NYC NOW - September 24, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

The New Jersey State Attorney General is recommending broad reforms of the State Police to address racism, sexism and a "weaponized" internal affairs process. WNYC's Nancy Solomon reports. Meanwhile, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced new measures after an Ulster County resident died from Eastern Equine Encephalitis, the state’s first human case since 2015. Plus, two men pleaded guilty to distributing drugs that killed a New York advocate for trans and sex workers' rights. WNYC’s Giulia Heyward reports. Finally, a former NYC education official was sentenced to two years in prison for a school corruption scandal. WNYC’s Jessica Gould has more.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, September 24th. Here's the midday news. I'm Jene Pierre. In New Jersey, the Attorney General is recommending broad reforms of the state police to address racism, sexism, and a weaponized internal affairs process. Here's WMYC's Nancy Solomon.

Problems with the state police have plagued the department for decades. including a federal investigation and court order should prohibit racial profiling on the term pike. Attorney General Matthew Platkin released a report that found troopers of color and women faced mistreatment or passed over for promotions and found themselves investigated when they complained to internal affairs. Despite operating under court-ordered agreements to diversify its ranks, the report found women and troopers of color are underrepresented in the workforce. Plattkin's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability will now oversee all complaints made against senior leadership at the State Police. In response, NJ. State Police say that the report's findings run contrary to the principles of the department and that they're committed to working with the AG on reforms.

Governor Kathy Hockel is announcing new measures to protect against mosquito-borne illness following the death of an upstate New Yorker from a disease called Eastern Equine Encephalitis. It's the state's first human case since 2015. The governor's action triggers resources from state agencies to combat spread. Measures include mosquito spraying, expanded access to insect repellent at state parks, and increased public outreach. New Yorkers can protect themselves by using repellent, wearing long sleeves, and eliminating standing near water around their homes. Eastern equine encephalitis is a rare but serious illness with no vaccine, so prevention is key. Two men are pleading guilty to distributing drugs that killed a New York advocate for trans and sex workers' rights. WMYC's Julia Hayward has more.

Michael Coulon and Antonio Ventee were charged with distributing and possessing with intention to distribute heroin and fentanyl. The narcotics were sold to Brooklyn resident Cecilia Gentilly, who was found dead in her home in February. Court records say Ventii sold Gentile the heroin and fentanyl mixture, which have been supplied by Coulon. the activist that sent shockwaves to the local public health community. Gentile is credited with helping launch efforts to decriminalize sex work locally. She also founded a nonprofit dedicated to HIV care and advocacy. Attorney information for Kulan and Vinti was not immediately available. It's 64 degrees, partly sunny skies today with a high around 70.

Stay close. There's more after the break. School lunch, remember that? A cup of yogurt, chicken nuggets, a carton of milk? Maybe you're a student looking forward to having some later today. But what if I told you that school lunch was actually the tip of the iceberg in a New York City school corruption scandal? This month, a judge sentenced a former education department official involved in the scandal to two years in prison. WNYC's education reporter Jessica Gould is here to explain it all. Jessica, what was the scheme here? Okay. So Eric Goldstein oversaw school food for the education department from 2008 to 2018. And that's a big job here in the city. It's a million kids with a budget of half a billion dollars. Now, the bribery scheme started in 2015. Prosecutor said Goldstein wanted to make some more money than his public service job allowed. and he wanted to start a beef business.

He began talking to three executives of a startup called Soma Food Group, and he wanted them to invest in the business. At the same time, the executives at Soma were looking to Goldstein to buy food they were selling for the city's schools. Now, prosecutors say this was a classic quid pro quo. How so? According to the prosecutors, Goldstein actually summed it all up himself in an email. He said, quote, I'm going to buy a quote, I'm going to buy a quote, a lot of effing chicken from you guys.

Let's do the beef. Wow. That is quite a sales pitch. Right. They say at Goldstein's direction, the education department then bought yogurt parfaits, chicken drumsticks, and chicken tenders from the startup. Then in return, the executives paid Goldstein $100,000 in bribes, mostly in investments in this new beef business.

Now, I should note here that the New York City conflict of interest rules say employees cannot use their positions to financially benefit themselves and can't accept anything valued at $50 or more from people doing business with the city. But the food this startup delivered to school cafeterias had problems. Can you tell us about that? Yeah, but if our listeners are eating breakfast right now, I just want to say, I'm sorry. Oh, boy. Prosecutors said students and staff were served chicken drumsticks with, quote,

foreign matter, so metal and plastic. within it. Photos of the food shown as evidence include one of a metal shard sticking out of a chicken leg and another oozing something red. Yogurt parfaits were damaged and literally taped together. But according to prosecutors, Goldstein kept the orders coming even after all of those defects were discovered. Then a school employee actually choked on a bone inside a chicken tender and had to be given

the Heimlich maneuver. After that, the education department stopped. buying from the company. That was in 2017 following numerous complaints. Now, Goldstein was fired from the education department in 2018 and arrested in 2021. His lawyer declined comment. What was Goldstein's defense? His lawyer said it wasn't a quid pro quo. And in a letter to the judge before sentencing, Goldstein said he was deeply remorseful. He was broken, defeated, publicly humiliated, and utterly terrified for what would happen to his family, he pleaded for mercy. But a federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced him to two years in prison, and the executives at this food startup soma, they got

over a year in prison each plus fines. Jessica, what is the education department saying in response to all of this? A spokesperson for the education department said it has implemented strong compliance measures and oversight for all food purchases and that all of its school meals, exceed USDA food standards. The city has also recently invested a lot of money to overhaul cafeterias across the city. I mean, because there's two levels to this. There's the money scandal,

but this is food going into our kids' lunches. Yeah, not an appetizing prospect, but they say things have gotten better. WNYC's Jessica Gould, thank you very much. Thank you. 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.

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