BP Adams, CM Williams Applaud 2018’s Record-Low Number of Homicides In BK
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and City Council member Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood) applauded the recent announcement that 2018 ended with the fewest number of homicides in Brooklyn since record-keeping began.
Last week, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez released data showing that 97 murders were recorded in Brooklyn to date in 2018, 13 fewer than last year’s low of 110 (down 11.8%). This is the first time when fewer than 100 murders took place in the borough annually since record-keeping began.
The most significant declines were in Coney Island (60th Precinct), where no murders were committed, compared to eight in 2017; East Flatbush (67th Precinct), which experienced a 65% decrease, from 17 to six; and East New York (75th Precinct), with six homicides compared to 11 the year before, down 45%.
“I distinctly remember an era in Brooklyn where we woke up to gunshots and not alarm clocks. I remember policing a borough that had close to 800 murders a year in the early 1990’s, and I know firsthand how hard we have collectively worked, community and police in partnership, to make Brooklyn a safer place to raise healthy children and families. The record-low that Brooklyn set in homicides last year is a credit to the NYPD, to Mayor de Blasio, to District Attorney Gonzalez, as well as our too often under celebrated community partners,” said Adams.
“There is a great deal of work left to be done, but we are undeniably making our communities safer. Homicide rates have reached a new low citywide, and in the 67th Precinct, which resides in most of my district, 2018 saw a record low number of shootings. To a victim of a crime, though, these numbers mean nothing, and that’s why we must continue our efforts in government and on the street to reduce crime and uplift communities. But the overall trends are a validation of the work that has been done so far, and a mandate to expand investment in these programs and strategies,” said Williams.
Deutsch Names Street For Brighton Business Owners
City Council member Chaim Deutsch (D-Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach, Homecrest, Midwood) closed out 2018 with a ceremony honoring the memory of local business owners Sofia Vinokurov and Mark Rakhman, who passed away during the past year.
The siblings, who emigrated from Odessa, Ukraine to the US in the early 1970s, were among the first Russian-speakers to settle in Brighton Beach. Together, they established the first Russian supermarket National Restaurant in New York City, which still stands today.
Sofia and Mark worked with other local Russian-Americans to build a network of social service agencies, businesses, and community organizations to support new immigrant arrivals and help them to become acclimated into their new homes.
When the siblings passed away within a few months of each other in 2018, Deutsch worked with the Brighton Beach Business Improvement District (co-founded by Sofia and Mark) to honor them with a street co-naming. The new street sign was unveiled at the corner of Brighton Beach Avenue and Brighton 2nd Street earlier this week.
“It is truly fitting that Sofia and Mark will forever be memorialized by this street sign on their beloved Brighton Beach Avenue, which stands as a monument to their role in establishing this community,” said Deutsch.
Nadler, Top Dems Introduce Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act
Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-Western Brooklyn, Manhattan’s West Side), incoming Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, alongside top Judiciary Democrats introduced the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act (H.R. 5476 in the 115th Congress) yesterday.
The Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act codifies an existing Department of Justice regulation providing that a special counsel may be removed only for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or other good cause. The bill also requires written notice to a special counsel outlining the reasons for removal and provides a procedure that allows a special counsel to challenge his or her removal in court.
The bipartisan legislation aims to protect the Special Counsel investigation and comes just two months after the abrupt firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The firing left many top Democrats believing the move was a clear effort by Trump to change the supervisory structure for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing criminal investigation into possible Russian collusion in the 2016 Presidential Election. The measure currently has 123 cosponsors.
“For the last two years, House Republican leadership sat idly by, and often joined in, as President Trump attempted more than once to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller and launched serious attacks on senior Department of Justice officials in an effort to end the Russia investigation. Now that Trump has fired Attorney General Sessions and removed Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein from overseeing the investigation, we are faced with an acting Attorney General whose intentions are questionable.
As the Special Counsel announces new indictments and guilty pleas from Trump’s closest allies and associates, it’s clear that the threat to the Mueller investigation will only grow stronger. Democrats and Republicans in Congress have mentioned their support for the inquiry to continue unimpeded. Now is the time for Congress to finally act and pass this legislation to protect the integrity of the Special Counsel’s investigation and the rule of law,” read a joint statement.
CM Williams Named ‘Person of The Year’ by Everybody’s Magazine
City Council member Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood) has been named ‘Person of the Year’ for 2018 by Everybody’s “Caribbean” Magazine, the publication announced this week.
Williams will be the 40th recipient of the magazine’s annual Person of the Year award, which was first awarded in 1978 to Calypso Rose. Everybody’s “Caribbean” Magazine, founded in 1977, is a long-running Caribbean-American publication with subscribers across the United States.
In announcing the honor, the magazine said “The highly respected Councilman Williams emerged as the most popular, admired, and industrious person in New York City and across Caribbean-America… but Williams is not EVERYBODY’S Person of the Year for the above reasons. He is the People’s Person of the Year because he is very visible throughout the Big Apple, and embodies the aspirations of his constituents and the vibrant Caribbean-New York Community.”
Previous recipients of the award have late Nobel Laureate Sir Arthur Lewis of Saint Lucia, Prime Minister Tom Adams of Barbados, Prime Minister Eugenia Charles of Dominica, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and Congressman Mervyn Dymally. This year, Council Member Williams won out among a group of suggested nominees put forth by the readership of the magazine and prominent Caribbean-Americans in the New York community.
“Growing up, Everybody’s Magazine was essential reading for me, and I’m humbled to receive this honor. This publication has continued to resonate throughout the Caribbean community here in my district and around the nation- it is deeply meaningful to see my face in its pages and to have my work recognized in this way. I promise to continue to do my best to support and strengthen Caribbean-Americans and our culture in all of my work,” said Williams.
