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News 12 Staff

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Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Power and Politics, everyone. I'm Amanda Bossard. One of the candidates running in the race to become New York City mayor has deep roots here in Brooklyn. State Senator Zellnor Myre is campaigning to become the Democratic candidate, and I spoke with him about the top issues behind his run. And the state of the current administration. Senator Zell Normari, thanks so much for taking time and joining us this week on Power and Politics. Thank you for having me. I'd love to kick off talking about your run for mayor and asking you what were your motivations in throwing your name into the ring for the Democratic candidate and uh what are some of the priorities of your campaign? Look, I would not be who I am today, uh, if not for New York City. This is the city that both of my parents came to from Costa Rica, close to 50 years ago. Both my parents worked in factories when they got here. My dad would go on to become a public school teacher, taught special education in the Bronx for over two decades. My mom became a nurse and then a small business owner. That same opportunity that was available to my parents is the same opportunity that many New Yorkers are seeking right now. Uh, my wife and I got married a little over a year ago and we want to put roots down in that very community we were born and raised in. Steps away from that elementary school that both of us went to, but the cost of home ownership feels impossible to reach right now. We want to expand our family, but the cost of childcare feels out of reach. We're getting on our subways and walking in our streets and we're not feeling as safe as we did years ago. And when we've looked for solutions to this problem, City Hall has given us headlines, distractions, corruption. We need new leadership, and we need bold solutions that meet the moment and the scope of the problems that we're facing. That's why I'm running for mayor and hoping to earn your vote. Let's expand on some of those priorities for a minute if you don't mind. Subway safety, you touched on obviously on the minds of many New Yorkers right now with some of those high profile crimes that have gone viral online and, you know, showing the images in real time of what's going on there. What are your thoughts on the approach that's currently being put into place to put more officers on trains and any other steps that you would take if elected to mayor? I take the subway every day. Uh, so I don't just say this as a candidate, I don't just say this as politics or some rehearsed line. This is lived experience. I've been taking public transit since I was very, very young in this city, and we got to be honest about where we are. Things feel Feel different on our subways. We have New Yorkers that are suffering right before our eyes, uh, and they are becoming a threat not only to themselves but to the public safety of everyone that is taking that train. Clearly what we have been doing is not working and we need a different approach. I've put forward a plan called Safe Streets Safe Subways that yes, includes putting more police officers uh in the spots where we've seen some trouble. Things happen, but we also have to have a holistic approach, uh, where we have law enforcement be joined by clinicians so people can get diagnosed and they could be taken not just to Rikers and not just the emergency room because out of both of those places they end up being right back on the streets and right back on our subways. So I proposed something that would have stabilization centers in every borough where people can go get the help that they need, get the right diag. and be on the path to recovery. Uh, we gotta have permanent housing for these individuals that gives them the support that they need, but we also have to keep New Yorkers safe. That's why in my public safety plan I have proposed increasing our police headcount back to what it was before the pandemic, increasing our detectives so that we can be in the business of solving crime but also investing in the resources to prevent crime from happening. In the first place. And then on the issue of affordability and really localizing it in terms of some timely topics, we just heard news over the last few weeks that 4 childcare facilities across Brooklyn are set to close after the city did not renew their leases. They're citing low enrollment. People in the community say otherwise. First and foremost, any updates on the outlook of that situation and how you would handle it if you were mayor. So there have been no updates, and I think it is absolutely outrageous that at a time where families can barely afford to pay their rent, and when these childcare centers are really the only sense of relief they have for childcare and how expensive it is. That City Hall, instead of investing more in child care is allowing for these child care centers to close. One of these, Friends of Crown Heights is in the district that I currently represent in the state Senate, an institution that has been here for decades serving our families and institutions all across the city. Where else are they gonna go? What are our families gonna do? If you can't afford to live here, if you can't afford childcare, you're gonna leave this city, uh, and that is bad for those families, that is bad for our entire city and so as mayor, I would be investing in universal child care. I also want after school for every single family. I wouldn't be sitting here. For you today as a candidate for mayor, as a state senator, as a lawyer if I didn't have an after school program, I went to something called the Crown Heights Youth Collective because my mom, like most New Yorkers, didn't get off at 2:30 p.m. That's what I wanna do as mayor, make the investments that we know provide relief for working families, but they're also great for our communities. Right now we're just a few weeks into a new presidential administration and the current mayor, Eric Adams has made comments that he's willing to work with President Donald Trump for the benefit of New York City. As mayor, how would you approach that relationship with the president? But look, I think New Yorkers expect their mayor to work with the federal government, to work with the president that was duly elected, when it is in the best interest of New York City. But that's not what we have seen over the past week in a couple of days we have seen a mayor that is compromised because he is seeking a pardon and relief in his own legal troubles, and he is putting his preservation over the preservation of our city. I think every New Yorker expects that anyone that breaks the law should. Held accountable for that regardless of their immigration status and to the extent that the federal government is gonna help with that, that's OK but attacking our vulnerable communities, attacking immigrants that have been in many ways the lifeblood of our city, and as the proud son of two immigrants, I would be standing up for our vulnerable communities. State senator and mayoral candidate Zormari, thanks so much for your time and the conversation here on Power and Politics. Always a pleasure to be with you. Thank you. Still to come, a fake plate crackdown. We are on the road with officers pulling over drivers getting creative to avoid congestion pricing. More power in politics in just a couple of minutes. Stay with us.

