NYC NOW - September 30, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: September 30, 2024

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso says he was once offered gifts by representatives from the Turkish consulate. His comments come as Mayor Eric Adams faces allegations that he accepted bribes from the Turkish government. Meanwhile, New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer is introducing legislation Monday to protect poll workers from violence and harassment. Finally, WNYC senior politics reporter Brigid Bergin provides the latest update on Mayor Adams's federal indictment and his court date later this week.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Monday, September 30th. Here's the midday news. I'm Jean-A. Brooklyn's borough president says the Turkish government's alleged offers of lavish gifts weren't limited to his predecessor. Current borough president Antonio Reynoso says representatives from the Turkish consulate approached him early in his tenure.

In that conversation with Turkey, they invited me out to Turkey. I said I would go on vacation and see if I bump into them and give them a call. They said, no, we can take care of everything. And again. And then the second one was I got gifted eight T-sets, elaborate porcelain gold-plated T-sets. And they said for you and your staff, obviously my general counsel took that and returned it. Former Borough President Mayor Eric Adams faces a federal indictment accusing him of corruption and bribery linked to Turkey. He's pleaded not guilty, but is due back in court this week.

New Jersey Congress member Josh Godheimer is taking action to safeguard poll workers as the 2024 election approaches. He's announcing new legislation today at a voting location in Fort Lee aimed at protecting the essential workers from violence and harassment. Gottheimer emphasized the need for legislative measures to ensure the safety of those who uphold democracy. I think we should make it very clear that it's totally and completely unacceptable to intimidate or threaten. or harass a poll worker and election worker in our country. One measure would make it a crime to harass a poll worker, punishable by up to six months in jail. Another would make it easier to secure federal funds to pay for security for election workers. A recent Reuters report says there were more than 100 documented instances of violent threats

against election officials during the last election cycle. It's 68 degrees, a few clouds out there. It'll be cloudy today with a high around 72. Stay close. There's more after the break. Like a lot of New Yorkers, Mayor Eric Adams is back to work today. Over the weekend, he spent time reflecting at religious services. Now, unlike a lot of New Yorkers, he's back to work with a federal indictment hanging over his head and a court date slated for midweek. Joining us now to unpack the latest is WMYC's senior political reporter, Bridget Bergen. Good morning, Bridget. Good morning. Let's reset the timeline for our listeners. Last Wednesday night, the reports first emerged that the mayor was the subject of an indictment. Then Thursday, prosecutors laid out their case for the public. On Friday, Mayor Adams turned himself in and appeared before a judge to face the charges at an arraignment. So, Bridget, what has happened since then?

All right, Janice, so buckle up. We got a lot of ground to cover here. Yeah. Adams then entered a not guilty plea. He said he has not done anything. wrong. That's what he said from the very beginning and that he will not resign. After he came out of that court date, he didn't speak to reporters, but his lawyer, Alex Spiro, did. He said this was a weak case, called it the airline upgrade corruption case, and said that he plans to make a motion to get the case dismissed. And then, just a few hours later, one of Adams' closest advisors, Ingrid Lewis Martin, was the subject of another search, just as she was getting back. from a vacation in Japan. She received a grand jury subpoena from federal investigators, and then her phone was seized by the Manhattan DA's office, which would suggest another investigation. Then later that

night, she went on her attorney Arthur Idada's radio show after those searches and made some questionable comments saying that they were not thieves and that they had not done, quote, anything illegal to the magnitude or scale that requires these types of invest. sort of an interesting choice of words there. Yeah, and that all went down on Friday. Way to cap off the week. And as we said, Mayor Eric Adams did not speak for himself after court on Friday. But then he made a very public appearance at the Greater Allen A. Amid Cathedral in Jamaica, Queens on Saturday. Tell us about that. Yeah, so, Janay, that was a very deliberate choice. This is a historic church in Southeast Queens, where there's a large population of politically active middle-class black voters. It's actually the church that city council speaker Adrian Adams is a member of. The mayor also has deep roots in Southeast Queen. So this was, you know, the first stop in a series of visits to houses of worship this weekend where he was trying to reconnect with his base, the voters that have supported him in the past and that he's really relying on standing by him through this legal

proceeding. Here's what he told a congregation yesterday at a service at Emmanuel Presbyterian Reform church in the Bronx. And so you hear the small number of loud people saying, well, he should step down. No, I'm going to step up. I'm going to step up. I'm going to step up. I'm not going to resign. I'm going to rain. So, Jene, you hear him trying to signal strength to assure those supporters that they can and should stick with him. Yeah, yeah. You say he's trying to signal strength there. How is that strategy being received? You know, it's hard to tell at this point. Those are very specific audiences. We also know that in a different context, Adam was heckled last week. He was heckled outside of a press conference, outside Gracie Mansion, and then again outside the courthouse on Friday.

You know, part of his sort of prebuttal and ongoing defense has been to suggest that this case is political payback because he criticized the Biden administration over their border policy and ultimately how many migrants have arrived in New York City. But that argument that the DOJ is somehow doing the bidding of the president, it's one that legal experts and other Democrats have told me sounds very much like talking points from former President Trump. Now, some Adam supporters bristle at any comparison between Adams and Trump. So it's unclear of even that reaction to the response, how that will land.

But there's some really key figures who are remaining by the mayor's side. notably Hazel Dukes, who's head of the New York chapter of the NAACP. She's someone with tremendous influence on Governor Hockel. She was standing front and center at that Gracie Mansion press conference last week. And then over the weekend, Reverend L. Sharpton made very clear that he does not think Governor Hockel should remove the mayor from office yet. Now, remember, that is something that she actually has the power to do. And so far, she's only said she's thinking about it.

But Sharpton said the mayor is entitled to due process. And he compared the case to that of another local downtown. Democrat, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, who was, you know, indicted and ultimately convicted and his own pay-to-play scandal involving foreign influence. But Sharpton noted that Menendez did not resign until after he was convicted. Yeah. Now, Bridget, this is a new week. Another manic Monday for a lot of us. Is Mayor Eric Adams back at City Hall today? What is his schedule like? You know, it's pretty standard, Jene. He'll meet with some senior administration officials around 8 o'clock this morning. Then he's got some other events, a graduation and promotion

ceremony for sanitation workers around 10, a public safety and infrastructure announcement around noon. And then this evening, he's going to speak at a faith-related event in Corona Queens. And the mayor is back in court on Wednesday. What can we expect there? Well, he's going to be there with his attorneys. As I mentioned earlier, Spiro signaled that he wants the judge to dismiss the case. But, you know, I think that seemed highly unlikely at this point, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams would not have filed charges of this magnitude if they did not think they could make a case. It's also important to remember that he said last week that these investigations are ongoing, so things are likely to keep evolving in the days and weeks ahead.

Bridget, before I let you go here, there were some media reports of a wedding among some administration officials this weekend. What can you tell me about that? Yeah, the New York Times first reported that city schools chancellor David Banks and first deputy mayor, Sheena Wright, got married in Martha's Vineyard over the weekend. Now, the couple had been living together at Wright's Townhouse in Harlem, but remember earlier this month, the couple also had their phone seized by federal officials. They both have denied any wrongdoing, but this, you know, could create a new layer of complexity in this case, depending on whether spousal privilege could now apply, meaning potentially they could avoid testifying against each other. It's unclear, but, you know, it's definitely another piece of this story that we will be watching closely. Yeah, for sure. That's WMYC's Bridget Berg and keeping us all in the loop during these unprecedented times. Thanks so much, Bridget. Thank you. 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 podcasts. See you this evening.