Neil A. Carousso produces NewsNation original “Kurt’s Country” – a celebration of country music and a slice of Americana with host Kurt Bardella.
-
INTERVIEW: Sliwa fires back at Adams, talks crime and more ahead of mayoral election
By Lynda Lopez
Produced by Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — With less than a month to go before voters head to the polls to decide the next mayor of New York City, WCBS 880 spoke with GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa for this week’s 880 Weekly Rewind.
During an interview with anchor Lynda Lopez, Sliwa discussed his views on a number of pressing issues affecting New York City, including homelessness, Rikers Island, crime rates and more.
“I’m in the streets, I’m in the public housing projects, I’m in the subway – not with antics – doing the things. For instance, in Brooklyn – which has a severe crime problem, garbage in the streets, all kinds of potholes, quality of life problems – [I’m] really doing the job that the Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, should be doing,” Sliwa said, taking a jab at his Democratic opponent.
The founder of the Guardian Angels crime prevention organization noted he had been personally dealing with these types of issues for several years. He said his experiences can help him lead the city in change.
“I walk the streets, ride the subways with no security whatsoever,” Sliwa said, adding that he believes the mayor should be “a role model” for New Yorkers.
Sliwa also took a moment to respond to Adams’ accusations that he has made a “circus” of the New York City mayoral election.
“He may call [my actions] antics, I call them doing service. When you go into a public housing complex at night…and begin to do verticals in a gang controlled public housing complex, or visit Rikers Island to meet with correctional officers on a shift change and see all the problems – that’s not antics, that’s serving the general public,” Sliwa said.
The GOP candidate accused Adams of being too preoccupied with being “wined, dined and pocket lined” to deal with the issues.
Subscribe and download The 880 Weekly Rewind podcast for in-depth reporting and deeper analysis of the top stories of the week, produced by Neil A. Carousso, for WCBS-AM New York.
-
WCBS 880 Weekly Rewind: Shining a Light on Missing Persons Cases; NJ Nurse Has Change of Heart about COVID Vaccine
Produced by Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The case of Gabby Petito has garnered national attention and her family is hoping to bring awareness to other missing persons cases. Lynda Lopez covers some of those and what resources are available for families on The 880 Weekly Rewind.
Plus, vaccination mandates lead to more Americans getting the COVID shot. A New Jersey nurse, previously vocal against the vaccine and mandates, told WCBS 880 why she changed her mind and is now promoting the shot.
Lopez also looks at the dangers of the U.S. defaulting on its roughly $30 trillion debt ahead of a fast approaching deadline while President Joe Biden meets with Democrats to urge unity over the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion social spending package.
Subscribe and download The 880 Weekly Rewind podcast for in-depth reporting and deeper analysis of the top stories of the week, produced by Neil A. Carousso, for WCBS-AM New York.
-
WCBS 880 Weekly Rewind: House Democrats Propose Corporate Tax Hikes While New York’s Likely Next Mayor Courts the Business Community
Produced by Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The House Ways and Means Committee proposed raising taxes on corporations and high-income earners to pay for Democrats’ $3.5 trillion social spending plan. The proposal would also end the retirement account loophole that allows people to convert pre-tax retirement savings accounts into a ROTH IRA for those who earn $400,000 or more a year.
On The 880 Weekly Rewind, Lynda Lopez looks at the tax hike proposal out of Washington while local lawmakers like Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) fight to end the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions in the Democrats’ reconciliation measure. In New York, Democratic Mayoral Candidate Eric Adams courted the business community at Anthony Scaramucci’s Wall Street flagship SALT Conference.
“New York will no longer be anti-business,” Adams declared at SALT NY, indicating a major shift from Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. “This is going to be a place where we welcome business and not turn into the dysfunctional city that we have been for so many years.”
New York City traffic returned to pre-pandemic levels this week as schools and Broadway reopened. Lopez also talked to Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League, about the larger economic boost.
Subscribe and download The 880 Weekly Rewind podcast for in-depth reporting and deeper analysis of the top stories of the week, produced by Neil A. Carousso, for WCBS-AM New York.
-
Long Island Retail Supplier Faces Supply Chain Hurdles Ahead of Holiday Rush
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Small businesses are struggling to handle new financial pressures as the COVID-19 pandemic extends into its 18th month.
Hicksville-based Econoco Corporation, which supplies store fixtures and displays to retailers, is now facing a myriad of supply chain issues because of pandemic-related manufacturing holdups overseas and surging demand for consumer products.
“Things will get worse before it gets better,” said Econoco CEO Barry Rosenberg on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
He said delays are amplified ahead of the holidays.
“(Independent retailers are) not willing to wait 3-4 months for a custom made product,” Rosenberg explained. “We’re struggling to get containers on board ocean freight lines that can ship here to New York. This is the biggest problem we’re facing.”
He told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso that he is now competing with and bidding against big-box stores like Costco for space on ships. All of these factors are driving up prices and being passed onto his customers. Last October, Rosenberg said, it cost them $3,000 for a 40-foot container aboard those ships. But, 11 months later, it costs $23,000 to ship his products from China to the U.S.
“We’ve implemented three price increases to the tune of almost 50 percent,” said Rosenberg. “It’s really a shame, but this is the direction we’re headed and we’re in an inflationary time.”
He lamented that it is disproportionately affecting small and mid-size businesses.
He told WCBS 880 large retailers like Amazon and Grainger, which Econoco supplies racks, mannequins, hangers and other store fixtures to, have demanded that they absorb the increased costs. Rosenberg pulled all inventory from their platforms because it wouldn’t make the company profitable.
