Adams Rallies For Climate Strike March Over Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams today will join with students from local Brooklyn schools, including New York City College of Technology; Park Place Community Middle School; PS 54 The Magnet School for Environmental Science, Technology and Community Wellness; PS 676 Red Hook Neighborhood School, and Khalil Gibran International Academy for a rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall for the Climate Strike.
Set to begin tomorrow, the Climate Strike is a youth-led week of action to demand lawmakers around the world take aggressive steps to avert climate catastrophe. Following the rally on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall, rally participants will march across the Brooklyn Bridge to join the rest of the climate strikers in Foley Square.
The rally is slated for 11 a.m., today, Sept. 20 on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall Steps, 209 Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights.
Treyger Announces Major STEAM Funding For Coney Island School
City Council Member Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Gravesend) today will join Antoinette Tucci, P.S. 188 Principal, Isabel DiMola, District 21 Elementary and Middle Schools Superintendent, Bryan McGinn, NYC School Construction Authority, Lakeisha Bowers, Community Board 13 Member, Megan Nordgren, Director of Program Development at NY Sunworks, local parents, and students to announce $2.4 million he secured in capital funding secured in this year’s budget for renovations to the school.
P.S. 188 Michael E. Berdy is a pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade school located in Coney Island. The school sustained heavy damage during Hurricane Sandy. This multi-million dollar investment will help further P.S. 188’s renaissance, enabling innovative programming that promotes active learning.
Treyger’s funding will go towards a state-of-the-art STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) suite, including a hydroponics lab; a new library and media room renovation; a new visual arts room; and an upgraded music room. Architectural renderings of the new school facilities will be available onsite.
Treyger’s current investment builds upon his previous budget allocations to P.S. 188 that included $400,000 for an auditorium renovation in 2019, $150,000 for technology upgrades in 2017, and $250,000 for cafeteria improvements in 2015.
The announcement is slated for 11 a.m., today, Sept. 20 at P.S. 188 Michael Berdy School Auditorium; 3314 Neptune Avenue in Coney Island.
Cymbrowitz Says Seniors Now Benefit From Rent-Freeze Programs
Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz (D-Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach) announced yesterday that more tenants can now benefit from rent freeze programs for seniors and people with disabilities thanks to a recent change in law that allows renters to keep so-called preferential rents for as long as they remain in their apartment.
This legislation, which Cymbrowitz introduced when he became Housing Chair, was one component of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act passed by the Legislature in June.
Preferential rents, which affect nearly a third of rent-stabilized leases, involve landlords charging a “preferential” amount under the rent-stabilized maximum. Before June, landlords were allowed to raise preferential amounts to the legal limit when a tenant’s lease was up for renewal. Now, preferential rents are locked in for the length of tenancy.
Under the former system, tenants paying preferential rents were forced to wait until their rent reached the legal level to benefit from the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and Disabled Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) programs.
“So many senior and disabled tenants in my district and across our city who paid preferential rents lived in fear of not being able to afford their apartments once their lease was up for renewal — but at the same time they couldn’t qualify for the city’s rent freeze programs until their rent was increased to a level they couldn’t afford,” said Cymbrowitz. “This Catch-22 made it essential to lock in preferential rents for the length of tenancy as part of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act.”
SCRIE and DRIE, administered by the NYC Department of Finance, helps eligible senior citizens (aged 62 and over) and tenants with qualifying disabilities (aged 18 and over) stay in affordable housing by freezing their rent. Under this program, a property tax credit covers the difference between the actual rent amount and what the tenant are responsible for paying at the frozen rate. There are 74,666 households enrolled in these programs.
To apply to these programs, check if you’re eligible, or get more information, go to: www.nyc.gov/rentfreeze. You may also call Assemblyman Cymbrowitz’s office at (718) 743-4078.
Rose Says Charge Sacklers, Purdue Pharma as Criminal Drug Dealers
U.S. Rep. Max Rose (D-Southern Brooklyn, Staten Island) yesterday called for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to bring federal criminal charges against the OxyContin manufacturer and its owners
Rose urged the charges be brought against Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family that owns it. Earlier this week, Rose was joined by New Yorkers who have been impacted by the opioid epidemic in slamming the proposed settlement deals and Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy filing as an attempt to evade an admission of guilt and deny justice to the victims.
“In my short time in office, I’ve met with so many parents who have lost their child to the epidemic and so many people who struggle with opioid addiction themselves,” wrote Rose to Attorney General William Barr. “I’ve had to comfort many, many families. Every time a mother or a father or a sister or a brother has to come to my office after losing a loved one, they simply ask for the government to finally do something, do anything. This is your chance to do that. I strongly urge you and the Department of Justice to file the overdue criminal charges against Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers.”
Louis, Weinstein Host Concert & Resource Fair For Seniors
City Council Member Farah N. Louis (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Marine Park, Flatlands, Kensington) and Assembly Member Helene Weinstein (D-Flatlands, Sheepshead Bay) today will host a post-Labor Day Senior concert and resource fair for local senior citizens.
The resource fair, live entertainment, fitness demonstration, and community engagement will include musical performances by the Philip Howard Choir and other sponsored events from the Haitian Centers Council, Juicy Box and the Kan Cobra Tiger Alliance. Government agencies, community and health organizations and the Brooklyn Arts Council will also be on hand.
The event is slated for 1-4 p.m., today, Sept. 20 at Amersfort Park on East 38th Street between Avenues I and J in Flatlands.
Cuomo, Ortiz Oppose Fed Rule Concerning LGBTQ Workers
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Assistant Speaker Felix Ortiz (D-Sunset Park, Red Hook) yesterday announced their opposition to the federal government’s proposed rule change that would broadly expand the definition of “religious exemptions” for federal contractors and make it easier for those entities to discriminate on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed rule would have devastating consequences for LGBTQ and other workers by depriving them of vitally important workplace protections, according to Cuomo and Ortiz.
“Time and again the Trump administration has gone out of its way to curtail the hard-earned rights and protections of the LGBTQ community,” said Cuomo. “This proposed rule would give federal contractors license to discriminate – plain and simple – and it is repugnant to our values of equal protection for every New Yorker, and we will fight it.”
Ortiz said the Trump administration’s proposed Labor Department rule change to expand the definition of “religious exemptions” for federal contractors would make it easier to discriminate based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
“Under President Trump, the federal government continues to propose hateful discriminatory policies that we must fight. As an advocate for equality for everyone, I will continue to introduce legislation including A.5395-C, which will allow New York State residents to identify as “non-binary,” neither male nor female, on their driver licenses and identification cards,” said Ortiz.
“New York must continue to be a beacon of equality for everyone, fighting against the draconian, divisive policies of the federal government,” he added.
Carroll To Hold Resource Fair
Assemblymember Robert (Bobby) Carroll (D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington, Ditmas Park) next month will host a housing resource fair with co-sponsors Neighborhood Housing Services Brooklyn, Flatbush Development Corporation and Flatbush Tenants Council.
The event comes on the heels of the historic tenant protections that the legislature passed at the end of last session and light of Carroll’s office receiving a number of questions regarding implementation and interpretation of these new regulations.
The event includes free seminars on a broad range of topics, tables with information and resources, and mortgage, tenant, and property tax help on hand.
The fair is slated for 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5 at Ditmas Junior High School, 700 Cortelyou Road in Kensington. RSVP at info@nhsbrooklyn.org.
