Golden Calls On Cuomo To Bring Back Legislature To Pass Speed Camera Bill
State Senator Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend) will call on Governor Andrew Cuomo today to bring the State Legislature back into session immediately to enew and enhance the speed camera program around city schools.
Golden is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 6046 that would restore the speed camera program in school zones and expand the number of schools covered. The bill would expand the pilot program to 290 speed cameras around city schools.
The program officially expired yesterday, July 24, and if not immediately restored will see all current 140 speed cameras in New York City removed and the 150 additional speed cameras that the State Assembly approved will be halted.
The event is slated for 12-noon, today, July 25, at P.S. 185, at 8601 Ridge Boulevard in Bay Ridge.
Menchaca, Brannan Applaud Judge’s Order To Release Pizza Delivery Man
City Council members Carlos Menchaca (D-Red Hook, Sunset Park) and Justin Brannan (D-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, Bensonhurst) applauded a federal judge’s order yesterday to release an Ecuadorian immigrant who was held for deportation after he delivered pizza to a Brooklyn Army installation.
Pablo Villavicencio was arrested in June after failing to show proper paperwork to a guard at Fort Hamilton Military Base in Bay Ridge. Villavicencio was delivering a pizza to the base from a pizzeria in Queens when he was questioned by a military soldier on the base, who asked for his immigration documents. The incident led the soldier to call immigration enforcement agents on the father of two, who was then handed over to Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Late Tuesday, Federal District Judge Paul Crotty issued an order calling for the immediate release of Villavicencio. The man is being held at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in New Jersey.
“We won today, and proved the power of the people against the Trump Administration and the country’s senseless immigration policies. Family separation is happening at the border and in our own backyard here. It will never gain a foothold here in New York City. ICE: we are watching you,” said Menchaca.
“I am thankful that a federal judge agrees that taking a pizza delivery man off the streets does not make our country any safer. ICE’s actions in the past months under orders from President Trump’s administration constitute a moral crisis in our nation. We must continue to fight these injustices so that families like Pablo’s and people all over the world will know that the United States is still a beacon of hope,” said Brannan.
Clarke To Host Second Citizenship Drive
Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-Crown Heights, Flatbush, Park Slope, Brownsville, Midwood, Sheepshead Bay) alongside the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) will host a Citizenship Drive for eligible constituents this weekend.
The event will give attendees an opportunity to learn more about the U.S. citizenship process including the application process, fee waiver applications, as well as receive citizenship application assistance from immigration experts.
Clarke is urging eligible green card holders to apply for U.S. citizenship. The longtime Brooklyn lawmaker as been at the forefront of the immigration debate, fighting for extension of Temporary Protected (TPS) Status for Haitians and an outspoken opponent of the Trump Administration’s strict policies towards immigrants, including it’s former family separation policy.
The event is slated for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, July 28, at Calvary Community Church, at 1575 St. Johns Place in Crown Heights. For more information about the event, contact Antonya.Jeffrey@mail.house.gov, or call 917-579-7465.
Donovan’s Bill To Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction Passes Key Committee
Congressman Dan Donovan (R-South Brooklyn, Staten Island), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications, announced that his bill aimed at better protecting the U.S. from evolving threats passed out of the House Homeland Security Committee yesterday.
The Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Act strengthens national security efforts by ensuring that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the structure, authority, and tools it needs to counter weapons of mass destruction. The bill authorizes the creation of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office, composed of the Office of Health Affairs and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, to streamline and improve coordination and anti-terror efforts.
The legislation also includes language from Donovan’s Securing the Cities Act to permanently authorize the Securing the Cities program, which provides resources to federal, state, and local governments to detect and prevent nuclear and radiological attacks in high-risk urban areas, like New York City.
The passage comes just weeks after, the House passed Donovan’s Shielding Public Spaces from Vehicular Terrorism Act and Supporting Research and Development for First Responders Act to improve vehicular anti-terror and first responder preparedness efforts.
“Threats facing our homeland continue to change and evolve. Government has a responsibility to protect the American people, and my legislation alongside the several other bills passed today will improve our defenses and mitigate the dangers we face. The House Homeland Security Committee continues to advance bipartisan legislation to improve security and preparedness efforts, and it’s imperative that they are brought to the floor swiftly,” said Donovan.
