Brooklyn Lawmakers On The Move June 29, 2018

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Simon Hosts Her 4th Annual Senior Resource Fair

Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon (D-Carroll Garden, Cobble Hill) today will host her 4^th Annual Senior Resource Fair.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, City Comptroller Scott Stringer and northern Brooklyn lawmakers including Senators Velmanette Montgomery and Brian Kavanagh and City Council Member Stephen Levin are co-sponsoring the event. City Council Member Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island, Bensonhurst, Gravesend) will also be on hand.

Over 60 groups will participate and provide senior citizens with information on legal services, health care, government and community resources, and more.

The event is slated for between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., today, June 29 at St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street (between Court and Clinton Streets) in Brooklyn Heights.

Cumbo Brings Home The Bacon

• Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation – $8.3 million (Cumbo, Cornegy, Speaker)
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden – $790,000 (Cumbo, Cornegy, Espinal, Eugene)
• Brooklyn Music School – $350,000 (Cumbo)
• Brooklyn Museum – $800,000 (Cumbo, Speaker)
• BRIC – $133,500 (Cumbo, Speaker and Brooklyn delegation)
• Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy – $2,369,000 (Cumbo, Mayor, Eugene)
• Brooklyn Academy of Music – $12,800,000 (Cumbo, Speaker, Mayor)
• Helen Keller Services – $500,000 (Cumbo, Speaker, Eugene, Levin)
• Jewish Children’s Museum – $44,200 (Cumbo, Ampry-Samuel, Eugene)

• Crown Gardens Housing Corporation – $100,000 (Cumbo)
• Farragut Houses – Security Lighting $581,000 (Cumbo)
• First Atlantic Terminal Housing Corporation – $100,000 (Cumbo)
• Ryerson Towers – Riser Replacement & Electrical Upgrade – $600,000 (Cumbo, Speaker)
• Second Atlantic Terminal Housing Corporation – $100,000 (Cumbo)
• Technology Upgrades to Tillary Shelter – $44,000 (Cumbo)
• Joint Ownership Entity New York City Corporation – $401,000 (Cumbo, Ampry-Samuel)
• Fort Greene Council – $134,000 (Cumbo, Ampry-Samuel, Barron, Cornegy, Eugene, Williams)
• Tenant Associations of all 5 NYCHA (Lafayette, Walt Whitman, Ingersoll, Farragut, and Atlantic Terminal) – $7,000 each (Cumbo)

• Ebbets Field Middle School – $175,000 (Cumbo)
• New Bridges (Auditorium Seating) – $175,000 (Cumbo)
• PS 20 (Building Safety) – $250,000 (Cumbo)
• PS 241 (Auditorium Upgrades) – $100,000 (Cumbo)
• PS 56 (Dance Studio) – $100,000 (Cumbo)
• PS 9 (Refurbish Auditorium) – $150,000 (Cumbo)
• PS 161 (Water Fountains) – $108,000 (Cumbo)
• Medgar Evers College – Founders Auditorium $2,250,000 (Cumbo, Speaker, Barron)

• Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center – $44,000 (Cumbo)
• Bedford Union Armory – $2,000,000 (Cumbo, Speaker, Brooklyn Delegation)
• Commodore Barry Park – $4,000,000 (Cumbo, Speaker, Brooklyn Borough President, Mayor)
• Interfaith Medical Center – $918,000 (Cumbo, Cornegy, Ampry-Samuel)
• Community Health Project, Callen-Lorde – $2,739,000 (Cumbo, Speaker, Cornegy)
• Crown Heights Jewish Community Council – $229,500 (Cumbo)
• Jewish Children’s Museum – $106,500 (Cumbo, Speaker, Deutsch, Ampry-Samuel, Eugene, Yeger)
• Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center – $9,000 (Cumbo)
• Emmanuel Baptist Church – $6,000 (Cumbo)
• Brown Memorial Baptist Church – $6,500 (Cumbo)
• Cool Culture – $87,500 (Cumbo, Speaker, Deutsch, Ayala)
• West Indian American Day Carnival Association – $91,000 (Cumbo, Speaker, BLAC, Maisel, Eugene, Williams)

• Non-Traditional Employment for Women – $800,000 (Cumbo, Speaker, Rosenthal, Women)
• Girls for Gender Equity – $157,500 (Cumbo, Speaker, Women, Williams)
• Bella Abzug Leadership Institute – $70,000 (Cumbo, Chin, Speaker, Women)
• Digital Girl – $20,000 (Cumbo, Ampry-Samuel, Cornegy)
• Hollaback! – $12,000 (Cumbo, Lander, Levin)
• Latinas on the Verge of Excellence – $10,000 (Cumbo, Ayala)
• Planned Parenthood – $138,335 (Cumbo, Speaker, Cornegy, Grodenchik, Kallos, Powers, Constantinides, Levine, Williams, Rosenthal)

• Harlem Educational Activities Fund @ Medgar Evers College – $155,000 (Cumbo, Speaker, Adams, Chin, Levine, Manhattan Delegation)
• Gifted Community Services – $15,000 (Cumbo)
• Brooklyn Pitbulls Youth Football – $15,000 (Cumbo, Cornegy)
• Kings Against Violence Initiative – $14,500 (Cumbo, Eugene)

Mosley Opposes Rent Hikes

Assemblymember Walter T. Mosley (D-Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect heights, Crown Heights) yesterday voiced his disapproval of the New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board voted this week to allow landlords of rent-stabilized apartments to charge increases of up to 1.5 percent for one-year leases and 2.5 percent for two-year leases.

