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Tonight on NJ Spotlight News, ice unmasked.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is leading the charge to prevent ice agents from wearing masks during raids and other immigration enforcement crackdowns.

Plus, the dark side of Amazon.

A new report claims Amazon's record delivery speeds come at a cost to contract workers who are subject to intolerable and even illegal conditions.

The flex labor model is designed to give Amazon really the flexibility to sort of treat workers how they want.

Also, under the dome, lawmakers come under fire after diverting $45 million of New Jersey's opioid settlement money and advocates sound off.

The first time being sick off of heroin, I thought, go to a hospital.

That's a safe haven.

You got doctors there to protect you.

Worst thing I ever did.

And preserving history.

Jersey City's famous Lowe's Theater is undergoing a major makeover.

We take you inside the restoration.

This has taken decades for us to get here.

This is something that everybody in the city of Jersey City should be proud of.

NJ Spotlight News begins right now.

♪ ♪ >> From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Brianna Vanozzi.

>> Good evening and thanks for joining us on this Friday night.

I'm Brianna Vanozzi.

We begin with a few of today's top stories.

First, Democrats are pulling out all the stops to help get Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill elected to the governor's seat in November.

According to a source familiar with the event, former President Obama is linking up with Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin tonight for a fundraiser in Red Bank with the gubernatorial candidate, Mike Sherrill, hosted by Governor Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy.

Now, the high-dollar event is sold out and proceeds are going to the DNC's War Chest to help with the governor's race, state legislative elections here, and other high-stakes campaigns outside New Jersey.

There's a reason for it.

The 2025 gubernatorial election between Mikey Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciatarelli is widely seen as a bellwether, both for the midterms and on voter sentiment about the second Trump administration.

Democrats are counting on former President Obama to deliver.

According to his office, he raised $85 million for the party last cycle.

No word yet, though, if President Trump plans to stump for Ciatarelli.

Also tonight, there's a growing push to ban immigration agents from covering their faces during operations.

U.S.

Senator Cory Booker is leading legislation alongside California Senator Alex Padilla that will require ICE officers to show their face when making public arrests and have clearly displayed personal I.D.

on their body.

Now, ICE has said the masks and face coverings are being used for officers' protection amid ramped-up crackdowns under the Trump administration and an increase of personal threats against the agents and their families.

But according to lawmakers, using those masks while acting in a federal capacity is illegal and it's stoking fear in communities.

Since mass deportations began, Homeland Security and ICE officers have been seen wearing unmarked tactical gear, face masks, and no visible badges or other indications that would help people in the public confirm they are in fact government officials.

But the "visible act," as it's being called, would allow officers to wear gas masks if needed or other face coverings during covert and non-public operations.

ICE didn't immediately return a request for comment on the bill.

And this is one of those "only in Jersey" stories.

After a decade-long fight, the state Supreme Court this week ruled that residents in the town of South Seaside Park can now vote to permanently leave Berkeley Township and join their neighboring town, Seaside Park.

Now, South Seaside Park is a small community with less than 500 residents on a barrier island in Ocean County, and it's currently part of Berkeley Township, despite Berkeley being a mainland across the Barnegat Bay.

The court's decision noted that residents have to travel over 15 miles through multiple other towns to get municipal services, and during the summer, that drive can take up to 45 minutes.

In order for the switch to go through, Seaside Park has to approve taking over the tiny community.

The court's decision reversed a previous denial from Berkeley Township, calling that decision biased.

In our spotlight on business report tonight, Amazon's mega Prime Day sale officially ends tonight, but there could also be a dark side to shopping with the retail giant.

A new brief from the National Employment Law Project sheds light on how the company meets that faster-than-ever delivery speed at the heart of its business model.

It's by using an army of Amazon Flex drivers.

These are independent contractors who use their own vehicles to deliver packages in the final leg, or last mile, of the delivery process.

According to the report, that Uber-like system exploits workers and subjects them to illegal and unbearable conditions, having a ripple effect on the rest of the delivery sector.

Maya Pinto is the report author.

She's a senior researcher and policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, and she joins me now to explain.

Maya, welcome to the show.

Thank you for your time.

Your report describes Amazon Flex as having this precarious labor model.

What specifically with these conditions are you talking about?

Yes, thank you for that question, Brianna.

So what the report does is it takes a look at, as you mentioned, this Uber-like delivery app called Amazon Flex, and it identifies key elements of the Flex labor model.

So digital surveillance, algorithmic management, independent contractor misclassification, forced arbitration, and class action waivers.

And taken together, all create a control-without-responsibility labor model that allows Amazon to exert a great deal of control over Flex delivery drivers without any real legal responsibility for the worker impacts of that control.

And so what the report does is it connects those labor practices to job quality issues, like systematic wage theft, like unsafe work pace, and job insecurity that Flex drivers are experiencing.

