Schumer Demands Sleep Apnea Testing For Train Operators
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) demanded that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) reverse their decision to not requiring sleep apnea screening and treatment mandates for rail engineers across the nation.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao, Schumer urged the department to reinstate the federal rule in order to help avoid future fatigue-related rail tragedies. A recent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that two recent crashes in Brooklyn and Hoboken were the result of the train engineers’ fatigue and their employers’ failure to screen and treat for sleep apnea.
For more than a decade, the NTSB has recommended that railroads test and treat vehicle operators for sleep disorders, like sleep apnea, which was long ignored until a series of deadly, related accidents. Following a 2013 Metro-North derailment in the Bronx that tragically killed four people, the MTA began developing a pilot project to screen and treat Metro-North engineers for sleep disorders and later expanded the program to the Long Island Rail Road. Similarly, following a 2008 accident on the T train in Boston, the New York City Transit system began screening and treating subway train operators for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Nearly 20 percent of the major investigations completed by NTSB between 2001 and 2012 identified fatigue issues as a probable cause.
“The non-partisan, expert-led NTSB, whose mission it is to advance transportation safety, just sounded an alarm that should be deafening to the federal DOT when it comes to their inexcusable decision to halt a national sleep apnea screening standard from being implemented, “said Schumer.
“After the tragedies in Brooklyn and Hoboken, and at Spuyten-Duyvil, it is clearer than ever that sleep apnea screening tests for train operators is a common sense precaution that can save lives. The Trump administration is asleep at the switch if they do not heed the latest NTSB recommendation to reinstate this commonsense sleep apnea rule. The DOT must get across sleep apnea screening back on track before it is too late– this puts them on notice,” added Schumer.
BP Adams Celebrates Year of the Dog With Lantern Flower Market
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams joined the Sino America New York Brooklyn Archway Association in co-hosting a the first-of-its-kind Lantern Flower Market in honor of the Lunar New year.
Lunar New Year is celebrated by a number of Asian cultures with deep roots in the borough, including Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. In particular, Brooklyn is home to a large and growing Chinese population; according to the 2016 American Community Survey, 7.8 percent of the borough identifies as Chinese, a population largely with origins in the Fujian province that now resides in neighborhoods such as Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay, and Sunset Park.
Last October, Adams alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the City would pursue a new archway spanning Eighth Avenue between 60th and 61st streets in Sunset Park.
The event, in traditional Chinese custom, featured candies, fresh flowers, fruits, and other holiday supplies are purchased before Lunar New Year at a lantern flower market, which will be held in Brooklyn for the first time.
Hikind Calls Schumer’s Orthodox Jew Jab Hypocritical Chutzpah
Assembly member Dov Hikind (D-Borough Park) called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s recent criticism of the Orthodox Jewish community the height of political hypocrisy.
At a meeting between Jewish organizational officials and Democratic senators, Schumer blamed Orthodox Jews for not doing more to call out President Donald Trump on what the Senator felt was Trump’s failure to confront hate in the United States.
“Singling out Orthodox Jews was distasteful, shameful and arrogant. This statement of Schumer’s was nothing less than his playing to his progressive liberal base,” said Hikind.
“The Orthodox community does not need to be lectured by Senator Schumer. Let the good Senator work on alleviating anti-Israel animus within segments of the Democratic party. Because, as we all know, anti-Israel rhetoric and ‘anti-Zionism’ is simply the 21st century version of anti-Semitism,” added Hikind.
BK State Lawmakers Demand Funds To Fix Subway
Assembly members Jo Ann Simon (D-Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope, Boerum Hill, DUMBO) Robert Carroll (D-D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington) and State Senator Martin Malave Dilan (D-Bushwick, East New York, Ocean Hill/Brownsville) alongside transit riders will rally at the state capitol today to demand funds to fix the subway.
At the rally, the group will push for a progressive, sustainable funding source and credible long-term plan to Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) recent woes. Speakers will demand that Governor Andrew Cuomo lead and include long-term transit funding in this year’s state budget.
The city’s aging transit infrastructure has been a top issue in recent months and the MTA continues to struggle with service delays including signal problems, power outages and train equipment malfunctions.
Last month, Cuomo unveiled a congestion pricing budget proposal, that would have the city pay for improvements to the struggling subway system. The plan would charge drivers for making trips below 60th street, with the new surcharges ranging from $2 to $5 per trip for taxis, limousines and for-hire vehicles (i.e. Uber), while private cars could pay more than $11 once a day to enter the pricing zone.
The event is slated for 12:30 p.m., today, Feb. 12, at the Assembly staircase on 3rd floor of capital in Albany.
Malliotakis Urges Assembly To Act On Fed Tax Changes
Assembly member Nicole Malliotakis (R,C,I-South Brooklyn/Staten Island) stressed the need to amend the state tax law, last week, in the wake of the recently amended federal tax code.
Malliotakis is urging her fellow colleagues to push for new legislation, bill A. 09061A, that would decouple the New York State Personal Income Tax from the amended federal tax code to protect New Yorkers from additional New York State taxes. Additionally, the new measure would amend the technicality that treats single taxpayers as dependent filers, requiring them to claim a lower standard deduction and repeals the requirement that a taxpayer must itemize their taxes on the federal level in order to itemize their taxes on the state level.
The bill has already passed the State Senate under sponsorship of State Senator Simcha Felder (D-Borough Park, Midwood, Bensonhurst, Kensington). Under the amended tax code, the government caps the federal tax deduction on any state taxes over $10,000. The new bill would give all New York taxpayers a tax credit for any state taxes they pay over $10,000 while the tax reform is in effect.
“The biggest increase on New York taxpayers due to the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is a technicality in state law that would result in single taxpayers being treated as dependent filers, requiring them to claim a lower standard deduction,” said Malliotakis.
“It is within complete control of the Governor and Legislature to prevent this budget windfall that will burden our state’s taxpayers and we must act swiftly to ensure New Yorkers will not see a tax increase when they calculate their state personal income taxes,” added Malliotakis.
