Cornegy To Call For Investigation of Potential Fire Trap For Homeless
City Council member Robert Cornegy, Jr. (D-Bedford-Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights) and Chair of the Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings will call for an investigation today into the Mayor’s plan to put a homeless shelter at a former Midtown hotel with only one emergency exit.
On Monday, a former NYC official questioned the city’s Department of Homeless Services’ (DHS) plan to use the former Park Savoy Hotel on W. 58th St. as a homeless shelter due to its sole exit from the upper floors, according to the New York Daily News.
The single exit is a narrow staircase that dead-ends in the lobby far from the street exit. However, current building code requires that all residential buildings taller than four stories must have at least two means of egress.
The event is slated for 2 p.m., today, Nov. 5., on the Steps of City Hall in Lower Manhattan.
Bichotte Reminds Voters To Flip Ballot
Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Ditmas Park, Flatbush) is reminding voters today to be sure to flip their ballot in order to vote on three New York City Charter proposals.
The year’s ballot is 2-pages with information on all sides and will include three proposals by the New York City Charter Commission for voters to consider:
Proposal #1: Campaign Finance
This proposal would lower the amount that a candidate for city office may accept from a contributor to their campaign, increase the amount of public funds available to participating candidates, and make public funds available earlier. Candidates in the 2021 election would have the choice of whether or not to have the new limits apply to them.
Proposal #2: Civic Engagement Commission
This proposal would create a Civic Engagement Commission that would centralize civic engagement initiatives, create a citywide participatory budgeting program, assist community boards, and provide language interpreters throughout the city on Election Day.
Proposal #3: Community Boards
This proposal would change how community boards throughout the city are run, by imposing term limits on appointees, changing the application and appointment process for community board members, and require the Civic Engagement Commission (if Question 2 is approved) to provide resources to community boards.
Polling places are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. today, Nov. 6.
To view more details about these three proposals visit:
NYC Campaign Finance Board
To obtain more information about election day visit
NYC Board of Elections
To find your polling site visit
NYC Poll Site Locator
Hamilton Defends Campaign Finance Spending
State Senator Jesse Hamilton (D-Central Brooklyn) defended recent concerns surrounding his campaign expenditures yesterday.
On Monday, the New York Post revealed that Hamilton, who lost his Democratic primary, spent more than $3,700 in campaign cash on lease payments for a brand-new, Mercedes-Benz sedan. The same car that was used for an apparent weekday “booze run.” While out in the new car, Hamilton is said to have paid $15.50 in cash for an assortment of 10 nips of Bailey’s Irish Cream Vanilla Cinnamon and two flavors of Ciroc vodka — French Vanilla and Summer Colada.
Hamilton reportedly used $1,687.50 in political contributions to cover two-thirds of the initial payment on the car and also tapped his campaign war chest four more times, spending $509 on two-thirds of the monthly payments each time, according to disclosure forms filed with the state Board of Elections.
Under state law, political candidates are barred from spending contributions to buy or lease vehicles unless they’re “used for campaign purposes or in connection with the execution of the duties of public office or party position.”
“My campaign expenditures adhere to the rules – whether for purchasing flyers, for hosting events, or for providing transportation. Board of Elections Finance Compliance has vetted my expenditures. This article confirms my family fears of someone following and stalking them. No family should be subject to this type of harassment for political gain,” said Hamilton.
“What I would ask is, why a report on my lawful use of campaign funds – information that has been public at least since July – required self-proclaimed scribes to stalk me and my family for days on end? Why follow my son and why make my family feel unsafe? Why did a $15.50 purchase on Pitkin Avenue warrant the use of surveillance video and a re-printed receipt? I’d urge the public to consider focusing on the many serious issues we have to contend with, over ugly political smears,” added Hamilton.
