SENATOR RIVERA PASSES HIS FIRST BILL AS STATE SENATOR

S. 5734A CHARITABLE BAIL ORGANIZATION LEGISLATION PASSES UNANIMOUSLY

Senator Gustavo Rivera (Bronx) passed legislation today in the New York State that will allow charitable organizations to post bail. This legislation he introduced was inspired by a pilot program that set out to find a solution for individuals who cannot afford to post bail and has proved successful in Bronx county.

“Thousands of New Yorkers are held in jail each year because they simply cannot afford to post a few hundred dollars bail,” said Senator Rivera. “Every day, people plead guilty to crimes, regardless of guilt, because they can’t afford bail and just want to return home to their families and avoid time spent in jail. For individuals like the residents of the 33^rd Senate District that I represent, even just a few days of incarceration can have devastating consequences: job loss, eviction, and for non-citizens, deportation.”   

"For far too long, the poorest of the poor have been held in jail without a conviction for any crime because they couldn't afford even small amounts of bail,” said David Feige of the Bronx Freedom Fund. “Allowing charitable organizations like the Bronx Freedom Fund to post that bail is a giant step towards evening the scales and recognizing that pretrial justice shouldn't be about the size of your wallet."

"We thank and congratulate Senator Rivera for his tremendous leadership on legislation whose positive impact will be felt not only by thousands of Bronx residents but throughout New York State,” said Robin Steinberg, Executive Director, The Bronx Defenders.

S. 5734A is based on a pilot project in the Bronx where a fund called the Bronx Freedom Fund was created to allow charitable organizations to post small amount of bail for individuals who could not afford it.  The result was that 95% of people bailed out returned to every court date, and 50% of clients had their cases dismissed or had cases not result in criminal convictions.  This legislation was also passed in the Assembly, where it was brought to the floor by Assembly Member Jeff Aubry (Queens )passed A. 8158 in the State Assembly by 145 to 0.

***STATEMENT***  ON  CITYTIME

In response to questions about today’s additional criminal charges relating to CityTime, New York City Comptroller John C. Liu issued the following statement:

“Today’s announcement unfortunately sheds more light on just how flawed the management of the CityTime project was,�  said Comptroller John C. Liu. “According to the indictment ‘virtually the entirety of the more than $600 million that was paid to SAIC was tainted directly or indirectly, by fraud.’ New Yorker’s can hope that this will eventually lead to restitution for the hundreds of millions of dollars paid on an out-of-control project, years overdue and, ten-fold over budget.

Comptroller John C. Liu’s Record on CityTime

Jan. 1, 2010 Comptroller John C. Liu takes office, and makes the elimination of fraud, waste and abuse his top priority.                                                                                                                          Feb. 9, 2010 Rejected additional contract related to CityTime.
Feb. 25, 2010 Initiates audit of CityTime Project Oversight.
Mar. 3, 2010 Liu calls on Mayor to freeze all payments associated with CityTime; appoints new representative from the Comptroller’s Office to OPA.
Sept. 28, 2010 Liu and Mayor Bloomberg announce agreement to finish installation of CityTime at no additional cost.
 

How Come That Kid Who Lives Outside New York City Got My Seat In The Charter School?

   A little known fact was brought out last night about the two New Visions Charter High Schools that will replace the current Kennedy High School starting next school year. Since the two new charter schools are SUNY authorized the admission criteria if different than that of a regular New York City run public school. Of the seats available in each new charter school first preference is given to current students, second preference is given to siblings of those enrolled students, next comes students from the local school district, after that comes students from the entire city school district, and finally all students from any where in New York State have preference on any seats that may still be open.

   Since the application process is over for the two new charter high schools it was reported by New Visions how students were chosen for the two new schools. Since more students applied than there were seats the admission process criteria went into effect. Since this is the first year of the two new charter schools there were no returning students, and there were no siblings of enrolled students either. All district 10 students who applied were given seats, and since there was more demand than seats the remaining seats went to students from the other school districts in the Bronx and other boroughs outside of the Bronx. 

  In a particularly strange note New Visions said that several applicants for seats lived in the city of Yonkers, but because all seats were taken by New York City students the Yonkers residents were not accepted. When questioned the SUNY representative confirmed that according to New York State Charter School regulations it would be possible for out of city students (anywhere in New York State) to attend New York City charter schools.  The City of Yonkers has one charter school located on Warburton Avenue that is a K-8 school, and it could wind up that some of those graduates could find seats in the two new charter high schools that replace Kennedy High School in the future.

   As the State Education Law states that that local school districts fund local charter schools, your New York City tax dollars could wind up paying to educate students from outside of the city. Even worse is that your child may not get a seat in a New York City charter school because the sibling of a child who may live outside the city could wind up with that seat.

Assemblyman Castro Passes Child Care Provider Protections through Assembly

          Assembly Member Nelson L. Castro (D- Bronx County) announced the passage of Assembly Bill A.8243.  This legislation amends the current anti-retaliation laws to add the operation of a group family day care home or family day care.  This bill adds group family day care home and family day care home to the list of protected activities that a landlord is prohibited from targeting a tenant for.

 

            Current state law established by statute and judicial precedent allows for the operation of group family day care homes and family day care home within a residential property.  Landlords are already prohibited from retaliating against tenants that engage in rights protected by New York State Law. 

