Transcript
Discussion (0)
Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC.
I'm Lance Lucky. The NYPD says three people are under arrest following an investigation into illegal ghost guns with one case involving a child care center in Manhattan.
Police say they recovered a 3D printer, two completed ghost guns and a neglected dog from an 18-year-old's East Harlem home, which is also a licensed daycare operated by his mother.
Mayor Adams says the city will look for ways to improve the inspection process at daycare centers,
like updating the list of what inspectors look for, but he's defending the work being done so far.
They're looking in closures, they're looking in bathrooms, they're making sure that people actually live there.
And so there's an extensive process already in place.
This comes as investigators look into the recent death of a one-year-old boy
due to fentanyl exposure at a licensed daycare in the Bronx.
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez was released on a $100,000 bond after pleading not guilty to federal charges
in a case accusing him of pocketing bribes of cash and gold bars.
Prosecutors say in exchange Menendez wielded his political influence to secretly advance Egyptian interests and due favors.
Three businessmen also pleaded not guilty in the case, Menendez has rejected calls by Senate colleagues and fellow New Jersey Democrats to resign.
In other news, the Juilliard School will be giving free tuition to its master's in acting students starting next school year.
Juilliard's MFA in Acting Program is relatively new.
It's a four-year master's degree with a price tag of about 150 grand.
Many students already get financial aid, and the school says it's going tuition-free to expand access to the program.
Now all those students will be fully covered.
Juilliard's MFA Acting Program admits about nine students every year.
Target says it will close nine stores in four states, including one in Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood, effective October 21st.
Shoppers and workers are calling the closing of the East River Plaza location heartbreaking.
It comes after the company says there's been a 120% increase in violent thefts over the last year at stores across the country.
Miguel de la Cruz believes it.
He works out of the Harlem Target delivering products for the third-party service shipped.
He describes what he's.
seen. So they would just come with a bag of trash, fill it up anything, and just walk out the store.
Yeah, that was really bad. Target says profits increased $800 million over the last year, even
factoring in the thefts. Despite the East Harlem store closing, five more targets are expected
to open soon in the city. After the break, we take a trip to the Brooklyn Central Library.
Stay tuned. Despite facing funding challenges in a tough economy, the Brooklyn public,
Library has ignited new energy since its mid-July unveiling the Book of Hove exhibit at the
Central Library has celebrated Jay Z's journey from Bedstey's Marcy Projects to international acclaim,
drawing in 300,000 visitors. Due to its immense success, the exhibit will now remain open to the
public through the end of the year. Here's WNYC's Jene Pierre. If you haven't been to the main
branch of the Brooklyn Public Library in a while, you'd probably notice some things look different.
The airy two-story lobby past the checkout stations that's usually pretty empty is now filled with glass cases of album covers and concert memorabilia.
And the walls are covered with photos from Jay-Z's career.
It's all thanks to the Book of Hove exhibit.
Hove is a nickname Sean Carter, aka J-Z, picked up early in his career.
It's a playoff of Jehovah, symbolic of Jay-Z's near-divine status in the hip-hop world,
Whereas influence and impact resonate like gospel.
At the Central Library, Holt's rap lyrics are emblazoned on the facade of the building.
When we visited, the library was packed with visitors.
And one thing is abundantly clear at the Central Branch.
This is not your grandma's library.
Yeah, we're just saying this is not your grandma's library.
It hasn't been for a while, but we're excited that everybody else knows that now.
That's Linda Johnson, president of the president of the grandma's library.
the Brooklyn Public Library.
She showed me around the exhibit
and we talked about the motivation behind it.
It occurred to me that if we were ever going to honor Jay-Z,
it should be this year in the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
And so I, through some mutual friends,
called over to Rock Nation, Jay-Z's company,
and, you know, suggested this.
And they were like, oh, you know, Jay doesn't do that.
But I started talking about how the library
is the most democratic institution in our society,
the exhibit, you know, everything we do is free for everybody.
And all of the sudden, they had this, like, moment.
Someone said, how many square feet is the Central Library?
It's nearly 350,000 square feet.
And then the will started turning for Rock Nation CEO Desiree Perez.
She enlisted Bruce and Shelley Rogers to design the entire space.
They designed the set for last year's Super Bowl halftime show.
It all became more than what Linda imagined,
but she says the takeaway of the exhibit is simple.
