Evening Roundup: Arrest Made After Violence at West Indian Day Parade, Horseshoe Crab Study Shows Severe Decline, Trump Awards Giuliani Medal of Freedom, MTA...

Title: Evening Roundup: Arrest Made After Violence at West Indian Day Parade, Horseshoe Crab Study Shows Severe Decline, Trump Awards Giuliani Medal of Freedom, MTA Data Reveal Subway Delays, and Voices From South Jamaica

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Sean Carlson: Arrests made after violence at West Indian Day Parade, horseshoe crab studies show severe decline, Trump awards Giuliani Medal of Freedom, MTA data reveals subway delays, and voices from South Jamaica. From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Sean Carlson.

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Sean Carlson: Authorities are investigating multiple incidents of violence that closed out the West Indian Day Parade Monday night. Police say while the parade was still going on, gunshots hit a man and woman near Eastern Parkway. Then around 6:00 at night, they say someone slashed a man several times, also near the parade route on Eastern Parkway. Roughly an hour later, a man was shot in the shoulder and chest near Classon Avenue and Eastern Parkway. Around the same time, police say a gunman shot a man in the neck and right leg and a woman in the ankle a few blocks from the parade route. One man is under arrest in that attack. He's been charged with criminal weapons possession. Police say all the victims are in stable condition.

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Sean Carlson: The Long Island Sound region's horseshoe crab population has been in severe decline over the last two decades. That's according to a newly released study. From WSHU in Connecticut, Sabrina Garone reports it comes amid a push in New York to ban their harvest.

Sabrina Garone: The journal Nature took a look at six data sets across both sides of the Sound and in the middle of the water. It found declines averaging between 3% and 9% each year over 20 years. Researchers attribute that to overharvesting and habitat loss. The species is about 450 million years old. A bill to ban their harvest was vetoed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul last year, but the state does have a number of restrictions in place. Connecticut put a ban on the practice back in 2023. Horseshoe crabs are used as bait for eels and whelk, and their blood is sometimes used in medical procedures and treatment. Advocates are also pushing for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

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Sean Carlson: President Trump says he's awarding former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That's just days after Giuliani was injured in a serious car crash. In the decades since Giuliani led New York City, he was disbarred in New York and Washington and criminally charged in two states in connection with efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He was also found in contempt of court after failing to pay two former election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him. He was ultimately allowed to keep his belongings in exchange for unspecified compensation. A correction to an earlier newscast, Giuliani's son says his father has been released from the hospital.

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Sean Carlson: Up next, new MTA data shows subway service has been pretty subpar. We'll have more on that after the break.

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Sean Carlson: New MTA statistics show subway service went down the tubes this summer. WNYC's Ramsey Khalifeh reports how long-standing infrastructure problems are upending commutes for thousands.

Ramsey Khalifeh: Lisa Girdar says she had a front row seat to this summer's subway horror show.

Lisa Girdar: I had to pick up my son from one of his events at his school. I was like an hour delayed in picking him up, even though I started on time.

Ramsey Khalifeh: A whole hour you were delayed?

Lisa Girdar: Yes, I was delayed a whole hour. They were saying there was a signal problem or something.

Ramsey Khalifeh: She was riding the E train from Bellerose in Queens to Lower Manhattan. New MTA data shows July was the worst month on record for train delays because of broken infrastructure, like signal failures and track damage. Was he upset at you?

Lisa Girdar: Oh, of course, he was upset. [chuckles]

Ramsey Khalifeh: It's been a rough summer for straphangers. There were two power outages at the West 4th Street subway station in one week, sparking lengthy delays across the city. A heavy storm flooded the 1 train and closed the line down for hours. Governor Hochul and the state legislature committed billions of earlier this year for the MTA to upgrade the subway's oldest infrastructure, some of which dates back to the 1920s. The money is committed, but it'll take years for riders to feel its benefits. Danny Pearlstein is with the transit advocacy group Riders Alliance.

Danny Pearlstein: In some respects, we've been living on borrowed time. The system nearly fell apart 50 years ago. Now, the signals, the electrical systems, the structures, the tunnels, all need that level of TLC that they haven't gotten in generations. Those chickens are roosting right now.

Ramsey Khalifeh: Major incidents defined as events that delay 50 or more trains, also spiked in June and July. The city hasn't seen that many in a summer since 2018.

Sean Carlson: That's WNYC's Ramsey Khalifeh.

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Sean Carlson: WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk regularly partners with the nonprofit Street Lab to highlight stories from neighborhoods across New York City. We recently spent time on 109th Avenue in South Jamaica, Queens. Here are a few of the voices from the community.

Nicholas Haskins: My name is Nicholas Haskins. I'm 70 years old, and I'm a senior here in Jamaica, Queens, New York. It's so nice that someone is doing things for the children that they can come out and play, learn things, instead of being boxed in. There's something that needs to be made more different for the seniors. The seniors don't come out like they should.

I come out practically every day, and I have a few friends, they come out, but I know there's plenty of other seniors that don't have the advantage or the luxury to do so. I wonder about them, and I worry about them because I see some of them get in the cars to go to the doctor, come back, go right up. Is that all they have left? For the future, I hope to see more of seniors and people and children out enjoying their lives, because when you come out and anticipate with your neighbors and your friends, everything gets better.

Aisha Ford: My name is Aisha Ford. I am from East New York, Brooklyn. I am at a unity event in Southside Jamaica, Queens, to support the children here in the neighborhood. They have different activities over here for them to do every summer. I come and I help or do as much as I can. Sometime I donate to them as well. I love to give back.

I'm looking into doing something similar myself, but more towards teens, because I find that a lot of teens cry out for help in the wrong areas. I have two teen boys as well, and I do things with them. Other parents, for whatever reason, they can't. There's not enough centers open and everything is costly. Not everyone can afford it. I just wanted to give them opportunities and know that there's more out there than what they're doing right now.

Kamla Sandiford: My name is Kamla Sandiford. I am a 60-year-old educator, and I'm out here in Southside Jamaica. I've been an educator for 29 years. I live in the community now. I live in Jamaica, Queens, so this is dear to my heart. I grew up in Brooklyn in a poor community, but the parents and the educators made a difference for me. That's why I always feel like it's not where you're at, it's what you do with what you get.

Kenny McLemore: My name is Kenny McLemore, and I'm currently the president of Family Union Our Community, which operates out of South Jamaica, Queens. We started back in 2014 in a mentoring program, which I ran out of here in South Jamaica. 2021, I decided to get my own organization where I felt that I was able to do more. Family Union Our Community is about connectivity to the community. We have after-school programs, day camps, and activities that we provide, educational games. We take them on field trips as well.

I am 67 years old, and I would like to get the organization to a point where I can sit back and admire it. I hope to get each individual educated on how to grow in your community and take it to another level and bring up another youngster, and teach them the same way they were being taught.

Sean Carlson: Those are the voices from 109th Avenue in South Jamaica, Queens, as part of our partnership with the nonprofit Street Lab.

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Sean Carlson: Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. We'll be back tomorrow.

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