“Latinas for Levine” Endorse Mark Levine for Manhattan BP
Last Thursday, Councilmember Mark Levine (D-Manhattan Valley, Manhattanville) announced that his campaign for Manhattan Borough President has received endorsements from three Latina lawmakers.
Said lawmakers are Councilmember Diana Ayala (D-El Barrio, Mott Haven), and Assemblymembers Carmen De La Rosa (D-Upper Manhattan) and Catalina Cruz (D-Queens). Ayala called him “a compassionate colleague, leader, and friend”, citing his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and his efforts to give all New Yorkers access to healthcare. Meanwhile, De La Rosa praised his ability to build diverse coalitions, and Cruz called him a “champion of equality”.
“I am thrilled to have the support of Council Member Diana Ayala, Assemblymember Carmen De La Rosa, and Assemblymember Catalina Cruz for my Borough President campaign,” said Levine. “These Latinas are fierce advocates and women who are leading the next wave of progressive leadership in our city. I am committed to lifting up all communities in Manhattan so that we can overcome the challenges facing our city and come back stronger than ever.”
Espaillat Calls for Release of Women Detained at Irwin County
Last Thursday, U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan, Bronx) wrote a letter to ICE Acting Director Tony Pham, demanding the immediate release of several detainees at the Irwin County Detention Center.
Espaillat made a Congressional Delegation visit to the detention facility last month; there, he met with several women who shared horrifying accounts of the abuse they endured under the ICE’s supervision. Some, he wrote, underwent invasive, nonconsensual procedures that prevented them from having children.
“I urge the agency to facilitate the immediate release of these individuals from the Irwin County Detention Center and allow them to recuperate physically and emotionally,” wrote Espaillat. “They must heal in a place where healing is possible, and no detention facility under your agency’s supervision meets that bar.”
Read the full letter here.
Stringer Calls on City to Make Public Schools More Inclusive for Nonbinary Students
Last Friday, City Comptroller Scott Stringer (D) called on Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza to change its administrative guidelines to accommodate nonbinary and gender-nonconforming students.
Currently, transgender students who wish to change their name or gender identity can send a request form to the DOE. However, the request form still forces students to choose “male” or “female”, which fails to account for students who don’t identify as either.
“For these students, this means they cannot submit the form and update the name by which they are known to teachers and classmates — information that is so central for students’ self-esteem, social and emotional wellness, and identity,” wrote Stringer. “Especially now, when students’ names of record are visible to their classmates and teachers in the virtual learning environment, it is particularly important that all students who need to have their names updated – not just binary transgender students – are able to use the available form to make that change with the DOE.”
Read the full letter here.
Cuomo Announces Record Number of COVID-19 Tests Reported in NY
Last Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that 119,493 COVID-19 tests were conducted in New York on Thursday, Oct. 1 – a record high for the state.
Of those tests, 1,169, or 1.03 percent, came back positive. However, among the top 20 most affected zip codes, the positivity rate was 6.4 percent. The “hot spots”, he reported, are concentrated in New York City, Orange County, Rockland County and a small part of Nassau.
“Today is day 216,” said Cuomo. “We are tracking the hotspots is the bottom line here, and the hotspots are a significant problem. Overall, the hotspots have an infection rate of about 6.4 percent. The State outside of the hotspots has an infection rate of about 1.03 percent. So, it’s all about the hotspots for us.
“The Department of Health is going to have people on the ground in those ZIP codes today”
