Rosenthal Criticizes Cuomo for Cutting Substance Abuse Treatment
Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D-Hell’s Kitchen, Upper West Side) released a statement yesterday after Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) announced his decision to cut state funding for substance abuse addiction treatment.
“In lean times, people often say ‘we must cut the fat’,” said Rosenthal. “The problem is, drug and alcohol providers have been subsisting on starvation budgets for years, and there is simply no fat left to cut,”
Cuomo had warned the State for decades that he would have to implement austerity measures to compensate for the massive shortfall in tax revenue. However, Rosenthal maintains that, even with that in mind, his proposed 31 percent cut to addiction treatment programs is too much.
Maloney: Please Fill Out the Census
Last Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens) wrote a letter to The New York Times reminding her constituents to fill out the Census.
The letter came after an article the Times ran one day prior, documenting surprisingly low levels of self-response among wealthy New Yorkers. Said article theorizes that the New Yorkers who could afford to evacuate the City in anticipation of the COVID-19 pandemic still haven’t returned.
“Throughout the 2020 Census, I’ve been monitoring response rates closely,” wrote Maloney. “I expected to see lower response rates in traditionally hard-to-count communities, but I was surprised to see that rates are lagging in neighborhoods that have historically seen higher turnout. I know that we can do better.
“The census takes five minutes to complete online but will determine the next decade of funding and representation for New York City.”
Read the full letter here.
Espaillat Secures Funding for Green Climate Fund
Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan, Bronx) announced that he had secured $500 million in international funding through the Green Climate Fund.
The Green Climate Fund is a multilateral fund intended to help developing countries adapt to climate change and reduce carbon emissions. Earlier this year, Espaillat and 80 of his colleagues wrote a letter recommending that the U.S. increase its funding.
“This is a victory for global environmental justice,” said Espaillat. “We have a moral obligation to combat climate change and uplift frontline communities. This funding is the beginning of reestablishing the U.S. as a global leader on climate change and will help to fund locally established and driven programs through the Green Climate Fund. Much more investment is needed to truly tackle the existential crisis of climate change, both domestically and globally.”
De La Rosa to Join March on Billionaires
Assemblymember Carmen De La Rosa (D-Upper Manhattan) will be participating in Make the Road New York’s “March on Billionaires” tomorrow.
The march serves to shine the spotlight on poor working New Yorkers who lack access to unemployment benefits, like undocumented immigrants. De La Rosa and her peers will be calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) to protect the wellbeing of those workers.
Among the organizations sponsoring the march are New York Communities for Change, the Street Vendor Project and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JREJ).
The event will take place tomorrow from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. at Madison Square Park.
