Friends and Neighbors,
It has been a busy fall and I am so proud of our community for the work we have done. We had successful back-to-school giveaways across the district where we had hundreds of children and their parents come out to receive free backpacks and school supplies provided by my office and our community partners.
And we closed out the month of October with a slew of successful Halloween events like the one at MS80 where we were joined by more than 300 students and their parents who came out to show off their costumes.
These events are what make our dynamic community one of the best in New York City. Thank you to everyone who joined us and a debt of gratitude to our community partners without whom these events would not be possible.
The Community That Comes Together, Stays Together:
As we know, some in our community need our help and my office has been hard at work holding free food giveaways throughout our district. I know firsthand what it is like to be food insecure. It is why I work hard to organize multiple free food giveaways each month.
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As we begin the month of November, I am proud to say that my community office, in partnership with community organizations and numerous elected officials, will be holding a Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway. We are still in the midst of finalizing the details and ask that you pay attention to our social media and future correspondence about dates, locations, and times.
Honoring another important element of the season, I’m also proud to announce that our office will serve as a location for you to drop off your gently worn winter coats to be donated for those in need. As you clean your closets and come across a coat you no longer wear or coats that your kids have grown out of, please consider donating them to our office and our office will distribute them to those who can use them.
Housing Assistance Services
The first Monday of every month, my office hosts a housing specialist through our partners the Neighborhood Initiatives Development Corporation (NIDC). This service is by appointment only and is for housing related issues ONLY. If you’d like to make an appointment, please reach out to our community office at 718-409-0109.
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Smoke Shops
In the month of September, I along with my colleagues in the City Council and in partnership with the New York City Sheriff’s Office, Department of Worker and Consumer Protection, and NYPD, began an ambitious task of holding illegal smoke shops in our district accountable for their blatant circumvention of the law. To date, we have successfully completed three raids that have resulted in numerous arrests, hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, and many many pounds of illegal tobacco and cannabis products being seized.
My office teamed up with Councilmember Marjorie Velazquez's office to hold a town hall on illegal smoke shops. There, the community heard from our offices, the Sheriff’s Office, the Department of Worker and Consumer Protection, and the Office of Cannabis Management. Like you, we too are frustrated that each time these agencies conduct a raid, these shops are reopened within hours.
To find a more efficient and effective way to combat these illegal shops infecting our communities, I am leading a bi-partisan coalition of Assembly colleagues from across the state urging the Executive Director of the Office of Cannabis Management to provide temporary authority to close illegal smoke shops while they move through the judicial process. If we are serious about paving the way for legal and licensed cannabis shops, we must arm agencies like the Sheriff’s Office with the necessary tools to close illegal shops for more than a few hours.
While the start of the 2024 legislative session is fast approaching the work in Albany does not stop. Bills are signed into law, new laws take effect, grant funding is made available and the People's business continues.
Co-sponsored Bills Signed Into Law
On October 25, 2023 bill A4942 was signed. Named “Mel's Law,” in honor of Melquain Jatelle-Anderson, a CUNY student from Brooklyn who was tragically shot and killed at a bus stop in 2017, it will require the SUNY and CUNY boards of trustees and boards of trustees of community colleges to establish a policy for awarding posthumous degrees.
It also requires that such policy waive any remaining credits for enrolled matriculated students who die and would otherwise have been eligible for graduation had they been able to complete their academic career.
Additionally on September 6, 2023 bill A154A was signed. This law adds wage theft to the type of activities included in the crime of larceny. It will provide prosecutors with the tools to pursue stronger penalties against employers who engage in wage theft, whose victims often are vulnerable members of society.
Both laws shall take effect immediately and I am proud to have co-sponsored these important bills in the People's House.
New Laws Taking Effect – November 2023
November 1, 2023 – This law requires each state board to maintain a website that includes public information, including board membership, contact information and meeting minutes and agendas.
November 3, 2023 – This law authorizes community behavioral health clinics to provide coordinated, comprehensive behavioral health care, including mental health and addiction services, primary care screening and case management services.
November 10, 2023 – Directs the Department of Veterans' Services to develop a searchable database of veterans memorials located within the state and authorizes public requests for information from any county, city, town, or village desiring to have a memorial located within their municipality listed within the veterans memorial registry
November 24, 2023 – Provides that every public utility shall provide the commissioner of public service an affidavit annually, that no call centers or other facilities providing customer service have been closed without notice and hearing before the commission.
November 26, 2023 – Requires information concerning services for human trafficking victims to be posted in lactation rooms in Port of New York Authority terminals.
November 28, 2023 – Include “deep fake” images created by digitization within the definition of unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image.
Grants Action News
NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports, Harm Reduction Services Funding
This funding will support community-based organizations in enhancing harm reduction services. The focus areas include:
- Increasing access to treatment and recovery support reducing the stigma associated with substance use and supporting harm reduction strategies
- Providing overdose prevention and education
- Providing outreach and engagement services
- Building connections for individuals using substances or with substance use disorder (SUD) by providing overdose education information, counseling and health education
- Referring individuals to treatment for transmissible infections such as HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and viral hepatitis.
- Encouraging individuals to take steps to reduce the negative personal and public health impacts of substance use or misuse
■ Eligible Applicants: Not-for-profit entities
■ Deadline: December 4, 2023, 4:30 PM ET
■ Total Funding: $4.5 million
■ Award Ceiling: $100,000
■ Number of Awards: Up to 15
■ Contact: Wendy Fioravanti
■ Contact Email: OASAS.sm.Grants@oasas.ny.gov
■ Link to Additional Information: https://oasas.ny.
NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH), Enhanced Housing for Young Adults with Serious Mental Illness Funding
This funding will be used for the development and operation of seven Enhanced Young Adult Housing programs located throughout New York State for young adults with a serious mental illness (SMI). Each opportunity consists of apartment treatment units (five or ten) and twenty scattered-site supportive housing units.
The target population for all seven programs is young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 with serious mental illness who are coming from an institutional setting or community residence, leaving foster care or are homeless. Some individuals may have a co-occurring substance use disorder (SUD) and be at various stages of recovery.
The Enhanced Young Adult Housing program is intended to improve access to behavioral health and community resources; pursue vocational/educational goals; and develop real-world skills.
■ Eligible Applicants: Not-for-profit entities
■ Deadline: November 16, 2023, 2 PM ET
■ Contact: Jeremy Rossello
■ Contact Email: jeremy.rossello@omh.ny.gov
■ Links to Additional Information:
1) https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/
2) https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/
If you have any questions, comments or would like to discuss any legislative matters in more detail please contact our Albany office at 518-455-5844.
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