- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of ¿Que Pasa NJ?

with Carlos Medina has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, PSE&G, PNC Bank, the Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative 825, ROI-NJ Business Magazine, Hackensack Meridian Health.

- Welcome familia to season three, episode one, of ¿Qué Pasa?

On today's show, we have Congressman Adriano Espaillat, we have Vanessa Coppes, Editor-In-Chief BELLA Magazine, Jessica Gonzalez, attorney specializing in cannabis, and Rob Menendez, attorney at law at Lowenstein and Sandler.

And don't forget ladies and gentlemen, ¿Qué Pasa?

(bright upbeat music) And our first guest for season three is Congressman Adriano Espaillat from New York.

Welcome to ¿Qué Pasa?

- Thank you, thank you so much.

- Thank you so much, Congressman.

It's a pleasure to have you here.

First Dominican-American elected to Congress.

- That's correct, yes.

- Amazing, amazing.

And I'll tell you the Dominican population from our, this is season three, is a very powerful and growing population, very influential in politics, but in, especially in the Tri-State area, they look to you as the lead.

How do you feel having that responsibility as kind of the Dominicano that everybody's looking to for support, for guidance, for mentorship?

- Well, it's sometimes overwhelming, but a privilege, right, an honor, and of course different folks from different states have diverse issues, right?

So here in Jersey or in New York, there's somewhat different sometimes, but it's a privilege and an honor, and it's a growing community, a young community disproportionately young, I think it has a lot of energy and it's moving forward.

- Tell me me about your family's journey here to the New York area.

- Sure.

My grandmother came here before I was born, from my mother's side.

My grandmother and my grandfather were here and my uncle in the early fifties.

And so I got to really meet them here, although they traveled like once or twice back to the DR.

I came when I was nine and we settled here.

My family settled in New York, in Washington Heights, and I've never really left the place, still there.

Both my grandparents of factory workers.

That was a big, big opportunity for Dominicans back then.

They came to work in factories in the Garment District and in other factories.

And my father then became a small business owner and we moved forward.

Now I'm a member of Congress.

So it's been a long journey.

(Adriano chuckles) - Definitely.

Tell me some of the things you're doing in Congress.

I know you're working with the Biden administration on immigration, which is a huge issue for many of our viewers.

- Immigration is important, and very often our community feels left behind and that they're not being taken care care of because immigration has not been settled.

So, we are pushing hard for this administration to finally give some relief to immigrants across the country, to dreamers, TPS recipient, essential workers, farm workers.

They all contribute to the economy in significant ways, and they should be given a fair shot to stay here and continue to contribute.

But in addition to that, there's some local projects that I'm involved with.

I'm involved with the Second Avenue Subway.

- Yeah.

- That goes right through East Harlem, "El Barrio".

And East Harlem is so like the cradle of the Latino experience in New York city and in the Northeast.

That's where the Puerto Ricans came back in the 20s and 30s, and is a transportation desert.

So we have a $7 billion project, three train stops leading to 125th Street and connecting East Harlem and Harlem to the rest of the world.

- And now that there's federal infrastructure dollars, there's hope that that will get done.

- That's correct.

The funding is there and we've spoken to the Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, and we're working with the governor and the mayor.

And I think that that project will be a reality and it should move over 120,000 people every day to work and connect them to the Metro North, to go to the outer counties, to LaGuardia airport, be a bus, and to future water transportation in the Harlem and Hudson River.

- How is your relationship with Governor Hochul and the new mayor as far as COVID relief?

Are you partners with them?

I believe you had a meeting recently - Yes.

- with them.

- We get along very well with both.

The mayor has been in the district several times.

Unfortunately the two police officers that were killed were from the district and worked in the 32nd Precinct in Harlem.

So the mayor has been present there to try to bring the resources that are necessary to push back on gun violence.

I think that's important for New York city and particularly for my district.

- Sure, sure.

Yeah.

What is your opinion on how we could combat this violence that's been happening?

I mean, some of it is coincidental with COVID and the stress and things of that nature, but... - Well, certainly COVID created like a collective trauma, right?

- Yeah.

- For many people, but you know, this gun violence really, we need to cut off this iron pipeline.

And that means funding ATF, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to work with local and state law enforcement.

But also there has to be a social component to it, where young people get summer jobs, they get trained for jobs, they get taken out of the street.

