Clarke Brings Satellite Office To Gerritsen Beach
U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Kensington, Midwood, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Park Slope, Midwood, Marine Park, Sheepshead Bay, Gerritsen Beach) this month is bringing a satellite office to Gerritsen Beach.
The office will assist constituents needing answers from a federal agency in a timely fashion. This includes assistance in resolving problems or getting more information.
Clarke’s office suggests constituents bring necessary documentation including social security numbers and/or cards, VA claim numbers for cases involving the Department of Veterans Affairs, taxpayer ID numbers and any other documentation related to your issue at hand.
The office hours are slated for 3-6 p.m Mondays through August and form 5-7 p.m. Thursdays through August at the Gerritsen Beach Library, 2808 Gerritsen Avenue in Gerritsen Beach.
Menchaca Hails Expedited Bile Lanes
City Council Member Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park, Red Hook) yesterday lauded the city’s Department of Transportation for there announcement they will expedite work installing protected bike lanes along Forth Avenue in Sunset Park by the end of the year.
“We asked DOT if it can be expedited, and DOT responded with good news,” Menchaca said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
The protected bike lanes, which separate cyclists from vehicular traffic with physical barriers, which will offer an extra layer of safety for bicyclists.
The announcement comes during a particularly dangerous time for Brooklyn cyclists as 18 have been killed while biking thus far this year, including 13 in Brooklyn.
“We’ve needed a protected bike lane on Fourth Avenue for a long time, and I am proud to stand beside the Department of Transportation to announce its arrival by year’s end,” Menchaca said. “This is a victory for our neighbors and members of the cycling community who live and work in and around Sunset Park.”
The city will take the following measures to enhance street safety:
- Installing curbside, parking-protected bike lanes on each side of the avenue
- Painting new pedestrian islands at intersections
- Updating parking regulations and expanding metered parking
Two portions of Fourth Avenue — a section located between 64th Street and 60th Street in Sunset Park and another one located between First Street and 15th Street in Park Slope — have already been completed, DOT said.
Colton Sees His Undetectable Knives Bill Signed Into Law
Assemblyman William Colton (D-Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights) yesterday that the legislation on undetectable knives that he first introduced in 2013 in the Assembly has finally passed the Senate this year and that Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently signed it into law.
“A constituent, who read about an incident in California where a court officer was stabbed by a plastic knife, had asked me to introduce legislation in the Assembly on undetectable knives to prevent incidents like that from happening. California subsequently passed legislation similar to my bill. This legislation will make schools with a metal detector safer and it will prevent these plastic weapons which are sharp as a razor and sturdy enough to pierce a metal drum from being passed through the metal detectors,” said Colton.
“It will also make any government or private buildings which are secured by metal detectors safer, and it also demonstrates that a suggestion made to me by a constituent has led into a law being passed,” he added.
Colton said anyone with a suggestion for legislation can email him at atcoltonw@nyassembly.gov.
Louis Recalls & Mourns Toni Morrison Death
City Councilwoman Farah Louis (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Flatlands) yesterday both mourned the death of and recalled the influence that African-American writer and Nobel Prize for Literature recipient Toni Morrison had on her life.
Morrison died Tuesday night at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx from complications of pneumonia. She was 88.
Morrison was the author of 11 novels as well as children’s books and essay collections. Among them were celebrated works like “Song of Solomon,” “Beloved,” and “The Bluest Eye.”
“Toni Morrison – author, playwright, and professor – had an extraordinary literary gift. Her words transcended cultures, inspired generations, and nourished souls. With the turn of every page, I discovered more of who I was and wanted to become,” said Louis.
“ As a young woman of color, her work resonated with me since high school and even to this day. With every challenge, her words would also echo as a subtle reminder that we are our brother’s and sister’s keepers. ‘If you are free, you need to free somebody else.’ Thank you Toni for enriching our minds and transforming our lives forever,” she added.
James Sues Trump Administration Over Toxic Pesticides in Food
State Attorney General Letitia James, leading a coalition of six State Attorneys General, yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administrations Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for continuing to allow chlorpyrifos , a widely used pesticide with well-documented harms to infants’ and children’s neurological development, to contaminate common foods.
The coalition is challenging the EPA’s decision to continue to allow chlorpyrifos to be used in food, even though it has not made a current finding, as required by law, that this pesticide contamination is safe.
“Chlorpyrifos is extremely dangerous, especially to the health of our children,” said James. “Yet, the Trump Administration continues to ignore both the science and law, by allowing this toxic pesticide to contaminate food at unsafe levels. If the Trump EPA won’t do its job and protect the health and safety of New Yorkers, my office will take them to court and force them to fulfill their responsibilities.”
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition to New York, the lawsuit was filed by the Attorneys General of California, Washington, Massachusetts, Maryland and Vermont. The Attorneys General of Hawaii and the District of Columbia intend to join the coalition by filing tomorrow to intervene in the suit.
