Team Colton Gets Community Love
The political team of Assemblyman William Colton (Bensonhurst, Bath Beach) and 47th Assembly Democratic District Leaders Charles Ragusa and Nancy Tong received an outpouring of political and community support at the United Progressive Democratic Club on Sunday.
Neighboring 45th Assembly Democratic District Leader Ari Kagan along with Steve Chung and Jack Spatola co-chaired the event, which also brought out City Council Member Mark Treyger (Coney Island, Bensonhurst, and former City Comptroller John Liu for support.
Among the issues Team Colton continues to fight tirelessly for include the battle to stop the Southwest Marine Garbage Station, preserving the specialized high schools, improving housing conditions, and involving students and community groups in neighborhood clean-ups.
The team also successfully brought back the B64 bus and backed former NYPD Police Officer Peter Liang when he faced manslaughter charges after his gun discharged, ricocheted off a wall and killed civilian Akai Gurley in a darkened city housing stairwell.
“It is the role of elected officials to empower people. We want to be the voice of the community so that our team can continue fighting for issues to benefit and protect our neighborhood. We must stand strong together and continue growing Southern Brooklyn as a united community,” said Colton.
“For years ours team has been promoting being inclusive, and we will continue to do so. It is especially important that we now fight hand in hand against the garbage station, which will ruin the air quality, quality of life for residents, and be a thorn in the side for all of Southern Brooklyn,” said Ragusa.
“It is great to see the growth of our neighborhood support and I’d like to thank all the community leaders for coming out today to support our team. We will continue fighting for any issues to help benefit our neighborhood,” said Tong.
Williams To Introduce Commuter Van Legislation
City Council Member Jumaane D. Williams (Flatbush, East Flatbush, Flatlands), along with Queens City Council Member Daneek Miller will hold a press conference today to rally support for a package of bills that will reform commuter van practices in the city.
Commuter vans, also known as “dollar vans,” offer vital, affordable transportation in communities where there are limited transit options. The Taxi Limousine Commission recognized the need for commuter vans and developed a decal to differentiate between legal and illegal drivers.
Rogue, illegal drivers have posed a safety threat to pedestrians and passengers.In an incident this year, a 16-year-old girl was fatally struck by a commuter van driver. In a 2014 incident, a 27-year-old man was run down by a commuter van.
- Int 0904-2015: This bill would expand and increase the penalties for licensed Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) drivers who flee TLC enforcement agents or police officers by making the penalty applicable to all TLC licensed drivers and by increasing the fine to not less than $1000 and not more than $2,500, from not less than $750 and not more than $1,000. The imprisonment of up to 90 days for each offense would remain unchanged.
- Int 0570-2014: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to eliminating the prearrangement and passenger manifest requirements for commuter vans, repealing the requirement that commuter vans renew their license every six years, and repealing subdivision k of section 19-504.2.
- Int 0860-2015: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring a study of safety related issues in the commuter van industry and suspending new commuter van licenses pending the completion of such study.
- Int 0861-2015: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to increasing certain penalties applicable to operators of commuter vans.
The press conference is slated for 1 p.m. today on the steps of City Hall in Lower Manhattan.
Adams Deploys Security Measures On Commercial Corridors
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams today will will announce Operation Safe Shopper, a partnership between local civic organizations and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in which he has funded the deployment of security technology in neighborhoods across Brooklyn to assist with the investigation of local crimes.
Dubbed Operation Safe Shopper, Adams will showcase some of the new equipment and discuss the impact of the new program to advance safety along the borough’s commercial corridors. Among the business and civic entities that will join Adams include the Alliance for Coney Island, Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project Local Development Corporation (LDC) in Clinton Hill and Fort Greene, Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District (BID) in Brownsville, and the Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID.
Adams will unveil the new technology at 11 a.m. today at the Albany Bakery, 339 Albany Avenue in Crown Heights.
Cuomo Issues Exec Order To Investigate Death of A Civillian
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo yesterday issued an executive order as per a law passed last year which will allow the investigation, and if warranted, prosecution by the New York State Attorney General of any alleged unlawful acts or omissions by any law enforcement officer relating to the death of Delrawn Small on July 4 in East New York.
Cuomo signed Executive Order No. 147 on July 8, 2015, which appointed the New York State Attorney General as special prosecutor in matters relating to the deaths of unarmed civilians in deadly encounters with law enforcement.
The order also allows the special prosecutor to review cases where there is a question whether the civilian was armed and dangerous at the time of his or her death.
Lentol, Golden Lobby For Cuomo To Sign Music Tax Credit Law
Assemblyman Joe Lentol (Williamsburg, Greenpoint) and Sen. Marty Golden (Bay Ridge) today will lead elected officials and and supporters of New York is Music (NYIM)—a coalition of more than 200 music-related organizations and video game industry professionals to urge Governor Cuomo to sign into law bipartisan legislation that supports the creation of good jobs in the music production and videogame industries.
The bipartisan legislation (A10083A/S7485A), passed by both chambers of the legislature last month, provides a tax credit for music production and video game development throughout the state.
The press conference in support of the measure is slated for 11 a.m. on the steps of City Hall in Lower Manhattan.
Cool Jazz Concert Tonight
Community Board 3 District Manager Henry Butler, who has great taste in jazz music, is part of his block associations, which is holding their annual jazz concert on the block tonight.
Slated to preform is the Brandon Sanders Quartet. They will play from 7-9 p.m. tonight on Macon Street between Patchen & Ralph Avenues.
