Midday News: Mamdani Proposes Mental Health Agency, Advocates Rally Over Cross Bronx Expressway Replacement, and Can We Expect More Earthquakes?

Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Monday, August 11th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is proposing a new department to take over the mental health and violence prevention work the NYPD has always handled. Mamdani says more than a billion dollars are reallocated, and new money would fund this agency. Former NYPD inspector Kenneth Quick says many officers would welcome this shift. Right now, NYPD officers get leaned on because they're fast to show up.

Kenneth Quick: In the grand scheme of government operations, what other government agency can you call and they'll be at your house in less than five minutes?

Michael Hill: Mamdani's plan would keep current policing staffing while hiring social workers and outreach teams. The Queen's assembly member is facing off against incumbent Mayor Adams, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, and Jim Whelan in a crowded general election. Environmental justice advocates are rallying against Governor Hochul today over her plan for the Cross Bronx Expressway. State officials plan to build a temporary replacement highway while they fix up the old structure. Siddhartha Sánchez is with the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition. He says the plan will worsen the health of many neighborhoods in the borough.

Siddhartha Sánchez: Our borough already suffers from the highest asthma rates due to dangerous air quality. For 17 years in a row, the Bronx has ranked last in health outcomes citywide.

Michael Hill: Advocates say they support a proposal by the city's transportation department to cap parts of the highway and add more green space. The Cross Bronx was built in the mid-20th century and completely raised neighborhoods across the borough. At 84 and sunny, now with an air quality alert. Sunny and hot today, a high of 88.

Janae Pierre: Stay tuned for more after the break.

Michael Hill: Earthquakes are shaking the Tri-State area. New York, New Jersey, in Connecticut, or so we think they are. Thousands of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans reported feeling the earthquakes we had this month. It leaves people wondering, are there actually more? Should we worry? With us now is Alexander Gates. He's a professor at Rutgers University, and he specializes in fault analysis. He's going to help us understand what's really going on. Alexander, are we having more earthquakes? Are we indeed having more?

Alexander Gates: Absolutely. This has been. We've had modern seismographs in the area since 1975 and up. Between 1975 and 2024, we had a total of 350 earthquakes in the area. In 2024 alone, we had 212, and we have 24 so far this year. We are absolutely at a high point in earthquake production.

Michael Hill: What is causing this, Alexander?

Alexander Gates: Obviously, we can't say for sure, but we did an analysis of this and found that there is actually a cycle for earthquakes that you get more earthquakes on about a 40-year cycle. Back in the mid-80s, we had more earthquakes then as well. Then, in between, we had very few earthquakes, and now all of a sudden we're having a lot of earthquakes again.

Michael Hill: What accounts for this cyclical behavior like this?

Alexander Gates: That, we don't know. There are many things that could be. It may just be a natural cycle in the Earth itself, or it could be distance from astronomical bodies, that maybe when they get closer, it puts more stress on the area. We're not sure, but all we know is that we see a cycle that's running about every 40 years.

Michael Hill: What should we think of them? Can our relatively old buildings and infrastructure-- Can they handle this quaking?

Alexander Gates: The last time we had a very big earthquake before the one in April 5th, 2024, was in 1884. We usually get these bigger ones every about 100 years. We were actually overdue. The one in 1884 was centered in Jamaica Bay, and it actually toppled a steeple in Rahway, New Jersey, pulled houses off their foundations around the area, and knocked chimneys over. It actually was quite a bit stronger than the one we had last year. We are capable of getting bigger earthquakes than we've had.

Michael Hill: Not to cause any alarm, but is there anything New York City area officials should be considering if we know we're living through a period of more seismic activity? What I mean by this, I'm talking about in terms of revising building codes to make them like perhaps building codes in San Francisco and other places that are prone to have these tremors.

Alexander Gates: Newer buildings are pretty much they are usually built with enough precaution that they could withstand the types of earthquakes that we've had in historical times, anyway, around here. The older buildings certainly can be damaged. What we can do about that is there's really not much besides a major overhaul to improve the older buildings. One thing we have to worry about, they did a big study in New York City back in, I think it was early 2000s, where they looked at-- Because a paper came out where they did a mathematical modeling study and decided that we could get a magnitude 7 every 3,500 years.

Magnitude 7 would kill numerous people and cause huge amounts of damage. However, we really don't have any evidence that a magnitude 7 has ever struck this area before. It's more theoretical than it is practical.

Michael Hill: What we're saying this morning is fingers crossed. Our guest has been Professor Alexander Gates. Thank you for joining us.

Alexander Gates: My pleasure.

Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.

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