WORLD WORLDWIDE USA New York NY New York City NYC the city THE CITY News Journal Update - THE CITY SCOOP: NYPD Quality-of-Life Crackdown Sends Thousands to Criminal Court, Undoing Landmark Reforms

 

View this email in your browser If you know anyone who might like this newsletter, send it to them. If this was sent to you by someone else, subscribe here — it's free!  Dear New Yorkers, The NYPD has dramatically ramped up criminal enforcement of low-level quality-of-life violations under Mayor Eric Adams. That’s in spite of a 2016 law that enabled and steered police to issue civil tickets for offenses such as public urination and open alcohol containers. The number of criminal summonses issued for five offenses targeted by the 2016 Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA) was up sixfold in the first six months of 2023 than in the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.  Most of the criminal summonses have been issued for public drinking: police have issued six times more of those in the first half of this year than they did in the first half of 2019. The other offenses for which the Council encouraged civil instead of criminal summonses were public urination (up fourfold), park rules violations (up fourfold), littering (up threefold) and excessive noise (up twofold).  More than 90% of tickets where race was noted went to Black and Hispanic people. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who sponsored the CJRA while a member of the City Council, condemned the trend in an interview with THE CITY. “There is no way you can tell me that nine out of 10 summonses going to Black and brown people is not a problem,” he said. Read more here. In other news: Casino Taking Over Trump’s Golf Club in the Bronx The Bally’s casino chain has struck a tentative deal to take over what’s now the Trump Golf Links golf course just off the Whitestone Bridge in the Bronx, THE CITY has confirmed. The sale was first reported by the New York Post, which said the gambling giant would pay tens of millions of dollars to pick up the lease to run, and name, the public course through 2035. That sets up the gambling giant to put in an offer for what’s expected to be one license from the state for a new casino in New York City. While Manhattan elected officials have mostly been largely critical of casino plans there, Bronx Councilmember Marjorie Velázquez said a golf course deal would be “an opportunity to see real economic prosperity and inclusivity.” — Jonathan Custodio Some other items of note: Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday commuted David Herion’s 45-year prison sentence for attempted murder — after a stray bullet he and a co-defendant allegedly fired in September 1997 struck the head of a woman as she walked out of a Bedford-Stuyvesant church. Hochul also commuted two other sentences and pardoned 10 people last week. In February 2021 THE CITY highlighted Herion’s decades behind bars and how his alleged victim — Carolyn Jones — had pushed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to free him.  A Brooklyn developer, Mark Caller, raised nearly $50,000 for the Adams campaign. Now, he is expected to be indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney on charges that he provided a luxury apartment at below-market rent to Eric Ulrich, a former city councilman and Adams appointee, in exchange for official favors. Ulrich — a Republican ex-councilman from Queens who bucked his party in 2021 to support Adams’ mayoral bid — was briefly the city’s buildings commissioner before being forced to resign after it was revealed that the D.A. had seized his cell phone during an investigation into a mob-tied gambling ring. Ulrich is also expected to be charged. While Mayor Eric Adams says migrants will “destroy” New York City if the Biden administration doesn’t help them get work permits more quickly and provide other support. State Sen. Zellnor Myrie joins the FAQ NYC podcast to discuss his idea for the city to simply issue its own permits, and much more.  Earlier this month, the New York state Department of Health ceased reporting overall COVID-19 case numbers. As a result, we’re no longer able to include updates in our Coronavirus in New York City tracker. We’ve kept past numbers for the historical record. According to health experts consulted by THE CITY, hospitalization rates, ICU capacity and vaccination rates remain the best indicators of the current state of the pandemic — all of which are updates regularly on our tracker. Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Tuesday's Weather Rating: 5/10. An improvement! We're between storm systems today, and that has brought us a slight decrease in humidity and a much lower chance of storms (until late tonight). It's still a bit uncomfortable out there, but we'll take it. The vibes are...all right. Things To Do Here’s what’s going on around the city this week. Saturday, Sept. 16: Farmhouse Family Day: Busy with Bees, a kid-friendly educational event about bees and other pollinators featuring beehives, honey tasting and more. Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum in Brooklyn, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Bee-related activities begin at 1 p.m.) Free. Saturday, Sept. 16: Poseidon Parade, a celebration of end-of-summer with costumes and floats. Beach 94 Street Plaza Amphitheater at Rockaway Beach in Queens, 12-2 p.m. Free. Saturday, Sept. 16: Art is Alive 2023, a multi-disciplined conference of forms from an African and African diasporic experience. Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free. THE KICKER: The Metropolitan Museum of Art found that local angle. A new four-month-long exhibition of Pablo Picasso’s work, titled “Picasso: A Cubist Commission in Brooklyn,” opens this week and considers a never-realized 1910 commission for a residence in the borough. Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Tuesday. Love, THE CITY P.S. 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