I mean, this is not an issue that we're unfamiliar with here in New Jersey.

Last year, you may know, there were workers, Amazon Flex workers, who rallied in Woodland Park.

They were talking about better working conditions, but also that their wages had dropped significantly.

How, though, does that model sort of, as you say, set them up for this?

Are they not selecting their own hours, how long they work, where they work?

Isn't that sort of the whole purpose of this gig economy?

Absolutely.

So the Flex app is absolutely marketed to Flex drivers as an opportunity to have control over their schedules, to be their own boss, to choose their own hours.

But it's actually Amazon that, you know, batches out the routes, that sets the time frames, which workers see which offers and when.

And so we spoke, you know, for this report, I spoke to Flex drivers who are organizing in New Jersey, and they reported that often they can be locked out of the app when they've worked a certain amount, a number of hours.

When they want work and they log into the app, they're not able to find work.

And so it's very unstable, the hours, and unpredictable.

The Flex labor model is designed to give Amazon, really, the flexibility to sort of treat workers how they want, to engage workers when they want, and then to pay them whatever they want.

They don't have to meet the minimum wage standards.

They don't have to pay into social insurance systems.

And so while it's marketed as a tool to give workers flexibility, it's really about giving Amazon flexibility.

- Just quickly, Maya, about some of the broader implications, which you talk about in the report, how if this model does become sort of standard for this sector, what that might mean for the delivery business in the future, and I guess also for workers' rights.

- Yeah, so I mean, last mile delivery has been a bastion of actually unions and high quality family sustaining unionized work.

Amazon Flex now has been around actually for around a decade, and it's really grown, and it's a huge piece of the Amazon Flex delivery operation.

And what we've seen is that actually other retailers like Walmart now has a Flex-like delivery app called Spark, and Target has shipped.

- Yeah, I know you have a number of recommendations.

Can you give us just a handful?

- Yeah, so I mean, fundamentally, Amazon needs to be held accountable for its Flex labor model, and worker organizing and public policy change are the best ways to ensure that it's held accountable.

It's not going to change its labor model on its own.

I mentioned digital surveillance and algorithmic management are key labor practices, so there should be transparency and accountability requirements around Amazon's use of those practices.

We also need to figure out ways to combat independent contractor misclassification, and New Jersey is really leading the way.

Right now, there's rulemaking in New Jersey around the employment standard for its employment laws, and Flex drivers will be weighing in because New Jersey actually has a really expansive standard, and we hope that it will continue to be a beacon for workers' rights.

- Yeah, there's been a lot of talk about that misclassification law.

Maya Pinto is with the National Unemployment Law Project.

Maya, thanks so much.

- Thank you.

- We reached out to Amazon for a response, and here's what spokesperson Amber Plunkett had to say.

"This report grossly mischaracterizes the Amazon Flex program and is based on anecdotal experiences from fewer than 10 delivery partners.

The fact is, for nearly a decade, Amazon Flex has empowered delivery partners across the country to deliver Amazon packages on their own schedules with competitive earnings.

Amazon also disputes claims about wage theft and those earnings, pointing out that the average Flex driver earns $26 an hour in the U.S. and maintains that safety is a top priority."

- Support for "The Business Report" is provided by the Newark Alliance Presents the 2025 Halsey Fest, featuring the vibrancy of Newark's Arts and Education District and Halsey Street.

Halsey, a neighborhood built on hustle and heart.

The 2025 Halsey Fest schedule is available at halseynwk.com.

- Earlier this week, we reported on the start of Newark's summer curfew for teens.

It's a citywide rule that affects anyone under the age of 18 from 11 p.m. to 5.30 a.m. daily.

Well, we wanted to take a deeper look into the program and see the impact it's having on the city, crime, and keeping kids safe while school's out.

Raven Santana talked to some of the people running outreach programs along with city officials about how it's working, and she's with us now.

Raven.

- Hi, Bri, yeah, that's right.

Newark's summer youth curfew is now in effect from 11 p.m. to 5.30 a.m. daily, and it's aimed at keeping kids safe and off the streets.

Outreach teams I spoke with say the goal is to help not arrest youth.

And officials I spoke with say they've already seen a reduction in juvenile crime.

- From now until the start of the new school year, Newark's summer curfew will be in full effect.

That means anyone under 18 must be off the streets by 11 p.m. unless they're with an adult.

- And what we realize is that the curfew has been on the books for years, but it wasn't being enforced.

- Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Lakeisha Urie says the curfew takes a community-led approach.

- The city is partnering with law enforcement, the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery, and case managers to identify and support unaccompanied minors out past curfew.

- What we want to do is approach youth and say, hey, it's 11, 12, 1 o'clock in the morning.

Is there anything that you need?

Can we help you get home?

