PA Williams Responds to Increased Gun Violence
Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today will join a coalition of community organizations, activists, and elected officials for a press conference to respond to the increased incidents of gun violence over the holiday weekend and in recent weeks.
The group will condemn the violence and call for a holistic, community-driven approach to preventing violence against civilians and officers alike, and at the same time call for a redefining of what public safety is and what solutions can be.
The group will address gun violence as shootings have more than doubled for the past few weeks. This weekend, at least 11 were killed in gun violence and dozens were wounded.
The press conference is slated for 11:30 a.m., tomorrow, July 6 outside 1 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan.
Menchaca Urges Speaker, Mayor To Address SYEP Roll Out
City Councilmember Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park, Red Hook) on Friday sent a letter to City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan) and Mayor Bill DeBlasio urging a public briefing to address alarming issues faced by providers and youth groups as the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) rolls out on July 13.
Some of the issues are as serious the failure to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) or any funding to purchase the protective equipment for youth and staff as well as how and when participants will be selected.
“The Summer is officially here and I am extremely concerned with the initial reports about implementation by DYCD. We cannot rest or claim any victories until we know these programs are up and running successfully,” wrote Menchaca.
“I am hearing from youth service organizations in my district who operate SYEP, Beacon, Cornerstone, SONYC and COMPASS programs that the information about implementation of the restoration is insufficient and requires more flexibility. Under the current guidelines, the parameters and deliverables for these programs are generally unreasonable, neglects safety and health concerns during the novel COVID-19 pandemic for staff and participants, and is nearly impossible to roll out in its present form.
“Below are some of the harshest parameters and deliverables imposed on providers:
- Requirement to serve the same number of participants served during a non-pandemic summer, for half the budget
- Requirement to purchase PPE equipment within a budget that is half what is normally required to run a summer camp;
- Requirement to acquire clearance from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene within a week and a half;
- Requirement to have full enrollment and extended full days of programming within eight business days, while health regulations are still incredibly stringent and infection rates are still concerning;
- Requirement to have Cornerstones maintain daily programming from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day, as well as Saturdays, as if this was a regular summer and;
- Requirement to have Beacon programs serve 50 more students than a COMPASS program, with less money than the COMPASS program,” Menchaca wrote.
BP Adams Joins Other Borough Presidents Decry Senior Service Programming Cuts
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams today with join Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Acting Queens Borough President Sharon Lee, Staten Island Borough President James Oddo to urge the expeditious restoration of funding to the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA), which funds vital programs in the city for older adults.
The virtual press conference comes after the City’s Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget slashed funding for the agency, which is administered through the offices of the borough presidents. DFTA, prior to the cuts, already received a paltry share of the City budget, even though roughly 20 percent of all New Yorkers are seniors.
The borough presidents, advocates, and providers will demand that the City restore the funding, and in the meantime, that the City work to establish a public-private partnership to fill the budgetary gaps to ensure that seniors do not go without vital services, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left them especially vulnerable.
The virtual press conference is slated for 1 p.m., today July 6. Join the Zoom Meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81983916085?pwd=aVE2UGVLN094UTZVRTRqWUMyZzZLUT09. Meeting ID: 819 8391 6085. Password: 792100.
Colton Blasts NYC Budget As Political Shell Game
Assemblyman William Colton (D–Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights) last week blasted the NYC’s budget cuts as a political shell game by cutting $1 billion from the NYPD while failing to address the needs of the people and their families in the city.
Colton questioned how City Hall shifted some $500 million from the NYPD resources to the Department of Education, which will now be operating safety officers and crossing guards.
“The Mayor and the City Council are also reducing police overtime by a claimed $300 million and deferring two of four police cadet classes which will result in a loss of 1,163 cadets becoming new officers, at a time when crime in NYC is on the rise,” Colton said.”Even if the $1 billion cuts merely consist of fuzzy math and the shifting of resources, I oppose it because it lacks transparency and sends an anti-police message.”
“This whole budget is a political shell game: While the budget thankfully did restore counselors to the schools and also some 35,000 of the Summer Youth jobs which were being threatened with cuts, it also made hundreds of millions of dollars of cuts including to the Department of Education, Parks, and Sanitation and to many non-profits. It also assumes labor agreement to create another one billion dollars in ”savings” which, if such “savings” are not negotiated, will result in layoffs of working people. These cuts will impact working people, seniors, and families. I am very disappointed under NYC’s current leadership, this budget process degenerated into playing political games while trying to appease the crowd,” the lawmaker added.
