NYC NOW - October 29, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

New York City renters could soon say goodbye to upfront broker fees. Plus, New York Attorney General Letitia James and 19 other attorneys general filed a brief supporting the “Keeping Families Together” program. Also, WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber about the reasons New York City’s juvenile jails population has become so much bigger and more violent. And finally, WNYC’s Jessica Gould visits an after-school program t on the Lower East Side that has been teaching kids about civics for nearly a century.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jenae Pierre. New York City renters could soon say goodbye to upfront broker fees. Brooklyn Council member Chi Ose is sponsoring a bill to shift the fee to whoever hires the broker, and that's usually the landlord. Ose expects the council to pass the legislation next month. It's not fair that the tenants have to pay a broker fee to a broker who their landlord hired. tenants typically pay real estate brokers a fee equal to about 15% of their annual rent before signing the lease.

The cost can make it harder to move. The Real Estate Board of New York and other opponents say the council bill will lead to higher rents. They say landlords will pass the fee onto tenants. New York's Attorney General wants a federal judge in Texas to unblock a Biden administration initiative that would spare an estimated half million undocumented people from deportation. A.G. Letitia James filed a brief in federal district court along with 19 other attorneys generals supporting the Keeping Families Together program. Biden announced the initiative in June, allowing undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens

who have been in the country at least 10 years to apply for permanent residents. An estimated 20,000 people in New York State stand to benefit from it. James says the program is lawful and it would be incredibly cruel to separate families because of their immigration status. The population at New York City's juvenile jails is increasing exponentially, and as a result, the city's Department of Investigation says the two jails have become more violent.

We'll discuss why after the break. In the last seven years, the number of young people being held in the city's two juvenile jails has gone from about 50 to nearly five times that number, and more than half of those young people are facing a murder. charge. New York City's Department of Investigation released a report explaining the reasons the juvenile jail's population has become so much bigger and more violent. My colleague Michael Hill discussed

the findings of the report with DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Straubber. For starters, tell us a little bit about these juvenile jails. Where are they and who runs them? The city's juvenile jails are run by the city's administration for children's services known as ACS. One is located in the Bronx. That's the Horizon Facility, and one is located in Brooklyn. That facility's name is Crossroads. And they are free trial and post-sentencing facilities for the city's youth. And after two recent legislative changes raise the age and bail reform, these are now facilities whose residents are older and charged with more serious offenses than prior to that legislation. Tell us about your report. why is the number of young people detained at these two facilities growing and why are the

populations getting older and more violent? Well, what raised the age did is it raised the age of criminal responsibility to 18 years old and allowed residents to remain in juvenile facilities until they turned 21. So prior to this legislation, these juvenile detention facilities existed and they housed primarily residents below the age of 16. Now, residents between the ages of 16 and 18 who are charged with criminal offenses are detained in these juvenile facilities. So the age of residents in these facilities has increased. And due to bail reform, only those charged with more serious offenses are being detained at all

pre-trial and before they're sentenced. And so those two changes account for an older and more violent population. And by violent, I should say, charged with more violent offenses. And what has the state's bail reform law? What has it to do with any of this? It's the bail reform that has mandated that only those charged with serious violent felonies are detained pre-trial. And so the populations who are detained in the first place in these facilities are now charged with more serious offenses.

Those charged with offenses that previously might have resulted in detention are now released prior to trial. What kind of problems are you seeing as a result of the shift that you were explaining? We're seeing serious incidents of violence within the facilities. And that can be youth on staff violence. that can be youth on youth violence. Those are really the serious concerns that drove the exploration that resulted in this report. And the report details a number of violent incidents, including situations where the staff largely lost control of parts of the facilities. Well, tell us more about some of the recommendations that you've made. So a series of recommendations in the report,

