NYC NOW - September 19, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: September 19, 2024

A few tweaks: A 17-year-old is facing charges after allegedly breaking into an empty subway train in Queens last week and attempting to drive it, causing a crash. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Democrat LaMonica McIver has won a special election to represent the state’s 10th Congressional District, defeating Republican Carmen Bucco. McIver will fill the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr.’s seat until January. Also, the New Jersey Attorney General's Division of Civil Rights has issued violation notices to 25 landlords for allegedly using applicants' criminal histories to deny them housing. WNYC’s Michael Hill speaks with Attorney General Matt Platkin. Plus, WNYC's Brigid Bergin reports on the volunteers helping inmates at Rikers Island jail register to vote.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Thursday, September 19th. Here's the midday news from Veronica Del Valle. A 17-year-old is facing charges today after she allegedly broke into an empty subway train in Queens last week and tried to drive it, ultimately causing a crash. Police say the teen who was arrested yesterday, and a male accomplice went for their brief joyride around midnight last Thursday at the Briarwood subway station. New York City Transit interim president, Demetius Crishlow, says they were able to move the train about 50 feet before crashing it into another train.

There's no question. It was an extremely foolish and reckless act of two individuals accessing live track in order to get access to our train. He has not said exactly how the duo were able to get into the empty train, but he says surveillance cameras inside the car helped police with their investigation. The other person has not yet been arrested. The president of Norke's city council will replace the late representative Donald Payne Jr. in Congress. Democrat La Monica McIvor has defeated Republican small business owner Carmen Bucco in a special election to represent New Jersey's 10th congressional district. McIver will serve through at least January when Payne's term was set to end.

But McIver and Bucco will still have a rematch in November to decide who will carry out the next full term. Representative Payne died in April while still in office of heart attack complications. He represented the district, which includes parts of Essex, Hudson, and Union counties for a decade. Stay close. There's more after the break. On WNYC, Michael Hill. The New Jersey Attorney General's Division of Civil Rights has issued violation notices to 25 landlords who they say have illegally used the criminal history of applicants to deny them housing. Joining us now is State Attorney General, Matt Plifkin. Mr. Attorney General, would you tell us more about what these 25 landlords are accused of doing?

Sure, thank you, Michael. New Jersey is the first state in the country to have a law. that says you can't discriminate against somebody in the housing process based on a criminal history. The law was signed on June 10th in 2021 by Governor Murphy, and my office has been vigorously enforcing it since I took office about two and a half years ago. And what these companies did is either asked questions about people's criminal history prior to offering them housing, which is prohibited by the law, or they advertised that they would not accept applicants with criminal histories, both of which are not permitted under state law in New Jersey.

How many applicants do we think are affected by all this? Well, we know that since the law has come into effect, we've issued over 200 notices of violation, and this year we're almost at 100 alone. And we know that this practice, unfortunately, is pervasive. And so we've worked not only to issue and take enforcement actions, but to work on the front end with companies like Trulia and Zillow so that we can remove advertisements proactively and the companies have been cooperative so that they don't have advertisements on their platforms that discriminate against people. And again, the key point here is we know that safe housing is, A, they're right in New Jersey, but is also probably the biggest indicator of whether someone can be successful.

successfully reintegrated into their communities. And that is something that we take very seriously in New Jersey. Mr. Placken, are these individual landlords or are these property management companies and where are they mostly located? Well, both. On our actions this week, we issued notices of violation in 15 municipalities across 11 counties throughout the state of New Jersey. And we've seen small landlords, and we've also seen large companies like Penn Properties have severe and pervasive patterns of discrimination against people with criminal histories. And again, the law is very clear. You can't discriminate against someone prior to offering a conditional offer of housing with limited exceptions, and you can't advertise that you won't take applications from someone with the criminal history.

I'm curious, what are those exceptions? Well, we have to do an individualized assessment of the person. You can look at the severity of the offense, the conditions. There's a whole list of criteria, and we provide trading on our website, on the Division on Civil Rights website under my office, for landlords to ensure that they can stay compliant. And the vast majority, I think, are trying to be compliant with this law. There's no evidence that people with criminal history, industries that meet the criteria under the law don't pay rent or aren't good tenants.

