Treyger Kicks Off Library Extended Hours
Coney Island City Council Member Mark Treyger, the co-chair of the Brooklyn Delegation of the New York City Council, will join representatives from the Brooklyn Public Library and other elected officials to announce a dramatic expansion in the library’s hours of service across the borough.
The service expansion is possible thanks to an additional investment of $12 million in Brooklyn’s libraries made by the Mayor and City Council in the 2016 budget. Every Brooklyn branch will now be open at least six days per week. BPL will also offer more evening and weekend hours throughout the borough.
“Reading is the pathway to knowledge,” said Treyger. “The more our libraries are open, the more every resident has the chance to get on that path. As a former educator, I know firsthand how increasing literacy translates into greater social, political, and economic power. Libraries are precious extensions of our classrooms.”
Treyger thanked City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer, Council Finance Chair Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, his co-chair Darlene Mealy, and the rest of the Brooklyn Delegation along with the Brooklyn Public Library for helping to implement this much-needed improvement in library service.
Treyger, along with BPL President and CEO Linda E. Johnson will officially make the announcement at noon tomorrow, Oct. 7, at the Coney Island Library branch, 1901 Mermaid Avenue.
James Lauds Clinton’s Gun Control Efforts
Public Advocate Letitia James yesterday lauded presidential candiodate Hillary’s Clinton’s announced plans to strengthen gun control laws if elected president.
Clinton’s initiative would include executive action that would strengthen background checks and put more stringent control on both sellers and buyers at gun shows.
“From massacres that make the front page to shootings on our neighborhood streets, we are facing a crisis of gun violence in this country. We have said ‘the time is now’ too often. I applaud Hillary Clinton for rolling out an aggressive gun control proposal, and making this a central point of her campaign. Her determination to close the gun show loophole, the Charleston loophole, and to prevent domestic abusers from obtaining firearms are exactly the type of leadership we need. I am particularly heartened by her push to repeal legal immunity for gun manufacturers and dealers,” said James.
“Those who make and sell weapons of death need to be held accountable. That’s why I have been leading the fight in New York City to divest all public money from gun and ammunition retailers like Walmart, and it’s clear this type of public pressure is taking hold. But we need action – like Hillary Clinton’s proposal – from our federal lawmakers to truly take on the scourge of gun violence affecting our communities.”
Schumer, Gillibrand Give Fed Money To Fight Brooklyn Sex Trafficking
U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand yesterday announced $2,070,022 in federal funding allocated through the Department of Justice (DOJ) for four New York City based organizations.
Specifically, the funding will help recovery for survivors of all types of human trafficking by survivor-centered services and interagency communication.
Among the offices getting money is the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, which has been awarded $600,000. The District Attorney’s office will work with Safe Horizon Incorporated to create a task force to combat all types of human trafficking. This task force will develop strategies to identify human trafficking survivors; pursue local, state, tribal, and federal sex and labor trafficking cases; and provide a comprehensive variety of services to individual survivors.
Safe Horizon, Incorporated has been awarded $550,000 and will be working with the Kings County District Attorney’s Office to create a law enforcement agency and a lead survivor service provider within the task force. The task force will support multidisciplinary human trafficking to identify, investigate, prosecute at all levels to address the individual needs of the victims and provide proper services.
“With this critical federal funding, these organizations will be able to continue their important work, prosecuting vile sex- and labor-traffickers and serving the survivors of human trafficking in New York City,” said Schumer. “It is important that we work to both eliminate human trafficking through prosecution and help survivors obtain the comprehensive services they need and deserve.”
“This critical federal funding will allow these organizations to facilitate a wide range of programs to combat human trafficking and provide assistance to survivors,” said Gillibrand. “New York City will now have additional resources to identify and respond to the needs of human trafficking survivors. I will continue to push for funding to help keep our families safe and better protected.”
Also getting money was Convent House New York/Under 21 to help homeless and runaway youth survivors of sex and/or labor trafficking and the The Ali Forney Center, Inc. to help the homeless and LGBTQ youth (16-24 years of age) community that fall victim to all types of human trafficking.
46 AD Race: Regina-Potter Gets Right To Life Endorsement
Lucretia Regina-Potter, the Republican, Conservative, Independence and People’s Choice candidate for the vacant 46th Assembly District seat, received the endorsement of the New York State Right to Life Political Committee, which opposes abortion and those that favor pro-choice.
“We sincerely appreciate your defense of unborn children, the dependent elderly, people with disabilities and all innocent members of the human family who are continually threatened by our current culture and legal system. Our fellow New Yorkers depend on courageous representatives to protect the basic right to life, and we are heartened by your commitment to this fundamental right,” wrote NYS Right To Life Chair Barbara R. Meara in a letter of support to Regina-Potter.
Regina-Potter faces Democrat Pam Harris in the Nov. 3 election to replace Alec Brook-Krasny who stepped down over the summer to go into the private sector. The district includes Coney Island, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and small parts of Bright Beach, Bath Beach and Bensonhurst.
Ortiz Lauds State Funding for Cop Car Bullet Proof Glass
Sunset Park Assemblyman and Assistant Assembly Speaker Felix W. Ortiz this week was pleased to announce that the final 2015-16 budget allocated $60 million for police safety measures, including retrofitting vehicles with bulletproof glass.
Ortiz sponsored the legislation for the bulletproof glass on the assembly side while Bay Ridge Sen. Marty Golden and Sen. Philip Boyle and Martin Golden led the bi-partisan effort for the measure on the senate side.
Ortiz said the safety measure was the first step towards improving conditions for police officers after the ruthless murders of NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. The officers were shot through the front passenger window of their patrol car in a Brooklyn neighborhood.
“The lives of our law enforcement officers must not be compromised by partisan politics. Those brave men and women who put their lives on the line for all of us deserve the best safety equipment available. We must spare no expense to ensure this”, said Ortiz.
The funding in the budget will provide for the installation of bullet proof glass in patrol cars statewide.
“We are proud that our leaders in the city and the state came together over the recent tragedies to take this common sense approach to improving conditions for New York’s finest,” said Ortiz. “I will remain vigilant in my efforts to see that monies appropriated to keep our police safe are used as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Golden, DOS Commissioner Kick Off Anti-Litter Contest
Bay Ridge State Sen. Marty Golden and the City’s Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia will kick-off an Anti-Litter Essay Contest for elementary school students at 10 a.m. today at P.S. 127, 7805 7th Avenue.
The anti-litter essay contest that Golden and community leaders developed is titled “Don’t Drop It”. Students of grades 3, 4 and 5 are being invited to write their ideas about how to stop litter, in the hopes of boosting awareness to keep neighborhoods around the city cleaner.
Representatives of various schools and community leaders will join Garcia and Golden at the event.