“This bill will bring a peace of mind to this industry which provides an essential service that enables men and women to continue working for their families and feel secure that their children are well taken care of,” said Tammie Miller, Chapter Chair, UFT Home Day Care Providers.  “We are grateful and pleased that this legislation has passed its first hurdle and we hope that our partners in the Senate will do the same and ultimately Governor Cuomo will sign it into law.”

             “Child care providers have been unprotected and targeted.  Once this legislation passes the Senate and is signed by the Governor, this industry will have a tool to conduct business without fear of harassment or retaliation,” said Assembly Castro.  “Currently there are more than 25,000 child care providers in New York, majority owned and operated by women.  For the past 15 years this industry has made significant contributions to our great state and should receive all the rights and protections afforded to similar establishments.”

This legislation will apply to day cares operated pursuant to section 390 of the social service law, which requires licensing or registration with the Office of Children and Family Services.  The day cares must also be operated out of dwellings that are in compliance with New York State Building and Fire Prevention Code.  

 

Mayor Bloomberg: Worse for Gay Marriage than Me

By Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz Sr.

New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) has released the following statement:

"New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been spending a lot of time and money in Albany to show how much he wants New York’s marriage laws redefined.

If we want to document the facts, one of the biggest impediments to same sex marriage rights in New York has been by Mayor Bloomberg.

In a Manhattan Court in 2005 Justice Doris Ling-Cohen ruled that gay marriage was legal in New York.  At the time this ruling was celebrated as a victory for gay marriage rights advocates.

New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg decided that gay marriage was wrong for New York and ordered New York City's attorneys to appeal this decision.  That appeal resulted in New York's highest court ruling that there is no right to marriage for same-sex couples under the New York State Constitution.  That litigation has caused a lot of fighting and has cost a lot of money.

Now this year, because Mayor Bloomberg sees that Goveror Andrew Cuomo and other leaders are getting close to a victory on gay marriage legislation, he has been spending a lot of his money to make people forget what he did.

I believe that Mayor Bloomberg must be credited as having done a lot more than I have done to prevent gay marriage from being legal in New York."

 

Congressman Anthony Weiner Resigns

   Its now official, Congressman Anthony Weiner has resigned after three weeks of trying to stay in his congressional seat. The final blow may have come from his wife Huma when she returned yesterday from an overseas trip with her boss U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

   According to the United States constitution when a vacancy occurs in congress the governor of the state must call a special election within 70 to 80 days after the vacancy occurs. The special election for the 9th Congressional  District could wind up happening on Primary Day September 13th, since the poll sites are in operation on that day. 

   Wiener's resignation announcement came at the same senior center that Weiner announced his candidacy for his first public office of City Council in 1992.

   Names that are being bantered about to replace now former Congressman Anthony Weiner include former City Council members Eric Gioia and Melinda Katz, and current City Councilman Mark Werprin. On the Republican side there is Councilman Eric Ulrich who could be backed by former mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Sen. Rev. Rubén Díaz and Thousands of Evangelicals Will March in the Evangelical Children’s Parade

 

   State Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz states that with more than 50 floats, marching bands, and displays of biblical passages, thousands of Evangelical Christians will march in The Evangelical Children’s Parade which will be held this Saturday, June 18 at 12:00 pm throughout Third Avenue, from 97th Street to 118th Street in “El Barrio”, the heart of the Hispanic community.

Men, women and children will march in support of their moral, traditional and family values.

“It is important that every pastor, congregation and fellow believer join me in this parade to show our community and our state that we will continue to defend our faith in the midst of all the negativity in the world,” stated Senator Díaz.

A platform will be located on 3rd Avenue, between 116th Street and 117th Street, where dignitaries and different personalities will observe the parade.

Senator Rev. Diaz Calls Upon Colleagues to Vote on Rent Regulation Laws Before Any Gay Marriage Vote 

New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) released the following statement regarding the New York Rent Regulation laws that are set to expire at midnight on June 15th:

"I am calling upon my colleagues in the Senate to withhold their votes on gay marriage until New York's Rent Regulation laws – which are set to expire tomorrow – are in place.

Even though my colleagues have made their commitments to vote on gay marriage, I urge them – especially the Black and Hispanic Senators – to be strong and withhold their votes until Governor Cuomo protects the State's housing laws.  New York's rent regulation laws protect housing for 2.5 million New York residents – many are poor and needy, and most are Black and Hispanic.  Without these laws in place this week many people will be left in crisis situations.

Before Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Budget was passed, I urged my colleagues – especially the Black and Hispanic Senators – to be sure that Governor Cuomo included New York's rent control and rent regulation laws in the Budget.  I asked them if Governor Cuomo refused to include it, NOT to vote for the Budget.  They decided not to embarrass the Governor who needed our votes and voted for his Budget.  Only Senator Tom Duane and I refused to vote for that Budget because it did not have rent regulation laws in place.

Today, I once again call upon my colleagues – especially the Black and Hispanic Senators – to have the courage to learn from that mistake and to force Governor Cuomo to protect rent regulation laws before they give him their votes for gay marriage.

Once the Governor gets the rent regulation laws in place, then the Senate can vote on the gay marriage law. But the top priority in Albany this week should be to first protect the New York’s 2.5 million residents who will suffer tremendously if our housing laws are not extended."