I'm going to sort of group them for you. The first few relate to the behavioral management. system that's used in the facilities. And what that means essentially is that's the system of consequences and rewards that are used in these facilities to incentivize good behavior and discourage bad behavior. What our investigation has shown is that that system is not sufficient to deter the kind of violent behavior that we're seeing. And we also think that there's a distinction between the younger residents in the facility, 14, 15-year-olds, and the 16- through 20-year-olds, or 18- through 20-year-olds, who reside in this facility. And our recommendation is that that system of behavioral management be re-examined with a team of experts to consider how it can be used more

effectively to incentivize good behavior and deter the kind of wrongful behavior that we're seeing in these facilities. Now, I will say that as to those recommendations, ACS has declined to implement them. It's their view that the current system has been developed by experts and that a proposal to treat the older population differently than the younger population is not consistent with what they view as best practice. Commissioner, what obligation does ACS have to follow your recommendations? So all of DOI's recommendations are advisory in the sense that they are not mandatory.

However, we have a consistently high acceptance rate in the city of about 85% with respect to our recommendations. You know, agencies take them seriously as they should because they are the product of significant analysis and study as this report is. But they are not mandatory. And if ACS chooses not to implement them, they can choose not to do that. Now, can City Hall? Can the mayor himself step in and says these are good recommendations? ACS, you should follow them? Of course, ACS is supervised by a deputy mayor, by other officials at City Hall, and City Hall

is always free to weigh in on whether our recommendations should be implemented or not. So that leads me to ask then, where do things stand right now? What's the next step? Well, ACS has responded to our recommendations. They have indicated which recommendations they are planning to accept and which they are not planning to accept. You know, we are in an ongoing dialogue with all of the agencies that we oversee. And so we will continue to communicate with ACS about the importance of the recommendations that we've made. And we remain optimistic that even those that have been, you know, declined this time around may be implemented in the future. And we will also closely monitor the progress of implementation of the recommendations that ACS has said

that they will accept. And there are a number of recommendations, for example, with regard to the training of staff. And ACS has agreed to implement those recommendations. So we will continue to monitor the progress of that implementation. That's Jocelyn Strapper, Commissioner of New York City's Department of Investigation, talking with my colleague Michael Hill. Election Day is a week away for voters across the U.S., but it's also election season for some New York City students who are running for office. One program run by the Henry Street settlement on the Lower East Side has been teaching kids about civics for nearly a century. WMYC's Jessica Gould paid a visit.

going to court. At this after-school program, kids make the rules and help enforce them. They run for mayor, council member, judge, and prosecutor. Victor Sierra is one of the leaders at Henry Street settlement. So you're the judge, and you see that your best friend is in trouble. Are you going to ignore all the rules that they broke and just be like, no, you're good? No. Perfect. Thank you.

This program, called Boys and Girls Republic, started in the 1930s. Back then, it served children from Italian, Irish, and Jewish immigrant families in the area. The goal was to keep kids off the streets while teaching citizenship. Now the students are mostly black and Latino and live in public housing. These days, they do homework and play sports. But civics is still a big part. The building has an old wooden courtroom and a mock-up of city council chambers. Brian Williams is running for treasurer.

I want to make sure money gets used properly. Jasmine Marks wants to be a judge. So I want to stop Bolin. Because last year, kids were fighting, not listening to the staff. And also they were disrespecting and roasting each other. With the national election looming, I asked what they'd like to see from the next president. Zeraya White wants less violence and fewer weapons on the streets. weapons allowed anymore because there's a lot of weapons used when they're not supposed to use

in the way that they're not supposed to. Rosalie Rivera wants the president to prioritize the environment. Because trees help us breathe and if the environment starts to fall slowly, then it would be very hard for us to live. But even these civically minded students seem a bit apprehensive about the election, which is now just days away. How do you feel? Do you feel excited?

Do you feel stressed? Zeria used a zoomer term I just learned a few weeks ago. I feel... I feel mid. Mid, like meh, or not great. Basically, the same way many adults feel right now. That's WNYC's Jessica Gould.

Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Jeney. We'll be back tomorrow.