WNYC News

No one ever accused Kyon of harming her child. But for nine months in 2024, caseworkers from the city Administration for Children’s Services regularly visited her home, inspected her son’s body, looked through every room and searched her refrigerator.

It started after Kyon’s boyfriend at the time beat her in front of their then-14-month-old-son, according to court papers. ACS opened a case against the father, accusing him of neglecting his child by committing domestic violence in front of him.

But even though Kyon wasn’t accused of wrongdoing and never lost custody of her son, she was placed under ACS supervision.

Now, an appellate court has ruled that ACS’ visits with Kyon amounted to illegal surveillance, after she challenged the agency’s practices in court.

“Essentially, the ACS policy at issue in this case permits it to surveil the mother simply because the child’s father committed acts of domestic violence against her,” Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer wrote in the court’s ruling. “We cannot condone a policy based on this faulty and unlawful premise.”

The ruling could spare thousands of other kids and domestic violence survivors from intrusive and unlawful surveillance. Attorneys for parents and children say the practice unnecessarily traumatizes parents and children. They also say supervising domestic violence victims who aren’t accused of abusing or neglecting their kids can reinforce the controlling dynamics they experienced when they were being abused.

“There is always this sword of Damocles, which is hanging above them, which is that if they do not comply, if they do not cooperate, if they do not seem like they are doing whatever ACS wants them to do, that their children can be taken from them at any given moment,” said the Family Justice Law Center's Executive Director David Shalleck-Klein, who represented Kyon in her appeal.

Kyon did not follow up on a request for an interview, and her lawyer asked that her last name not be used to protect her and her family’s privacy. Her full name does not appear in court papers, which is typical in family court cases.

In a statement, ACS spokesperson Marisa Kaufman said the agency agrees with the court that families should not be monitored “beyond what is necessary to protect the child.”

Experts and family law attorneys say the weaponization of anonymous abuse claims is a common occurrence across the country. But the classic harassment tactic could soon come to an end in New York.

A pending bill in Albany would direct the State Police to develop a policy that grants leave to employees who are involved in critical incidents.

You’ve probably seen a wild brown rabbit hopping around in parks of New York City. But could you spot a domesticated rabbit?  

One neighbor near Prospect Park spotted three of them in Prospect Park over the past week. And she noticed these rabbits resembled Instagram posts made by a notorious influencer named Anna Delvey, who got the rabbits for a photoshoot.

Terry Chao, who lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and rescued the three rabbits, joins WNYC's Sean Carlson to share her story.

According to health experts, there is a disproportionately high rate of undiagnosed and life threatening heart conditions among Black men in New York City.

Mount Sinai Hospital, along with a non-profit group called Real Dads Network, are hosting free heart screenings specifically for Black males to detect serious heart conditions.  

Mount Sinai Dr. Icilma Fergus and Kenyatta Rouse, who is part of the Real Dads Network and Dr. Fergus's patient, helped initiate free heart screenings for Black men here in the city. They talk with WNYC's Sean Carlson more about it.

When you go out to eat, do you notice the big letter grade posted on the way in? Does it play a role in whether or not you go eat there?  

Since 2010, New York City has required restaurants to post these letter grades from A through C after the department of health has gone in to assess the cleanliness of the restaurant.

City health officials are touting 15 years of the system, and we wanted to spend some time digging more deeply into how its working

New York City Deputy Health Commissioner Corrine Schiff talked with WNYC's Sean Carlson more about the system. 

WNYC's Public Song Project invites anyone to record their own musical adaptation of a work in the public domain.

And now some of the music created for the project is available on a new album. Public Songbook Project (Super Deluxe) is available to stream digitally, for free. It features exclusive contributions from musicians like Rhiannon Giddens, Rosanne Cash, The Lemon Twigs, and Bela Fleck. You can stream it on Bandcamp and also get your hands on a curated version on vinyl.

Simon Close, Producer of the Public Song Project joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to explain and play a few highlights.

The 34th Street busway gets the green light through a rezoning of Midtown. And Andrew Cuomo releases a new transit plan as he seeks to one-up Democratic frontrunner for mayor Zohran Mamdani. That and more in this week's On The Way roundup of New York city transit news. 

With summer comes a seasonal variety of fruits and vegetables that are relatively cheap and at peak freshness. Summer tomatoes are a staple, and right now, local farmstands are carrying a wide variety of them. Amelia Tarpey is a program and publicity manger for GrowNYC's Greenmarkets. She shares recipes and tips on what to do with your abundance, from tomato toast to fresh sauce. 

Gov. Hochul jumps into the national fray on redistricting. What does it say about her upcoming re-election bid? That and more in this week's Politics Brief roundup.