The increases will be in effect for any of the city’s roughly one million rent-stabilized tenants who renew leases after Oct. 1.

“The Rent Guidelines Board recently approved increases to rent stabilized apartments that could see tenants being charged up to 2.5% more per year. In the midst of a housing crisis, with few safeguards for tenants, the board voted for one of the highest increases in recent years. Rent stabilization, which applies to only a small portion of New York City apartments, is the last vestige of protections for low and moderate income tenants,” said Mosley.

“A 2.5% increase can mean the difference between having an apartment next month or going to a homeless shelter for many families. I am disappointed the Rent Guidelines Board chose to raise rents so dramatically, and I will continue to work at the state level to strengthen rent stabilization and provide affordable housing as we strive to move forward,” he added.

Treyger Demands State Renews & Expands City’s School Zone Speed Camera Program

City Council Member Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island, Bensonhurst, Gravesend) yesterday joined city officials, safe streets advocates, and local seniors to demand that state lawmakers return to Albany and renew and expand New York City’s school zone speed camera program.

The call for action comes after the end of the State legislative session in Albany last week, when the Republican majority in the State Senate failed to pass legislation that would renew and expand the program. If the senate does not reconvene to extend the program before July 25, all of the cameras currently installed across the city will be shut off.

“The statistics are clear: the school zone speed camera program reduces speeding and protects the lives of our city’s children, seniors, and families,” said Treyger. “It’s time for the State Senate to get their priorities straight, return to Albany, and renew and expand this critical program that keeps our streets safe.”

Speeding in the 140 school zones with cameras was reduced by 63 percent and the incidence of pedestrian injuries decreased by 23 percent in the program’s first two years. The total number of traffic deaths has fallen every year since speed safety cameras were first installed in New York City school zones four years ago.

Republican State Senator Martin Golden (D-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach), who has previously expressed public support for the program, has failed to support the bill and is co-sponsoring legislation designed to end the speed camera program in six months and increase funding for traffic signals and stop signs.

Espinal Floats Bill Requiring City Jails To Offer Mental Health Services To Children Of Incarcerated

City Council Member Rafael Espinal (D-East New York, Cypress Hills, Bushwick, Brownsville) yesterday introduced Intro No. 999, legislation to require the Department of Corrections (DOC) to establish a mental health services program at city jails for visitors under the age of 18.

The program shall provide referrals to mental health services and, wherever practicable onsite mental health services. Participation in such program shall be on a voluntary basis.

“The forced separation of parents and children at detention centers along the US border horrified our country, but it also shed light on the fact that this is not just a border problem, nor is it only a federal circumstance. Every day children are separated from their parents and experience trauma when they are forced to interact with the criminal justice system right here in New York City,” said Espinal.

“This bill would force the Department of Corrections to create a program to deal with this trauma at the point of contact: in jail facilities when children visit their incarcerated loved ones. Visiting city jails –especially Rikers Island– is difficult for anyone, let alone vulnerable children. It is time we pay attention to the mental, emotional and physical well-being of young people who are put into these straining situations and bring the necessary services right to where they are,” he added.

Brannan Supports Tax Credit For Payers Of Union Dues

City Councilman Justin Brannan (D-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, Bensonhurst) yesterday joined in a rally to support public sector unions and to announce a City Council resolution that will incentivize the payment of union dues by employees protected by the union.

The rally and resolution are in response to this week’s U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v AFSCME.

In its decision, the Supreme Court overturned previous decisions ruling that public sector unions were allowed to collect union dues from employees in the field they represented, whether or not an employee chose to join the union.

Brannan supports mandatory union dues, and announced at the rally that he would introduce a resolution calling on the New York State government to authorize New York City to provide a dollar-for-dollar income tax credit to payers of union dues. Such legislation would incentivize union membership among New York City residents and soften the blow that unions are expected to take from the Janus decision, Brannan believes.

“Labor unions are a force for economic stability and a pathway to the middle class,” said Brannan. “I am always going to fight like hell to protect the rights of workers. This Supreme Court decision, which goes against precedent in similar rulings, undermines workers and jeopardizes labor unions. It’s just another major win for corporate special interests that have had their way funding efforts to erode worker’s rights over the past decade. Now more than ever, we need to make it easier not harder for people to join and support their unions. And we can do that with an income tax credit.”