And the mayor has a very impressive program, which is a laser focus on 700 individuals that have been involved in 1700 gun-related cases.

And they represent 17% of the crime stats for New York city.

So, if you focus on those 700 bad guys, I think that the crime rate could drop as high as 20, 25% almost immediately.

So, proficient policing, they take a look at these folks every single day.

And the police are laser focused on bringing some level of public safety back to New York city.

I think that that's important.

I carry also a ghost guns bill.

Ghost guns are unfortunately the weapon of the future.

You get them at home, you assemble them at home, they don't have a serial number, so they're untraceable.

and New York city confiscated over 200 of them just last year.

- Wow.

- So, we're looking to hold them accountable, just like any other weapon, background checks and everything else.

- Sure, sure.

Luis Miranda, Jr, who's a friend of yours, has been a regular guest on the show.

And I'm always impressed with his family's involvement in the nonprofit sector.

And when I see your background, a lot of what you did in New York and early in your career was nonprofits, hospitals, mental health, you know.

Tell me what about your immigrant story, your family story.

What were the principles they instilled with you of giving back?

'Cause it's evident in your career.

You've always been some that cares and gives back.

- I think to be in public in the public sector, in politics or in a not-for-profit or even working for a large institution like a hospital, you gotta have a sense of giving back and being a volunteer.

You don't do it for the money certainly.

And I think it's important because that's strength is the fabric of the city.

And we really came to grips with that during the pandemic.

Was it not for the not-for-profits and the hospitals and the clinics and the nurses and the teachers that weren't remote, and those folks that were, the doctors that were there, community-based physicians that were there providing testing and vaccination for us, I don't know what would've happened.

I think that that safety net really kicked in during the pandemic and proved to be decisive for New York city.

So what I do I do because I like to help people and particularly those that don't have a high price lawyer, or a CPA or a social media consultant to help 'em out.

Those folks can fence out on their own.

But those that don't have that usually don't get their garbage picked up on time, have crappy schools around their neighborhoods, have housing issues and health related issues.

And I think those are the people that I like to help.

- Sure.

Well, Congressman thank you for being a role model.

Thank you for being on the show - Thank you for having me.

- Thank you so much.

- And God bless.

- Thank you so much.

- And next, we have Editor-In-Chief of BELLA Magazine, Vanessa Coppes.

(bright upbeat music) Welcome back to ¿Qué Pasa?

And up next we have Editor-In-Chief BELLA Magazine, Vanessa Coppes.

Welcome to ¿Qué Pasa?

- Thank you so much for having me, Carlos.

It's a pleasure to be here.

- Tell me a little bit about BELLA Magazine.

(Vanessa laughs) I love the name.

- Thank you.

We are a lifestyle publication that covers everything from fashion, beauty, travel cuisine, influencers, people just trying to live a beautiful life.

- Amazing.

And not many Latinas are at the helm of an international magazine.

You're one of few.

- I believe I'm one of five.

I actually took over the publication three years ago.

And I had always wanted to also launch the Spanish version of the publication, which I did virtually and digitally in 2020, right at the height of the pandemic.

And just this year we launched our first print version.

So, we're very proud of that.

- Awesome, awesome.

- Yeah, thank you.

- So born in the Dominican Republic.

- Yes.

(Vanessa laughs) - And I see your career, teaching, always things that are giving back to the community.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- You work with an organization that encourages entrepreneurship for women.

Tell me a little bit about that organization.

- ETTWomen.

My business partner, Lynnette Barbieri, and I started this ten years ago, believe it or not.

And the premise of it is just to bring women together in support of each other.

Education is a big part of it, bringing them resources, networking, connecting with other women in our community and just to propel our lives and our businesses forward.

That's the intention of it all.

- Sure.

- Yeah.

- Tell me about your journey from DR to the New York, New Jersey area.

(Vanessa sighs) - Wow.

(both chuckle) You know, as a child at 13, I had a very clear vision of what it is that I wanted to do.

I always saw myself writing, on a New York City's high rise, writing away for a magazine.

I did not know what that meant back in that time.

However, when it ended up actually happening, it was one of those moments where you're like, okay, thank you man upstairs for kind of being a guiding light.

You know, I met my husband online, moved here from the Dominican Republic almost 18 years ago.

