Dear Friend,
Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with joy, health, and celebration with those you love. My office has still been hard at work as we wrap up our first year serving the District in the City Council and I have some updates to share:
1. Anti-idling Legislation Moving Forward
2. Cracking Down on Unlicensed Cannabis
3. Funding College Savings Accounts for Students
4. Public Safety for P.S. 77/P.S. 198
5. Roosevelt Island Bridge Bike Lane Improvements
6. Council Hearing on Asylum Seekers
7. Community Cleanup on East 86th Street
8. Visit to the 92nd Street Y
9. Constituent Services Corner
10. Community Events + Announcements
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1. Anti-Idling Legislation Moving Forward
Idling trucks and buses pollute our air and cause unsafe conditions on our City's streets. Unfortunately, New York City has much weaker idling laws than other major cities in the country. As Gothamist reported, last week, a bill I introduced to significantly increase the penalties for idling offenses had a hearing in front of the Environmental Protection Committee. Currently, private entities like Amazon and Con Ed flout our regulations and view the small $350 per violation fine as a cost of doing business while New Yorkers suffer from air pollution. My bill, which has a supermajority of my colleagues signed on as co-sponsors, would increase the first time penalty significantly and even more for repeat offenders. I look forward to working towards passing the bill and improving our air quality and street safety.
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2. Cracking down on Unlicensed Cannabis
When the State Legislature legalized marijuana in 2021, the program emphasized the importance of creating an equitable system for distributing licenses and creating a robust legal market. In the interim, as this program is being set up, many businesses have blatantly violated the state's statutes selling cannabis without a license and to minors. I have heard from many constituents about the proliferation of these illegal shops in our District. In response, I was proud to join the Mayor last week to announce initial results of an interagency task force to crack down on unlicensed cannabis sales. The Sheriff's Office and NYPD have been working with state authorities to conduct seizures of these bad actors and this is critical as we work to establish a successful legal market. You can read more about this initiative here or watch my remarks at the Mayor's press conference.
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3. Funding College Savings Accounts for NYers
One of the biggest barriers to equality is the generational wealth and opportunity gap that so many New Yorkers in underserved communities face. That is why when I was the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, I worked to found NYC Kids RISE, an organization tasked with seeding a college savings account for every student in the New York public school system. I am proud that every kindergartener in New York City now has that account and I have been working hard with the Administration to increase the benefits of this program. Last week, I joined incoming First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Council Member Mercedes Narcisse to celebrate a $1.2 million contribution to the program, seeding an additional $1,000 in the savings account of every first grader across Canarsie and East Flatbush. It was wonderful to be part of this historic announcement along with the Gray Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the Brooklyn Community Foundation and I look forward to trying to expand this program's reach.
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4. Addressing Safety Concerns at P.S. 198/P.S. 77
Back in the fall, after a problematic incident at the Samuel Seabury Playground, adjacent to P.S. 198 and P.S. 77's building, I worked with the NYPD's 19th Precinct to ensure a more consistent presence of officers by the playground in the afternoon. Recently, my office has heard from parents and school leadership at the schools requesting officers to be on the 3rd Avenue side during dismissal. Yesterday, I convened a meeting with my team, the 19th Precinct's Community Affairs Office, and P.S. 77 leadership to discuss ways we can address community concerns. At our request, the Precinct's Youth Coordination Officer (YCO) committed to increasing their presence on the 3rd Avenue side around dismissal times going forward. I am grateful to the 19th Precinct for their partnership with so many schools in our community in addressing school safety concerns.
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5. Roosevelt Island Bridge Bike Lane Covering
When I took office, many constituents approached me with concerns about an unsafe surface on the bike lane for the Roosevelt Island Bridge. The "cheese grater-like" surface was slippery in inclement weather and provided an uncomfortable experience for cyclists as well. Constituents had been advocating on this for 10 years to no avail. As Patch reported, this month, I was proud to join my colleague Council Member Julie Won, DOT Commissioner Ed Pincar, and CB8 Roosevelt Island Committee Co-Chairs Paul Krikler and Lynne Strong-Shinozaki to celebrate the installation of a new covering for the bike lane. I worked with the DOT and advocates to obtain a new material they had never used before in NYC to cover the bike lane and provide a safer and smoother cyclist experience. The material withstood successful initial testing and is now fully installed. I biked over it myself and can attest that it's a significant improvement for our community.
