Monday, June 27, 2016

Bronx Council for Environmental Quality - Meetings on our Harbor Condition: July 12th and 13th



  

Dear Friend,

Happy Summer!


You are invited to join the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality and the New York - New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program Workshops on July 12 in the evening or July 13 during the day.  Please follow the links below to register or rsvp to either one.

What would you like to see in your waterfront area? What are you waterfront concerns? 
Describe how your neighborhood accesses your waterfront? What is your major concern? Explain your choice:  Water Quality, Habitat Restoration, Public Access, Sediment and Ports, or Public Education.  Please come and tell us what is important to you.

Below you can find information on each workshop.

Karen and Dart

Tuesday's Evening Meeting - At Owen Dolan Recreation Center  

The Bronx Council for Environmental Quality’s East Bronx Coastal Working Group and the New York City Parks Department invite the public to attend a workshop and conversation with NY-NJ Harbor Estuary Program, and invited speakers from the Long Island Sound Study, the NYC Parks Department Natural Areas Conservancy at the

Owen Dolen Recreation Center
1398 Lane Ave, Bronx, NY 10461 at 
E. Tremont and Westchester Avenues

Directions via Google Maps
Mass Transit: Exit IRT #6 at Westchester Sq/E. Tremont Exit
Bus: Exit Bx 31
Car: East Tremont at Lane and Westchester Avenues

Tuesday, July 12th @ 6:30pm-8:30pm
BCEQ’s East Bronx Costal Working Group meeting



Wednesday's Daytime Meeting - Manhattan College Kelly Student Commons

The Bronx Council for Environmental Quality and Manhattan College Department of Environmental Studies invite the public to attend a workshop and conversation about the Harlem and Hudson Rivers with the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary Program at the

Manhattan College Raymond Kelly Student Commons
4th floor rooms A & B
3830 Waldo Avenue, Bronx 10463 at Manhattan College Parkway & W 240th Street

Directions via Google Maps
Mass Transit: Exit IRT #1 at 238th Street
Bus: Exit Bx 9 at West 238th Street under #1 Train.
Car: 240th Street, Waldo Avenue and Manhattan College Parkway

Wednesday, July 13th @12:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Bronx Council for Environmental Quality meeting

Link to our website For registration and flyers

Our Next KRVC Festival



News From Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman


AG banner_NEW

Taking Down SAFE Act Violators


Attorney General Schneiderman and NYSP Superintendent George Beach charged three men on multiple weapons counts for illegally selling over 100 assault rifles. Each assault weapon is banned in New York under the 2013 Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act (SAFE Act). These charges are the result of a two-year investigation into the illegal sales of assault weapons in Western New York, and they are the largest enforcement action against violations of SAFE Act-related provisions. 

Protecting Workers’ Rights in the Job Market


The Attorney General continued his efforts to enforce violations of non-compete agreements, which are not permitted by New York law. Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches agreed to stop including non-compete agreements in their hiring packets as well as inform its franchises that non-compete agreements are unlawful and should be voided.

Combating Housing Discrimination


The Attorney General reached settlements with two real estate brokerage firms for unlawful housing discrimination. Through undercover testing, his office found that both firms were denying housing to prospective tenants with Living in Communities III rental assistance vouchers. Living in Communities (LINC) III, are government vouchers intended to assist homeless victims of domestic violence in securing safe housing. 

Disappointing Inaction on Immigration


The The Attorney General issued a statement following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on President Obama’s executive action on immigration:


"I am extremely disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to overrule the lower court's misguided preliminary injunction. President Obama’s executive actions, if allowed to go forward, would give millions of undocumented immigrants a measure of security, protecting them from deportation and allowing them to work legally and contribute fully to the country they call home.  Instead, they are now once again left in limbo. It’s important to recognize that President Obama was compelled to act in response to Congress’s repeated and inexcusable failure to meaningfully reform our nation’s immigration system. Instead of passing comprehensive immigration reform, many members of Congress continue fanning anti-immigrant flames, and in the process, fail immigrant communities and the nation at large. It is absolutely imperative that Congress finally end the gridlock and do its job by passing comprehensive immigration reform legislation as soon as possible. I urge all members of our nation’s immigrant community to stay strong. Today’s decision may be a setback, but we will continue fighting until all immigrants have the legal rights and economic opportunities they deserve.”


Have a question, comment, or complaint? Click here. You can also learn more about the various initiatives of the Attorney General's office by visiting our website atag.ny.gov. You can also call our General Hotline: 800-771-7755



Sunday, June 26, 2016

4th Annual Klein/Gjonaj International Music Festival



  The 4th Annual International State Senator Jeff Klein/Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj Music Festival was held yesterday in Loreto Park on Morris Park Avenue. As you will see in the photos below the music festival was a huge success as hundreds of people were in attendance.


Above - Just some of the performers pose with State Senator Jeff Klein and Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj.
Below - Some of the young performers.




Above - Bollywood and Salsa was on the stage as Bharati S. Kemraj and Manuel Diana perform.
Below - That is a photo of Senator Klein smiling as everyone enjoyed the Belly Dancing on stage.




Above and Below - Of course Senator Klein and Assemblyman Gjonaj spoke, but they were brief letting the hundreds of people enjoy more of their International Music Festival.