And it's been nothing short but an adventure.

You know, the way that I even landed writing for this publication originally was kind of like coincidence, one coincidence after another.

And it has just been an incredible journey to be of service, which is the intention behind it all, you know.

We get a lot caught up in the glam of it all.

But at the end of the day, the intention is to educate, to bring resources, to bring education in a very fun and fashionable way, of course, because we are women who love to make informed decisions.

So, we try to bring the best of all of those worlds together in our bimonthly publication and also on our online efforts.

Yeah.

- I, so in your bio, you talked about cooking.

And a question that I... (both laughing) - Yes.

- A question that I often ask our guests 'cause Hispanic cuisine - Sure.

- is the best in the world.

- I believe it is too.

- Tell me what your favorite go to plate.

It might be something during the holidays.

- Oh my gosh.

So, Dominicans will know that especially during Easter season, we tend to cook some sweet beans, Habichuelas con dulce.

- Yes.

- My husband is obsessed with it and has me make it even like for Christmas.

My mom is always appalled when she calls and says, what are you making?

And I'm like, Habichuelas con dulce.

And she's like, it's Christmas, Vanessa.

That's so inappropriate.

(Carlos laughs) I'm like, I don't know.

I'm like, Jesus will forgive me.

You know, it's at the end of the day, Habichuelas con dulce.

But always, always, always the staple is arroz la bandera, arroz, Habichuelas Negras, pollo frito.

- Okay, okay.

(Vanessa laughing) - Platanos plantains, avocado.

- Maduros or tostones?

- We like them both.

So I have... - No, you have to pick one, you have to pick one.

- My favorite are maduros.

- Okay.

- But both of my children love the regular tostone, the green one.

So, yeah.

- Sure, sure.

That's great with everything, so yeah.

- I love it, I love it.

(both laughing) - Yeah.

- Keep fighting the good fight.

- Thank you.

- And thank you for joining us at ¿Qué Pasa?

- Thank you so much for having me.

- And up next we have cannabis attorney, Jessica Gonzalez.

(bright upbeat music) Welcome back and up next we have Jessica Gonzalez, attorney at law.

Welcome to ¿Qué Pasa?

Jessica.

- Thank you, happy to be here.

- So Jessica, you are a recent award winner of the Rising Star at the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

- Yes, very honored.

- Excellent.

Now tell me, I know you're a cannabis expert, that's kind of the field of law that you practice.

Tell me the landscape in New Jersey and even in the Tri-State area.

What's going on?

What's the up-to-date on cannabis?

(Carlos chuckles) - Sure.

So things are changing all the time, a very dynamic, very evolving industry.

But really right now we're actually in the thick of it in terms of adult use applications.

So, December 15th was a very historical day here in New Jersey because it was the date that adult use applications opened up for cultivators, processors and labs.

And in a one month, the application period will open up for cannabis retailers as well.

So it's the first time in New Jersey we're gonna have an adult use around.

So it's been a very busy time.

But we are seeing other states around us also begin to open up.

We're looking at New York, applications opening up by the end of this year.

Connecticut has already opened up its application process, and Pennsylvania is behind but also eventually will catch up.

- So in a perfect world, Jersey will be out of the gate first with an actual ability for our viewer to walk into a store and purchase cannabis?

- 100%.

- Okay.

- New Jersey was the domino that needed to fall for all the other states to really get in line with legalization, because there was no way New York and Connecticut were going to allow New Jersey to legalize and then have their residents cross over and give us the tax money that these states could actually be getting.

- So viewers are gonna be very curious when can they actually go to a store and purchase cannabis here in New Jersey?

- Sure.

So statutorily, it was supposed to happen February 22nd.

- Okay.

- So we are now a little behind in that happening.

The New Jersey Cannabis Commission, which is a commission tasked with enforcing the Adult-Use law, has provided that none of the medical operators who are allowed to expand into adult use market, they haven't provided enough evidence that they're able to support both the patient population and the adult use population.

So, eventually what we're waiting on is which alternative treatment center, which medical operator is going to be the first to be able to prove that they can meet patient demand, to be able to expand into the adult use market.

So we're not going to see any standalone adult use operators first, in terms of allowing for retail sales, it's gonna be one of the medical operators that we currently have here in New Jersey.