And again, the legislature and the governor passed this landmark piece of legislation to protect their rights, and we are enforcing it. Mr. Plagen, what are the penalties for these alleged offenders? Well, they can face fines, which escalate with each offense, as well as we can seek injunctive relief so that they stop their conduct. And that's something we do, under the Division on Civil Rights Enforcement Authority. You know, we seek to root out bias of all kinds in New Jersey. So if you're a housing provider and you're discriminating on the basis of race or gender,

or in this case, a criminal record that is protected under state law, we are prepared to hold you accountable, and that could mean you'd have to pay substantial fines and change your conduct. Is your office planning to go beyond these 25 landlords to enforce this law? Like I said, we've already issued over 200 notices of violation, and we have a team that is dedicated to working to enforce this law. This was a landmark piece of legislation, and without enforcement, it would not have the effect that we needed to have. We also, as I said, are proactively working with companies that advertise housing throughout our state, and they've been great cooperators in ensuring that their filters can remove, advertisements that violate our law prior to us having to even issue an enforcement action.

But if the question is, are we going to continue to enforce it? The answer is absolutely yes. Our guest has been New Jersey Attorney General, Matt Placken, his office recently cracked down on landlords, they say, have violated the state's fair chance housing law. Mr. Plotkin, thank you very much, and please come back and see us again. Thank you for having me, Michael. Most of the 6,000 people held at Rikers Island are eligible to vote. in New York. For the past three years, a small group of volunteers has been visiting the jail once or twice a month to help people there register and request absentee ballots. As election

season heats up, double the NIC's Bridget Bergen joined them on a recent trip to see how many people they could reach. A half dozen volunteers meet for a brief orientation with the Department of Correction before going to Rikers Island. So there are two pieces of paper. There's two. pieces of the paper. So one, so one, there's two applications. One is a voter registration application. The other is an absentee ballot application. We're in the cafeteria of the Hulking Art Deco Belova Office Building in East Elmhurst, Queens. The idea is to really try to have these things completed correctly. The correction department's Selwyn Fergus reminds everyone to be diligent

when helping people at Rikers complete their paperwork. We don't have a lot of time. The population is extremely huge here. Fergus is the point person for all things voting at Rye. including shuttling documents back and forth between the jail and the five county board of elections offices. He also drives the van that brings volunteers through security into the island. Only no ones are to check. And y'all going to the annex court? Border registration. Total registration.

Once we're inside, it's volunteers, like Regaudus Aflin, that do most of the talking. We are here to register voters. Appling is a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society and one of the coordinators of the vote in New York City Jails Coalition. We're standing at the entrance of a dorm. Rows of cots stretch and long, tightly packed lines to the back. Some people are eating at their beds, others washing clothes and buckets. Some still have blankets pulled over there.

How many of you are registered to vote? Who's already registered? I'm not. You're not? Okay. All right. So, raise your hand if you still need to register your vote. She tells people who are interested to join us in the room next door where there are tables and chairs.

Television's flicker on the wall. Volunteers have lots of one-on-one conversations. I think I already know I'm doing. Young man, can I interest you in voting? The Department of Correction would not let me interested in voting. would not let me interview any of the people who are incarcerated at Rikers. They said I needed advanced permission to speak with anyone in their custody. But even in conversations among correction staff, concerns were still evident and not just about voting.

Tablets are down and the wall phones are down. So I do want to be a specific housing area? Actually, it's system-wide. Altogether, we hit two buildings and collect 84 forms. That's less than one and a half percent of the likely eligible population. This was a good day, the volunteers tell me. But Appling says the city and state need to do more. We're a band-aid in a flood.

There's tons of people who are just not getting to. Volunteers will be back to apply the band-aid again next week. According to numbers from the City Board of Elections, only about 8% of the 6,000 people at Rikers have submitted valid ballot applications so far this year. Some may never get their ballots. Some will never return them. So what becomes actual votes, that number will be even smaller.

Bridget Bergen, WNYC News. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.