Dinowitz Digest: Courts Overturn Redistricting, Shred Days Announced, & More

 

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What's Happening in the 81st Assembly District?

New York's Highest Court Rules Against House and State Senate Redistricting Maps Spring 2022 Shred Day Dates Announced Assembly Passes Pro-Climate Bills for Earth Day, Including Moratorium on Certain Cryptocurrency Mining Operations MTA Bringing Electric Buses to Kingsbridge Bus Depot Local Update: Celebrating Earth Day in Norwood Albany Update: Pushing to Pass the Adult Survivor's Act REMINDER: MetroCard Van Services in Woodlawn and Central Riverdale Next on Tuesday, May 31

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New York's Highest Court Rules Against House and State Senate Redistricting Maps

This week, the highest court in New York State (the Court of Appeals) ruled 4-3 to overturn district lines that had been approved for the House of Representatives and the State Senate. At this time, the approved Assembly district lines are still in place. This decision, which I believe is fundamentally flawed and establishes an impossible standard to meet for the purposes of redistricting, is highly disruptive to the current primary election calendar. The current date for state primary elections in New York is June 28, but it seems almost certain that there will need to be a later election date for State Senate and House primary elections. It is not known at this time whether a later election date would include all of the positions that are currently scheduled for June 28, or if there would be two separate primary elections. For context, it is my understanding that the primary basis for the Court of Appeals decision to overturn district lines is that there was a procedural flaw in how the new district maps were approved. In addition, the House lines were rejected as an alleged gerrymander. Specifically, they faulted the Legislature for not voting down a second proposal from the Independent Redistricting Commission as is required in our state constitution. However, the IRC failed to produce a second set of maps that could even be voted down — with Republicans refusing to even attend the last meeting before the legal deadline to make such a proposal. I am deeply angry that our state courts seem to be enabling Republicans to intentionally derail our redistricting process by refusing to do their jobs. I believe that the Republican plan all along has been to obstruct the independent redistricting process with the specific goal of having the redistricting process controlled by conservative judges in the least populated parts of our state. As of today, elections for statewide office, Assembly, judges, and party positions are still scheduled for June 28. There will certainly be action taken to resolve the unknown questions, specifically about what changes need to be made to the primary calendar. For now, please stay tuned for updates.

Spring 2022 Shred Day Dates Announced

I am pleased to share that we will be bringing back free on-site paper shredding services to our community this spring. These events are self-service. Please mark the following dates in your calendars if you are interested: KINGSBRIDGE When: Sunday, May 15, 2022 from 10am to 1pm Where: My District Office (3107 Kingsbridge Avenue) Shareable flyer available here NORWOOD When: Saturday, May 21, 2022 from 10am to 1pm Where: TBD (Gun Hill Road vicinity) WAKEFIELD When: Saturday, June 4, 2022 from 10am to 1pm Where: TBD RIVERDALE When: Sunday, June 12, 2022 from 10am to 1pm Where: TBD (Johnson Avenue and West 235th Street vicinity) We kindly ask that you keep the following guidelines in mind for our shredding events: • Please be prepared to handle your own items to place them into the bins for shredding. • Please remove any items that should not be shredded prior to your arrival at the shredding truck (ex: batteries, electronics, plastics, metals - paperclips, staples, binder clips are okay). • If you have more than three bags/boxes of material to shred, please be mindful of those waiting behind you and get back in line to shred any remaining items. Stay tuned for more details about where the shredding events in Norwood, Wakefield, and Riverdale will be located.

Assembly Passes Pro-Climate Bills for Earth Day, Including Moratorium on Certain Cryptocurrency Mining Operations

This week, we took another step forward in protecting our climate in the spirit of Earth Day. There were nine bills that were included in the Earth Day package of legislation, ranging from land and water conservation to instituting a two-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining operations that use proof of work authentication methods. The bills we passed accomplish the following: • Establish a goal to conserve 30% of the land and inland waters in the state by 2030 in order to help protect against climate change and prevent mass extinctions (A5390-B). Currently, New York conserves or protects 19% of our land; • Require the NYS Office of General Services to begin to purchase zero-emission vehicles for use in the state fleet and facilitate the construction of electric vehicle infrastructure across the state (A2412-B); • Update the responsibilities of the Building Codes Council and increase appliance energy efficiency standards (A8143-A); • Require the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to factor in disproportionate or inequitable pollution burdens on disadvantaged communities when renewing or issuing new environmental permits (A2103-D); • Direct the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to prepare a report identifying dormant or decommissioned electric generating sites that could be suitable for renewable energy development and energy storage opportunities (A340-B); • Establish an electric landscaping rebate program for equipment like leaf blowers, weed whackers, and lawn mowers (A8327-A); • Allow renewable energy customers to donate bill credits from the production of excess energy from residential equipment such as home solar panels to low-income families (A7703); • Require carpet manufacturers to submit a plan to the DEC by the end of 2023 to establish a carpet collection program in order to reduce the disposal of unwanted carpets in landfills (A9279); • Establish a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining operations that use proof of work authentication methods to validate blockchain transaction and require a comprehensive environmental impact study of cryptocurrency mining operations (A7389-C). I want to take a moment to address the legislation on cryptocurrency mining operations, as I know that many New Yorkers are interested in the core concept of decentralized currency systems such as Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency. The moratorium we established does not restrict all types of cryptocurrency mining in New York (there are over sixteen different methodologies to authenticate information contained within new blocks on a blockchain for cryptocurrency), but it does restrict the energy-intensive proof of work model. Essentially, this type of cryptocurrency mining is highly energy-intensive because it requires immense amounts of computing power. I am admittedly not an expert in the nuts and bolts of blockchain technology, but my understanding is that fundamentally this proof of work model requires individuals or companies to solve highly complex mathematical equations in order to authenticate a transaction, which in turn earns them credit (which is the valuable component of cryptocurrency). Because this process is designed to not be solvable by computer program more efficiently than brute force guesswork, companies are increasingly using massive computers to increase their earning potential — a process which demands huge amounts of energy. I am proud to support each of these bills, and I believe we need to continue taking big steps forward to address our climate crisis. I have been working hard to enact Green Transit, Green Jobs legislation in New York which would require all public transit agencies to purchase only zero-emission buses starting in 2029 while creating incentives for those buses to be manufactured right here in New York. We also need to continue to work to pass the Climate and Community Investment Act, which would impose a carbon tax on the small number of industrial polluters who account for a huge amount of our greenhouse gas emissions.

