BP Adams To Demand Immediate Reforms To City Social Services In Wake of Brutal Arrests of Woman
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams will demand that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) immediately drop charges against 23-year-old Jazmine Headley today following her violent arrests at Brooklyn food assistance center last week.
Last Friday, Headley, a mother of a one-year-old boy, was forcibly removed from her son and arrested after a verbal dispute with a security guard at the Fort Greene Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) center, which escalated into a encounter that went viral online over weekend. The event has left many outraged by the use of excessive force by the police officers including current Public Advocate and State Attorney-elect Letitia James.
Adams, a 22-year veteran of the NYPD, will denounce the incident as an example of excessive policing and call for reforms to the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) and NYPD that would help ensure this incident is not replicated in the future.
“Being poor is not a crime. The actions of the NYPD in this video are appalling and contemptible. A full investigation must be conducted immediately, and the results should be made public so there is a transparent accounting of how this horrific situation occurred. All involved officers, including the assigned supervisor, should be assigned desk duty pending the investigation results. No mother should have to experience the trauma and humiliation we all witnessed in this video,” said James.
The event is slated for 11:30 a.m., today, Dec, 10, at Fort Greene SNAP, at 275 Bergen Street in Boerum Hill.
Nadler Expresses Concerns Over Nomination of Barr For Attorney General
Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-Western Brooklyn, Western Manhattan), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, expressed concern over the nomination of William Barr to Attorney General last week.
President Donald Trump confirmed Friday that he plans to nominate Barr, who served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush and has more recently worked in the corporate world, as well as at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, according to The Washington Post.
Barr in recent months has criticized aspects of the Russia investigation and defended many of Trump’s actions, including his dismissal of FBI Director James Comey. If confirmed, Barr would replace attorney general Jeff Sessions, who was dismissed last month by Trump. The president had constantly criticized Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation because he had been involved with Trump’s campaign in 2016.
“I have a number of very serious concerns regarding William Barr’s nomination as Attorney General, including, but not limited to, his criticism of Special Counsel Mueller’s team, his defense of the firing of former FBI Director Comey, and his support for launching yet another investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails
Against the context of the firing of Attorney General Sessions because of his failure to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, Mr. Barr must lay out a series of steps he will take to ensure the independence of Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation, including pledging that he will not terminate Mr. Mueller absent “extraordinary improprieties” and promising to release any and all of the Special Counsel’s reports to Congress.
I continue to have a number of additional concerns regarding his appointment, including whether it is lawful, his public statements questioning Mr. Mueller’s investigation, and a myriad of ongoing and unresolved ethics-related issues relating to Mr. Whitaker.,” said Nadler.
Malliotakis Calls On MTA To Increase Trips On SIM1 & SIM 10 Express Bus Routes
Assembly member Nicole Malliotakis (R,C,I-South Brooklyn, Staten Island) is calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to increase trips on the SIM1 and SIM10 lines in response to overwhelming reports of long lines and delayed service.
Last Friday, the Malliotakis wrote to MTA Chair Andy Byford requesting increased service to the routes, she claims are running with little number of buses that are causing extreme delays and overcrowding on buses.
“It seems nearly every day one of my constituents sends me a photo or video of a line of commuters wrapped around the block as they wait for their bus during the evening rush. This is completely unacceptable and has already disrupted the personal and professional lives of far too many people in my district. It is becoming more unbearable each day particularly with the cold winter weather underway. More service must be added to accommodate the demand,” said Malliotakis.
The most problematic lines are the SIM1 and SIM10 which are supposed to arrive every 6 or 8 minutes depending on the evening hour. Instead, I have heard numerous complaints from riders who regularly wait upwards of 40 minutes to get on a bus, both because they are not arriving as scheduled and there are just not enough seats to accommodate the ridership. To accommodate this, more trips need to be added to these bus routes. Anything else amounts to a service cut!” added Malliotakis.