The real message here is that you can grow up in the Marcy projects,
which are just two miles down the road.
You can dream big, you can be disciplined,
and you can end up on the world stage.
Darnel King grew up in Marcy, like Hope.
He works as a security guard at the library.
As I looked up at a collage of photos of Jay-Z,
Darnel pointed out one of them.
So the one right next to him on the left, that's Bash.
He's a rapper as well.
And then if you see the other kid that next to the Marcy,
wearing the Marcy, that's Dala.
With the Mawesi T-shirt?
Yeah, no, next to him to the right.
Okay.
Yeah, those are two of my friends.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
That's cool.
Yeah, that's what it does.
For Darnell, the exhibit hits home.
Working at the Brooklyn Public Library is his side gig.
He's also a music producer and idolizes Jay-Z.
Because he defeated the odds as far as making it to where he is,
and Beyonce is his wife.
So he won at the end of the day.
It's just something that you know you dream about.
To some, the Book of Hove exhibit might seem like self-promotion for a megastar.
The online publication, Hellgate says the exhibit is largely vacant of substance,
unless you're a super fan, it says.
Hip-hop media personality Joe Button also dismissed the exhibit,
laughing it off with co-host on an episode of his podcast.
They recreated baseline in there.
They did that.
I've been the baseline.
What else?
It's a bullshit, Joe.
That's it?
But what else?
Tell me, you might change my mind.
You're not.
You ain't going.
You're not culture tonight.
But it's safe to say that the Book of Hove exhibit has been a success for the Brooklyn Public Library.
Monthly traffic hit 177,000 new visitors in the first month compared to the usual 80,000.
When I looked at the people who were coming to see the exhibition, who were standing in line, who were signing up for library cards,
They were people from all over the place, all different backgrounds.
On top of that, over 15,000 new cardholders have signed up,
many with hopes to get their hands on one of 13 limited edition library cards,
one for each Jay-Z album.
If you want to collect all of them, you need to go visit our other branches,
and we have 61 other branches besides Central.
And so this has been good not only for the attendance here,
but also for the libraries around the borough,
including Marcy Library, which would have been, you know, the local library that Jay-Z's family would have used.
As we continued to walk around, Linda shows me some of the other reasons why this exhibit has been so successful,
how each section builds upon Jay-Z's humble beginnings.
One of the sort of really extraordinary things that we did was we've rebuilt baseline studios,
which is where he recorded all of the album.
It is an exact replica.
I went to every single record company,
and you know what they say, right?
And shit is trash!
And there's the manifestation room,
a dimly lip room dedicated to Jay-Z's biggest accomplishments,
like his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
featuring a video of President Barack Obama.
A kid from Marcy H-Houses to H-O-F as an official
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Considering all the curation, production, and planning for this exhibit, I was curious how they paid for all of it.
Funding for libraries are always like, you know, your heads on a chopping block sometimes.
So this was a really tough year for the budget, and we lodged a very intensive campaign advocacy,
and we had all of our patrons communicating with their local elected officials,
and so we ended up fine. But it was clear, and I said this to the first,
at Rock Nation from the outset that as much as we wanted to host this, we really couldn't
afford to participate in a financial way. And so they have really paid for everything.
When I asked her how much it cost?
No idea. No idea? I'm happy you're not knowing.
I know that's right.
In an interview with Variety Magazine, Desiree Perez noted that the exhibit has cost Rock Nation
millions of dollars. But no exact figure has been made public.
Rock Nation's been extraordinarily generous,
not only in producing the exhibition itself
and taking care of all those costs,
but they've made a contribution to the library.
Rock Nation is also backing a pivotal library initiative
called Books Unbanned,
ensuring digital access for young readers to books often suppressed,
especially those touching on race and LGBTQ themes.
And so our efforts on that front are only expanding
as a result of Rock Nation's participation in all of this.
The book of Hove runs at the Brooklyn Central Library through the end of the year.
Once you get over the fact that hip-hop is going anywhere, there's music,
and it's a belliest voice from all the younger people from ghettos.
It touches people, you know what I mean?
It affects so many aspects of life.
It's everything.
It's not just music.
It's just a culture.
That story was produced by double.
WNYC's Jared Marcel.
Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC.
I'm Lance Lucky.
Catch us every weekday, three times a day.
We'll be back tomorrow.