- So do you feel that, would it be one shop or a medical provider that has multiple locations?

It seems like there's a danger of one shop opening up and the demand being so great that one or two or three couldn't handle it.

- Sure.

So every ATC, alternative treatment center, that has been awarded a medical license pursuant to 2012 to 2018, all of them can have up to two satellite dispensaries in addition to their dispensaries that they have now.

So essentially they'll be able to hold to three, but they do have to prove that they can meet patient demand first, because everybody's really concerned about the medical patients.

- Sure.

- You don't wanna open up an adult use market and then not have enough product for them.

- And how many stores could potentially open of each license or has three, the ability to open up three shops?

What numbers are we talking?

Is it 30, 40, 100?

- Well, we just licensed an additional 40 plus - Okay, that's a significant amount.

- Pursuant to 2019.

But all of those who were awarded the licenses pursuant to the 2019 round have to remain in the medical market for at least one year before they can expand to the adult use market.

So the there's only 12 that are eligible to expand into the adult use market this year.

- Gotcha, gotcha.

How has, I know governor Murphy has a desire that this be very equitable.

- Mm-hmm.

- That black and brown communities have the ability to be owners, to be operators.

How do you feel that's working out?

Do you see diversity in the individuals applying and obtaining licenses?

- So, as of the most recent reports, the majority of the applications that have been submitted after December 15th for cultivators, processors or labs, the majority were either social equity applicants, or diversely owned business.

- Excellent.

- And the commission has made its intention known that they do want to approve these types of applications.

They do want to ensure that Black, Latino and indigenous communities have a meaningful opportunity to participate in this industry.

But with such high levels of compliance, we did all we could, but it's really remains yet to be seen.

- Sure.

Well, keep doing what you're doing, making us proud.

And thank you for coming to ¿Qué Pasa?.

- Thank you, thank you for having me.

- And up next, we have Rob Menendez, attorney at Lowenstein and Sandler.

(bright upbeat music) Welcome back to ¿Qué Pasa?

And up next, we have Rob Menendez Jr., attorney at Lowenstein and Sandler.

Welcome to ¿Qué Pasa?

- Carlos, thank you for having me on.

- Hudson County boy.

- Yes, sir.

We're both Union City boys.

- Yeah, you were born on 15th Street, and I was born on 13th.

- [Rob] Yeah.

So, originally I was uptown, 41st Street, and then we settled down on 15th in Bergenline in Union city.

- I like that, I like that.

- So, a couple blocks from you.

- So tell me a little bit growing up in Hudson County, with a pretty popular dad, famous dad.

(both laugh) - Yeah.

So, I loved growing up here.

You know, I have an older sister, we both went to public schools in Union City.

It was a great upbringing.

I lived close to both of my grandmothers and I loved growing up in a place that was so rich in diversity.

And when my wife and I were deciding where to raise our family, Hudson County was the place.

So we're now over a little ways from here in Jersey City, raising our 22 month old daughter.

- Awesome, congratulations.

- Thank you, thank you.

- Did you have a term of endearment for grandma?

Was it abuelita?

- Yes, abuela and grandma was grandma on my mom's non-Cuban side.

(Carlos laughing) We also called my abuela cuca.

- Cuca?

Okay.

Any particular plate or dish that cuca made that you still remember?

- So, the rice and beans, right?

'Cause it's an underrated component of Cuban cuisine, right?

Just so you think it's the meat dish or the fish that's the make point, but the rice and beans, you know when they're made with love.

And that was the side of the family that I always wanted home cooking from.

(Carlos laughing) My mom's side was wonderful in other ways.

The Cuban side was where I went for my meals.

- All right, all right.

So you have an exciting year.

You're running for Congress in this district right here.

- Yeah, that's right.

Congressman Sires is retiring.

And he's been a legend for his entire career.

Started in public service as a teacher, then west New York mayor, state assembly, and a congressperson now.

So big shoes to fill.

But you know, as we were talking about, this is where I grew up.

And I believe in what this area represents for people to come here and have the opportunity to plant their American roots, to live their American story.

And I think it's something that we now just have to preserve because I think, you see constantly in our country, there's forces moving in a different direction.

So, I think it's a time to protect it, preserve it, and also grow it for future generations.

- Tell me, do you feel your age is a benefit?

'Cause I've had a lot of young guests on here.

