Carroll coordinates tour for Incoming NYC Schools Chancellor Banks
Assemblymember Robert Carroll (D-Brooklyn) announced yesterday that David C. Banks, the incoming Chancellor of the Department of Education, joined him and Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) for a tour of The Windward School in Manhattan.
The Windward School is an independent day school for children with dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities. Windward remediates a student’s dyslexia and language-based learning disability through an evidence-based, sequential, multi-sensory direct instruction phonics approach in preparation for a successful return to a mainstream school environment.
“I know first-hand the profound impact that Windward’s approach and curriculum had on my life. As a person with dyslexia, who had the benefit of being diagnosed at a young age, I was incredibly fortunate to get the help that I required to become a fluid and fluent reader. I would not have been able to succeed in high school, college, or law school without Windward’s evidence-based, structured, multi-sensory sequential phonics-based curriculum,” said Carroll.
“I am grateful to incoming Chancellor Banks for engaging with me on literacy and dyslexia and for his deeply held commitment to making sure that all of our school children have the curriculum and interventions that they need to flourish as readers,” the lawmaker added.
Cornegy Demands Delay of Lien Sale
City Council Member Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) today will lead a press conference to urge postponement of the December 17 property tax lien sale considering the ongoing challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presents to New Yorkers.
New York City annually sells the delinquent property tax and water/sewer debts of homeowners to a third party, which then tries to collect on the debt and brings a foreclosure action for sale of the property.
Cornegy said the pandemic interrupted the necessary, robust community education and outreach events that normally precede the tax lien sale. Instead of making up for lost time, the City has fallen flat in its efforts to contact owners. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers are at risk if the scheduled lien sale is not delayed, he said.
“The City’s lien sale is intended to incentivize property owners to pay their taxes. But the sale this year will likely force minority property owners to lose generational wealth. It also threatens the homes of many renters, all while we are still reeling from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is clearly in the interest of New York City to delay the sale at this precarious moment,” said Cornegy, Chair of the Housing and Buildings Committee.
The event is slated for 11 a.m., today, Dec. 15 at City Hall Park between Between Broadway & Park Row in Lower Manhattan.
Meng Lobbies To Bring Queens Constituent Home After Leaving Afghanistan
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens), Vice-Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, announced yesterday that she is pleading with the U.S. State Department to bring a Queens constituent back home with his family after they all left Afghanistan.
Bilal Ahmad is a U.S. citizen who resides in Fresh Meadows. Over the summer, his wife and 5-year-old son were in Kabul, Afghanistan with loved ones when it fell to the Taliban. Ahmed traveled there to bring the two to Queens but was unable to get them out during the U.S. withdrawal. The family made it to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the three of them have been living in Abu Dhabi, Emirates Humanitarian City as Ahmad’s wife and child continue to wait for temporary visas.
Meng has intervened with the State Department urging the agency to accelerate the issuing of the visas, and she is calling for Ahmad to not lose his job after his employer told him that he had to be back at work by a certain date this month. He is also in jeopardy of losing his apartment and a part-time job as a driver if he is not back in New York soon.
“My heart aches for this family and my staff and I are pushing the State Department to get them to Queens,” said Meng. “Bilal went to Afghanistan to ensure the well-being of his family and to bring them to safety here. Months later, they should still not be stuck overseas, and his livelihood should not be at risk because he sought to keep his wife and child out of harm’s way. We will continue to stay on top of the State Department to help get him home with them.”
Myrie Calls For Action on Wrongful Conviction Bills
Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie (D-Central Brooklyn), other elected officials and wrongfully-convicted New Yorkers today will call for passage of legislation to prevent and reveal wrongful convictions, making New York a more fair and just state.
The package of bills would:
Ban deception in police interrogations (something police did in the Central Park jogger case and which is still legal) (S.324A Myrie/A.6570 Vanel).
Allow people who have pleaded guilty the ability to get their cases back into court to prove their innocence without the benefit of DNA evidence, which is something other states allow (S.266 Myrie/A.98 Quart).
Ensure youth under 18 are able to consult with counsel prior to waiving their Miranda rights (S.2800B Bailey/A.5891 Joyner).
The call to action is slated for 11 a.m., today, Dec. 15 at the entrance to Central Park at 110th Street between Fifth Avenue and Lenox Avenue.
Gianaris: Elevators Finally Coming to Steinway Street Station
Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) announced yesterday the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has released a timeline for installing new elevators at the Steinway Street M/R Station in Astoria.
The new elevators were announced after Gianaris pressured the MTA to expand accessibility throughout the subway system.
“After years of pushing for accessibility improvements, the MTA listened to western Queens residents, activists and elected leaders advocating for better subway access. These improvements will go a long way to making our subway available for all,” said Gianaris. “While there is still a long way to go in making the entire subway system 100% accessible, these elevators represent a step forward.”
According to the MTA, the contract for new elevators will be awarded next summer, and construction is scheduled to take 36 months after the contract is awarded.
