NYC NOW - September 20, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: September 20, 2024

Lawyers are preparing for a courtroom showdown next week over Governor Kathy Hochul's pause on congestion pricing. As WNYC's Stephen Nessen reports, new court filings accuse the governor of holding the tolling program hostage. Meanwhile, transit officials are again warning drivers to avoid part of the BQE this weekend, as officials install new weight sensors to monitor large trucks. Plus, a WNYC analysis of corrections data shows the Adams administration is failing to meet city and federal guidelines requiring timely investigations into sexual abuse at city jails. Reporter Matt Katz has the details. Finally, the MTA is warning of the dangers of subway surfing after an 11-year-old boy died this week after falling from a train in Brooklyn. As part of WNYC’s Radio Rookies program, 16-year-old Noah Augustin explores why young people take such a dangerous risk.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Friday, September 20th. Here's the midday news from Alec Hamilton. Lawyers are preparing for a courtroom showdown next week over Governor Kathy Hochel's pause on congestion pricing. WNYC Stephen Nesson reports new court filings argue the governor is holding the tolling program hostage. Lawyers for the City Club of New York write, the governor has no right to pause the $15 daily toll,

calling her arguments radical and wrong. They're seeking to force the state to turn on the tolls. Earlier this month, Hockel's team wrote that she can't be sued because her pause is just temporary, and the tolls could go into effect someday. Her opponents mockingly compare Hockel to Louis XIV, who famously said, I am the state. The lawyer's right, there is no provision in the congestion

and pricing law that grants the governor power to pause it. Oral arguments are set for next Friday. Transit officials are once again warning drivers to steer clear of part of the BQE this weekend. A southbound portion of the highway between Adams and Washington streets in downtown Brooklyn will be reduced to just one lane of traffic, starting at one in the morning tomorrow, going through five in the morning on Monday. It's a repeat of last week's closures to install new weight sensors to monitor large trucks. The goal is to extend the lifespan of the highway's triple-decker structure near the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. And this weekend, there's one more wrinkle. The Sand Street entrance ramp to the Staten Island-bound side of the roadway will be closed as well. So plan your

routes accordingly. It's mostly sunny outside today, a high near 78. Tonight, a low around 62, and a pretty weekend ahead to take us into the official start of fall. You ready for that? Sunny and highs in the mid-to-low 70s. Right now, 74 and partly sunny. Close. There's more after the break. For months, the WNYC Newsroom has investigated allegations of sexual assault at Rikers Island. More than 700 women have filed lawsuits against the city, claiming they were sexually abused by staff at city jails over five decades. Now, a WNYC analysis of correction department data show the Adams administration is failing to comply with city and federal guidelines requiring timely investigations into sexual abuse. My colleague Michael Hill spoke with WNYC reporter Matt Katz to learn more.

Matt, the stories we have aired look back over a long sweep of time to document sexual abuse in the jails. But you examined data on the investigations into abuse claims during this administration, the Adams administration. These are complaints filed by people while they're actively being held at Rikers. What did you find? The top line of our findings is that the city's system, for investigating rapes, investigating sexual abuse of Rikers Island detainees is simply failing under Mayor Adams. I'll tick off one stat here to start. More than 45% of the department's investigations last year into sexual abuse and sexual harassment allegations lasted longer than 90 days. So that's a

big deal because city and federal law requires that these investigations happen and are completed in fewer than 90 days. Before Adams took office, the department was, in fact, fully compliant with this 90-day rule. I'll also note that these are stats from last year because we don't, as required, have any info from the first half of this year. The department is more than a month overdue on that. They're supposed to have released this mandated report that details its investigations more than a month ago. So almost half of these allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment are not not getting investigated in time. Do we have any idea why? We did not get an explanation from the Department of Correction or the mayor's office, but we did

speak to Serena Townsend, who ran investigations for sexual abuse and other matters as a deputy commissioner for the Department of Correction. She was fired by Adams' first appointed correction commissioner after she claimed she refused to wipe out use of force cases against officers. And under Townsend's watch, the department worked. through a backlog of hundreds of cases to become fully compliant with this 90-day requirement. But after she was fired, she said the investigative division of the Department of Correction was restructured and the people in charge just weren't serious about handling these cases.

We were so committed to getting everything done. We were very, very, very hands-on. That's not what's there now. In the months since our colleagues reported on the 700 lawsuits met from detainees and former detainees alleging sexual assault by Rikers officers. What has the city done to address this or even look into it? As far as we can tell very little, if anything, there's been a growing chorus of lawmakers who have called on Adams to launch an independent investigation into these women's claims,

but so far he's declined to do that, even though he had initially called for a thorough investigation into the lawsuits. Bronx District Attorney Darcell Clark's office said in July, I would be looking into investigating the lawsuits to see if criminal charges are warranted, but it's considered to be really tough to find evidence of rape that may have happened years ago, particularly in a jail setting. The reality is people who have alleged sexual assault at Rikers have just rarely found justice. We combed through city reports to find that in the last nine years,

more than 1,500 sexual abuse allegations were reported by people in. custody against correction staff, but just seven of those 1500 were substantiated. And that's half a percent. And the substantiation rate is actually decreasing. Out of all claims against staff and fellow detainees, the percentage of claims that city investigators said actually occurred was just 3.4 percent last year. That's far below the national average for jails and prisons. And the issue here, of course, is that this low rate of substantiated. Claims indicates that cases may not be thoroughly and fairly investigated, and that could mean an attacker could attack again. Is anyone suggesting that the Department of Correction needs more staff to handle these hundreds of claims a year?

