BP Adams Joins Protest Against Trump Muslim Travel Ban
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams is joining Yemeni-Americans in fighting Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban today.
Adams will help the Yemeni-American owners of 80th Street Deli, a bodega on Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge, shut down for one hour in solidarity with bodega owners and grocers across America who are striking in advance of Wednesday’s oral arguments in the case of Trump v. Hawaii before the United States Supreme Court
The case will decide the legality of the Trump Administration’s executive order banning the migration of citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen. In particular, the court will consider whether the travel ban’s roots lie in anti-Muslim comments Trump made during his campaign, whether he overstepped his authority under immigration laws and whether judges can second-guess the president’s national-security assessments, according to Bloomberg.
The latest travel ban bars or limits entry by people from Iran, Syria, Somalia, Libya and Yemen and blocks people from North Korea and a handful of Venezuelan government officials, according to reports.
According to community leaders, there are an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 small businesses owned by Yemeni-Americans living in New York City, reflecting a population that has grown out of Downtown Brooklyn in the last half-century.
The event is slated for 3:00 p.m., today, April 24, at 80th Street Deli, at 8014 5th Avenue in Bay Ridge.
BK Lawmakers Denounce Anti-Semitic Attacks In Crown Heights
Assembly member Dov Hikind (D-Borough Park), Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush, East Flatbush, Ditmas Park, Park Slope, Midwood, Sheepshead Bay, Brownsville) and State Senator Jesse Hamilton (D-Central Brooklyn) are denouncing the recent anti-semitic attacks in Crown Heights.
Last week, the Central Brooklyn neighborhood was the location of a pair of assaults against Jewish men, which are both currently being investigated as possible hate crimes by the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Recently, on the corner of Rutland Road and Schenectady Avenue, a 50-year-old man walking home from Shabbat services at a nearby synagogue encountered an attacker that allegedly beat and strangled him after screaming anti-Semitic threats at him.
Additionally, a 42-year-old man on Eastern Parkway near Brooklyn Avenue in the early morning hours of Saturday, April 14th, was attacked by a group of assailants.
“There’s one violent incident after another; one attack after another—always on innocent, vulnerable members of the Jewish community, and always with a racist, anti-Semitic message. The Crown Heights community feels like they are under siege and this has to stop immediately. The police must increase their protection of these innocent people. Do Jews here really have to fear for their lives from criminal thugs? We need a strong and immediate response to these hate crimes, and I won’t rest while this continues!” demanded Hikind.
“I am deeply troubled by this and other similar incidents that have recently occurred in our community. I detest any act fueled by hatred, intolerance, and anti-Semitism toward our Jewish sisters and brothers. Hate crimes and violence of any kind have no place in Brooklyn and will not be tolerated,” said Clarke.
“These attacks are an assault on decency and an assault on our values; they are crimes that are especially cruel for violating the sanctity of a time for worship, peace, and reflection. When an attacker aims to divide and isolate us from one another, then it is even more important to speak out together, to unite and say everyone in our community deserves safe streets, dignity, and respect,” said Hamilton.
Espinal Intros Bill Banning Plastic Bottle Sales At Beaches & Parks
City Council member Rafael Espinal (D-Bushwick, East New York, Cypress Hills) alongside Council member Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) introduced legislation to block the sale of single use water bottles or any plastic water bottles in city parks and beaches yesterday.
The package of bills comes off the heels of President Donald Trump’s recent repeal of a six-year ban on selling bottled water at national parks that had reduced plastic pollution and waste. The legislation currently being drafted would cover single-use water bottles and containers at all city owned or operated or leased parks, properties or concessions, would prevent city agencies from purchasing, would expand water-fill stations, and require reporting on compliance and environmental impact including those operated by Trump such as Wollman and Lasker rinks as well as the Ferry Point golf course.
One bill authored by Kallos would ban single-use water bottles in city government parks and concessions in favor of re-usable bottles. The other bill authored by Espinal would ban the sale of any plastic bottle at city parks and beaches.
One million plastic bottles are purchased every minute with less than 50% recycled and only 7% turned into new bottles, with as much as 13 million tons of plastic leaking into our oceans each year to be ingested by sea life. In turn people who eat seafood ingest about 11,000 pieces of tiny plastic every year.
“The problem is so alarming that if we don’t change our consumption and disposal habits, there will be more plastics than fish in the ocean by 2050. In the face of the Trump administration’s regressive and profit-driven agenda, it is time we step up and do our part to curb our reliance on single use bottles. If we have any hope of sustaining our planet, lessening our consumption will reduce the amount of fossil fuels emitted into the planet and prevent these products from polluting our environment,” said Espinal.
Treyger, Cumbo Urge Administration Negotiate Paid Parental Leave Policy
City Council member Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island, Bensonhurst, Gravesend) alongside Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo (D-Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights) will urge the administration to negotiate a paid parental leave program for hundreds of thousands of city workers today.
Treyger, Chair of the Committee on Education joined by UFT President Michael Mulgrew will call attention to the lack of paid parental leave for the city’s school teachers.
Currently, for teachers, if they want to be paid during parental leave, they’ve got to use accumulated sick time. If they don’t have enough, they can buy future days — and end their parental leave indebted to the city, according to reports. Treyger will also announce the date of an upcoming Council hearing on the subject.
Studies show that paid parental leave benefits both children and families, resulting in lower infant mortality rates and increased likelihood of good mental health for new parents, particularly new mothers. More than two years after the de Blasio administration announced it had created a paid parental leave program for city managers, other city workers still have no such benefit.
The event is slated for 9:30 a.m, today, April 24, at the Steps of City Hall in Lower Manhattan.
Golden Malliotakis Slam Door On Conditional Release
State Senator Martin J. Golden (R, C, I –Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend, Manhattan Beach Brooklyn) and Assembly member Nicole Malliotakis (R, C, I – South Brooklyn/Staten Island) will rally together today to continue their fight against the state’s conditional release statute.
The group of lawmakers will unveil criminal justice reform legislation intended to address the recent conditional release of violent criminals by the New York State Board of Parole.
The current conditional release date statute stipulates that if the offender is not released by the Parole Board at his or her initial appearance or a subsequent one, he or she may eventually be released by conditional release. The offender is considered by the Time Allowance Committee (consisting of prison staff) four months prior to his or her conditional release date. The Time Allowance Committee reviews the offender’s incarceration behavior and participation in prison programs to decide if he or she has earned “good time” off his or her maximum sentence. The conditional release date may be adjusted as a result of the Time Allowance Committee’s review. Following the review and adjustment, the offender will be released to Parole supervision on the adjusted Conditional Release Date.
In recent months, the parole board has released several convicted criminals including “The Palm Sunday Massacre” Killer, Christopher Thomas, John Ruzas, and Herman Bell under the statute.
“Clearly, the State’s criminal justice system needs to be addressed. We are looking at a rash of questionable releases that are putting violent criminals back on our streets. Something must be done to stop this trend. This includes the early conditional release of Palm Sunday Massacre shooter Christopher Thomas. It is only a matter of time before a known violent criminal takes another life of a law abiding New Yorker,” said Golden.
The event is slated for 11 a.m., today, April 24, at the Capitol Building, in Room 120 LOB in Albany.