“They’re squeezing the little guy,” said Rosenberg.
But, the most successful businesses are constantly making adjustments. Exploring new markets like cannabis is one reason why Econoco has stayed in business on Long Island for 96 years.
Recognizing that retail footprints are shrinking along with demand for his store displays, Rosenberg sought out areas in retail that are not suffering. He found a growing niche in legal cannabis and launched DisplayDispensary.com where he supplies cannabis displays, cash wraps and acrylic retail display showcases to licensed vendors.
“Now, you’ve got 13 states that have recreational cannabis legal, starting out on the West Coast, and I think we were late to the dance, but we are hoping to build our brand,” he said.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are in the process of setting up state licensed marketplaces.
“If it’s anything like Colorado or Washington state, you’re going to have two or three cannabis stores on every block,” said Rosenberg.
Recreational use of cannabis has been legalized in 18 states.
The Hicksville-based retail supplier is also changing how they sell. Rosenberg has traditionally hired a robust outside sales team to engage with big buyers, but he is now seeing smaller and leaner competitors signing major retailers such as Banana Republic – a clothing giant an Econoco sales representative had been trying to hook for years.
“What’s happening is, the buyers are getting younger and they are using the Internet for basic purposes,” said Rosenberg, continuing, “There’s a lot less sales people that are meeting at offices, particularly during the pandemic.
Obviously, offices are closed, so you can’t go there. Nobody’s taking anyone to lunch or to dinner or to ballgames.”The pandemic disruption is opening the door to new opportunities for smaller businesses looking to get big clients.
In pivoting, Rosenberg has upgraded four websites in the last year and a half and is doing more digital advertising to reach those buyers.
See more on the current business challenges and creative solutions on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above.
-
Commemorating 9/11: Never Forgotten 20 Years Later
Produced by Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — At some point, everyone has seen or heard the heartbreaking news coverage of 9/11. Because all the reporters were so busy describing what they saw, it’s not often that they get to share what their personal experiences of the event were — until now.
This week, WCBS 880 has assembled four veteran journalists who worked and witnessed the attacks on the World Trade Center from varying angles that day.
Speaking with WCBS 880’s Wayne Cabot, former anchors Pat Carroll and Jeff Kaplan join reporters Sean Adams and Tom Kaminski to share each of their own real-time experiences, as well as their reflections since.
Despite seeing and processing everything differently, nothing was more important than the facts that day.
“All of your broadcast training, every breaking news story you ever covered in your whole life – suddenly you [realized] that it was preparing you for this moment,” Carroll says.
While nothing could ever prepare them for a tragedy of that caliber, Carroll adds, “We just went with it as though we had been preparing for this throughout our careers…[we knew] we were important. We were necessary.”
“It was absolutely impossible to comprehend the enormity of the situation,” Adams added. He was one of the street reporters closest to the towers that day, and witnessed the first building collapse.
He says he couldn’t believe what was happening, “because [it was] so much larger than anything [he’d] ever experienced before.”
He also recalled telling himself, “Do not get killed,” that day because he couldn’t be of any use dead. With so much mayhem at the scene, it wasn’t until the South Tower collapsed that he was able to deliver his first live report.
As crucial as that report was to the people of New York, Adams revealed that the report meant something more to his family because it confirmed to them that he was still alive.
Civilians flee as a tower of the World Trade Center collapses September 11, 2001 after two airplanes slammed into the twin towers in an alleged terrorist attack. Photo credit (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Up in the sky that morning, Kaminski was just reporting traffic as usual when he saw what he called “the flash and the fireball” on the North Tower.
Even as Carroll patched him in to report what he was seeing, it wasn’t until he his pilot received word from air traffic controllers stating, “The airspace has been sterilized,” that they began to worry.
What scared them the most wasn’t the phrase itself, but rather the fact that as experienced as they were they had never heard it before. That’s when the seriousness of the situation started to settle in.
Kaminski continued to do his job until his helicopter was finally grounded. In fact, he points to one moment in the broadcast, right after the South Tower was struck, where you can hear him start talking about the traffic.
“I just needed to center myself,” he says, after realizing his hands started to shake.
Guatemalan pedestrians watch on TV September 11, 2001 in Guatemala City, Guatemala the moment when a second plane commandeered by unknown hijackers slammed into New York’s World Trade Center. Photo credit (Photo by Andrea Nieto/Getty Images) “And doing traffic, which I had done for all these years, was exactly how I did that,” he continued, “I start talking about traffic on West Street, and on Canal Street, and I talked about vehicles coming down into [that] area from every conceivable direction. That was for me.”Guatemalan pedestrians watch on TV September 11, 2001 in Guatemala City, Guatemala the moment when a second plane commandeered by unknown hijackers slammed into New York’s World Trade Center. Photo credit (Photo by Andrea Nieto/Getty Images)
When he didn’t know what else to do, Kaminski just did his job. Looking back on that day, former 880 anchor Jeff Kaplan agrees that every reporter that day was “on autopilot.”
He recalls watching a random 9/11 special on TV one year where the entire day was synched up to pictures, video, and audio. It wasn’t until he saw people “gathering around somebody’s radio, holding hands [listening to] our voices…listening with tears coming down their faces,” he wasn’t aware of how much 880’s coverage – or any coverage – meant to the average listener that day.
He says that seeing, “the way that people perceived what [they] were doing,” made him lose it.
See WCBS Newsradio 880’s 9/11 anniversary coverage here.
