Brooklyn Lawmakers On The Move Feb. 16, 2017

Malliotakis Receives Farina Commitment To Return Cursive Instruction To City Schools

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge/Staten Island) yesterday received a commitment from New York City Education Chancellor Carmen Fariña that cursive writing is once again being included in the third grade curriculum in city schools.

The commitment came in a joint State Assembly and Senate budget hearing on elementary and secondary education. The hearing allowed members of the legislature to discuss budget priorities, as well as issues facing elementary and secondary schools with education stakeholders from across the state.  Malliotakis brought up her concern that cursive writing was no longer being taught in New York City’s elementary schools as a follow-up to the same question she posed at least year’s hearing.

Fariña assured her that cursive writing is once again being included in the third grade curriculum in city schools.

“I thank New York City Chancellor Fariña for hearing my concerns about the discontinuation of cursive instruction, and am pleased that over the past year she has worked with superintendents across the city to ensure third graders will once again learn cursive writing.” said Malliotakis. “It is important that young people, who will soon be entering the real world, know how to write a signature of their own to identify themselves, and have the ability to sign a legal document, check, or voter registration form. Without knowing how to read script, students can’t even read historic documents like the Declaration of Independence. It is very unfortunate that there is a generation of students who did not learn to write and read cursive, but today we have been assured that this wrong has been corrected.”

Eugene Gives Miss Haiti A Proclamation

City Council Member Mathieu Eugene (D-Flatbush/East Flatbush) and members of the Haitian community yesterday presented Miss Haiti 2016, Raquel Pelissier with a proclamation at City Hall to celebrate her recent achievement as 1^st runner up in the 2017 Miss Universe pageant.

A survivor of the 2010 Haitian earthquake, Pelissier is studying to be an optometrist while serving as a role model for young women. She is Haiti’s first runner up in the Miss Universe pageant since 1975, and hopes to use her role as Miss Haiti to empower the Haitian community.

“We are so honored to welcome Raquel Pelissier to New York City, where we can come together as a community and celebrate her wonderful achievements on behalf of the Haitian people,” said Eugene.

The proclamation ceremony will take place today at 3pm in the cafeteria on the 16^th Floor at 250 Broadway in Manhattan.

Schumer, Gillibrand, Nadler, Clarke, Jeffries Introduce Fed Legislation To Establish African Burial Ground Museum

Democratic Members of the New York Delegation in Washington led by Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Jerrold Nadler along with Representatives Gregory Meeks, Yvette Clarke, Hakeem Jeffries and Adriano Espaillat yesterday re-introduced the African Burial Ground International Memorial Museum and Education Center Act, legislation that would authorize funding and establish a museum at the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan.

The proposed site is located within the African Burial Ground National Historic Landmark, an area in Lower Manhattan near City Hall that holds the remains of an estimated 20,000 enslaved Africans and early-generation African-Americans from the colonial era. The legislation would establish a museum and educational center managed by the National Park Service in consultation with the African Burial Ground Advisory Council.

“The creation of the African Burial Ground Memorial Museum and Education Center will serve as a permanent living tribute to the enslaved and free African men and women who were buried at this sacred site,” said the Members of the New York Delegation in a joint statement.

“This museum will tell the untold stories of those who helped build New York City; and shed a light on their perseverance and strength of character in the face of adversity – this history deserves to be memorialized, remembered and studied. We must never forget as a nation the immense trials and tribulations faced during the ongoing fight of equality and justice.”

Today, the African Burial Ground serves great historical, cultural, archaeological and anthropological significance. The burial ground includes DNA samples from the remarkably well-preserved human remains that will enable researchers to trace the home roots in Africa of those individuals buried at the ground.

The African Burial Ground officially became a National Historic Landmark in 1993; and in 2006, was officially designated a National Monument.

Squadron Lauds Assembly’s Passage Of ‘Kalief’s Law

State Senator Daniel Squadron (D-Northern Brooklyn/Lower Manhattan) yesterday lauded the Assembly’s unanimous, bipartisan passage of ‘Kalief’s Law,’ (S1998-Squadron/A3055A-Aubry) to reform New York’s broken speedy trial law.

The law is named for Kalief Browder, a young man accused of stealing a backpack, who spent over 1,000 days in pre-trial detention at Riker’s, approximately 700 days in solitary confinement, before his case was dismissed. Kalief maintained his innocence throughout, and ultimately committed suicide.

“At a time when civil rights and the very Constitution seem to be under attack, New York must recommit to protecting constitutionally-guaranteed rights, and creating the most just possible state. Today, the constitutional right to a speedy trial in New York is denied to too many. That’s unfair for the accused, victims, and the whole system,” said Squadron.

“Yesterday, the Assembly affirmed what Kalief Browder’s family and too many New Yorkers already know: New York’s broken Rockefeller-era speedy trial law undermines the fairness and presumption of innocence that is core to our legal system.

“With the Assembly’s unanimous passage and the Governor’s commitment to fixing the state’s speedy trial crisis, the Senate Majority now has the opportunity to help build a more just justice system. I strongly urge them to take this opportunity.”

Cornegy Celebrates Peace In The Albany Houses

City Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr. (D-Bedford-Stuyvesant/Northern Crown Heights) today will honor Albany Houses residents and celebrate the work of the team and leaders at SOS Crown Heights as the public housing complex has not been a single incidence of violence for over 400 days.

Cornegy credits the organization for the more than a year of peace in the once crime-plagued development with providing trained violence interrupters who have stepped into conflicts and defused them without any gun, or other forms of violence.

Among those attending the celebration include City Council Member Laurie Cumbo (D-Fort Greene/Clinton Hill/Prospect Heights/Crown Heights), representatives from the Mayor’s Office to Prevent Gun Violence, officials from the 77th Police Precinct, and both NYCHA residents and management.

The event is slated for 4 p.m., today, Feb. 16 at the Albany Houses Community Center, 164 Troy Avenue (b/t St. Marks & Park Place) in Crown Heights.

Bichotte’s State Of The District Speech Rescheduled

Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Flatbush/Ditmas) who was forced to cancel her State of the District speech last week due to the weather has rescheduled the event.

She is inviting residents to come hear about topics including education, housing, ethics reform, and economic development as well as the State’s agenda, the proposed budget and how it affects the district.