46 AD Race: Harris Gets DC 37 Endorsement
Pamela Harris, the Democratic candidate for the open 46th Assembly District seat, yesterday, received the endorsement of District Council 37 (DC 37). New York City’s largest public employee union.
“Pamela is the kind of leader we need in Albany to look after the interests of the working people of our city,” said DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido. “She is a veteran community activist with a keen understanding of the struggles hardworking New Yorkers go through every day. She supports initiatives that will make our communities stronger. She is a fighter who will stand up for public services and the men and women who provide them. That is why our union enthusiastically supports her candidacy.”
In accepting the endorsement, Harris noted that like DC 37, she strongly supports increasing the minimum wage in New York State to $15 per hour for all workers. “It’s just not right for full-time workers to live in poverty or work two or three jobs to make ends meet,” she said.
Harris faces Republican Lucretia Regina-Potter in the Nov. 3 special election to replace former Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, who resigned to go into the public sector over the summer. The district includes Coney Island, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and parts of Bath Beach and Brighton Beach.
Ortiz Thanks NYPD For Closing Hotel Of Ill Repute
Sunset Park Assembly Member and Assistant Assembly Speaker Felix W. Ortiz thanked the New York Police Department (NYPD) and 72nd Precinct Captain Tommy Ng, working with federal and state law enforcement, for closing down an illegal hotel operating at 516 39th Street in Sunset Park.
“Prostitution rings and drugs have no place in Sunset Park or anywhere else in New York,” said Ortiz, adding “I want to commend the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies for their prompt response closing down this illegal operation. I’ve had too many complaints to my office about this situation.”
According to Ortiz, “let this be a wake up call for other hotels operating illegally that they have no place in our community.”
Stringer, Adams Hold Open Hearing For Small Business
New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, co-chairs Michael Lambert and Jessica Lappin, and members of his Red Tape Commission, in partnership with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, are holding an open hearing for small business owners at 8:30 a.m. this morning at Brooklyn Law School, 205 State Street in Downtown Brooklyn.
Small business owners, entrepreneurs, advocates, and community leaders will share stories related to their experiences with bureaucratic hurdles and other obstacles to success for small businesses in New York City.
The Red Tape Commission is a citywide initiative that seeks to help small business owners cut through bureaucratic red tape and thrive in New York City. The Commission is holding an open public hearing in each borough to hear about business owners’ experiences and frustrations.
Small business owners can also visit the Red Tape Commission website in order to submit stories about the challenges they face. The Commission, which consists of 29 business owners and regulatory experts, will review all submitted stories and ideas in order to produce a report with concrete recommendations for reform.
Hamilton, Mosley Host Education Service Awards Breakfast
Flatbush State Sen. Jesse Hamilton and Fort Greene Assemblyman Walter T. Mosley will host the First Annual Exemplary Educational Service Awards Breakfast from 8:30-11 a.m., this morning at St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf, 260 Eastern Parkway.
Healthfirst is sponsoring the event, which will honor more than 100 Central Brooklyn educators and parents will be honored. Honorees at the breakfast will include select Community Education Council members, school principals, parent-teacher organization leaders, and teachers from Central Brooklyn districts.
“This awards breakfast will shine a light on educators, parents, and teachers working day in and day out for our city’s young people. Planning for new schools, devising innovative lesson plans, keeping parents in touch with their children’s education – all this and more done in service of our communities,” said Hamilton.
Mosley said those individuals honored have shown tremendous dedication to the education of our youth.
“Without the guidance of these parents, educators, and administrators our next generation of scholars would not have the academic tools needed to compete in the 21st century,” he said.
Lander Parks Bill Makes Way Through City Council
Park Slope City Council Member Brad Lander’s legislation requiring the Parks Department (DPR) to issue an annual report to the Mayor and Council on the resources it allocates for maintenance on a park-by-park basis and post updated information regarding the status of its funded capital projects online was expected to pass the City Council yesterday (at post time it is unclear if it passed). This report will include:
- The name, size and identification number of each park.
- Whether each park has permanent or mobile maintenance staff assigned to it.
- The weekly average, and dollar value, of work-hours performed by maintenance staff at each property on a quarterly basis.
- The value of specialized maintenance work performed at each property.
- The number of parks enforcement patrol officers assigned borough-wide.
DPR will be required to post information on each capital project on its website, updated at least quarterly, including a detailed description and the location of each project, the actual or estimated starting and completion dates of each phase of each project and the total amount of funds allocated to each project.
This bill, if passed, takes effect immediately.
“For too long, it has been impossible to know what the City is spending in each of our parks, whether our capital program is on track, and whether every community is getting its fair share. Today’s bill will solve that problem,” said Lander. “Thanks to the Parks Department for working with us to improve transparency, and for doing the hard work of bringing their tracking and management systems into the 21st century. Together with the work of Parks Committee Chair Levine, Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner Silver, New Yorkers for Parks and other advocates, this bill is one more step toward making sure that every NYC neighborhood has the first-rate parks our families need.”
