Daniel Penny, the former Marine who put Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold on an F train was arraigned and charged on Friday with second-degree manslaughter for the death of Mr. Neely. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Joining us to discuss the legal aspects of the case and what we can expect moving forward are: criminal defense attorney and former Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan, Jeremy Saland; and former NYPD detective who is a board member of the Amadou Dia...
May 15, 2023•27 min
New York City’s youth represent the future of the city. But seldom have policy makers and elected officials asked young people about the issues that matter to them most. A group of young students and advocates are making their mission to change that. For the last two years, NYC Youth Agenda Coalition, comprised of high-school and college-aged students from across the five boroughs, has been putting together a set of policy proposals based on the concerns and priorities of surveyed NYC youth. The...
May 12, 2023•27 min
CHASING THE DREAM: KRISTI YAMAGUCHI DISCUSSES HER ROLE AS GRAND MARSHAL OF THE 2023 JAPAN PARADE Tonight, U.S. Olympic figure skating legend Kristi Yamaguchi shares her journey from gold medal to champion of childhood literacy and a gives a preview as the Grand Marshal of the 2nd annual Japan Parade coming to Central Park on Saturday, May 13. QUANTUM LEAP: THE NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT COULD CHANGE HUMANITY Physicist and bestselling author Dr. Michio Kaku joins MetroFocus to discuss his latest book “Q...
May 11, 2023•27 min
BREAKING NEWS: REP. GEORGE SANTOS IS CHARGED WITH 13 CRIMINAL COUNTS AND FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS FOUND LIABLE FOR SEXUAL ABUSE, DEFAMATION Tonight, we break down the legal troubles facing former President Donald Trump and New York Congressman George Santos. Today, Rep. Santos surrendered himself to authorities at a federal court on Long Island where Justice Department prosecutors charged him with 13-counts of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and lying to Congress. Yesterd...
May 10, 2023•27 min
Peril & Promise: The Women-Led, Indigenous-Owned Kelp Farm Restoring Long Island's Waters & Protecting New York From Climate Change Long Island is on the frontlines of the global climate crisis, ranking among the most vulnerable metro areas in the country. Decades of nitrogen pollution from aging septic systems and fertilizer runoff have only made the situation worse, and the Shinnecock Indian Nation is helping lead the fight to keep communities from going underwater. The Shinnecock Kelp...
May 09, 2023•27 min
Tonight, in the look ahead at the major headlines for this week: protestors in New York City are calling for charges in the death of Jordan Neely, who was Black, after he was put in a chokehold by a Marine veteran Daniel Penny, who is white, on an F train - killing him, according to the medical examiner. The incident, and the lack of charges so far, has ignited a heated debate in New York City about the homelessness crisis, the mental health crisis, subway safety, and the justice system. We’ll a...
May 08, 2023•27 min
"Trail to Zero" Horseback Ride Brings Awareness to Veteran Suicide, Mental Health, and the Benefits of Equine Therapy According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, each day on average 20 veterans take their own lives. To bring awareness to this crisis, BraveHearts, the leading equine rehabilitation program for veterans, annually embarks on its “Trail to Zero” ride in New York City. Veterans make a 20-mile journey on horseback through the streets of New York City – one mile for e...
May 05, 2023•27 min
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and tonight we look at the impact of anxiety on children and teens. American adolescence is undergoing a drastic change. Three decades ago, the gravest public health threats to teenagers in the United States came from binge drinking, drunken driving, teenage pregnancy and smoking. These have since fallen sharply, replaced by a new public health concern: soaring rates of mental health disorders. A new documentary, “Anxious Nation” unfolds the epidemic of anxie...
May 04, 2023•27 min
Actress and Activist Sophia Bush Discusses The Importance of Investing in Women-Run Business Sophia Bush, known for her starring roles on the iconic tv shows One Tree Hill and Chicago PD, along with her business partner, Nia Batts, is leading the charge in a new type of business approach, called social entrepreneurship. The two women have been working together for years to invest in projects that make a positive impact on society and uplift women across the country. From creating a new type of h...
May 03, 2023•27 min
On March 16, 2021, a 21-year-old white man murdered eight people in attacks on three separate spas across metropolitan Atlanta. Six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent. In the aftermath of the shootings, Asian American filmmakers Gina Kim and Titi Yu set out to tell the story. The result is the PBS documentary “Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March.” Gina and Titi join us to discuss the perspective they bring to their work, and what they have discovered about the Asian America...
