are living things. They go through wear and tear like humans do. and when you need to take your animal to the vet to take care of them, they should be paid for that time. We believe that animals are family members. I think a lot of New Yorkers can attest to that. In New York, about 50% of our households have an animal nationally, about two-thirds. And so we know folks who live with pets,

the impact that animals bring are considerable. Have you heard from the business community about your bill? How are they reacting to it? I mean, look, the truth is this bill is not giving an additional sick day. It's already part of the existing 40 hours that you're entitled to for the year. And so it's not going to add any additional expenses. We haven't heard much from the business community opposing this. I mean, also, this is, again, it's not a new cost to employers. So perhaps that's why they're not going on the attack, at least yet. Do you know what the timeline is on the bill? You just introduced it, right? So do you know when it's going to get through the council and do you expect it to pass? So we just introduced it yesterday. And the next step is getting the bill heard through a committee hearing, which would be the committee on Department of Consumer Affairs and Worker Protection. So I have some advocacy to do there with my colleagues and make sure that the bill gets heard. I have already been in conversations with Julie Mann and the chair. She so far has been receptive. But ultimately, we have to then get it to vote on the floor in the next few months. And I do feel confident that we'll be able to get this through. Right. We are a council that cares about mental health. We are a council that cares about worker flexibility and worker justice. And we are a council that loves our animals. I love mine. And I know a lot of New Yorkers do. Do you have any indication of what the mayor would do? You think he's going to sign it? I'm not sure what the mayor will do. I have not been in conversations with the admin on that. That was council member Sean Bray.

Councilmember, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Check us out for updates every weekday, three times a date, for the latest news headlines and occasional deep times. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back this evening.