In the pouring rain State Senator Jeff Klein and Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda announced new legislation they will propose in the state senate and state assembly that would stiffen jail sentences for gunmen who injure a child or discharge a firearm near playgrounds and schools called "Luisito's Law".
This legislation has come about after 3 year old Luis Oyola Jr was shot by a stray bullet while playing in Vidalia Park. Luckily, the brave toddler survived the August 30, 2013 shooting after being rushed from the park to St. Barnabas Hospital.
Klein and Assemblyman Sepulveda, who are proposing legislation that would toughen minimum sentencing requirements for anyone who discharges a weapon near a playground, children’s park or school and/or injures a child under 10-years-old. Under “Luisito’s Law,” named for Oyola, Jr., who was struck by a stray bullet in the arm, a class E felony assault charge would become a higher class D felony. The little boy's shooter would have faced a minimum 5-to-25 years behind bars if this law existed instead of 1 ½-to-4 years on an assault charge.
Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda lives two blocks away from where the shooting took place. He said that he and his wife often bring their two year old son to this park where the shooting occurred. Senator Klein said that he was not going to allow our playgrounds to become shooting galleries.
On hand was Councilwoman Maria Del Carmen Arroyo who said that she had just picked up this area in the latest redistricting, and agrees 100 percent with Senator Klein and Assemblyman Sepulveda on this legislation. Also speaking was Councilman Fernando Cabrera who chairs the City Council Juvenile Justice Committee, and Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. Senator Diaz said that he will co-sponser this legislation in the State Senate. Diaz made it a point to add that more people like Senator Jeff Klein are needed in the State Senate.
Left - Senator Klein opens the discussion as to why "Luisito's Law" was being proposed.
Right - Assemblyman Sepulveda is saying how he lives only two blocks from the park where the shooting took place, and that he and his wife bring their two year old son to this same park to enjoy.
Left - As he stands on the side, the grandmother of Luis Oyola Jr. tells of the nightmare that she went through. She hopes that this legislation will prevent others from going through the same horror.
Right - Councilman Cabrera speaks about the importance of the law, and that the parks and playgrounds need to be safe for our children.
9 comments:
If retired politician Oliver Koppell decides to run against incumbent State Seator Jeffrey Klein, someone should point out that as a NY City Councilman, Mr. Koppell presided over an office where aides conducted campaign work on government time.
Here’s how the Riverdale Press reported on it:
The Riverdale Press, March 19, 2009
GOVERNMENT TIME
One of City Councilman Oliver Koppell’s opponents has accused him of using government resources to campaign.
Tony Cassino, the former Community Board 8 chairman, issued a press release Monday stating that one of Mr. Koppell’s council staffers sent a mass e-mail announcing the start of the councilman’s campaign. The message went out on March 5, and mentioned an event that weekend. The e-mail, to Mr. Koppell’s City Council staff and to reporters, was sent from a City Council account.
“For someone running on 40 years of experience as a politician, this looks like an amateur operation,” Mr. Cassino said. He accused Mr. Koppell of using his incumbency, and taxpayer money, to campaign …
READ MORE:
http://www.riverdalepress.com/stories/Government-time,40410
I am no fan of the Riverdale Press - which is nowhere near the paper it once was.
I have a now over two year old column in the Bronx News titled "The Riverdale Report" to inform the Riverdale community of what the other so-called local papers do not.
As for former Councilman Oliver Koppell - I wish him well in his retirement from politics. I will support Senator Jeff Klein should there be a primary.
A five-year old story in which no charges were brought, or even an answer given does not weigh much.
I could add more, but I choose not to.
I have placed the comment up, but in the future please have some credible evidence.
I'm sure that Klein already knows all about this charge against Koppell since Klein and Cassino know each other. I remember that Cassino and his club endorsed Klein and had fundraisers for him when he first ran for the NYS Senate.
Hey Mr. Press,
There was an answer given. If you bothered to read the REST of newspaper article, you would have seen that Oliver Koppell acknowledged that Anthony Perez Cassino's accusation was TRUE.
So here is the second part of the article:
___________
“Quite frankly, it was a mistake,” Mr. Koppell, who served a short stint as state attorney general in the early 1990s, said Tuesday.
“Many of my staff do volunteer but not during office time … it’s embarrassing, but what can I do? I can’t change the past.”
He said he has “chastised” the staffer who sent the e-mail, and has already admonished staffers many times not to campaign from his office.
Mr. Koppell’s campaign leases office space at his wife Lorraine Coyle Koppell’s firm on Riverdale Avenue, he said, and all campaigning should be done from there.
Could the first comment mean that state Senate Co-Majority Leader Jeff Klein is already doing opposition research on Oliver Koppell?
You are 100 PERCENT correct - If I read the Riverdale Press, which I don't.
Well, look at this:
Crain's New York, Feb. 23, 2014
DEMS' TARGET ONE OF THEIR OWN
One man may stand between the state Senate's Democratic minority and an entirely blue state government: Bronx Sen. Jeff Klein (pictured), whose four-member Independent Democratic Conference runs the chamber with 29 Senate Republicans and Sen. Simcha Felder, D-Brooklyn.
If Mr. Klein were to lose his re-election bid this year, some believe his breakaway conference would fold in with other Democrats, giving the party control of the 63-person chamber. Although ousting the powerful Mr. Klein would be difficult, the possible candidacy of Oliver Koppell, a former state attorney general, assemblyman and city councilman, is ...
READ MORE:
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140223/BLOGS04/140229957/dems-target-is-one-of-their-own#
The Crains article is old news. It left out the fact that Senator Klein has considered to counter the Koppell threat with a candidate against current Democratic State Senate Conference leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, that being the very popular former Yonkers Assemblyman Richard Brodsky.
Maybe Koppell was wearing a wire all those years.
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