Congressman Charlie Rangel Good-Bye/Birthday Celebration at Tracy Towers





  As the sun set at Tracy Towers there was a Good-bye/Birthday celebration for retiring Congressman Charlie Rangel. Assemblyman Keith Wright (who Congressman Rangel has endorsed), Deputy Bronx BP Aurelia Greene, Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson, Jean Hill President of the Tracy Towers Tenant Association, and over 200 others which included several District Leaders from the congressional district were on hand to help Congressman Rangel celebrate his retirement and a belated birthday.


Above - Several elected and Democratic Party officials join with Congressman Rangel and District Leader Marcos Sierra who each hold one of the two cakes for the party.
Below - Tracy Towers Tenant Association President Jean Hill and Ms. Dolores Edwards received Volunteer Service Awards from Congressman Rangel and Assemblyman Keith Wright.




Above - Bronx Deputy BP Aurelia Greene with Congressman Rangel.
Below - Young Bronx Democrats Councilwoman with 83rd A.D. District Leader (and candidate for the 36th State Senate) Jamal Bailey, and 78th A.D. State Committeeman Kenny Agosto.




Above - Assemblyman Keith Wright who is the choice of Congressman rangel for the13th Congressional District greets some of the voters at the party.
Below - Even though his Assemblyman Jose Rivera has endorsed another candidate in the 13th Congressional race, 78th A.D. State Committeeman Kenny Agosto points to his choice to replace Charlie Rangel.







Longtime Harlem Elected Official to Endorse Espaillat for Congress



   A long time Harlem elected official will announce his support for State Senator Adriano Espaillat’s campaign for Congress before the launch of Espaillat’s GOTV Caravan. Espaillat will be joined by other elected officials, endorsers, union members, community leaders and supporters from across the District to caravan from 135th St. and Broadway to the Bronx.

That is how it was billed, and one might have thought that the long time Harlem elected official to announce his support for Espaillat was Charlie Rangel. This however is just who that long time Harlem leader was.

Senator Bill Perkins announced his support for Senator Adriano Espaillat in the race for Congress in New York’s 13th District. Perkins’ endorsement marks a significant development in the race and his support now means each state senator whose district overlaps with New York-13 has endorsed Senator Espaillat’s campaign. Senator Perkins, who hails from East Harlem represents Harlem, parts of Washington Heights and the Upper West Side.

  In his endorsement announcement, Perkins praised Espaillat, as someone tenants can always trust no matter the political price.

  State Senator Bill Perkins was the first candidate to drop out of the 13th Congressional race, and has joined others in the State Senate to endorse candidate Espaillat. 
  
  Current Congressman Charlie Rangel has endorsed Assemblyman Keith Wright for the 13th Congressional seat in the primary election to be held on Tuesday June 28th.

Friday, June 24, 2016

Espaillat Calls on DOJ to Provide Federal Election Monitors to Oversee June 28th Primary



 

Letter Calls for Action Following Pattern of BOE Voter Disenfranchisement


State Senator Adriano Espaillat called on the U.S. Department of Justice to provide federal election monitors in the congressional primary on June 28.

The letter addressed to Attorney General Loretta Lynch follows a similar call made last week by Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) requesting the U.S. Department of Justice provide federal election monitors following the purge of tens of thousands of Brooklyn voters in New York’s April presidential primary.

In the letter today he notes “The New York City Board of Elections has repeatedly failed to execute its primary responsibility to ensure all duly qualified voters can fully participate in our democracy.” Read the full letter below.


 
Full letter:
 
June 24, 2016
The Honorable Loretta E. Lynch
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Lynch,  
I am writing following rampant voter irregularities in the April primary and request that you assign federal election monitors to oversee the congressional primary on Tuesday, June 28, in New York’s 13th District, for which I am a candidate.  
For almost 50 years since the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and its periodic renewals, the federal government has ensured equity at the ballot box throughout our nation. Until it was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2013, Section 4 of the voting rights act required review by the Justice Department before election procedures, polling sites, and district boundaries could be changed. These protections extended to several states and municipalities, including New York’s 13th Congressional District in the Bronx and Manhattan.
As a resident of this District, my neighbors and I need the return of these protections.
Just ask the voters in the 79th election district in northern Manhattan’s 71st Assembly District, who have voted in four different poll sites in as many elections, or the 69th ED in the 72nd AD, where voters bounced around between two poll sites over several election cycles. Or ask the 120,000 overwhelmingly Latino voters purged from Brooklyn’s voter rolls—an egregious example of voter disenfranchisement. The New York City Board of Elections has repeatedly failed to execute its primary responsibility to ensure all duly qualified voters can fully participate in our democracy. With the BOE undertaking no significant reforms since the voter purge in April’s presidential primary, voters across the 13th District and beyond, deserve federal oversight.
I am not alone in my concern. Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez has already voiced similar concerns about voter disenfranchisement in New York’s 7th District. As a candidate in a congressional district where 55% of residents are Latino, this disenfranchisement is especially worrisome. 
These pervasive challenges make it difficult to have confidence that voters will not face barriers at the ballot box on Election Day. The most basic tenet of democracy is the right to vote, and I believe it is essential for the Department of Justice to assign federal election monitors in the 13th congressional district.
Sincerely, 
Adriano Espaillat

EDITOR'S NOTE:

This is a noble gesture by State Senator Espaillat, but why was it not done in part last week when Rep. VelazQuez sent in her request. 
This only appears to be a gimmick to try to get more votes.