Adams Mourns Passing Of Helen Marshall
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was among a host of elected officials that morning the death of former Queens Borough President Helen Marshall.
Marshall dies Saturday at 87 in California. She served three terms as Queens Borough President from 2001-2013. She was also a member of the New York State Assembly for eight years and a member of the New York City Council for 10 prior to being elected borough for 10. A widow, she is survived by two children.
“Helen Marshall was a dear friend and colleague, a true asset to the residents of Queens and New York City. She distinguished herself during a career committed to public service that spanned more than half a century, from education to elected office,” said Adams.
“I am proud to stand beside in her in history as the first African-Americans to serve as chief executives of our respective boroughs. Brooklyn joins in mourning the loss of this political pioneer, and of uplifting her story among those of the many sheroes we celebrate this Women’s History Month.”
Golden, Malliotakis Decry State Cuts For Senior Services
State Senator Martin J. Golden (R-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend), a former Chairman of the State Senate Aging Committee, and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge, Staten Island) on Friday called on Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to preserve Title XX funding in this year’s State budget to maintain vital senior services and keep senior centers open throughout the five boroughs.
Under the Cuomo fiscal year 2018 spending plan now being debated in Albany, $17 million would be slashed in funding towards seniors, and given toward childcare services. Lawmakers say the reduction in funding will force the City to close more than 65 senior centers.
“I am urging Governor Andrew Cuomo not to cut Title XX funding for senior centers in this year’s New York State budget. I agree that we need more money for childcare services but we must not adversely impact New York’s senior population and the services they deserve. We had this same fight before and we were successful in saving senior centers from closing. I will continue to be on the front lines of this battle fighting for our seniors and fighting for our children. I will not vote for any budget that does not financially support important senior services and vital childcare services,” said Golden.
“It is outrageous that despite this year’s budget increasing, Governor Cuomo is looking to shortchange seniors by diverting funding for senior centers. I will not stand aside while senior centers in my
community risk seeing their doors closed. These seniors have spent their entire lives paying taxes and building our community, and government has an obligation to ensure that their needs are properly met. I will continue to fight alongside Senator Golden to ensure our senior centers remain open and funded,” said Malliotakis.
Lander Advocates For Fair Work Week & Fair Share Legislation
City Council Member Brad Lander (D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington) in a newsletter to constituents last week strongly advocated for two pieces of legislation – Fair Work Week and Fair Share – now being debated before the City Council.
The Fair Work Week legislation is a package of bills that would provide fast-food workers with advance notice of their schedules and ban “clopenings” (i.e. when workers are asked to close a business location at night and then return first thing in the morning to reopen the same business).
It would also offer a pathway to full-time work, by requiring employers to offer shifts to current part-time employees, before bringing on new ones. And it includes an innovative model for fast-food workers to join and make voluntary charitable contributions to worker organizations that help them advocate for their rights.
“The legislation would require fast-food workers get two-weeks advance notice of their schedule, and a pathway to full-time hours if they want them. It would end “on-call” scheduling for all retail workers. It offers a creative new approach to help low-wage workers organize for their rights. And it would provide all workers with the right to request schedule flexibility to meet their caregiving, education, or other obligations,” said Lander in his newsletter.
The Fair Share legislation is a package of bills stemming from 1989 when the City Charter Commission created NYC’s “Fair Share” system to make sure City facilities would be evenly distributed across the city. From fire-houses to parks. However, while it addressed neighborhoods getting a fair share of benefits, it didn’t detail neighborhoods doing their fair share to help the City meet its responsibilities, too, according to Lander.
“Unfortunately, in too many cases, things have actually gotten less fair. Waste-transfer stations are over-concentrated in the South Bronx, Southeast Queens, and North Brooklyn. Homeless shelters and other residential bed facilities are more likely to be located in communities of color than they were 20 years ago,” said Lander.
So this package of bills is intended to update the Fair Share system to make it far more transparent, to require more proactive planning, and to better insure that all communities get their fair share of benefits, and take their fair share of responsibilities.
