Community News: Street Renaming Park Safety, Street Safety, and Summer Jobs

  This comes in from Comes from Manhattan councilman Mark Levine who is the Chair of the City Council Parks committee.

  Last week was an important first milestone as Council Member Mark Levine led his first hearing as Chair of the City Council Parks Committee. Together, the committee members examined the Department of Parks and Recreation’s plans for tree safety and maintenance during this crucial time following a period of record snowfalls in the region. This is coupled with a large expansion in the number of trees planted across the city, as MillionTreesNYC approaches its goal of one million newly planted trees. In prior years with similar amounts of snowfall, several tragedies occurred where people were either critically injured or fatally struck by falling tree branches. Council Member Levine wanted to address this topic during his first meeting as Chair to shed light on the need to make preparations to avoid future accidents and tragedies.

Earlier this week, Council Member Levine took a trip to Albany with his fellow Council Members and Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito to continue to advocate for universal pre-Kindergarten and middle school afterschool programs and to call for a dedicated funding stream to sustain it.

Our office has also continued to focus on transportation and public safety issues, in alignment with Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero plan. Next week at the City Council Stated meeting, an entire package of Pedestrian/Traffic Safety legislation will be introduced to address many problems impacting street safety. One of the items included within this package is a Resolution co-prime sponsored by Council Member Mark Levine calling upon the State to give the City “home rule” authority to install speed cameras throughout the City that will deter drivers from speeding and help to better enforce penalties when they do. If implemented citywide, these cameras have the potential to save many lives over time.

Nothing highlights the need for safer traffic policies more than the senseless death of a child crossing a city street. On Monday, March 10th at 1pm, Council Member Levine will host a street co-naming ceremony on the southwest corner of 97th street and Amsterdam Avenue. The co-naming will be done in memory of Ariel Russo, the 4-year old girl tragically killed by an unlicensed teen driver of an SUV on June 4, 2013. The corner will officially be co-named “Ariel Russo Way (4 years old)”on the day that Ariel Russo would have turned 5-years old. The co-name was made possible by legislation passed by Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito in 2013 who was then the Council Member representing this portion of the district. The Speaker will also participate in the co-naming ceremony along with other local elected officials and all are welcome to attend. 

Apply NOW! The 2014 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) is accepting applications
The 2014 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) is accepting applications NOW!  Application period is open from Monday, March 3 – Friday, April 25, 2014.  All youth aged 14-24 who permanently reside within the five boroughs of New York City are eligible and encouraged to apply.
To apply for SYEP, you only need to submit a completed application by going to www.nyc.gov/dycd   

Parks Summer Camp Jobs
The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation (NYC Parks) serves as the steward for over 29,000 acres of land, which includes 1,000 playgrounds, 35 recreation centers, 66 pools and 14 miles of beach. Within the many divisions, Public Programs operates Summer Camp at 19 locations.
To apply, please e-mail resume & cover letter to: SummerCampJobs@parks.nyc.gov 
Notice to Parks applicants – include your ERN on all correspondence.
For more information please visit http://www.nycgovparks.org/ 

You can tweet @MarkLevineNYC, call his district office at 212-928-6814 OR email him at District7@council.nyc.gov.