May 02, 2023•27 min
Exploring Hate "Missing Generations": The New York Exhibition Ensuring New Yorkers Never Forget The Holocaust In the midst of the seeming resurgence of antisemitism around the world and the ignorance about the basic facts of the Holocaust that survey after survey demonstrate, there’s a new exhibition in the New York area focused on not only the horrors of the Holocaust but also the resiliency of the Jewish community where it was nearly annihilated. The exhibition titled “Missing Generations: Pho...
May 01, 2023•27 min
A documentary tells the inspiring story of former Arizona Congressperson Gabby Gifford’s recovery process after she was shot in the head during a 2011 assassination attempt. Gabby Giffords, who at the time was a rising star in the Democratic party, suffered significant brain damage. Through the help of her team of doctors, the support from her husband, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, and most importantly her own determination, Gabby has been able to recover and return to public life, fighting for commo...
Apr 28, 2023•27 min
What makes a good life? This question is at the heart of a new book from “Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most” by three Yale faculty members—Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz—and is named after their highly sought-after undergraduate course, the most popular class at Yale. The question of what makes a good life is inherent to the human condition, asked by people across generations, professions, and social classes, and addressed by all schools of philosophy and r...
Apr 27, 2023•27 min
"How Far Do You Want To Go? Lessons From A Common-Sense Billionaire" New York City is full of rags-to-riches stories but few have a story to tell quite like billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis. Born in Greece, Catsimatidis immigrated to Harlem as a baby and eventually dropped out of college to work full-time in the grocery business. Today that business, which includes the Gristedes chain of supermarkets, has transformed into Red Apple Group, a conglomerate with interests in everything from...
Apr 26, 2023•27 min
Chasing The Dream: PepsiCo & Robin Hood Report How Their Partnership Transformed The Lives of More Than 35,000 Young Women in The Bronx The Bronx is home to the city’s highest concentration of people living in poverty, with 1 in 3 women lacking the proper resources to support themselves and their families. In 2018, MetroFocus brought you a story about two organizations working together to try to solve this problem, the PepsiCo Foundation and Robin Hood Foundation, the city’s largest poverty ...
Apr 25, 2023•27 min
The WNET Group "Close To Home" Town Hall Series on Housing Equality (Wednesdays, April 26 - May 24, 6-7:30pm ET) What will it mean for America if its vibrant cities and towns are remade as enclaves where only the wealthy can thrive? How do campaigns for housing equality amplify moral calls for racial and economic justice? How is housing activism today informed by ancestral wisdom about settler colonialism, anti-Blackness, xenophobia, and old-fashioned greed? What can organizers on the frontlines...
Apr 24, 2023•26 min
Antisemitism and Holocaust misinformation and denial are spreading rapidly across social media. As TikTok captures the vast majority of eyeballs amongst Gen Z audiences in the U.S. and globally, a creator with a built-in distribution platform with millions of followers - hopes to raise awareness on the issue and ensure young people understand the truth about what really happened during the Holocaust. TikTok influencer Montana Tucker is taking her 11.4 million followers on a journey by retracing ...
Apr 21, 2023•27 min
Peril & Promise - What's Holding Up Climate Progress in New York City? Local Law 97, part of New York City’s Climate Mobilization Act of 2019, is one of the country’s boldest climate laws, with half a dozen other municipalities pursuing similar models. Its goal is to cut carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050 by setting increasingly stringent limits on the city’s biggest greenhouse gas polluters — buildings. But as New York Times Real Estate Reporter Stefanos Chen ...
Apr 20, 2023•26 min
"Bet on Black: The Good News About Being Black In America Today" In the new book “Bet on Black,” attorney, television and podcast host, Eboni K. Williams, delves into some of the cornerstones of leading a first-class Black life, ranging from knowing one’s history to understanding the power of representation to investing in the sometimes-challenging processes of success. She joins MetroFocus to discuss her latest work and her time as the first Black cast member of “Real Housewives of New York Cit...
Apr 19, 2023•27 min
Every siren in New York City has a story and of the approximately 300 emergency calls made every hour, many involve people in desperate need of life-saving care. New York healthcare workers face overwhelming challenges responding to these emergencies, yet they manage to keep the city’s heart beating while juggling their own personal lives. “Emergency NYC,” a new docuseries now streaming on Netflix, is taking us inside their world and that of their patients. It’s an eye-opening window into the co...
