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Sunday, July 3, 2022
Volunteer with Van Cortlandt Park Alliance in July!
Sign up for Summer Art Classes at BRAC
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NYS Office of the Comptroller - DiNapoli Releases Bond Calendar for Third Quarter
Tentative Schedule Includes $8.69 Billion of New Money and Refunding Debt Sales
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced a tentative schedule of planned bond sales for New York State, New York City and their major public authorities during the third quarter of 2022.
The planned sales of $8.69 billion include $7.19 billion of new money and $1.5 billion of refundings and reofferings as follows:
- $7.99 billion scheduled for July, $6.49 billion of which is for new money purposes and $1.5 billion of which is for refunding purposes;
- $700 million scheduled for August, all of which is for new money purposes; and
- no issuances have been scheduled for the month of September at this time.
The anticipated sales in the third quarter compare to past planned sales of $4.99 billion during the second quarter of 2022, and $6.75 billion during third quarter of 2021.
The State Comptroller’s Office chairs the Securities Coordinating Committee, which was created by Gubernatorial Executive Order primarily to coordinate the borrowing activities of the state, New York City, and their respective public authorities. All borrowings are scheduled at the request of the issuer and done pursuant to their borrowing programs.
A new schedule is released every quarter and updated as necessary. The schedule is released by the committee to assist participants in the municipal bond market. It is contingent upon execution of all project approvals required by law. The collection and release of this information by the Office of the State Comptroller is not intended as an endorsement of the proposed issuances it contains, many of which will be subject to approval by the Office of the State Comptroller.
The prospective third quarter calendar includes anticipated bond sales by the following issuers: the New York City Transitional Finance Authority, the New York State Energy & Research Development Authority, the New York State Thruway Authority, the New York Transportation Development Corporation, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority.
Calendar:
Securities Coordinating Committee (SCC) Forward Issuance Bond Calendar
Saturday, July 2, 2022
Affordable Housing Lottery Launches For 310 Grand Concourse In Mott Haven, Bronx
Residences come equipped with air conditioning, dishwasher, intercoms, name-brand kitchen appliances, countertops, and finishes, and smart controls for heating and cooling. Amenities include a gym, a media room, virtual doorman, a shared laundry room, package lockers, party room, bike storage lockers, a garage with electric vehicle charging stations, and a rooftop terrace.
At 80 percent of the AMI, there are four studios with a monthly rent of $1,576 for incomes ranging from $56,983 to $85,440; seven one-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $1,681 for incomes ranging from $60,995 to $96,080; and 13 two-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $2,002 for incomes ranging from $73,098 to $115,280.
Prospective renters must meet income and household size requirements to apply for these apartments. Applications must be postmarked or submitted online no later than August 24, 2022.
WILLIAMS ADVANCES ABORTION RIGHTS LEGISLATION IN CITY COUNCIL AS STATE TAKES UP EQUALITY AMENDMENT
As the state legislature votes on the Equality Amendment to advance reproductive rights in the state constitution, and in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams testified in a City Council hearing of the Committee on Women and Gender Equity. He called for immediate passage of several pieces of legislation aimed at protecting abortion rights on all levels of government.
“Institutions in our country are failing people everywhere, especially those who will be directly affected by this assault on reproductive rights with the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “As elected officials, we owe it to New Yorkers to turn our words into action, ensuring that our city will safeguard reproductive rights for all, and keep our state and federal governments accountable to this as well.”
The Public Advocate asked the City Council to quickly pass two pieces of legislation essential to protecting practitioners and patients of reproductive healthcare in New York City. The first bill, Int. 0466, which he co-prime sponsors alongside Council Member Tiffany Cabán, would "prohibit city agencies from using city resources to detain individuals who performed or aided with abortions as well as prohibit city agencies from cooperating with out-of-state entities related to abortions performed in New York state.” Next, Int. 0475 would “allow a person to bring a claim of interference with medical care when a lawsuit is commenced against them,” for accessing healthcare that is legal in New York City – so anyone who is sued for terminating a pregnancy is able to bring a claim of interference.
New York City must always remain a safe place for anyone seeking access to abortion, so the Public Advocate also pushed for two resolutions. The first, Res. 0197, “declares New York City a safe city for all those in need of abortion-related care,” sending a strong and resounding message that the city will remain a safe haven for anyone seeking reproductive healthcare. Additionally, Res. 0245 calls on the U.S. Senate to pass, and President Biden to sign, the Women’s Health Protection Act; this bill federally protects the right to abortion care.
This advocacy is part of a larger legislative push by the Public Advocate to enshrine and defend reproductive rights. Yesterday, at a hearing of the Committee on Civil and Human Rights, the Public Advocate emphasized the need to pass legislation from Council Member Shahana Hanif, of which he is the co-prime sponsor, that would ensure that all New Yorkers seeking reproductive healthcare or employed at a reproductive health care facility are aware of their rights and remedies under New York law.