I had Jessica Gonzalez, which you know, young attorney.

- I feel like a lot of that generation feel left out of politics.

So, I feel having a young candidate is a positive 'cause you're gonna engage many of your constituents that may feel like it's the same old, it's all these old guys coming into politics, there's no new blood.

- Sure.

So, you know, for one it's, I respect everyone that raises their hand no matter what age they are, because we need people who want to be actively engaged.

And I think it's just sort of an interesting moment in a bridge where, you know, I've read this once that where, I was born in 1985, so I'm a geriatric millennial.

(Carlos laughing) And I've never had a phrase that resonated with me like that because I am young.

I understand sort of the experiences folks are having, who are of a younger age, sort of their vision towards the future and their frustrations.

And I see it, how expensive things are coming.

Affordability in education and housing.

I see those things, I live it in my life.

And then I also know the concerns of folks who are a little bit older.

What type of life are they gonna have as they continue sort of their journey in those later years.

So, I appreciate both sides of it.

And I want to make sure that we're representing the full spectrum of the wonderful folks that call the 8th congressional district home.

And the last thing I'll say is that generationally, I think we have to reaffirm all the progress that we've made to date.

Folks like yourself, like my father, like our parents and grandparents.

All the work that they've done, my generation is to say, we reaffirm that.

We believe in that progress and we want to go further.

But first you have to say and appreciate all the work that's been done today before you continue and pick up the torch to go forward.

- Hudson County, your dad's a fighter.

And I think Hudson County kind of breeds a lot of fighters.

Tell me what you feel like you'll be in Washington, 'cause it's, you're gonna be called upon to be a fighter for us.

- [Rob] For sure.

- Tell me what about the Hudson County swagger is gonna aid you down in DC.

(Rob laughs) There's a lot of characters down there that you have to deal with.

- So there's two components of growing up here.

One is grit.

Yeah, you watch people who work hard every day.

I think it's an immigrant mentality that you see here in Hudson County.

You see what it means when no one takes anything for granted.

I think it's, I call it grit.

And I see people who when they fall down, they pick themselves back up.

They clean themselves off and they work harder than next day.

I saw with my grandmother.

And it means something, right?

It sort of gets into the fibers of your being.

The second thing is I think people in New Jersey, especially Hudson County have this common sense.

They know what's what.

And it's something that sort of taking that when you're having these conversations in Washington and sort of saying, listen, like being the voice in the room that says, let's get to what the root of the issue is.

Let's have the conversation around that.

But in terms of being a fighter, I think this has been a tough two years for folks, living through this pandemic.

I think it's really shined a light on structural issues that we have in our communities.

And I think people, you know, are tired.

They're frustrated, they're scared, they're anxious.

You look at the mental health of our communities, from children who had their entire education disrupted, to their parents, to their grandparents.

You know, this last two years have touched everybody in a really drastic way.

And we have to acknowledge that.

We have to look people in the eye.

We have to look families in the eye and say, it's been a tough two years for you.

You've been balancing a lot.

But this is the pathway forward.

I think Democrats are doing that.

I think Build Back Better is a wonderful blueprint that gives aid to families in meaningful ways, starting with extending the child family tax credit.

Giving $300 to parents and saying, you know what's best for your children.

Here's $300, invest in your children.

And studies have already shown that leads to better cognitive development, better educational outcomes when we invest in our children early on.

And you level the playing field, right?

And that's Build Back Better does.

It says universal pre-K, capping childcare expenses at 7% for most families, especially in a place like New Jersey.

That's meaningful change.

So, if we can give families more resources, it can benefit children, it can benefit our communities.

You know, if we want to have stronger America, we need to have stronger families.

That's what we need to fight for.

- Sure.

Great sentiments that you expressed.

Best of luck in your contest.

and thank you for coming on ¿Qué Pasa?

- We have to do it again, this was great.

- Definitely.

- Thanks so much, Carlos.

- Ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap, season three, episode one.

Thank you to my viewers in New York, New Jersey and nationwide.

And don't forget, ¿Qué Pasa?

- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of ¿Que Pasa NJ?

with Carlos Medina has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, PSE&G, PNC Bank, the Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative 825, ROI-NJ Business Magazine, Hackensack Meridian Health.

This has been a production of the Modesto Educational Foundation.

(outro music)