Midday News: Power Outage Disrupts Subway Lines, Gunman Apparently Targeted NFL Offices, and Mamdani’s Mayoral Bid Draws Mixed Reactions from South Asians

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Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City, from WNYC. It's Tuesday, July 29th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: The MTA says a power outage at the West 4th Street subway station is causing several delays and disruptions for commuters. The outage affects the A, B, C, F, and M lines. The transit agency says it completely suspended some of the lines while it rerouted others from express to local. New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow is blaming the issue on the subway's outdated electrical infrastructure.

Demetrius Crichlow: In this instance, it was a breaker that tripped. Anytime there are extreme temperatures like this, it can have an impact on, a strain on our system. Right now, we're trying to determine what caused that outage.

Michael Hill: The MTA says it plans for regular service to resume early this afternoon. The problems came as a heat wave is hitting the city. We now know more about those killed when a gunman opened fire yesterday in a Park Avenue skyscraper in Midtown. The labor union SEIU 32BJ says one of its members was one of four killed in the attack. The union is calling Elon Etienne, a dedicated security officer who took his job duties extremely seriously. Investment firm Blackstone also says one of its executives, Wesley LePatner, was killed in the shooting. Last night, the city officials identified Didarul Islam as the police officer who died in the attack.

Islam was working a paid security detail in uniform. Police say the gunman, 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, killed himself, had a history of mental illness, and had a rambling note found on his body that suggested he had a grievance against the NFL over an unsubstantiated claim that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy from playing non-professional football. 93 and sunny, sunny and 97. Feeling like 105. Dangerously hot today.

Janae Pierre: Stay close. There's more after the break.

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David Furst: On wnyc. I'm David Furst. The mayoral campaign of Democrat Zohran Mamdani has energized some of New York City's immigrant communities, including Muslim and South Asian constituents. Some of his sharpest critics are South Asian, like the candidate himself. WNYC's Arun Venugopal joins us to discuss how Mamdani's run has placed him at the center of long-standing divisions between Hindus and Muslims. Arun, thanks for being here.

Arun Venugopal: Hi, David.

David Furst: You attended a recent gathering of the Indian American community in Queens, where much of the emphasis was placed on Mamdani. Can you talk about that gathering?

Arun Venugopal: Yes. This is one of those events that was emblematic of the tensions between Hindus and Muslims. It was held in Queens, featured a highly controversial Hindu speaker from India who goes by the name of Kajal Hindustani. She's been arrested in India on charges of hate speech. Mayor Adams was scheduled to attend this event, but he pulled out after an outcry from a number of community groups. Still, there were around 350 people, I'd say, in attendance. She told the crowd that Muslims represented a threat to Hindus. She said that Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim, was no different.

She called him a demon and a number of anti Muslim religious lures. Now, human rights groups say this speaker gave more hate speeches in India in 2023 than any other speaker. This sort of vitriol has been part of a larger uptick in anti Muslim discourse, according to the Center for the Study of Organized Hate. It's also made clear that religious tensions that we might think of as far off, taking place between Hindus and Muslims over in India, are very much in evidence right here in New York.

David Furst: How was this speaker's message received by those in the audience?

Arun Venugopal: It clearly resonated with a lot of them who applauded her many times, crowded around her after she spoke, for photo ops. One of the people I spoke to with whom her words resonated was Prakash Patel from Jackson Heights. He said he saw Mamdani as just the first and what could be a number of Muslims gaining political power.

Prakash Patel: I have to stop him going into power. If [unintelligible 00:04:23] don't do it, he's going to go more and more. Later on, it's going to be very harm to our community, our Hindus, and everybody. This is our chance to stop before he get into that. This is the first step, stop them getting into the political power.

Arun Venugopal: David, this is the concern that human rights experts have. Raqib Hameed Naik is the executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, and he worries that this kind of anti Muslim discourse may have the effect of keeping Muslims out of public office in the United States.

David Furst: Arun, you have spoken to a number of people in the Hindu community in New York City. What concerns are they voicing about Mamdani?

Arun Venugopal: One person I spoke to, David, was Dr. Uma Mysorekar. She's the president of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, which runs the big Ganesh temple in Flushing. She says she has been hearing from devotees who are worried about what Mamdani would be like if he's elected mayor. She says the concern is that they wouldn't necessarily get fair treatment under him.

Uma Mysorekar: I fully understand the fear that some people do have. I don't think it is a justifiable fear, really. I think it's just not fair to judge him based on the fact that he is a Muslim or a follower of Islam.

Arun Venugopal: She also said she's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt if he is elected and that she'd most certainly invite him to the Flushing Hindu temple should he be elected.

David Furst: Why do people say they oppose Mamdani that she's talking to?

Arun Venugopal: A few things. In the past, he's repeatedly criticized the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi. Called him a war criminal. Modi was the chief minister of a state in India, Gujarat, in 2002 when these massive religious riots erupted. Now, he was cleared by India's Supreme Court, but a number of civil society groups and international observers state that he fomented the violence in that state by Hindu groups, which ended in the deaths of as many as 2,000 Muslims. Nonetheless, Mamdani's words criticizing him have really angered some Indians.

Then there's something more local, David. He co-sponsored a bill and in the New York State legislature that would make caste a protected category. Now, the bill doesn't specifically name India or Hindus, but some conservative Hindu groups oppose it because they say it singles out their community.

David Furst: Mamdani also has Hindu supporters. What do they have to say?

Arun Venugopal: There's a group called Hindus for Zohran. Lavinia Dharadali is a member of this group, and she's originally from India. She says the group also includes people from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Indo-Caribbean communities.

Lavinia Dharadali: He really reflects everything that we are. We're very pluralistic, so is he. He has this very strong values. He has such great moral clarity that our religion teaches us, and the values that we embody, and the values that we hope we give our children.

Arun Venugopal: Now, others have pointed out that Mamdani has attended some Hindu events. These include festivities at a Nepali Hindu temple in Ridgewood earlier this year. A Diwali celebration last fall in Queens, where he said the festival was about the triumph of light over darkness and that it was sometimes hard to find that light in the city when you can't afford your rent. Really, combining his stump speech with the values of the Hindu community.

David Furst: How is Mamdani responding to this rift within the community and these attacks?

Arun Venugopal: The Mamdani campaign hasn't commented on the attacks against him. Some of which are clearly quite personal and inflammatory. A couple weeks ago, when we reported on the fact that Mayor Adams withdrew from this event featuring Kajal Hindustani, Mamdani issued a statement to WNYC saying, "We should be bringing New Yorkers together, not stoking division." He doesn't appear to have articulated how he would bridge the divide within the South Asian community. In a tight race, clearly, those votes and these divisions could really make a difference, David.

David Furst: WNYC's Arun Venugopal. Thanks for speaking with us.

Arun Venugopal: Thanks a lot.

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Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this evening.

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