Some critics say yes, they do. Even people sympathetic to victims say there also can be a lot of superfluous claims to weigh through from detainees who file false reports. so you need staff to handle all that and, you know, determine what's real and what's not. But here's the thing. The department's compliance record under Adams has worsened even though it has a relatively sizable staff dedicated to investigating these claims. As of last year, it had 40 investigators and eight supervisors handling these cases. And that's actually a higher headcount than in 2019 when they were successfully getting rid of this backlog of old cases. Our guest has been Matt Katz.

the mayor's office and Department of Correction do not respond to our request for comment for this story. The MTA is again sounding the alarm. Riding outside trains is not a game. This, after police say an 11-year-old boy died this week after falling from a subway train in Brooklyn. According to NYPD data,

he was the fourth person to die so far this year from subway surfing. As part of WNYC's radio rookies program, 16-year-old Noah Augustine explores why young people take such a thrill-seeking yet dangerous risk. I was waiting for my buddy one morning at the Junction Boulevard stop on the 7 train. We walked to school together and she's always late, but never this late. I started mindlessly scrolling on Instagram. Oh, wow.

She can post on her story, but she can't bother texting me why she's this late. The story was a video of a kid with his head cracked open. He's lying on the subway floor. he's bleeding on her white air forces. She said he was subway surfing when he fell and hit his head on the platform. But why would you post something like that? She said, because those subway surfers need to see

what could happen to them. But they know what could happen. So the question is, why do they do it anyways? I DM'd 30 subway surfers and asked to interview them. Most ignored me. One kid asked me to buy him food. Three guys agreed to meet and then stood me up. The rest thought I was an undercover cop.

cop. And then there was Eli. The adrenaline is something that you can ever feel somewhere else. Like, it's so different from anything else I've ever experienced. Eli is an 18-year-old party promoter. He first surfed in 2020 with some friends who already had experience. And he asked us not to use his full name because subway surfing is illegal and he doesn't want to go to jail. Eli says there's more than one type of subway surfing.

He, for example, is what they call a tunnel rat. I mean, tunnel rats are like me. I stay down in the tunnel. Like, I love tunnels. I love being underground. Tunnel rats hang off the back of trains underground. There's an empty conductor's cab in the last car that they break into. Eli just came back onto the surfing scene after he quit for a few years.

You said you quit because you felt it was dangerous, you know? But, I mean, it's not any less dangerous now. So why come back to it? My main reason for that was it always gave me joy doing it, like the high speeds and like the air in your face while you're just hanging on to the back or on top of the train is just something that like it's so different from anything else I've ever experienced. Since the 1980s, train surfing has been a hobby in South Africa, Russia, Germany, Belgium, but New Yorkers have been doing it for over 100 years. In 1904, that's the year the subway opened, one kid died while surfing a train headed to Grand Central. Eli says he always plays it safe.

That's why he doesn't like to ride on top of the trains. On top is like, I feel like it feels more dangerous, and it is more dangerous, because if you one slip, you're falling off. With hang on to the back, you're kind of safer. You're more securely, like, hanging on. Five kids died in the city last year. according to the NYPD. So the MTA started a campaign.

It features recordings of teens warning other teens to not risk their lives. What's up, New York? I'm Jesse. I'm 17. And Queens is my home. Listen up. This is not Coney Island. This is the subway. And there should be no surfing or riding outside of trains under any circumstances. Social media is not worth your life. Right inside, stay alive. Even with the messages, more kids have died this year already.

but not everyone who tries it feels the thrill. Take Francisco Tejas, a kid at my school. What do you know about something's the rehearsing? Me personally, I tried doing it, and I was like, nah. Like my adrenaline started rushing, and, like, you know, I was starting to get, like, nervous. And then once I, like, put my hands up on the top of the train, I was like, I'm going just go back inside. He said that's when his friend fell into the tracks. I look he started tearing up a bit, I thought it was over for him.

But then once I see him, like, moving a bit, I'm like, I think he's a high. And then he's like, yeah, bro, I'm never doing that again, you know. I'm a teenager, so I know sometimes we hide our fear just to hear our friends tell us, yo, you're crazy, bro. But it's not just about impressing our friends. Subway surfers also want to show off for the whole internet. Some surfers get millions of views on Instagram and TikTok. They crave that attention.

Others do it for a prettier view of this often ugly urban jungle, and some just do it to feel alive, even though it can be deadly. For WNYC, I'm Radio Rookies reporter, Noah Augustine. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcast.

podcast. See you this evening.