“We have an obligation to secure rights for our communities, an obligation I know we all are committed to uphold,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “At the same time, we have an obligation to inform our communities of their rights. Even before the Supreme Court’s decision, access to reproductive health information has proved a barrier to proper care for New Yorkers. Without proper access to information, our communities cannot exercise the rights they have fought for.”
Read the Public Advocate’s testimony from today’s hearing of the Committee on Women and Gender Equity, and yesterday’s hearing of the Committee on Civil and Human Rights.
NYS Office of the Comptroller DiNapoli: Too Many New Yorkers Still Without High-Speed Broadband Access
Audit Finds Empire State Development Fell Short Meeting Programs Goals
State Comptroller Cautions Against Repeating Mistakes as State Engages in New Effort to Provide Equitable Access to Broadband
“The New NY Broadband Program did not meet its goal to close the internet gap because of poor planning and execution,” DiNapoli said. “As my office’s audit found, the program took years longer than promised and supplied many communities with slow, satellite-based internet that is inadequate for today’s needs. The state is now embarking on another effort to provide all New Yorkers with broadband access called ConnectALL and it is my hope it learns from the issues we found in this audit so they are not repeated.”
The program was created in 2015 to make high-speed (100 megabits per second or Mbps) broadband service “universal” in all but the most remote areas of the state by 2018. ESD’s Broadband Program Office (BPO) manages the program, which was funded with $735 million in mostly state funds, but also included private and federal matching dollars.
The money was targeted to bring access to 255,994 unserved and underserved households. Due to delays, as of March 2021, not all of those households had received access to service. Further, nearly one-third of the households that were connected to broadband — 78,690 households in remote areas — were given broadband access using satellite technology, which has a maximum download speed of 25 Mbps and whose signal can be weakened by rain or snow. In most cases that speed is not adequate for today’s commonplace needs, and especially so in homes or businesses with multiple devices connected to the internet that are being used at once.
Although many households were connected, many still were not by the announced 2018 completion deadline, with more than half of the program’s 126 projects delayed by as long as 48 months.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fact that many New Yorkers lacked access to high-speed broadband or found it too expensive. It also highlighted the inequity of access, with Black and Hispanic households being less likely to have high-speed internet service than white households.
As New York continues to rebuild from the pandemic’s impact, nine projects under the program still await completion, including four affecting 12,400 households that won’t have access until December 2022.
In addition to the projects in the works, the BPO reported that 14,000 New York households remained unserved or underserved for broadband access as of March 2021. BPO stated that most of these were downstate households that had been mistakenly deemed to have access based on Federal Communications Commission (FCC) data.
The FCC relies on self-reported information from Internet service providers (ISPs) regarding where they have completed access. But ISPs may report that an entire census block is served by broadband even if it only offers a connection of 25 Mbps service to one location on that block. In remote areas, a census block can encompass hundreds of square miles. As a result, BPO’s estimate that 98.95% of New York has access to high-speed broadband internet is an overstatement. An October 2021 estimate by BroadbandNow found that FCC data for New York was off by 20% and that 1.3 million New Yorkers lacked access to high-speed Internet.
The audit noted that in September 2021, the Executive announced the launch of a mapping survey in the state to examine the quality and availability of broadband access. In January 2022, the Executive announced a $1 billion ConnectALL public-private initiative to deliver affordable broadband to millions of New Yorkers.
DiNapoli’s audit recommended that ESD and BPO:
- Work with ISPs to complete outstanding projects as soon as possible;
- Use a disclaimer when reporting the percentage of broadband availability in the state to reflect limitations in the data’s accuracy; and
- Ensure that future state-funded projects are based on accurate broadband availability data; and that technologies that provide high-speed, reliable internet are used.
In its response, ESD disagreed with some of the findings of the audit. The agency’s response is available in the audit.
Assemblymember Nathalia Fernandez - Community Shredding Event
Greetings, On Friday, July 8th between 11:00am - 1pm, our office will be hosting a Community Shredding Event in partnership with the Department of Sanitation at the 80th Assembly District Office: 2018 Williamsbridge Road, 10461 Our office invites you all to come out and shred as many documents as needed on a first come, first serve basis! We appreciate your time and efforts in advance!
Best Regards, New York State Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez  |
MAYOR ADAMS’ STATEMENT ON GOVERNOR HOCHUL SIGNING HISTORIC GUN SAFETY LEGISLATION
New York City Mayor Eric Adams today released the following statement on New York Governor Kathy Hochul signing landmark gun safety legislation in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen:
“I am grateful to Governor Hochul for convening an extraordinary session to address gun safety legislation and swiftly signing this bill into law. We need every level of government and both sides of the aisle working together to end the scourge of gun violence facing our city and country, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reckless decision.
“While the Supreme Court may have opened a river leading to the sea of gun violence, this bill will dam other rivers by creating common-sense objective criteria for licensing eligibility, requiring completion of a firearms safety training course, identifying sensitive locations where concealed carry is illegal, and strengthening the existing laws on background checks.
“More work remains to be done to save lives, and my team will continue to examine additional measures we can take. I look forward to continued partnership with federal, state, and local leaders as we fight to get guns off our streets and keep people safe.”