Cumbo Leads Citywide Day of Action To Raise Domestic Violence Awareness
City Council member Laurie Cumbo (D-Clinton Hill, Fort Greene) alongside members of the Women’s Caucus, will lead a citywide Day of Action to raise domestic violence awareness on today.
Elected officials, advocates and survivors will engage in disseminating pertinent information to commuters on resources available citywide for domestic violence survivors.
October is officially recognized as domestic violence awareness month in NYC and tomorrow’s event marks the city’s Go Purple Day. Purple is the color chosen to represent the fight against domestic violence and is used to start a conversation about the topic and support victims and survivors.
The event is slated for 8 a.m. to 9a.m., today, Oct. 19, at various locations across Brooklyn including: 36th St. & 4th Ave.; 59th St. & 4th Ave. (D/N/R); Utica Avenue (3/4) stop; Greenpoint Ave. (G) stop; Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue (Q/F/B/D/N) stop; Utica Avenue (A/C) stop; Pennsylvania Ave. (3) stop; Myrtle-Wyckoff avenues (L/M) stop; Flatbush and Nostrand aves. (2/5) stop; and Franklin Avenue (2/3/4/5) stop.
Donovan Denounces Calls For Elimination Of NYPD Gang Database
Congressman Dan Donovan (R-South Brooklyn, Staten Island) denounced activists demands to end the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) gang database yesterday.
According to reports, on Wednesday activists and advocates questioned the NYPD database of alleged gang members by announcing the filing of a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for a full explanation of the NYPD’s criteria for classifying someone as a gang member. The group alleges that the database disproportionately favors minority men, in low-income neighborhoods with a criminal past.
Additionally the filing, asks about the police departments information sharing policy with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Last month, Donovan helped pass the Criminal Alien Gang Removal Act in the U.S. House of Representative, allowing federal authorities to deport known criminal gang members.
“It’s eminently responsible for authorities to keep track of violent gang members and, if they’re here illegally, deport them. But if these activists had their way, the NYPD would tie both hands behind its back and blind itself by deleting a database of known gang members. In all my years as a prosecutor and now a Member of Congress, I have never heard a more ridiculous and backwards idea than this. What’s next – an argument that gang tattoos are just an expression of art? Give me a break,” said Donovan.
BK Elected Officials Welcome City’s Recommendations For Gowanus Canal Area
City Council members Brad Lander (D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington, Gowanus) and Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Williamsburg, Boerum Hill) alongside Assembly member J Ann Simon (D-Downtown Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill) welcomed the NYC Department of City Planning’s recommendations for Gowanus as part of the Gowanus Neighborhood Planning Study yesterday.
The city in partnership with community working groups, comprised of residents, local leaders and business stakeholders, met over the course of seven months until July 2017 to address topics around Arts & Culture, Housing, Industry & Economic Development, Public Realm, and Sustainability & Resiliency in Gowanus. On Wednesday, the group released 75 recommendations around the future of the Gowanus Canal area.
These recommendations included areas of substantial consensus like, investing in infrastructure, supporting job-creation in the industrial business zone, encouraging an inclusive, mixed-use neighborhood, promoting public access to the Gowanus Canal and Preserving and creating affordable housing. However, the city was not able to reach a consensus with the community on issues such as, leveraging future development to make overdue investments in the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), using new tools for preventing residential displacement & harassment, allowing for the growth of job-generating uses in the Industrial Business Zone, implementing new mechanisms to protect the arts, and lighting manufacturing spaces.City Planning anticipates releasing a draft planning framework in early 2018.
“Of course we don’t agree on everything — this is Brooklyn, after all — but we were able to have honest, thoughtful, adult conversations about those differences. I give real credit to City Planning for spending the time to convene and listen to these groups, and to communicate transparently about the recommendations that they don’t support — or at least, not yet. We will keep pushing as hard as we can for deeper investments in public housing, to better support manufacturing businesses to grow and create good jobs, and to make sure artists, artisans, and small businesses have a real place in the future of Gowanus,” said Lander.
“When the community speaks, it’s our job to listen. Though the recommendations developed through the working groups represent a diverse community’s wishes, there is broad consensus. I want to thank everyone who has participated in this process — residents, nonprofits, businesses, and our partner city agencies. Together, we are not just laying the groundwork for a plan, we are also innovating engagement between government and the people. We’ve made tremendous progress, but there is still much work ahead. Gowanus, this is your community, your vision, your future,” said Levin.
“Gowanus has both challenges and charm aplenty, which are reflected in the working group’s
recommendations. Together we can create a planning framework that is environmentally, racially and
economically just; one that is both respectful of the area’s rich history and that embraces our shared
future,” said Simon.
CM Williams To Discuss Best Mayoral Candidate
City Council member Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood) will discuss the city’s mayoral candidates at the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association meeting tonight.
Williams will features on the event’s panel discussion: “Finding the Best Mayor for Our Southern Brooklyn Neighborhoods,” alongside mayoral candidates Assembly member Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge, Staten Island), Sal Albanese and the editor-in-chief of KingsCountyPolitics.Com, Stephen Witt. The meeting is free and open to the public.
The event is slated for 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., today, Oct. 19, at Carmine Carro Community Center, 3000 Fillmore Avenue (corner of Fillmore Avenue and Marine Parkway) in Marine Park.
