Adams Holds Sixth Annual Women’s History Month Celebration
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams tonight will address hundreds of Brooklynites at his sixth annual Women’s History Month celebration.
The event will spotlight a diverse array of “Brooklyn’s First” sheroes who have broken barriers and blazed trails in a variety of fields. Collette V. Smith, the first-ever Black woman coach in the National Football League (NFL); Smith, will be the special guest speaker. She was hired to coach defensive backs for the New York Jets in 2017, after previously coaching professionally in Brooklyn for the New York Sharks, a women’s professional football team.
Adams will also honor Ezras Nashim, the first all-woman volunteer ambulance corps in New York City; Judge Connie Mallafre-Melendez, the first Cuban-born judge elected in the State of New York; Nzingha Prescod, the first Black woman to ever win an individual medal at the World Fencing Championships; Nancy Tong, the first Asian-American elected official in Brooklyn; and Alicja Winnicki, the first Polish woman to serve as superintendent of Community School District (CSD) 14.
The event is slated for 6 p.m., tonight, March 28 at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street in Downtown Brooklyn.
Ortiz Lobbies For Liver Transplantation Funding
Assembly Member and Assistant Speaker Félix W. Ortiz (D-Sunset Park, Red Hook) yesterday urged the Governor and Legislature to restore $225,000 in the 2019/20 budget for the New York Center for Liver Transplantation (NYCLT).
The Center provides accurate and current information regarding liver transplantation to professionals, recipients, donors, families. Its goal is to increase the frequency of transplants in New York State and remove people from its waitlists.
“Death rates from liver disease and liver cancer have risen sharply over the last decade. We need to prevent this number from increasing in New York. Supporting organizations that inform us about liver transplants and living transplants will prevent additional deaths. The $225,000 for the New York Center for Liver Transplantation will help save lives,” said Ortiz.
Rose Supports New Healthcare Legislation
U.S. Rep. Max Rose (D-Southern Brooklyn, Staten Island), a former executive of a healthcare non-profit, is co-sponsoring sweeping new healthcare legislation that will lower health insurance premiums, crack down on junk health insurance plans, and strengthen protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
“This Administration’s intentions are clear: to take a wrecking ball to our entire healthcare system and gut protections for those with pre-existing conditions,” Rose said. “That’s unfathomable. Staten Islanders and South Brooklynites are already suffering enough from skyrocketing healthcare costs, and I refuse to sit back as this Administration tries to rip away their coverage altogether.”
The Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care Affordable Act was introduced the day after the Department of Justice asked a federal court to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions.
Studies have shown that New York health insurance premiums are already set to rise 8.6% this year after this Administration’s efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act. The Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care Affordable Act aims to reverse this trend and prevent further chaos in the healthcare marketplace by among other things:
Lowering health insurance premiums with strengthened and expanded affordability assistance
- Strengthening tax credits in the Marketplace to lower Americans’ health insurance premiums and allows more middle-class individuals and families to qualify for subsidies;
- Ensuring that families who don’t have an offer of affordable coverage from an employer can still qualify for subsidies in the Marketplace; and,
- Providing funding for reinsurance, to help with high cost claims, improve Marketplace stability, and prevent the Administration’s sabotage from raising premiums.
Strengthening protections for people with pre-existing conditions
- Curtailing the Administration’s efforts to give states waivers to undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions and weaken standards for essential health benefits, which would leave consumers with less comprehensive plans that do not cover needed services, such as prescription drugs, maternity care, and substance use disorder treatment.
Levin Introduces Legislation to Improve Shelter Access for People with Pets
City Council Member Stephen Levin (D-Northern Brooklyn, Boerum Hill) today will introduce legislation to make the city’s shelter system more accessible for people who have pets.
The bills are part of a package led by Council Speaker Corey Johnson to improve animal welfare in New York City.
Currently, people who are homeless and living with pets have limited options. Shelters are not pet accessible and owners are forced to either give up a cherished member of their family or decide to not enter into shelter.
“I’ve talked with people living on the street who have told me the reason they weren’t in a shelter is because they couldn’t bring their pet with them. For someone who has lost so much else in their life, losing their pet can be unthinkable,” said Levin.
The issue is especially pronounced for survivors of domestic violence. According to the Urban Resource Institute (URI), more than 75% of pet owners refuse to give up their pets when leaving dangerous situations, including domestic abuse, and can be a major factor in a person deciding to stay in an abusive situation.
The proposed bills would require New York City to create a comprehensive plan to make the shelter system more pet-accessible and would mandate reporting on instances when a person gives up their pet entering shelter.
