Brannan Named To Council’s Leadership Team
City Councilmember Justin Brannan (D-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, Bensonhurst) yesterday saw was named to the city council’s leadership team. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan) made the appointment.
The leadership team helps mold and form the long-term agenda for the council. They meet to discuss and determine which policies and budget priorities should be pushed forward. The leadership team serves as a clearinghouse of sorts for the council. If an idea doesn’t make it through the team, it will likely not see the light of day.
“I’m proud and thankful to be appointed to the Council’s leadership team. I wake up every day with one thing in mind: helping working people and making their lives just a little bit easier. Speaker Johnson has really empowered this body as a co-equal branch of government in the City of New York and given us the rocket fuel we need to get things done. Under his leadership, I am looking forward to working with my colleagues on the leadership team to push the Council’s agenda forward so that New York City can remain a place that works for everybody, no matter where you came from or how long you’ve been here,” said Brannan.
Rose Delivers Speech on Countering Modern Terrorist Threats
U.S. Rep. Max Rose (South Brooklyn, Staten Island), Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism, gave a recent speech on confronting terrorist threats of today and tomorrow at the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) annual SHIELD Conference.
NYPD’s SHIELD partnership is an umbrella program for a series of current and future initiatives that pertain to private sector security and counterterrorism.
“It all comes down to trust—trust at this point is a national security imperative,” said Rose, an Army combat veteran, “Trust between the public sector and the private sector; trust that if you’re running a major bank, if you’re running a major cyber company, if you’re running a major energy company—that if you share intelligence with the public sector it will not be misused and vice versa. But it’s also trust between communities and law enforcement. Community based policing is the tip of the spear in our counterterrorism efforts. We’ve never seen this before, and it’s worth repeating. Community based policing is the tip of the spear in our counterterrorism efforts. It’s the principle way that intelligence gathering is occurring in this day and age.”
As Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism, Rose has worked tirelessly to ensure that law enforcement has the support it needs from the federal government to do its job. Rose introduced legislation supported by the New York Police Department (NYPD) to crack down on unregistered and untraceable “ghost guns” by providing local law enforcement with annual updates on the threat posed by the availability of these weapons, which last week passed committee.
Ampry-Samuel Introduces Bill To Make Public Statistics On Certain Veterans Services
City Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel (D-Ocean-Hill, Brownsville, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, East Flatbush), today, will introduce legislation that will make public the Mayor’s Office of Operations’ report on veterans receiving certain city services.
This means the Department of Veterans’ Services will be required to make publicly the report on veterans receiving certain city services available on its website. The law is set to reveal veterans statistics on housing and mobile food vending units.
Ampry-Samuel will introduce the measure at a public hearing on the Committee on Veterans. The hearing is set to highlight pieces of legislation focused on veterans, who for Memorial Day the New York City Council would like to honor.
The hearing is slated for 10 a.m., today, May 21 at 250 Broadway, 14th Floor Committee Room in Lower Manhattan.
Nadler On Trump Blocking McGahn From Testifying Before Congressional Committee
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Morningside Heights, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, Soho, Wall Street,Battery Park City; Brooklyn’s Borough Park, Kensington, parts of Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Midwood) yesterday decried the White House for directing former White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn II to defy a subpoena for his testimony today as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation into obstruction of justice, corruption, and abuses of power by President Trump and his associates.
“The Mueller Report documents a shocking pattern of obstruction of justice. The President acted again and again—perhaps criminally—to protect himself from federal law enforcement. Don McGahn personally witnessed the most egregious of these acts. President Trump knows this. He clearly does not want the American people to hear firsthand about his alleged misconduct, and so he has attempted to block Mr. McGahn from speaking in public tomorrow,” said Nadler.
“This move is just the latest act of obstruction from the White House that includes its blanket refusal to cooperate with this Committee. It is also the latest example of this Administration’s disdain for law. This identical approach was rejected by a federal court in the Miers case, which held that even senior advisors to the President cannot simply refuse to appear in response to a congressional subpoena. It is absurd for President Trump to claim privilege as to this witness’s testimony when that testimony was already described publicly in the Mueller Report. Even more ridiculous is the extension of the privilege to cover events before and after Mr. McGahn’s service in the White House.
“The Committee will convene as planned tomorrow morning, and Mr. McGahn is expected to appear as legally required,” Nadler concluded.
Cornegy’s Urges More Safety Following Saturday’s Fatal Scaffolding Incident
City Council Member Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. (D-Bedford-Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights), Chair of the Council’s Committee on Housing & Buildings, yesterday called for more city oversight on scaffold permits following reports of a fatal scaffolding accident in Midtown.
The accident happened at shortly after 12 p.m., when a 49-year-old union laborer fell from the fifth floor to the second floor of 335 Madison Avenue while cleaning debris on the scaffolding erected inside the atrium. This follows three worksite fatalities in the construction industry in April, and an alarming reminder of the danger the men and women who build the city are subjected to day in and day out, said Cornegy.
“This scaffolding incident emphasizes the need to bolster the safety of scaffolding in our city. We have to assure there is not something endemic about the way we as a City are overseeing the installation and maintenance of scaffolding. I have been in touch with the Department of Buildings, who have an issued a stop work order at the location, and are continuing to investigate the incident,” said Cornegy.
“At the same time, it is important we assure there are no other sites that could pose a potential threat to the safety of workers and passersby, and I will request a review of the DOB’s scaffold permitting procedures if appropriate based on the outcome of their investigation. My sincerest condolences go out to individual’s family and friends at this time,” he added.
Colton Organizes Another Successful Clean-Up
Assemblyman William Colton (D–Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights) and 47th Assembly District Leader Nancy Tong, 47th Assembly District Leader Charles Ragusa together with the United Progressive Democratic Club president Nino Magali on Saturday, sponsored another of their successful neighborhood clean ups.
“A team of over a hundred cheery high school volunteers came out to sweep sidewalks and catch basins in Bensonhurst. Debris was cleaned along 86 Street, Bay Parkway, and Kings Highway. The importance of clean ups is of keeping our streets clean and at the same time bring out a spirit in others to do the same,” said Colton.
“For a number of years, we have mobilized teams of volunteers to beautify our streets. By organizing these cleanups we are showing local businesses and the community the need to keep our public space clean because cleaner streets mean a better quality of life for all. Special thank you to all the volunteers and organizers,” Colton added.