MTA Bringing Electric Buses to Kingsbridge Bus Depot

Last week, the MTA announced that the first 60 new electric buses will begin arriving later this year at six bus depots throughout the City. This is a good step forward to achieve the MTA's goal of full electrification by 2040, and is a significant improvement over the current 15 electric buses that the MTA has in operation now. Some of these buses will be working out of the Kingsbridge Bus Depot, serving the Bx7, Bx10, and Bx20 among other routes. This is a very exciting announcement, not only because we will be getting new buses to serve our community but also because emissions from buses contribute to high asthma and air pollution rates in communities like ours. I carry legislation which would codify the MTA's commitment to zero-emission buses into state law, while also expanding this commitment to every public transit agency in the state. Electric vehicle technology, as well as other forms of zero-emission vehicles such as hydrogen, is rapidly developing. As large institutions such as the MTA continue to invest in electric buses, costs will continue to go down and this type of technology will become more accessible to smaller agencies outside of New York City. This is an important impact because approximately one-third of our state's greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector - and 75% of the MTA's bus depots are located in low-to-moderate income communities. This is an issue of environmental justice as well as climate change mitigation, and I am pleased to see the MTA continuing to move forward with their commitment to electrification of their bus fleet.

Around the Community: Celebrating Earth Day in Norwood

I was pleased to support a celebration of Earth Day this year in Norwood. The celebration was hosted by Jerome Gun Hill BID, an organization which I have regularly secured funding to host this event and similar events in the Norwood community. This event featured wonderful Bronx-based businesses, such as Bronx Bound Books, and it was a wonderful event on a beautiful Earth Day! Pictured above helping a young Bronxite build a recycled robot at an activity hosted by PlaygroundNYC, with a representative from PlaygroundNYC and the Executive Director of the Jerome Gun Hill BID Jennifer Tausig, and with Latanya DeVaughn who operates the mobile bookstore Bronx Bound Books.

Local Update: Asking for Rules to be Enforced on Mobile Car Washes Along Webster Avenue

This week, I attended a walkthrough of Webster Avenue, where there seems to be a proliferation of mobile car washes that are operating. The walkthrough was attended by Council Member Eric Dinowitz, Community Board 12, the Mayor's Office, NYPD, the Department of Sanitation, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and other interested community members. We have a vibrant city, full of entrepreneurial spirit and I wholeheartedly support our ambitious neighbors who take the initiative to start their own businesses. However, we live in a city with eight and a half million people in it and in a metropolitan region with nearly twenty million people. It is necessary to have rules about how and where businesses can operate safely and in a way that is respectful of neighbors and nearby businesses. We need the City to step up and address the proliferation of unregulated, mobile car washes along Webster Avenue.

Albany Update: Pushing to Pass the Adult Survivor's Act

Several years ago, the Legislature passed a bill known as the Child Victims Act. This legislation allowed survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits against their abuser by creating a temporary one-year filing period outside of the statute of limitations. This legislation was motivated by extensive research showing that survivors of abuse often take years to process what happened to them, and just because someone wasn't ready to seek justice within the statute of limitations — doesn't meant that they don't deserve justice. I strongly support a similar bill known as the Adult Survivors Act (A648). This bill would create a one-year window for adult survivors of sexual offenses to bring civil claims. The old statutes of limitations for filing claims were grossly insufficient, not only for sexual offenses committed against a child but also for those committed against an adult. This week, I attended a rally in support of this legislation as my colleagues and I work to get it across the finish line before the end of session in June. We were joined by advocates for survivors of sexual assault such as Safe Horizon as well as adult survivors of sexual assault or abuse. I will continue to advocate among my colleagues to get this legislation passed in the Assembly, so that all New Yorkers can pursue the justice they deserve.