Evening Roundup: More Criminal Charges Possible for Mayor Adams, Report Finds Bail Unaffordable in NY, TSA’s Weirdest Checkpoint Finds for 2024 and Gov. Hoch...

Announcer 2: NYC NOW.

Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC NOW, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Janae Pierre. Federal prosecutors say they've uncovered "additional criminal conduct" by Mayor Eric Adams as part of their ongoing corruption investigation. Although the court filing didn't specify what the conduct was, the news means Adams could face more charges on top of allegedly taking bribes from Turkish officials. When asked about the prospect of another indictment, the mayor dismissed the government's case.

Mayor Eric Adams: Even Ray Charles can see what's going on. [laughs] I have an attorney, Alex Spiro is handling that. I've said over and over again, I've done nothing wrong. Let the attorneys do that. I have to run this city.

Janae Pierre: Adams is said to go to trial in April.

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Janae Pierre: A New York state law that was supposed to make it more affordable for people to post bail on behalf of someone who's been arrested isn't working as planned. That's according to a new report from NYU's Law School. Judges are supposed to give people at least three different ways to post bail. The dollar amount often varies between them. Researchers found that judges often make bonds paid to outside companies the cheapest option. Unlike payments directly to the court, those are not refundable. Advocates say that can take a toll on low-income defendants and their loved ones. A spokesperson for the state office of court administration says it's reviewing the report.

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Janae Pierre: The TSA is out with its top 10 weirdest checkpoint fines for 2024 and an incident at Newark is on the list. WNYC's Phil Corso has the details.

Phil Corso: TSA officers at Newark Liberty Airport made the unusual discovery in October, a fully disassembled nine-millimeter gun hidden in a Black Panther Lego box. Officials say the Mississippi traveler stuffed the gun's frame into a boot and mixed other parts with Lego pieces. The TSA says he claimed it was a toy, then blamed his brother, but authorities weren't buying it. They called it a clear attempt to sneak a gun onto a plane. The man was arrested and Newark's Lego gun caper landed at number eight on the TSA's weirdest checkpoint finds of the year.

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Janae Pierre: The annual legislative session is underway in Albany. State lawmakers have their own agendas, but so does Governor Kathy Hochul. More on that after the break. New York State lawmakers are back in Albany for their annual legislative session. Over the next six months, they'll pass hundreds of bills for Governor Kathy Hochul to either sign or veto. Hochul on the other hand, has a major priority of her own. She wants to make it easier to hospitalize someone against their will if they're in need of mental healthcare. For more, my colleague Michael Hill talked with WNYC's Albany reporter Jon Campbell.

Michael Hill: Let's talk about what the governor's looking for here. Is this a response to the high-profile crimes we've seen recently on New York City streets and subways?

Jon Campbell: Yes, it is, Michael. Total crime was down on the subway in 2024 compared to the prior year, but we've all seen these images of some really horrific crimes recently, like the woman who was burned to death on the F Train in Brooklyn last month. The governor says those recent violent crimes are in part why she's doing this.

Governor Kathy Hochul: We need to ensure that those who are suffering from severe mental illness are getting the care they need, and we're also protecting the innocent bystanders on our subways and on our streets.

Jon Campbell: She wants to change state law that sets when the state or the city can involuntarily commit someone. Right now, that can only happen if a person is showing signs of mental illness and they're a danger to themselves or others. The governor says she wants to expand the standard, though she hasn't exactly said how. She says she'll provide details in her state budget proposal later this month.

Michael Hill: Jon, Mayor Adams has already made it easier for the NYPD to involuntarily remove people from the streets. Has that made any difference?

Jon Campbell: This all goes back to 2022. That's when the state issued this new guidance saying cities can remove someone from the streets or the subway and take them to a hospital if they can't meet their own basic needs. The NYPD has been taking that approach pretty much ever since. The mayor has been pushing a bill in Albany that would essentially install that guidance in state law, which would insulate the city from legal challenges. Our colleague Caroline Lewis, she reported an average of 126 people a week were involuntarily taken to a hospital in the city last year. Those numbers are from January through October, but there's been a lot of resistance in Albany and among organizations, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, which says locking people up essentially isn't the way to combat homelessness and the mental health crisis. They question whether it violates state law, whether it violates federal law, and if somebody doesn't want to go to the hospital, there's a contingent of lawmakers that think they shouldn't be forced to go.

Michael Hill: Is anything going to change this year, Jon, or are we in for another stalemate?

Jon Campbell: It seems like there is a little bit of momentum this year. Governor Hochul supported these changes for a couple years now, but this is really the first time she's going to have a proposal of her own and she's got a lot of leverage in state budget negotiations, so she could choose to force the issue if she wants. Even state lawmakers seem to acknowledge the tide is turning a bit here. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is a Democrat from the Bronx. He spoke to reporters last week.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie: I do think we have to really reexamine how we're handling some of the mental health issues in the

state.

Jon Campbell: Heastie has a lot of juice. He leads the assembly and negotiates major legislation with the governor and the Senate.

Michael Hill: What are some of the other issues lawmakers may tackle this year, Jon?

Jon Campbell: Well, there's a lot of them. The legislature passes several hundred bills each session. This year won't be an exception. One of the big things we're going to be watching is whether New York state will take any steps to "Trump proof" the state. [laughs] If the incoming president follows through on his mass deportation pledge, will state lawmakers pass bills that make it tougher to follow through in New York? That's what we'll be watching.

The governor and lawmakers, they're also planning to tackle other thorny issues like how the state funds the education system and how it funds the MTA going forward. The governor's already been rolling out a few things she wants lawmakers to pass. That includes a plan to send checks of up to $500 to New Yorkers. That's what the governor is calling a "inflation rebate". That's going to be a big part of her State of the State address this coming Tuesday.

Michael Hill: What can we expect to hear from the governor in that State of the State address? The governor's been talking a lot about affordability.

Jon Campbell: She has, and I'd expect her to keep talking about that in the speech. The State of the State, it really sets the agenda in Albany for the coming year, and the governor is making clear she wants the issue of affordability to be front and center. We talked about the checks she wants to send out earlier this week.

She also unveiled a proposal to boost the state's child tax credit. She wants to triple it, in fact, from the current $330 maximum to a max of $1000 per child for families that meet income requirements. Politicians heard a lot of these complaints about the price of goods and services during the last election. It's really not a coincidence that the governor's focusing on this now. She's up for reelection next year and polls say she has a lot of work to do to get voters on her side.

Michael Hill: Jon, it seems that she's intent on doing it. As you were talking and explaining these issues, I couldn't help but think that this is a plan to garner attention and really seem to get things done and have a direct impact on New Yorkers ahead of next year's election.

Jon Campbell: That's certainly what she's hoping for. She over and over is saying, "We're going to be putting more money in your pockets." That's the approach that she's trying to take. She's hoping that if she does issue these checks and increase tax credits and do things that have a tangible impact on somebody's pocketbook, then it might help her when she runs for reelection in 2026.

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Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Jon Campbell talking with my colleague Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC NOW from WNYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Janae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.

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