Stringer Calls on Mayor to Cut NYPD Funding
Yesterday, City Comptroller Scott Stringer (D) wrote a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), calling on him to cut the NYPD’s budget over the next four years.
In his letter, Stringer urges the Mayor to cut $1.1 billion from the NYPD and reroute that money towards the communities that are most vulnerable to police brutality. Stringer’s proposal entails a 5 percent cut the Department’s FY 2021 budget by cutting overtime pay and “Other Than Personnel Services” (OTPS), or expenses not related to salaries and fringe benefits.
“Breaking down structural racism in New York City will require long-term, lasting change — and that must include reducing the NYPD’s budget,” wrote Stringer. If our budget is a reflection of our values, it is unconscionable that services for Black and Brown New Yorkers are on the chopping block while the NYPD’s budget remains almost entirely untouched. This is a bold and achievable roadmap to immediately cut millions and instead invest those critical dollars in underserved communities and the programs that will uplift those New Yorkers who need it most.”
Read the full letter here.
Espaillat to Host Virtual Town Hall on “Faith, Healing and Reform”
Tonight, U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan, Bronx) will host a virtual town hall to demand an end to police brutality and racial profiling.
The meeting will examine the issue through the lens of Christian theology and philosophy, and will feature Reverend Reginald Lee Bachus of the Abyssinian Baptist Church as a guest speaker. Espaillat will also be joined by a plethora of New York electeds, including Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer (D); Councilmembers Diana Ayala (D-East Harlem, Mott Haven), Mark Levine (D-Manhattan Valley, Manhattanville), Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Washington Heights, Inwood) and Bill Perkins (D-Central Harlem, Morningside Heights); Assemblymembers Al Taylor (D-Harlem, Washington Heights), Carmen De La Rosa (D-Upper Manhattan) and Robert Rodriguez (D-East Harlem); and State Senator Brian Benjamin (D-Harlem, Upper West Side).
The event will take place tonight at 7 p.m. at facebook.com/RepEspaillat.
Velázquez Co-Writes Op-Ed on Plight of TPS Holders, DACA Recipients
Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-LES, Brooklyn, Queens) helped write an op-ed for The Hill, to call attention to our nation’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and DACA recipients who are still fighting for a path to citizenship.
The op-ed, which she co-wrote with U.S. Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-Brooklyn) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), was published on the one-year anniversary of the passage of H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act. Said act would provide TPS holders, Dreamers and immigrants with Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) with protection against deportation and a path to permanent citizenship.
However, in the year since its passage in the House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has refused to call it to a Senate vote.
“We continue to urge Leader McConnell and our Republican colleagues in the Senate to bring H.R. 6 up for a vote,” they wrote. “We did our job one year ago, and remain committed to ensuring that our nation’s interests are at the forefront of our work. We strongly believe that H.R. 6 is critical to protecting and honoring the sacrifices of our essential workers, and to preventing the further disruption of communities across America that have been battling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Read the full article here.
Brewer Applauds City’s Decision to Implement COVID-19 Testing in Sewage System
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer (D) released a statement yesterday after the Department of Environmental Protection responded to her request to start testing the sewage at wastewater treatment facilities for COVID-19.
The letter she received informed her that the Department is working to implement her idea to aid the City’s COVID-19 response and “prepare the City for future challenges of a similar nature.”
“Thanks to the Department of Environmental Protection, the city will be able to add the testing of sewage for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in its public health arsenal’s ability to non-invasively detect the presence of the virus,” said Brewer. “I commend Commissioner Vincent Sapienza, and Deputy Commissioner Pamela Elardo for launching this early warning system which could potentially determine the extent of community spread of SARS-CoV-2. I also congratulate the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB) for analyzing this practice and putting forth these recommendations.”
