NYC NOW - October 31, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: October 31, 2023

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is launching a review of CUNY's discrimination policies. Plus, a new report shows the state is still struggling with a massive racial gap in homeownership. Also, WNYC’s Michael Hill and Brigid Bergin discuss the upcoming election with early voting underway across New York City. And finally, the annual Grand Central Holiday Fair returns on November 13.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Junae Pierre. His recommendations will be a roadmap for institutions across the state and the country. New York Governor Kathy Hochle is launching a review of CUNY's discrimination policies amid what she says is a rise in anti-Semitism on college campuses across the U.S. She's tapping New York State's former chief judge, Jonathan Lipman, to lead the review. The problem didn't begin with. the weeks following October 7th attacks. It's been growing on a number of campuses

and seen most acutely in the City University of New York. Lipman was the state's top judge from 2009 until 2015. He's now a private attorney, and his firm is set to assist in the CUNY Review. A final report is due in the spring. A CUNY spokesperson says the university system will cooperate with the process. More than 55 years have passed

since the federal government banned housing discrimination and outlawed racist lending practices. But a new report from New York State Attorney General Letitia James shows the state is still struggling with a massive racial gap in home ownership. The report finds white New Yorkers are twice as likely to own their home than New Yorkers of color. Researchers also found homeowners of color are paying hundreds of millions more in home loan interest and fees

than their white counterparts. Early voting is underway across, New York City, we'll preview a few races after the break. Polls are open across New York City for early voting in the upcoming general election. All 51 City Council seats are on the ballot, along with district attorneys in the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. Voters will also vote yes or no on two statewide ballot questions, and there are a handful of judicial contests. For more on what you need to know before heading to the polls, my colleague Michael Hill talked with WMYC's senior politics reporter, Bridget Bergen. the judicial contest before, but let's talk more specifically. Which officers are on the ballot?

So there are candidates for state Supreme Court, civil court, and surrogates court on the ballot this year. And these elections are important not only because these people are making really important consequential decisions, but the winners also go on to serve really long terms, usually a decade or more. State Supreme Court candidates were actually nominated at judicial conventions by judicial delegates. We're going to skip going down that rabbit hole today, but in short, the candidate that wins in the general election will go on to be a state Supreme Court Justice, serve a 14-year term. This court has really broad authority, can handle civil and criminal cases. Then we've got those civil court judges. They also serve 10-year terms,

and they can hear cases on a wide variety of matters, including civil disputes up to $50,000. They also can serve on the criminal and family court. They often serve as acting state Supreme Court justices. The candidates on the ballot for these offices did actually petition to get on the ballot. In some cases, they won a primary if they had a challenger. These seats can be countywide or specific to a geographic area known as a district. And that leaves us with surrogates court. What does that do? So surrogates court deals with matters related to wills, estates, guardianship adoptions. Here in New York City, a surrogates court judge serves a 14-year term outside the city, it's just a 10-year term. The only surrogate judge election this year is in Brooklyn,

and there's only one candidate on the ballot. Now, this is not uncommon. Not every judicial election is competitive, but there are a handful that are. So it's a good idea to take a look at your sample ballot so you know exactly what race is in candidates you're going to be voting on before you go to your poll site. You can find that sample ballot and your poll site information at vote. Dot, NYC, that's the city board of elections website. These judicial races have me wondering. How did these judicial candidates campaign, do they actually talk about how they might rule on different issues?

Yeah, so this is where it gets a little tricky, Michael. I spoke to attorney Ali Najmi about this issue. He works in election law and criminal law. He's also done a lot of work trying to bring more diversity to the judiciary. Here's how Najmi explained the challenge facing judicial candidates. They really can't talk about. issues. They can't even talk about their opponents. They really can only talk about their qualifications and their experience. So it really is upon the voters to take that extra step and look into these

candidates. Now, Michael, before you think I have just handed out homework to all of our listeners, keep this in mind. As I said, you've got to find out which offices and candidates are on your ballot first. Then, once you know which judicial offices you might be voting on, the New York City Bar Association does a review of judicial candidates based on their qualifications and will either designate a candidate as approved or not approved. Now, they approve a candidate that they say, quote, affirmatively demonstrates qualifications necessary for the performance of the duties of the position for which they are being considered. So you can check those out. And that's at least one way to make your evaluation of the candidate beyond just a party line vote. And we have a link to those reviews

along with a little bit of information about these judicial positions at our website, gothamis.com. Let's talk a moment about early voting. How's it gone so far? Well, Michael, we've talked about how it's kind of a sleepy election, and the turnout reflects that. As of the close of polls yesterday, about 22,000 voters had turned out to vote so far, a little bit more than that.

Just for sake of comparison in last year's general election, when we had, you know, an election for the governor and state legislative and congressional. race is more than 127,000 people had voted by this point in early voting. So, you know, we're trailing those numbers quite significantly. Be sure to check out the hours of whichever day you decide to go vote because they shift depending on the day. Also, if you're outside of New York City, there is also early voting throughout New York State. But again, the hours and poll site locations vary. So make sure you check it out before you go vote. That's WMYC's senior politics reporter. Bridget Bergen talking with my colleague Michael Hill.

Halloween may be in the air, but some local institutions are already gearing up for the holiday shopping season. The MTA says its annual Grand Central Holiday Fair will welcome shoppers for the first time on November 13th. The six-week-long event will run until Christmas Eve at the train station's historic Vanderbilt Hall. The market will be open Monday to Saturday from 10 in the morning until 7 at night. On Sundays, it runs from 11 to 6. The only only thing is the only thing. The day you won't be able to get your holiday shopping in is Thanksgiving Day. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day.

I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.