ORIGINAL ARCHIVE
NYC’s housing fight is bigger than rent
Tenants need repairs, safety, enforcement, and clear rules before public money changes who controls distressed buildings.
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MICHELE EVANS NEWS
Article Archive
Reporting that follows the record, questions official narratives and keeps New York’s public systems in view.
REAL JOURNALISM. REAL IMPACT.
The record is here.
This archive brings together Michele Evans’ independent journalism, public-interest reporting, investigations, analysis and lived-experience essays. The collection tracks New York City courts, due process, Rikers Island, criminal justice, NYPD and FDNY, domestic-violence systems, media accountability, public safety and civic life—connecting official records with the human consequences behind them.
Michele is an author, filmmaker, former ESPN technical producer and independent journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times. Her reporting combines courthouse observation, public documents, legal analysis and firsthand experience to preserve stories that institutions too often minimize, flatten or forget.
COURTS & DUE PROCESSRIKERS & CRIMINAL JUSTICEPUBLIC SAFETYMEDIA ACCOUNTABILITYNYC & COMMUNITY
COMPLETE COLLECTION
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107 ARTICLES
ORIGINAL ARCHIVE
Midtown safety scare in NYC
A 42nd Street building was evacuated after interior columns buckled and multiple floors began sagging. Construction workers were safely evacuated
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☎️ A hotline is supposed to answer when danger finally has a safe minute to speak
New York’s domestic-violence lifeline just failed a public accountability test.
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When the mob threw the Fourth of July party in Queens
Burgers, fireworks, Ozone Park, the Bergin Club, and the Dapper Don waving to the crowd. Only in New York.
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No privacy at Rikers is not an inconvenience
It is humiliation. It is danger. It is abuse. Open dorms. Communal showers. Bathroom stalls with no doors. Women forced to manage their menstrual cycles in public view.
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️ Rikers Island has entered the chat
Hip-hop said it. New York lived it. And yes, I was there too. From Nas to Mobb Deep to Wu-Tang, Rikers has been haunting the city’s music and memory for decades.
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✨ Swifties, street closures, and NYPD in full Midtown mode
Madison Square Garden turned into a New York traffic puzzle as fans gathered, streets closed, and commuters tried to keep movingcite23†.
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A viral Empire State Building stunt is now a public
safety story. In New York, private spectacle becomes public risk the second emergency response is pulled in.
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NYC is under a heat emergency
As July Fourth crowds, power strain, and cooling-center access collide. Who gets relief first matters.
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A House of Worship Should Not Become a Gauntlet
No one should have to walk through fear, intimidation, or obstruction just to enter a sacred space. New York must protect the right to worship while making sure houses of worship do not become pressure points for harassment, hostility, or political theater.
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Secret Facial Recognition Cannot Be the New Anonymous Witness
When police use hidden facial-recognition technology to point the finger, the accused must have the right to question how it worked, what it found
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The City Says Rikers Is Closing. The Budget Says New York Is Still Paying to Keep It Alive
New York City just reached a budget deal, but buried in the numbers is the contradiction: millions more to patch Rikers while the closure timeline keeps slipping.
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Rikers Is Closing an Infirmary. The Real Story Is Why New York Was Still Using It?
New York City is celebrating the closure of North Infirmary Command. But the harder question is how long medically vulnerable people were housed in a facility the city is now finally shutting down.
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Captivity Inside Captivity
Luigi Mangione’s elevator delay was more than a delay. Twenty minutes trapped in a courthouse elevator while in federal custody raises a deeper question about confinement and accountability.
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E. Jean Carroll Wins Again as Supreme Court Leaves Trump’s $5 Million Verdict in Place
The Supreme Court refused to take Donald Trump’s appeal, leaving E. Jean Carroll’s $5 million civil verdict for sexual abuse and defamation stan ding. After years of delay, denial, and attacks, the judgment remains.
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Pride Was Built After a Police Raid. That Is Why This NYPD Fight Still Cuts Deep
Pride began as resistance after a police raid. Decades later, New York is still debating who gets to define safety, visibility, and power at the march.
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My case took 1,126 days to resolve
That is not an administrative backlog. That is a human rights failure. After testifying before New York City Council, I submitted supplemental testimony on Rikers, discovery delays, EDDS confusion, vendor excuses, denied ATI access, and what reform looks like when it fails in real life.
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A $2.95 Fare Should Not Become a Half-Million-Dollar Jail Stay
New York City cannot keep using Rikers Island as the answer to poverty, homelessness, subway enforcement, and court delay. If the city can spend more than $500,000 a year to jail one person, it can invest in housing, treatment, supervised release, and real public safety before the cage.
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