Malliotakis Fights for Freezing Dogs
U.S. Rep-elect Nicole Malliotakis (Bay Ridge, Staten Island) joined with local efforts this weekend to save animals being kept in below-par conditions.
Yesterday, Malliotakis participated at a local protest against animal abuse, hosted by community activist Liam McCabe and other Concerned Residents of Bergen Place in Bay Ridge Brooklyn where an illegal puppy mill is being operated in a decrepit foreclosed property.
As was reported recently Joe Mauruci for WPIX NEWS, a foreclosed Bergen Place property in Bay Ridge was being used as a puppy mill by squatters.
According to the report and witness accounts, the premises have no heat and the animals are often wailing through the night while they are kept in deplorable conditions. LINK HERE: https://www.pix11.com/news/local-news/brooklyn/neighbors-say-squatters-are-running-puppy-mill-out-of-foreclosed-bay-ridge-home.
Adams, Cornegy Wants Vaccines for the Hardest Hit
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams joined with Council Member Robert Cornegy (D-Bedford Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights) to urge the City and State to prioritize the communities hit hardest by COVID-19 for distribution of the newly-developed vaccine, after it failed to address the disparate impact of COVID-19 that fell hardest on Black and Brown communities.
This past Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York would receive 170,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by December 15, which will be reserved for health care workers as well as residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in the first phase of distribution.
Adams and Cornegy, who have both spoken out repeatedly since the start of the pandemic about the failures of local and state leadership to properly address the disproportionately deadly effects of COVID-19 called for a data-driven, transparent, and locally accessible distribution to subsequent phases of the vaccine rollout, including a robust public education campaign to expand confidence in this unprecedented effort.
Hakeem Votes Yes to Marijuana
U.S. Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn, Queens) helped pass H.R. 3884, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2020.
The bipartisan legislation would end the federal prohibition and criminalization of marijuana by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act and facilitate the expungement of low-level federal marijuana convictions, as well as incentivizing state and local governments to do the same.
The vote marks the first time since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 that a Congressional chamber has voted on legislation to remove marijuana from its prohibitive classification under federal law.
“Marijuana use is either socially acceptable behavior or it’s criminal conduct. But it can’t be socially accepted behavior in some neighborhoods and criminal conduct in other neighborhoods when the dividing line is race. And that’s why we must pass the MORE Act, decriminalize marijuana in America and bring to life the principle of liberty and justice for all,” he said.
Colton Wishes Givant Family Condolences
Assemblyman William Colton’s (D – Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights) heart goes out to the family of Jeanette Givant who has suddenly passed away.
Jeanette Givant was a lifelong Brooklyn resident. Jeanette was born and raised in East New York and was the youngest of the five children in the family. When her children, Bruce and Marlene, went to school, Jeanette started work as a crossing guard for P.S. 177 at Avenue P and Dahill Road.
“In 1982, she began to work part-time in the office of Assemblyman Frank J. Barbaro. In 1996, when I got elected as an Assemblyman of 47th AD, Jeanette Givant continued to work for me as a community liaison and had been working in my office for many, many years. Over the years she had helped thousands of people in the community. In the office, she was known as Mrs. 311 for having and remembering telephone numbers of every government agency. Jeanette had helped people with different kinds of issues including quality of life issues, such as landlord-tenant, traffic lights, trees, potholes, and many others. Jeanette enjoyed helping people,” Colton said.
“In 2001, Jeanette was elected as a State Committeewoman/District Leader in the 47th Assembly District. In 1992 she was honored and received the Eleanor Roosevelt Community Service Award. In 2000, she was made a member of the New Millennium Special Edition of “Who’s Who” and in 2003, she was honored and received the Women’s History Month, Pacesetter Award at City Hall. Jeanette had a kind heart and will be greatly missed. May her soul rest in peace,” Colton added.
