NYC NOW - September 8, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: September 8, 2023

A federal investigation reveals veterans in New Jersey nursing homes remain at risk of severe COVID-19 infections. Meanwhile, sweltering heat prompts early school dismissals throughout the tristate area except New York City. Finally, WNYC’s Michael Hill highlights a community garden in Newark addressing food desert issues in New Jersey.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Friday, September 8th. Here's the midday news from David First. A federal investigation finds New Jersey is still exposing veterans in nursing homes to serious and even deadly COVID-19 infections. WNYC's Nancy Solomon reports on the Department of Justice's conclusions. The feds investigated more than 200 COVID-19 deaths that occurred at veterans' homes in Paramus and Menlo Park, concluding there was inadequate infection control and medical care. Governor Phil Murphy fired top managers of the homes, but the scathing report says the new managers were not required to examine what went wrong and what needs to change.

The state agreed last year to a $53 million settlement with the families of the veterans who died at the homes from COVID. Murphy says the treatment of the vets was appalling and that he's improved conditions there, but that there's more work to do. Hot and humid again today with a heat advisory in place until 6 p.m. And the sweltering heat is causing yet another day of early dismissals among students in the area. Several school districts in New Jersey are cutting kids loose ahead of schedule as they cope with high temperatures. That includes schools in Bloomfield, Madison and Union, In Connecticut, public school students in Stamford and Norwalk, among other towns, are doing the same.

That's not the case here in the city. The Department of Education spokesperson says New York City schools are not planning any early dismissals in response to the weather. 82 today, yes, mostly sunny, still hot and humid, a high of 87 with heat index values as high as 95. And there is a 50% chance we could see some showers this afternoon. This is WNYC. For WNYC, I'm Michael Hill. All this week on this program, we're talking about community gardens, who they serve, what they accomplish, and what their future looks like. Producer Veronica Del Valle and I took a trip across the Hudson to Newark,

where one community garden is trying to feed people in one of the state's worst food deserts. So we have kale, couple kinds of kale, collars, fennel, more collars. To one side, there's a page. of school buildings on the other just black top. But on this three-acre block in Newark's Clinton Hill neighborhood, the Hortland Avenue farm thrives. Well, this is my first season, so I can tell you that we're producing just in leafy greens alone, about 200 pounds a month. Behind this all is Abani Ramsey, Director of Urban Agriculture and Food Initiative for the Greater Newark Conservancy. The Conservancy manages the farm. Ramsey's only been in the role a few

months, but the fruit of her labor and the farmers are everywhere. There's some beautiful peaches. Now that, that's a good peach. That's a good peach. There are more than 130 fruit trees on the property and about the same number of rows of crops, which Ramsey works hard to maintain, but she's not the only one tending the fields. There are more than 200 raised garden beds at the Horthon Avenue farm. Members of the Clinton Hill community tend them like Badi Mahal.

This is B-tier, of course, the cottage that I just picked. I've got cinnamon basil, sweet basil, rosemary, and these are hybrid. The Conservancy rents out these hundreds of plots with priority going to those who live in the Clinton Hill community. The outreach takes off from there. Our goal is to make sure that every one of these garden beds is being utilized by somebody from the community. The beds cost $15 for the entire season. Mahomet says that money gets good. gardeners a lot of good perks. You feed piles of compost. They dump a big pile of compost right here

so you can put in your own fresh dirt or soil. And they give you all the tools you need, the wheelbarrows, the shovels, the rakes, the holes. And at the greenhouse, at the conservancy, you can get free seedings at the conservancy, free plants to put in your box. But categories came from them. Muhammad grows massive collard greens,

twice the size a person would see in the store, he says they're sweeter, sturdier, And Ramsey says the free accessible supplies in cheap space also help attract a diverse range. How many different nationalities of countries would you say represented here? I mean, a number of people from West Africa. I know of four gardeners who are from Nigeria and then African Americans. It's the United Nations around here. It really is.

The diversity comes as no shock in Newark. According to census data, the city is about four. 48% black. Its Hispanic and Latino population is also sizable and growing. But the farm at Horthon Avenue is not just about multiculturalism. It serves to feed a community where access to fresh produce is inconsistent at best. Chesa Hodge manages the city of Newark's Sustainable Food System program. The overall goal is to develop sustainable methods to keep people here in the city fed. Hodge works with a Horthon Avenue farm and other urban agriculture. sites throughout the city to help combat the crisis of food inaccessibility that plagues thousands of Newark residents.

That's one effort, but also to really garner some creative ways and thinking about how we can be resilient and celebrate food sovereignty and food autonomy here in the city. According to state data, Horthon Avenue is on the outer edge of New Jersey's third worst food desert, Newark's South Ward. Though more than 40,000 people live here, Bramsey says access to high quality and fresh foods is scarce. It's not super fresh. A lot of these are seconds that are coming from distributors because they are on their last leg. So people are getting discounted produce, but it also doesn't have the vitamins and mineral content that it had at the time that it was fresh picked. Newark has $2 million of state money, which it received in 2022 to help in this effort. a big part of Hodges' job is managing this money and making sure it helps communities and gardens like the one on Horthon Avenue. Hodge says other recipient organizations are also working in food distribution, nutrition education, and training programs.

The efforts are all in service of the same cause. Success looks like addressing food insecurity with food security, where people feel like I can do this on my own. and not only just growing on their own, but making choices that are leading to healthier lifestyles for themselves and their families to feel as if the land that is available here in the city that they do have access to it so that they can take skills and know-how

and be able to feed themselves and their family. Hawthorne Avenue accomplishes it through the plot rental program and through the weekly farmers market it stocks with crops grown on the farm. But the Greater Newark Conservancy is also collaborating with other organizations in the city to help share the wealth of knowledge they've acquired while attending this land. Edward DeBarros is a public high school teacher, but he's also an educator with the organization Steam Urban,

one of the groups working with the Horthon Avenue Farm. I like the analogy of cross-pollinating, you know, our staff workers, yeah. Intertwining, merging these organizations, it's how Newark should be run in a lot of ways. Now he's a farmer, too, learning from Ramsey and ready to take his knowledge to another community garden in Newark. That's the garden's philosophy, too, growing and sharing. And if you show and share respect and love with people in the community, then they will share love and respect with this place. So it really starts with how we engage and how we view the community that we're a part of.

Michael Hill, WNYC News. Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. 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. We'll be back this evening.