WORLD WORLDWIDE US USA - New York NY - New York City NYC - Columbia arrests, Cadman Towers conversion, street vendor crackdown - Online news journal UPDATE.

 

Dear New Yorkers,

Dozens of NYPD officers swarmed Columbia University’s campus Thursday, breaking up a encampment where pro-Palestinian demonstrators had slept overnight, demanding the university divest from companies and interests that support Israel.

By Thursday evening over 100 people had been arrested, police said. . Two legal observers were among those arrested, according to an attorney on site with the National Lawyers Guild.

In an email sent out Thursday afternoon to all Columbia students, faculty and staff, President Minouche Shafik said she had authorized the NYPD to enter the university — even as reporters were blocked from entering the campus to cover the arrests.

In a letter to the NYPD sent Thursday that Shafik posted on the university’s public safety website, she wrote that “the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University,” and that all students participating in the demonstration had been informed they’d been suspended and were now trespassing.

The crackdown on student protesters came a day after Shafik testified before members of Congress over efforts to root out antisemitism on campus.

As demonstrators were arrested on Thursday afternoon, hundreds of students chanted “shame” and “let them go” from the perimeter of the South Lawn while officers rounded up those on the green, put their hands in zip ties and walked them off campus.

“I feel pretty disgusted,” said a 21-year-old student named Aidan, who declined to give his last name, fearing retaliation from the administration. “It’s crazy seeing how much police presence they need for non-violent protesters, too.”

Read more about the crackdown on demonstrators here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Friday's Weather Rating: 5/10. Dreary and unsettled weather sticks around today with an onshore wind. Cloudy for most of the day with high temperatures only reaching the upper 50s and a few isolated showers. The sun may peek out briefly this afternoon. The vibes are … all right.

Our Other Top Stories

Apartments in Cadman Towers, an affordable co-op in Brooklyn Heights, currently sell for a mere five figures. That’s about to change. The City Council on Thursday approved a tax break that will let Cadman Towers become the first Mitchell-Lama cooperative to convert to a city-sponsored affordable housing co-op known as an HDFC, a move that will help Cadman Towers generate more cash when apartments sell. More than three-quarters of shareholders voted for the conversion, but others remained skeptical that the unprecedented step would meaningfully address the financial woes. (Meanwhile, people who’ve spent years on Cadman Towers’ waiting list are also furious.) After days of back-to-back NYPD crackdowns along Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, street vendors marched to City Hall and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection yesterday to demand that City Council pass a law to lift the cap on street vending licenses. Permits for general merchandise sellers have been limited to 853 since 1979. Yesterday the New York City Youth Journalism Coalition held a day of action at City Hall. Their goal, as Chalkbeat reports, was to urge City Council members and other city officials to support more journalism programs in city schools. (Roughly 73% of the city’s high schools do not have school newspapers or student-run websites, according to a 2022 study.) “It’s insane to me that a lot of kids don’t have the opportunity to use publications as a way to express themselves,” one student said. The day of action also served as part of the launch of the coalition’s “Journalism for All” initiative, which includes a newly developed high school journalism curriculum that will roll out in the 2025-26 school year.

Reporter’s Notebook

Rent Hike Updates

The latest report released by the Rent Guidelines Board, as part of its annual process for setting hikes, found that operating costs for rent-stabilized buildings rose 3.9% this year — well short of last year’s 8.1% bump. Rent would have to increase 2.75% for one-year leases and 4.75% for two-year leases to keep up, based on a model the board uses to project needed revenue.

Taxes, which make up nearly 30% of the overall price index, increased by 3.2%. Among all the other cost categories that factor into the price index, Insurance costs, which make up just 7.2% of the price index, saw the largest increase year over year, jumping by 21.7%.

At a hearing Thursday on the report, known as the Price Index of Operating Costs, a tenant member of the board protested letting landlord costs dictate rent increases, charging it props up landlords’ profits.

“To do that without having an equal calculation to project for what sort of rental adjustment would be necessary to keep rent stabilized tenants not rent burdened is really problematic,” said Adán Soltren, a tenant member.

Last year, the board allowed for a rent hike of 3% for one-year leases, and, for two-year leases, 2.75% for the first year and 3.2% for the second year.

— Gabriel Poblete

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Friday, April 19: Lost New York, an exhibition about places that once defined the city — from the original Penn Station to Keith Haring’s Pop Shop — brought to life by paintings, photographs, objects, lithographs, and community voices. The exhibition is ongoing through September 29 at the New York Historical Society; tickets are pay-as-you-wish from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays.  Saturday, April 20: Family Day: Spring Fest, with musical performances and activities for families. Free (first come, first served) from 12 to 4 p.m. at Carnegie Hall’s Resnick Education Wing. Saturday, April 20: Celebrate Earth Day with various free events at city parks across the five boroughs.

THE KICKER: Best of luck to the 12 New Yorkers (finally) chosen to be the jury in former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Friday.

Love,

THE CITY

PS. Love THE CITY? Our nonprofit newsroom runs on support from readers like you. Donate here.

Want to view Scoop in your web browser? Click here.

THE CITY's work is made possible, in part, through the support of our sponsors. Interested in becoming a sponsor of THE CITY? Contact us here.  Copyright © 2024 THE CITY, All rights reserved.