And ultimately we're trying to offer resources.

And so some of the kids are coming from work.

They're just hanging out, but we want them to know that it's not safe all the time just hanging out.

We want them to be within 100 feet of their houses so they don't have to be in a house, but just nearby a home or a safe place.

And then if they're not able to go home and no one answers for them, then we take them to our office at the Office of Violence Prevention until we can get a parent or a guardian on the phone to be able to get them home safely.

- The renewed enforcement follows a tragic week in Newark.

Two 16-year-olds, a boy and a girl, were shot and killed in separate incidents.

This Wednesday, a 15-year-old boy was critically injured in another shooting.

- The reality is--and I would venture to say that most people who care about young people would say that children being out that time of night does put them in a larger harm's way than they would be during regular day hours.

- Officials say the curfew initiative is showing early signs of success.

Juvenile arrests dropped 7% last summer.

Houston Deputy Mayor Barry Ford says Newark's curfew is different from traditional approaches.

There are no arrests, fines, or penalties, just engagement and support.

- This is youth engagement.

It's not about arresting young people or getting them in trouble or trying to scare them out of the streets.

It's care and concern.

We're trying to talk to them about, you know, what's going on.

A lot of people will just think, hey, it's kids being in the street and just hanging out and, you know, being negligent in their behavior, and that's not the case in many circumstances.

There are so many different things that are happening.

Sometimes it's as simple as having something to do.

- The curfew is one part of Newark's broader strategy to protect and empower youth.

The city is also investing in jobs, mentorships, and programs that offer purpose and opportunity.

One of those programs is the Newark Summer Work Program where 150 youth, many formerly considered high-risk, are learning workplace and life skills.

- It's multiple job sites, and they didn't really give, like, anybody what direct job site they'd be at, but some kids would be at the pools, some kids would be at camps, some kids would be at McCarter Highway, at the Easy Pass building.

- Is there an area of work that you're looking forward to do or that you're interested in?

- I mean, me personally, I wanted to work with the youth, and I don't want them to go down, like, the wrong path or anything.

- After their initial training, participants will be placed in job assignments for the rest of the summer, building real-world experience and stronger sense of direction.

When school resumes, Newark's curfew will shift back to weekends only.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.

- State officials today said New Jersey stands to receive more than $19 million in new settlement money from eight drug makers that manufactured opioid products.

It's part of a larger nationwide agreement, but there's growing outrage over exactly how New Jersey is spending its portion of opioid settlement funds.

Lawmakers last month quietly opted to divert some $45 million away from harm reduction groups that help people struggling with addiction, and instead give it to four of the state's largest hospitals.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagas reports as part of our Under the Dome series.

- I just came out a month ago from a hospital where they didn't even draw blood work when I told them I'm anemic and that I had a blood transfusion a month before that.

And after four days, they just let me go when I was still throwing up, I was still going through the withdrawal.

- Edgardo "Chapo" Ramirez is struggling with drug addiction.

He's also working closely with a harm reduction program in Trenton called the KIND Collective that helps keep people safe while they use drugs.

He says it's been way more impactful than going to the hospital.

The KIND Collective is run by Jose Caraballo, who goes by JC.

- You touch down anywhere in the city of Trenton, they know who we are.

And we know, for instance, if we go to North Ward, we don't have to bring a lot of intravenous drug use equipment.

A lot of people out there are smokers, so we're bringing a lot of stems, right?

- It's still a tough sell for some, but the data shows that harm reduction works in bringing down overdose and other drug-related deaths, and that's why the opioid settlement funds that New Jersey won in several lawsuits against companies found guilty of perpetuating the opioid epidemic were supposed to go to harm reduction programs doing the work on the ground.

That was the recommendation of the state advisory council, assembled to help distribute the funds most effectively.

But these groups were dismayed to see $45 million diverted away from them and given to four hospitals in the state's next fiscal budget.

- It's personal for me because I experienced it.

The first time being sick off of heroin, I thought, "Go to a hospital.

That's a safe haven.

You got doctors there to protect you."

Worst thing I ever did.

I sat there for hours and hours, and they made me feel like I was a human.

- Harm reduction programs pride themselves on being able to understand the specific needs of their community down to what drugs they're taking and how they're impacted by those drugs in a way that they say hospitals really can't.

- In a time when the drug supply is changing again--I mean, again?

I mean, we were just understanding zolazine.

Now we have to learn metatomidine.

We have to learn BtMPS.

Now those are all different withdrawals that now people need to-- hospitals should be adapting to, and yet they're not.

- The New Jersey Hospital Association defended the role of hospitals in the fight against opioids, saying in a statement, "No one can do this work alone.

Our hospitals work in concert with community partners to save lives," adding that the money will be used for activities consistent with the opioid settlement agreements and federal guidelines.