Persaud Bill Would Pay For Diapers
State Sen. Roxanne Persaud (D-Canarsie, East New York, Brownsville, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay, Bergen Beach, Marine Park, Flatlands, Mill Island, Georgetown, Ocean Hill) recently introduced a bill (S318) that would give a financial allowance of $80 every three months for eligible parents to assist in purchasing of diapers for their children two years and under.
The bill is now before the Senate’s Committee on Children and Families.
Additionally, Persaud introduced a resolution (J819) commending the Jewish National Fund upon the occasion of launching Jewish Disabilities Action Month. The JNF is being recognized for their significant contribution in assisting others in developing the skills necessary to be successful and productive citizens.
Mosley Calls For Sessions Resignation
Assemblymember Walter Mosley (D-Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights) last week said it is not enough that U. S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the pending investigation into Russia’s involvement in the recent presidential elections and that he should resign as well.
“The Attorney General’s possible perjury should be enough to warrant a resignation. Undisclosed contacts with Russian officials were enough to ensure the resignation of another senior staff in the Trump administration, and Sessions, despite his position as a former Senator, should be no different,” said Mosley.
“An independent investigator must quickly be appointed. Senator Sessions said as much in 2000, when he stated that independent investigators should be used when the Attorney General is investigating the president. It is unfortunate, though not surprising, that Attorney General Sessions is failing to heed his own requests. Attorney General Sessions must resign as soon as possible, so the American public can regain faith in our institutions, and our Justice Department can be led by someone free from outside influence.”
Bichotte On Women’s History Month
Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Flatbus, Ditmas Park) last week honored some of New York’s fearless women with a short essay and vowed to continue to fight for full equality of women.
“As we celebrate Women’s History Month this March, let’s applaud those who fought to extend rights to women, fought valiantly for opportunity and helped make New York the progressive leader it is today. As our nation enters an era that threatens the progress we’ve made, we must recommit ourselves to full equality – no matter how difficult that may be,” stated Bichotte.
“Our predecessors demonstrated their commitment to change fearlessly; they often risked their lives for others. Leading abolitionist Harriet Tubman refused to allow the mistreatment of others. While a slave, she protected another field worker and suffered a substantial head injury that would affect her for the rest of her life. After escaping slavery, she returned to slave territory more than a dozen times to lead hundreds of others to freedom. Tubman went on to purchase land in Auburn, NY, in 1859 and lived there until her death in 1913.
“Other New Yorkers paved the way for millions of women to enroll in school, enter the workforce, keep their wages and vote in elections. The first American woman to work as an architect was Louise Blanchard Bethune. She designed Buffalo’s historic Hotel Lafayette which is still standing more than a century later. Her legacy is still standing too – 40 percent of those earning architecture degrees are now women. Gertrude B. Elion, of Manhattan, developed treatments for malaria and leukemia and earned a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1988. But when she started out, she had trouble finding a job because almost no one would hire a female chemist. By 2015, women made up more than half of medical scientists and over 35 percent of chemists.
“Even more recently, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Brooklyn native who co-founded the Women’s Rights Project, became the second woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Also in the justice realm are Bronx native Sonia Sotomayor who became the third woman, and first Hispanic, to sit on the Supreme Court, as well as Manhattan native Elena Kagan who became the Court’s fourth female justice in 2010.
“Many of these successes can trace back to the suffrage movement launched by New Yorkers Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who organized the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. But even while fighting for women’s rights, other suffragettes such as Sojourner Truth, who delivered her “Ain’t I A Woman Speech,” there and Ida B. Wells, journalist and anti-lynching crusader, could not march with them. Their work and the courage of countless other women paid off. The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.
“The undercurrents of sexism, racism and bigotry that New York has fought against for centuries could frighteningly become mainstream again, though. New Yorkers must renew our resolve to be the standard bearers of decency and equality. It’s a fight that we are familiar with.
“The Assembly Majority will continue pushing to make full women’s equality a reality. From ensuring equal pay for equal work, to safeguarding women’s reproductive health rights and strengthening protections for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, the fight goes on. I also know how important it is that each and every New Yorker has access to a quality education and good-paying jobs and a chance at economic security. I will not sit by as our progress is eroded – I will take action.”
To learn more about women’s history or the fight for full equality, contact BIchotte’s office at 718-940-0428 or email her at bichotter@nyassembly.gov.
