Adams to Cast His Vote in Person
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is taking the traditional route to voting this presidential election year as he will cast his vote in person for Election Day.
Adams vote will come as early voting wrapped up this weekend with a total (unofficial and cumulative) of 1,119,056 voter check-ins citywide, which offers a rough estimate of how many people braved hours-long lines to cast ballots the last nine days.
Despite the early voting and mail-in ballots, turnout is expected to be high today. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. To find the location for where you should vote Look it up here at findmypollsite.vote.nyc.
Adams will cast his vote at noon today, Nov. 3, at PS 81 Thaddeus Stevens in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Myrie On Early Voting in NY
State Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Gowanus, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, South Slope, Sunset Park) issued the following statement on the conclusion of early voting in New York:
“Last January, the Senate passed my bill to make New York the 38th state in the US to allow early voting. At that time, we had no way of knowing just how vital expanding voting hours and days would be in the midst of a global pandemic.
“Over 2.5 million New Yorkers cast their ballot over the past nine days, including over 1.1 million in New York City alone– an astonishing number that validates our efforts last year. Across our city and state, voters waited on long lines and braved rain and cold to ensure their ballots would be counted in the most important election in our lifetimes. I am incredibly grateful to the poll workers who worked so hard in difficult conditions to keep things running smoothly, many of whom served for the first time this year. The lines were often long, but New Yorkers responded the way we always do– with patience, grace and good humor. I also honor those institutions that hosted early voting sites in this complicated year. Organizations that receive tax breaks or other public funds should always be willing to serve the voters who make those benefits possible.
“Overall, early voting was a great success but also raised several concerns. There were clearly too few sites to accommodate the level of interest we saw from voters, and there was also a wide disparity in the number of voters assigned to each site (from just 10,000 to over 100,000). Guidance for poll workers, voters and volunteers outside poll sites was sometimes inconsistent, and the number of scanners at some sites was insufficient. In the next Legislative session, I plan to review these and all other aspects of our election administration to ensure that New York voters receive the world-class democracy they deserve.
“What these past nine days have shown is that when you make voting easier and more accessible, voters respond with great enthusiasm. Our majority has already demonstrated a willingness to do just that, and while New York can’t go from #WorstToFirst overnight, we are well on our way.”
Gillibrand Calls USDA to Help Puerto Rico
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand led her colleagues in a letter urging Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, to “provide expeditious and fair implementation of the Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) Program in Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories.”
Since the signing of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) in March 2020, all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands have had the choice to opt-in to the P-EBT Program. However, 300,000 eligible school-aged children in Puerto Rico were not afforded that option. Catastrophic circumstances due to the combined devastation of Hurricanes Maria and Irma, financial pressures, and the COVID-19 pandemic, have exacerbated food insecurity and an increased demand for nutrition aid.
“As many families are still struggling with the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria and dozens of recent earthquakes, the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating an already struggling economy and population. We must equalize the disparity faced by children in Puerto Rico where families are already receiving, on average, 60 percent less in SNAP funding than their continental U.S. counterparts,” the senators wrote in the letter.
Cornegy & Adams Remove Graffiti
City Council Member Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. (D-Bedford-Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights) and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams on Sunday joined to remove graffiti from the exterior of A1 Auto Repair Service, a Black-owned business on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. They also were joined by Kevan Caleb, who owns the business.
In recent months, parts of Atlantic Avenue and other areas of the city have experienced a noticeable uptick in graffiti, which has heightened quality-of-life concerns for residents and merchants already suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The presence of graffiti can lower foot traffic along commercial corridors and contribute to public safety concerns among residents. Earlier this year, the City indefinitely suspended its popular $3 million Graffiti-Free NYC program, and 311 stopped accepting graffiti complaints due to a significant budgetary shortfall.
“For many New Yorkers, the rise in graffiti brings to mind the bad old days of the 1970s, when crime was rampant throughout our city and we surrendered to disorder. But it’s more than just an eyesore; it affects local businesses and residents. Businesses like A1 Auto Repair Service, which are already suffering from the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, often have to go into their own pockets to clean graffiti off their façades. We were proud to lend a helping hand with Council Member Cornegy and DPH Property Maintenance. This is exactly the kind of corporate citizenship we need during this difficult time. Every New Yorker can play a role in keeping their communities graffiti-free,” said Adams.
