Adams Seeks Middle Ground in Police Protests
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said yesterday that despite increasingly extreme statements from both sides of the police misconduct issue, most citizens favor action that reduces both crime in black communities and police abuse, the New York Observer reports.
Adams, a former cop and co-founder of the group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, made the remark while speaking to Geraldo Rivera on WABC where he also said he belongs to the “silent majority” of Americans who are in the middle to their opinions on policing matters.
Adams noted he recognizes police departments need reforms in how they patrol communities of color, but also that black on black crime must also be confronted. For example, he said that on the same day that Officer Peter Liang fatally fired his gun at the unarmed Akai Gurley in the darkened stairwell of the Pink Houses in the impoverished East New York neighborhood a criminal shot and killed a child in Brooklyn.
“An innocent life is an innocent life, and consistency for me is important. And sometimes you take heat for that, but I’m not going to be inconsistent. I’m going to be consistent about public safety is public safety,” said Adams.
James Addresses Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
Public Advocate Letitia James yesterday gave the keynote address before the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and spoke about her priorities and accomplishments thus far, including re-launching the Worst Landlords Watchlist, uniting workforce training with the needs of our city’s small businesses, helping businesses to scale up, particularly in our outer boroughs and economically depressed neighborhoods, and her efforts to reduce fines against small businesses.
The breakfast speech was given at the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering in Downtown Brooklyn. Nearly 200 business owners and Chamber Members from across Brooklyn and all of New York City attended the event.
“I am honored to speak to the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce about my vision for Brooklyn‘s small business community, and to reiterate the shared interests of business and government,” said James. “Brooklyn continues to be home to some of our city’s most beloved stores and restaurants, as well as our developing industries, and continues to re-invent itself as our economic center. When Brooklynthrives, New York thrives.”
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Carlo Scissura said picking James as the keynote speaker to close close out the organization’s Newsmakers series for the year was a no brainer.
“The Public Advocate’s message truly resonated with the business owners in attendance, and she made it clear that she was their business advocate as well. I want to thank Public Advocate James for being our keynote speaker, and for everything she does to make Brooklyn the world’s best borough,” said Scissura.
Hikind Gets Food Stamp Snafu Fixed
Assemblyman Dov Hikind said that his meeting with Steven Banks, the Commissioner of the city’s Human Resources Administration, to address multiple issues regarding food stamps went well with promises that in 2015 re-certification problems would be greatly reduced at worst and cleared up at best..
Hikind told Banks that for quite some time his office staff and he had been receiving complaints from constituents regarding their inability to re-certify their SNAP benefits. The re-certification process allows for the process to be done by phone, but Hikind had received numerous complaints that the date and time that they were given (via mail) to expect a call from HRA was often ignored and that no call was ever received. This resulted in some EBT clients not getting re-certified.
“I was delighted that Commissioner Banks was willing to personally address this important matter so quickly,” said Hikind. “The Commissioner and his staff expressed their clear intention to address the matters that we discussed so the application process is hastened and food stamps are made available to the many New Yorkers who rely upon them without undue delay. Commissioner Banks agrees that people shouldn’t have to fear loss of benefits and an inability to feed their family because of a breakdown in the system.
“We were able to share our concerns with Commissioner Banks and his staff and I am confident that matters will now improve. To everyone’s benefit, we expect to see implementation of significant changes in 2015 that will cut down on the bureaucracy that was frustrating to everyone. In the meantime, my community members are certainly encouraged to contact me and my staff regarding any issues that concern them,” he added.