Attorney General Matt Plotkin brought the suits that won the opioid settlement funds.

He's criticized the legislature and governor's decision to reappropriate them.

The governor acknowledged earlier this week that it was part of a messy budgeting process.

- In a perfect world, it's not where it would have landed for me, but a budget is a compromise with a lot of moving parts, and the New Jersey Hospital Association is a good example of that.

But those care centers do extraordinary work.

And by the way, our hospitals deal with an enormous amount of opioid challenges as well.

- But for harm reduction experts, they say there's just no match for how they can meet the needs of their neighbors, supplying Narcan, drug testing strips, wound care packages like this one that Chapo is using to treat a wound caused by xylosine use.

- Simple things like this will help people maintain their ulcers or their wounds.

- All this put together right here, this is over $100 worth of supplies.

And we give it to people without asking questions, without saying sign a form.

No, no, take it.

But hospitals, that's not how they operate.

That's why this is frustrating.

If you want to really--if you care about this community and you really want to help them, you have to rely on the experts, and we're the experts, not you.

- The Lowe's Foundation has provided the funding to expand their capacity to reach more people, especially as new deadly drugs are making their way into the street drug supply in the last few months.

In Trenton, I'm Joanna Gagis, NJ Spotlight News.

- Under the Dome is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

- Well, turning now to what's making old new again.

The Lowe's Theater, set in the heart of Journal Square in Jersey City, is undergoing a major renovation project.

The historic venue, which opened in 1929, hosted world-class live music, movies, and more.

And it's hoping to bring back some of that magic with this latest $130 million restoration, all while preserving some of the theater's original iconic design and features.

Our photojournalist Brendan Smith recently got an inside tour of the project, slated to open in the fall of 2026.

Let's take a look.

- Well, this project has been years, decades in the making.

We are doing a full renovation with our partner, Harris Blitzer Sports Exhibition, HBSE, of this theater, which is only one of five wonder theaters left in the country.

This was a theater that was opened in 1929, and it was intended to bring movies to life.

So when you came to this theater, it wasn't just to see a movie.

It was to experience entertainment.

It was an experience to be here.

The detail in the plaster, in the lighting, the brilliant chandelier, the bathrooms, which had marble in them, fireplaces-- it was luxury for the average person to come here on a Saturday night and experience cinema.

So the last time this theater was commercially operated was in the early 1980s, and the last movie they showed was Friday the 13th.

And then after that, it was purchased by a redeveloper, and it was slated for redevelopment, but community group Friends of Lowe's led the charge to save the theater, and then since then, for the last few decades, they have been showing nonprofit programming like movies, and there's other events that are held here like a Christmas concert and weddings.

So it hasn't been empty and unused.

The construction will be finished in June of '26, and we hope to have it open that summer as well, if not the fall.

So this is financed with a very complex, what we call a capital stack that includes state tax credits.

The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency entered into a partnership with HBSE.

They're the redeveloper, so we work with them in partnership to renovate this theater, and they're doing the complete renovation.

We're the construction manager for the project.

We have a relationship with HSBE along with a lot of experience in historic restorations doing work out on Ellis Island, and recently we did the Statue of Liberty Museum out on Liberty Island.

Anybody, you walk into this project, your first impression is, wow, what an amazing facility in Jersey City in this location.

So that's your first impression.

But then as we get into the nuts and bolts of it, it's coming up with a plan and having the challenges, overcoming them early so we can get this project done.

So it did have a lot of water damage, but also the biggest challenge really here is that we're taking this historic theater and turning it into a modern theater that will be used for all kinds of modern events.

So the big part of this project is upgrading all the mechanicals, all the HVAC, electrical, sprinkler, plumbing systems, to bring it up to modern standards.

So we can historically renovate this project to look at it as it originally did.

We're taking a lot of precautions to make sure we don't damage any of the historic fabric, and we're also making sure that when you come into this building, it will be restored to how it originally was and the grandeur that that had.

So I think people are going to be very pleased with the final product.

This has taken decades for us to get here, and this is something that everybody in the city of Jersey City should be proud of.

That's going to do it for us this week, but before we leave you, it's with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to a real source for good in our state.

Democratic strategist and campaign manager Kabir Moss died suddenly this week.

He ran his own political consulting group and most recently served as the communications director for Newark Mayor Razz Baraka's gubernatorial campaign.

Before that, he worked in the Senate Majority Office as an influential aide to Senate President Steve Sweeney and retired Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg.

He was highly respected, though, on both sides of the aisle, known for his compassion, intellect, and boundless kindness.

His friends and colleagues are remembering him as a man of stature, and he was.

Kabir Moss was 37 years old.

I'm Brianna Vanosi.

For the entire team at NJ Spotlight News, thank you for being with us.

We hope you enjoy the weekend.

We'll see you right back here next week.

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