Stringer Calls on Congress to Pass RELIEF
New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer sent a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) calling for Congress to pass the RELIEF for Main Street Act, a bipartisan bill that would provide $50 billion in direct assistance to cities, counties, and states to provide existing or newly created relief and recovery funds that are explicitly targeted towards small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
“As the pandemic ravages our communities and forces Americans to stay close to home and remain socially distant, it is our small, mom-and-pop businesses that have been hardest hit. Restaurants and bars, barbershops and nail salons, retail stores — these are the anchors of our neighborhoods and our Main Street commercial corridors, and the businesses most likely to be owned and employ people of color,” he wrote.
Stringer noted that while the Paycheck Protection Program was intended to support small businesses by helping them to retain staff and stem job losses, the program arrived too late, included too many restrictions, was ill-suited for Main Street and urban businesses, and has been poorly implemented. The RELIEF for Main Street Act would offer a broader range of products (grants, loans, technical assistance, and hybrid products) than the Paycheck Protection Program, build on existing local relief efforts, and provide funding for recovery, not just survival.
Williams Calls On Cuomo to Extend Eviction Moratorium
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams and The Legal Aid Society called on Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday to extend the statewide eviction moratorium – which expires tonight – to protect at least 14,000 households in New York City from likely eviction.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has led to compounding crises and both short and long term trauma for New Yorkers. We have a moral obligation to prevent what pain we can – yet New York’s eviction moratorium is set to expire tonight. Governor Cuomo has the power to stop the displacement of more than 14,000 households, and the crisis that mass evictions will cause. The eyes of New Yorkers and of history on are Governor Cuomo, and I implore him to do the right thing by extending this moratorium,” said Williams.
According to the New York City Department of Social Services, the City has identified more than 14,000 households that received a warrant of eviction before the pandemic this past March and are vulnerable to possible City Marshal enforcement should the moratorium expire.
Simon on the Census
Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon (D-Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope, Boerum Hill, DUMBO) reminds everyone to fill out the census.
“I was happy to participate in the Census March for Racial Justice this weekend, organized by Senator Zellnor Myrie, to encourage people to fill out the census. This is an easy and valuable way to show your support for your neighbors working in hospitals and emergency services and schools – take the census to make sure we all get counted so that New York gets the money it deserves for these critical services”.
“In previous census counts, New York State — and particularly Brooklyn — has been undercounted, resulting in the loss of billions in federal funding for hospitals, public schools, transportation, the fire department and other emergency services, and more.
Right now – at 51.9% – Brooklyn is once again last in census response rates out of all the five boroughs! The response rate for the 52nd AD itself is a bit higher but only at 60%, so we have to do better. Please take the census, and bring it up with your family, friends, and colleagues on the phone, on social media, or through any video chats you are using,” she wrote.
Malliotakis Discusses Attack of 89-Year-Old Woman
Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge, Staten Island) today will hold a news conference with members of Brooklyn’s Asian community to condemn the recent attack on an 89-year-old woman who was slapped and set on fire by thugs while walking on 16th Avenue in Bensonhurst.
The incident has already been condemned by Assemblymember William Colton (D-Bensonhurst, Bath Beach) and the Asian community has held protests decrying it as a hate crime.
The news conference is slated for 11 a.m., today, Aug. 6 in front of the Homecrest-Bensonhurst Senior Citizen Center, 7907 New Utrecht Avenue in Bensonhurst.