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6. Council Hearing on Asylum Seekers
As of now, over 30,000 asylum seekers have received services within our city and thousands more might be coming in the next few weeks as changes to federal immigration rules loom. This week, Speaker Adams convened a hearing with the entire Council to hear from the Administration about the response and services offered to migrants so far and how the City would continue meeting the needs of these individuals while also facing tough budgetary prospects. During the hearing, I was able to ask the Administration questions on a variety of issues. I pushed to learn more about why out of state catering companies were being contracted with to provide food as opposed to New York City small businesses. I also asked about collaboration with the federal government to expedite work permit applications and the ability to conduct the asylum seekers with job training programs. You can see some of my questioning here. As an increase in asylum seekers looms, I will continue working with colleagues to ensure the City is welcoming and providing robust services.
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7. Community Cleanup on East 86th Street
Sanitation has been a top priority during my first year in office as I have increased litter basket pickups, upgraded baskets at numerous locations, and launched an innovative rat mitigation initiative. I was thrilled to join the East 86th Street Neighborhood Association earlier this month for one of their "clean teams" on 86th Street along with Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright, Assemblymember-Elect Alex Bores, and Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. It's always wonderful to participate in a community cleanup and it was great to see the success of our rat remediation initiatives on East 86th Street (an over 90% decrease in burrows) up close!
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8. Touring 92NY's Construction
When my grandmother fled Eastern Europe after surviving the Holocaust and settled into Yorkville, she found community at the 92nd Street Y, a critical part of our neighborhood and the entire city's fabric for generations. It was fantastic to visit 92NY last week and meet with CEO Seth Pinsky to discuss numerous initiatives. I toured the new construction which will greatly expand the Y's ability to serve the community and I discussed ongoing partnerships including CASA and Su-CASA programming my office funds where 92NY is doing great work with our local schools and senior centers. I look forward to further partnership and the eventual opening of these new wonderful spaces.
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9. Constituent Services Corner
Multiple constituents reached out to my office flagging a broken handrail on the ramp that connects lower sections of the East River Esplanade to the John Finley walk at 81st Street. My office alerted the Parks Department and pushed for an expedited repair in order to address a safety and accessibility concern. I was glad to receive word from the Parks Department today that the ramp's handrail has been repaired. If you have any issues please don't hesitate to call, email, or visit my office for my constituent services team to address them.
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10. Community Events and Updates
It's been a whirlwind season of holiday events in the community. As we head towards the New Year, there are more events and announcements that I wanted to highlight, if you want us to include an event in an upcoming newsletter, email Cameron Koffman from my team at ckoffman@council.nyc.gov
Art Gallery Opening at 1614 3rd Ave - From The Ground Up Studios, an affordable art space for professional artists, presents its inaugural group exhibition NOMADIC, the first in a series of exhibitions by the organization. The show takes its name from the roving lifestyle. Like nomads, artists too are an itinerant group of great discipline – moving work from location to location, pursuing studio and residency opportunities, and tackling new approaches to creation that allow for an intense and distinctive experience of time and place.
NOMADIC is on view December 10, 2022 – January 7, 2023 at NS1 Gallery (formerly Roma Art Gallery), located at 1614 3rd Avenue
Gallery Hours are Mondays - Wednesdays (from 2 - 7pm), Thursdays (from 4 - 8pm), and Fridays (from 2 - 7pm)
Attorney General's Nursing Home Hotline - The NY Attorney General has recently uncovered fraud and abuse at several nursing homes and is doing a public engagement campaign to spread awareness about its nursing home hotline. If you believe that a loved one could be at risk, please call the AG’s Hotline: 1-800-771-775
Community Board 8 Winter Crafts Show - Please see the below flyers for details on submissions for the Community Board 8 Winter Crafts Show on February 11th at the Church of the Holy Trinity. Submissions are due by January 13th!
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My visit to the opening of NOMADIC earlier this month
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CB8's Winter Crafts Show Flyer
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Follow us on Social Media:
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I am also excited to share a new city app I am on - Simplicity. You can follow me there under District 5, and get all updates from me, our city, events, and news all in one place. Download Simplicity using this link: https://simplicity.app.link/BvSI46qkTvb
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Contact Us
Email us at district5@council.nyc.gov, call our office at 212-860-1950, or visit us at 444 East 75th Street #1B (75th and York Avenue)
Best,
Julie
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