The Brian Lehrer Show

At a time when crime numbers are down in New York City, domestic violence cases are up. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. explains how his office plans on addressing these kinds of crimes, and how the newly opened Manhattan Family Justice Center might help.

Bill de Blasio is touting the drop in violent crime during his first months in office. We look at his early record with Murray Weiss, criminal justice reporter and editor for DNAInfo, and the emerging de Blasio/Bratton policing strategy. Then, Robin Steinberg, founder and executive director of Bronx Defenders, discusses the sharp increase in panhandling arrests under de Blasio and whether "broken windows" is making a return.

As of 7:15 Thursday evening, the NYPD reports that eight people died as a result of the massive explosion on 116th St. in East Harlem. WNYC reporter Stephen Nessen updates the news about yesterday's fatal gas explosion that leveled two buildings on Park Avenue. Also, Robert Rodriguez, New York State Assembly Member (D-68th) representing East Harlem, talks about the emergency response and resources available to those affected by the explosion in his district, and any policy response that may be proposed. Plus, Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, offers advice for preparing for and responding to disasters like yesterday's gas explosion. Later, Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future returns to discuss their report on NYC's aging infrastructure and the role it might have played in the explosion.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of Half of a Yellow Sun, Purple Hybiscus and  Americanah (Anchor, 2014), talks about her novel, a finalist in tonight's NBCC awards, about a young Nigerian immigrant's culture shock in navigating race relations in post-9/11 America. Excerpt: AMERICANAH by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Princeton, in the summer, smelled of nothing, and although Ifemelu liked the tranquil greenness of the many trees, the clean streets and stately homes, the delicately overpriced shops, and the quiet, abiding air of earned grace, it was this, the lack of a smell, that most appealed to her, perhaps because the other American cities she knew well had all smelled distinctly. Philadelphia had the musty scent of history. New Haven smelled of neglect. Baltimore smelled of brine, and Brooklyn of sun-warmed garbage. But Princeton had no smell. She liked taking deep breaths here. She liked watching the locals who drove with pointed courtesy and parked their latest model cars outside the organic grocery store on Nassau Street or outside the sushi restaurants or outside the ice cream shop that had fifty different flavors including red pepper or outside the post office where effusive staff bounded out to greet them at the entrance. She liked the campus, grave with knowledge, the Gothic buildings with their vine-laced walls, and the way everything transformed, in the half-light of night, into a ghostly scene. She liked, most of all, that in this place of affluent ease, she could pretend to be someone else, someone specially admitted into a hallowed American club, someone adorned with certainty. But she did not like that she had to go to Trenton to braid her hair. It was unreasonable to expect a braiding salon in Princeton—the few black locals she had seen were so light-skinned and lank-haired she could not imagine them wearing braids—and yet as she waited at Princeton Junction station for the train, on an afternoon ablaze with heat, she wondered why there was no place where she could braid her hair. The chocolate bar in her handbag had melted. A few other people were waiting on the platform, all of them white and lean, in short, flimsy clothes. The man standing closest to her was eating an ice cream cone; she had always found it a little irresponsible, the eating of ice cream cones by grown-up American men, especially the eating of ice cream cones by grown-up American men in public. He turned to her and said, “About time,” when the train finally creaked in, with the familiarity strangers adopt with each other after sharing in the disappointment of a public service. She smiled at him. The graying hair on the back of his head was swept forward, a comical arrangement to disguise his bald spot. He had to be an academic, but not in the humanities or he would be more self-conscious. A firm science like chemistry, maybe. Before, she would have said, “I know,” that peculiar American expression that professed agreement rather than knowledge, and then she would have started a conversation with him, to see if he would say something she could use in her blog. People were flattered to be asked about themselves and if she said nothing after they spoke, it made them say more. They were conditioned to fill silences. If they asked what she did, she would say vaguely, “I write a lifestyle blog,” because saying “I write an anonymous blog called Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black” would make them uncomfortable. She had said it, though, a few times. Once to a dreadlocked white man who sat next to her on the train, his hair like old twine ropes that ended in a blond fuzz, his tattered shirt worn with enough piety to convince her that he was a social warrior and might make a good guest blogger. “Race is totally overhyped these days, black people need to get over themselves, it’s all about class now, the haves and the have-nots,” he told her evenly, and she used it as the open

