NYC NOW - September 12, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: September 12, 2023

New Jersey wants to preserve hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, but it’ll take about 54 years for officials to meet that goal. Plus, WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with David Meyers, deputy editor of Streetsblog, about a new report that finds a law prohibiting vehicle idling is rarely enforced. And finally, WNYC’s David Furst and Precious Fondren discuss Fashion Week 2023.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jene P. We begin in New Jersey, where state officials want to preserve 550,000 acres of farmland. But a new state report has found it will take about 54 years for officials to meet that goal. A recent audit of the Department of Agriculture found millions in state grants for preservation have remained untouched over the last 15 years. The state auditor says it says it's. It's uncertain whether New Jersey will meet its farmland preservation goals in a reasonable amount of time. The head of the State Agriculture Development Committee largely agrees with the findings, and noted a state bill under consideration could help streamline the process.

Now to New York City, where a new report finds a law prohibiting vehicle idling is rarely enforced, despite growing concern over the climate crisis. Leaving your car idle for longer than three minutes or one minute near a school is illegal in a city. In 2020, then Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to bring attention to the ban, launching the Billy Never Idles campaign with rock star Billy Idol. But new reporting from StreetsBlock finds that, as of Monday, police have issued only 38 tickets so far this year, compared to almost 2000 in 2020. David Meyer is the deputy editor of Streetsblock. He says New Yorkers are taking matters into their own hands.

Citizen enforcement has done what cameras have done for red light and speeding violations. Citizens can report idling by heavy-duty trucks exclusively. Myers talked with WNYC's Michael Hill. That conversation after the break. David, what exactly does the city consider idling? How long do drivers have to stay in one spot to be considered in violation of the law? Idling is allowing your engine of your car to run for three minutes or more while parking, standing, or stopped, but it actually goes down to one minute around schools.

And of course, there's an exception for emergency vehicles. And any other exceptions? Vehicles that are loading or unloading certain devices that require the engine to run as well. But other than that, no, you are not allowed to idle in New York City, despite the fact that you might see it everywhere you go. You found police have not only all but stopped enforcing the Ithing law, but enforcement of other traffic violations such as red light and speeding violations. Those are also down. Why is that? Yeah, I mean, those aren't nearly down as much, but in the case of red light and speeding violations, the NYPD has allowed a lot of that enforcement to shift to automated cameras, which are operated by the Department of Transportation.

Is there any argument to be made that cameras just do a better job than traffic police at enforcement? There's certainly an argument to be made, maybe not better, but a former DOT Commissioner, Polly Trunberg, who's now moved on to Washington, D.C. and the Biden administration used to say that a cop can't be at every corner at every moment, and cameras can be at a lot more corners at a lot more moments. So they certainly expand the reach of speeding in red light enforcement. There was also some that would argue that it's better to have this enforcement being done automated, since traffic stops often result in violence by the police or the perpetrator. What did the NYPD have to say about your findings? The NYPD told us that they enforce it when it is

observed, which by our count is 38 times this year, which compared to nearly 6,000 idling tickets in 2018 is not that much. What about citizen enforcement? citizen enforcement has done what cameras have done for red light and speeding violations in a big way. Citizens can report idling by heavy-duty trucks exclusively. And in the last few years, citizens have actually reported something like 2022. It was 48,979 civilian complaints, about 80% of which resulted in a summons issue to the driver. and that is obviously tens of thousands more than we see issued by the NYPD. How do citizens who are doing the enforcement, how do they prove that what they're saying is true?

You take a photo, you document it through the complaint system, and then in many cases, there is a trial hearing with the Office of Administrative Trial hearings at the city, and the driver has to prove that they weren't idling, and the citizen can come and prove that the driver was, And if the driver can't defend themselves properly or effectively, the citizen will receive a small bounty from the summons that the driver received. Do we have any idea how often that happens that there is citizen enforcement and they report it? Well, 48,979, divided by 365. That's 134 citizen complaints per day. There are some very, very committed New Yorkers on this issue. David, the Department of Environmental Protection is also tasked with enforcing the anti-idling law.

how successful are they at enforcing it? You know, I haven't actually run the numbers for DEP's enforcement agents exclusively, but I will say that the vast majority of DEP violations are being issued through the civilian complaint program, not through its enforcement agents. That's David Meyer, Deputy Editor of Streets Blog, talking with WNYC's Michael Hill. Stylists, fashion journalists, and celebrities already treat New York City streets like their personal runway. But this fashion week, they're really out and about, and some attendees might seem more dressed down than usual, with sports-inspired looks giving us a preview of next year's

trends. WNYC's David First talked with arts and culture reporter Precious Fondren to discuss all things Fashion Week. For those who don't know, what exactly is Fashion Week? For fashion industry professionals, this week is the start of the real new year. Fashion Week in New York City happens twice a year, once in early September, and again. in early February. It's the time of the year when brands and designers present their newest design collections to retail buyers and the media and a number of fashion shows around New York City. The main goal is to get buyers to put most, if not all the clothes, into stores, both online and brick and mortar, or to get financial support by impressing potential investors.

Fashion Week is always a star-studded affair, right? But will the actors and writer's strikes have an impact in that department? Of course, celebrities are expected to show. show up to the fashion shows. The SAG After Strikes have impacted the fashion industry in a number of ways this year with red carpet slowing down and stylists unable to dress people for press stores because those aren't really happening right now. But for the most part, actors are still able to participate in Fashion Week. They can still participate in fashion campaigns and show up to the shows. They just can't promote their TV projects, film projects. And so the industry professionals that I spoke to, they said that they expect to see a lot of celebrities, including actors, because

right now, that's the only visibility that they can get and keep their names out there. They can show up and be seen. They can't talk about any projects. Yes. Okay. So obviously, this week is all about showing off your style. So what are the big trends right now? The first is the Martine Rose and Nike Shox MR4 shoes.

Martine Rose is a British Jamaican designer who's gained a fan base in menswear. She released her football-inspired collection with Nike earlier this summer. Among the collection, fashion insiders told me, her square pointed toe shoes are the items that people might be seeing everywhere. I'm not really sure if the shoes are like sneakers or loafers. They kind of look like a marriage between the two. Okay. So we're going to be seeing these all around.

What are these called again? These are the Nike Shox MR-FORs. Another trend is people wearing sports jerseys. I mean, lots of people have always worn sports jerseys, but this is different, right? Yes. So soccer is sort of gaining a fan base in America. but for the most part, the people that you know are probably wearing soccer jerseys because, like, it's a hot trend right now. That's according to, again, the industry professionals that I spoke to.

The trendy item is all part of this aesthetic from the United Kingdom called Blochcore. And it's making its way to America right now. I spoke to Nana Sheperfor, who was a creative producer at MicroCores. Yes, jerseys are in, and I don't think so, I don't think they're going anywhere, honestly. like so easy to pair it with like a skirt or jeans and go about your day looking cool, but also like casual. So really, that person wearing a soccer shirt or a football club shirt, they're not fans of the team, it's just fashion? More than likely, no, they're not. They probably don't even know who they're wearing. That's WNYC's precious fondron talking with my colleague, David First.

Fashion Week ends September 13th. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC, now from WNYC, I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.