Espinal, Levin To Hold Hearing On City Nightlife Task Force
City Council member Rafael Espinal (D-Bushwick, East New York) and Stephen Levin (D-Williamsburg, Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, DUMBO, and parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Clinton Hill, Greenpoint, Downtown Brooklyn, Gowanus, Park Slope), and other members of the Committee on Justice System, will hold an oversight hearing on the operations of Multi-Agency Response to Community Hotspots (MARCH), a task force comprised of various government agencies.
In recent years, MARCH has come under increased scrutiny for their raids of nightlife establishments, which take place without transparency and has caused many bars and nightlife venues to go out of business.
At the hearing, the Committee will hear testimony from business owners and other stakeholders throughout the city that have been affected by these raids.
The hearing is slated for today, Feb. 11, at 10 a.m., at City Hall, Committee Room in Lower Manhattan.
Velázquez Announces $27.3 Million For Local Head Start Programs
Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan) recently announced $27.3 million in funding for local early education centers within New York’s 7th Congressional district.
The federal funding will go toward continuing local Head Start and Early Head Start programs. The programs aim to provide early childhood education and support services to low-incomes families.
The centers receiving the federal funding include Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services will receive $11,450,503 in federal funds; Yeshiva Kehilath Yakove will receive $5,978,569; United Academy will receive $2,981,897; Educational Alliance will receive $4,486,738; and the Y M & Y W H A will receive $2,449,150.
“Time and time again reports released from the Department of Health and Human Services prove the lifetime social benefits of Head Start Programs and their impact on our youth,” said Velázquez.
“From testing significantly better in literature and math to showing better social-emotional, language, and cognitive development, the value of Head Start programs are irrefutable. I am proud to see a wide range of local centers receive federal funding to continue the important work of educating our youngest New Yorkers,” added Velazquez.
Clarke, U.S. Senators Re-Introduce Tax Abatement Bill For Dental Faculty
Representatives Yvette D. Clarke (D-Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Kensington, Midwood, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Park Slope) alongside Paul Gosar, D.D.S. (R-AZ), Mike Simpson, D.M.D. (R-ID) and Grace Meng (D-Queens), reintroduced the Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act of 2019 last week.
The bill, H.R. 996 would exempt Title VII’s dental faculty loan repayment recipients from taxation for five years during the span of their participation in the loan forgiveness program. The bill keeps dental faculty members from having to pay potentially hefty tax bills on their federal loan repayment benefits.
The dental faculty loan repayment program (DFLRP) was created due to the significant difficulties in recruiting qualified individuals to fill faculty positions, especially acute in pediatric dentistry. A critical factor in recruiting and retaining dental school faculty from recent dental school or residency program graduates, according to the Senators, is the staggering student loan debt and income disparity with private practice.
Senators Cardin (D- MD) and Wicker (R-MS) introduced the companion bill, S. 359 in the Senate this week.
“Our community is in desperate need of talented and compassionate capable doctors, nurses and dentists, who are willing to help eliminate health disparities that plague our most underserved communities. No medical professional should have to worry about crushing student loan debt while caring for our most vulnerable populations.The Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act gives these heroes one less thing to worry about,” said Clarke.
CM Williams Responds To Supreme Court Decision In Abortion Case
City Council member Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood), Deputy Leader, applauded the recent Supreme Court vote of 5-4 to block a restrictive Louisiana abortion law in the case of June Medical Services v. Gee.
Late last Thursday, the Court actually put the Louisiana abortion statute on hold which will allow the Court to decide whether to hear the case. Additionally, the Court’s conservatives voted to allow the law to take effect right away.
June Medical Services is a challenge to Louisiana Act 620, which requires abortion providers in the state to have “admitting privileges” at a licensed hospital within 30 miles of the clinic at which they practice, according to The Atlantic.
The decision follows, a 2016 Texas case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, in which the same requirement was struck down. A district court in that case found that the “privileges” requirement provided no genuine health benefit to pregnant women and that it, combined with a strict set of physical regulations, caused more clinics to close.
“Thursday, the Supreme Court blocked an attempt from conservatives to institute a back-door ban on abortion. I am relieved by their decision in this case to protect the rights of women to access safe and legal abortions, but I am not complacent. Precedent, law, and decency are no obstacle to their [conservatives] goals of chipping away at the protections secured in Roe v. Wade, and that is why we must continue to fight to institute these protections on a state and local level,” said Williams.
“In the streets, we will continue to fight any effort to tear down the rights that generations of activists have helped secure for women in this country. We cannot rely on a conservative court, we have to act,” added Williams.
Maimonides Medical Center To Celebrate Black History Month
Maimonides Medical Center in honor of Black History Month, will host the celebratory event, “Influential Male Leaders in Black History,” today.
The program will include a special presentation by Maimonides staffers on Influential Male Leaders in Black History, as well as a musical performance.
The event is slated for 12:30 p.m., today, Feb. 11, in the Eisenstadt Administration Building, Schreiber Auditorium- 2nd Floor, at 4802 Tenth Avenue in Boro Park.
For more information please call, patient relations at 718-283-7212