A new rule in New Jersey bans car companies from selling vehicles directly to customers. Hunter Walker,  politics editor for Business Insider, explains what the decision means for the electric car company Tesla, which doesn't want to work with car dealerships that sell gas-powered cars.

Drawing on his experience with his own start-up tech firm, as well as investing in companies like Airbnb, Foursquare, Gilt, Pinterest and Twitter, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of the tech venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and author of The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers (HarperBusiness, 2014), shares his lessons on how to make the tough calls in running a new business, and also mixes in some rap lyrics.

With the switch to Common Core standards under attack in New York, Governor Jack Markell of Delaware and former Governor Jim Douglas of Vermont are among several governors who want to speak up in support of the national standards.

New York City estimates 30% of its waste stream could be diverted for composting. Pilot curbside pick-up areas are set to expand in April and will include more of Park Slope, as well as parts of Gowanus, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn and Glendale and parts of Middle Village and Maspeth in Queens. Ron Gonen, DSNY's deputy commissioner of sanitation, recycling and sustainability, answers questions about the current drop-off and curbside programs, what can and can't be included, how to prevent odors and attracting the attention of rats, and where all the resulting compost gets used.

An investigation from Bloomberg News reveals that some cardiologists route uninsured patients who need stents through the Mount Sinai Hospital emergency room, in order to make sure the (very expensive) procedure is paid for. Many of these patients already had appointments with the hospital cath-lab, and some may not have needed the procedure in the first place. Gary Putka, Bloomberg News editor, explains the tactic, as well as other irregularities within Mount Sinai that lead to huge profits, though maybe not what's best for patients' health. Statement from Mt Sinai in Response to the Bloomberg News Investigation "The Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (CCL) at Mount Sinai is the safest program of its kind in New York State and one of the safest in the country, according to comparative, statewide statistics and data reported by the American College of Cardiology. We firmly stand by our CCL's results as well as by the processes used to identify appropriateness of procedures and to prospectively and retrospectively oversee the quality of care."

Bloomberg News reporter and author of The Seven Sins of Wall Street: Big Banks, their Washington Lackeys, and the Next Financial Crisis, Bob Ivry, discusses his reporting on how banks have re-grouped since the 2008 crisis, and in many ways not learned their lessons.

Bill de Blasio has appointed most of his commissioners, but not one for Parks. Chris Smith, contributing editor for New York Magazine talks about why the search for a new NYC Parks commissioner is so complicated, and fraught.  

New York State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, talks about a new report on how much New Yorkers spend on housing, and a report on Wall Street bonuses.

Saying that "the days of second-class citizens are over" and comparing fraternity pledging to Apartheid, the governing body for Sigma Alpha Epsilon has announced that it will ban pledging in its on-campus chapters. Brandon Weghorst, spokespoerson for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, discusses the proposed changes. Then Bloomberg News's David Glovin, who authored an investigation last year that called SAE the "deadliest US frat," explains whether the changes will have an affect on Greek life in general.

A new report from the Center for an Urban Future takes a deep look at New York City's infrastructure, from subways to homeless shelters to hospitals, and finds many elements in need of repair or upgrades. Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the think-tank, and Adam Forman, author of the report, look at what it would take to get the city's infrastructure back on track. Key Data from "Caution Ahead"

Though she insists that she "believes in school choice," New York City Public Advocate Letitia James is pushing a lawsuit to block the co-location of charter schools with existing district schools. She says that the process for deciding co-location was "pro forma" and did not follow state regulations. "The 36 [charters] that the mayor approved are the subject of our lawsuit," says James.