Brewer Holds Hearing on De Blasio’s Budget
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer will be holding a hearing today to gauge the city’s reaction to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s budget proposal.
Last week, de Blasio released his preliminary 2020 budget, which revealed that the City will be facing a nearly $1 billion deficit in tax revenue. Tomorrow’s hearing will allow attendees to express their opinion on what programs should be cut and what should be preserved.
The hearing is slated for today at 8:30 a.m. in Brewer’s office at the Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. For those who cannot attend, Brewer also released an online survey, which can be taken here.
Rodriguez Calls to Bail Out Taxi Drivers
City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Washington Heights, Inwood) was at a rally yesterday calling for the City to provide financial assistance to its taxi and livery drivers.
In the coming weeks, Rodriguez, the Chair of the Council Committee on Transportation, will release a proposal for a bailout program for taxi medallion owners in financial crisis. The proposal will include a moratorium for taxi drivers that face massive fines issued by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC).
“If we can bring $3 billion dollars to the table for Amazon, we can provide some financial debt relief for our taxi and livery driver community,” said Rodriguez. “As Chair of the New York City Council Committee on Transportation, I will work with my colleagues to establish a bailout program for individual medallion owners, and call for a moratorium on credit shattering fines issued to taxi and livery drivers by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), as well as ask the State of New York to halt the congestion surcharge until a comprehensive congestion pricing plan is passed.”
Johnson Condemns St. Patrick’s Day Parade for Shutting Out LGBT Groupsc
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen) released a statement earlier this week expressing his disappointment in the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade for disallowing LGBT groups from participating.
The Parade received significant backlash when the organizing committee revealed that, for the second year in a row, they would not allow the Pride Center of Staten Island or Rainbow Run Staten Island to march with a gay pride flag in the parade.
“This ban sends the message that being LGBTQ is something you should hide,” Johnson said in a statement. “The overwhelming majority of Irish citizens who made history in 2015 when they voted to legalize same sex marriage certainly didn’t think the LGBTQ community had anything to hide. Let’s take their lead and bring the same spirit of inclusiveness here. I urge the organizing committee of the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade to reconsider and let these groups march with banners flying proudly. Irish history has always included members of the LGBTQ community. It’s time to stop pretending otherwise.”