Apr 18, 2023•27 min
NYC's First Female Firefighter Leads The Charge to Build Monuments To Women Forty years ago, Brenda Berkman paved the way for women to join the FDNY – winning a federal discrimination lawsuit against the City of New York that made it possible for women become New York City firefighters for the first time in history. After serving 25 years in the FDNY and retiring as Captain, a career that included acting as a first responder during 9/11, Berkman decided to take a leap and follow her passion for ...
Apr 17, 2023•27 min
Coney Island's amusement parks are open! So MetroFocus is giving an all-access pass inside one of the boardwalk's biggest attractions - The Secret World of the Coney Island Side Show, A MetroFocus Documentary Report Sword-swallowers, fire-breathers, and “natural-borns” are just a few of the performers who make up the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. MetroFocus has your backstage pass to a community that is filled with a rich history and a legacy dating back nearly one hundred years....
Apr 14, 2023•26 min
Pulitzer-winning sociologist issues wake-up call to America, urging those with means to fight poverty Why is there so much poverty in America? Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist Matthew Desmond answers that complicated question in his latest work, “Poverty, By America,” arguing this suffering persists nationwide because people of means benefit from it often without even realizing. Demond, who serves as chair of sociology at Princeton University, joins MetroFocus to share his wake-up call to affl...
Apr 13, 2023•27 min
New York City became what it is today through the hard work, innovation, and creativity of a handful of individuals who were willing to challenge the status quo. The new documentary “Gotham: The Fall and Rise of New York” explores New York City’s history and the legacy of its six mayors from 1966-2013. Joining MetroFocus to discuss the findings of the film are the writer and director, Matthew Taylor; producer, Michelle Taylor; and executive producer, Peter Cove.
Apr 12, 2023•27 min
Special Report: New Alzheimer's Wonder Drug - Are You Eligible? Nearly 13 million people will have Alzheimer's Disease by 2050. That's 13 million who could eventually no longer remember their families. But finally, a ray of hope in a new FDA approved drug called Leqembi, that has been shown to slow dementia and will one day save lives. So why won't Medicare cover it? Dr. Nicole Purcell, neurologist and Senior Director of Clinical Practice for the Alzheimer's Association joins us. What is it like...
Apr 11, 2023•27 min
Re-imagining The Hollywood Classic "Some Like It Hot" For Broadway and a New Audience The hit 1959 film “Some Like It Hot,” starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, is back, this time as a Broadway musical. The new version, which critics call a “jubilant, oldfangled, crowd-pleasing musical comedy,” tells the story of two Prohibition-era musicians on the run from the mob who pose as women in an all-female traveling band. But it adds fabulous singing and dancing and some modern twists...
Apr 10, 2023•27 min
"Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work" For as long as women have been in the workforce, “having it all” has meant “doing it all”- leaving working mothers burned out, unhealthy, and unsatisfied. Reshma Saujani, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, says now is the time for the workplace to “PAY UP” in her book outlining The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different than You Think.) and she joins us tonight.
Apr 07, 2023•27 min
Democratic DA Claims His Own Party Is Punishing Him For Opposing Bail Reform New York’s controversial bail reform law, which took effect in January of 2020, eliminated the use of cash bail for most misdemeanors and some nonviolent felony charges, in an attempt to ensure that no one would have to sit in jail, simply because they couldn’t afford to pay their way out. Over the past few years, the law has been harshly criticized by Republicans, and even some Democrats, who argue that these changes t...
Apr 06, 2023•27 min
Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday. The criminal charges Mr. Trump is facing in New York stem from three separate instances in which he and his associates are accused of making hush money payments during his 2016 campaign. Last night, the former president spoke from Mar-a-Lago in which he vowed to fight the charges and cast himself as the victim of a political witch hunt. Tonight, we have reac...
Apr 05, 2023•27 min
Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 Lawsuits Unlike all previous presidents who’ve held distinguished positions in government or the military prior to entering office, Donald Trump's political worldview was molded in the courtroom. Author James Zirin offers a comprehensive analysis of the former president’s legal history that reveals his temperament, character, methods, and morality. American Oligarchs: The Kushners, The Trumps, and The Marriage of Money and Power Investigati...
Apr 04, 2023•27 min