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Bosser, if you think you can get away with fake license plates and avoid the toll, think again. The NYPD cracked down on toll evators in a massive operation, and News 12 shocked Dennis was on the ground and brings us more. We've got 11 tow trucks a boots underground operation with more than 100 officers and multiple city agencies teaming up to spot so-called ghost cars entering Manhattan through Brooklyn. Those are those vehicles that are unregistered and or vehicles that have covered, obstructed, altered. Plates or mismatched plates and sometimes they're using stolen plates. One of those red flags are temporary paper plates like the one Aaron had on his car when he got pulled over. I just got the vehicle, so I have to get 10 tags until I can register the vehicle. So that was the reason why. So I'm not sure. But everything is legitimate. It's registered, he says he bought the plate through an online dealership and had no idea it was illegal. But after a quick check with the DMV, officers arrested him on the spot. His vehicle will be seized as an unregistered vehicle, and he'll be summoned. The NYPD says that last year these operations led to 740 arrests and the seizure of over 3400 vehicles. In 2023, the MDA says. Was owed close to $250 million in unpaid tolls and fees, so their message to drivers is simple. If you try to cheat the system, it's not going to work. We're going to find you and we're going to take your cars, and the MTA says that 96% of drivers do play by the rules, but they're really going after that 4% who is not paying and getting away with it. At the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, Shakti Dennis Brooklyn. This month, the MTA and NYPD added over 200 officers to the transit system after recent violence, and they also took steps to add 2 officers per train for the overnight hours. During the week, News spoke with the MTA CEO Jano Liber, who said that he's not completely satisfied with the updated game plan. He said that he's happy to see increased security on the subways, but will not be content until everyone who rides the subway system feels safe consistently. The main thing is for everybody to feel safe on the subway, and that is not the case right now because of these high profile incidents which are frankly terrifying to a lot of New Yorkers. Police data shows 628 arrests system-wide between January 20 and 26th. Lieber said that he hopes the police presence that we're seeing now will not fizzle out. He'd like the security to stay or if anything, increase. That's all for this week here on Power and Politics on News 12. Thanks so much for watching.

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New York City saw its first ICE raids this week, as promised by the new presidential administration. Federal agents took multiple people into custody, saying they were wanted for violent crimes. These actions have left many communities across the borough wondering what's next.

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Power & Politics: ICE raids in New York City

New York City saw its first ICE raids this week, as promised by the new presidential administration. Federal agents took multiple people into custody, saying they were wanted for violent crimes. These actions have left many communities across the borough wondering what's next.

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