Statement from State Senator Gustavo Rivera on Senator Golden's Comments on the Opioid Crisis

" Senator Golden's comments regarding the opioid epidemic are racist, disturbing, and inaccurate. The life of an individual is not worth more because of their parent's profession and should not be addressed differently because of it. 

Additionally, the truth is that drugs do not discriminate when it comes to gender, race, or income. Addiction is a public health issue, not a criminal justice one, and should be treated as such across the board. Senator Golden should apologize for his troubling remarks and work in the best interest of all New Yorker's health, not just a select few."

Senator Martin Golden's comments are available from the link provided by Senator Rivera's office to the Brooklyn Eagle at http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2018/1/23/truck-ban-bqe-golden-says-it%E2%80%99s-possible 

The comment occurs towards the end of the article when the reporter goes into other questions that the lead story.

One area of concern is the rising rate of opioid addiction in New York state. “It’s not a ghetto drug. It’s happening to doctor’s kids,” Golden said.

People start out on painkillers and then turn to heroin when they can no longer find a doctor willing to prescribe painkillers, he said. “They cut heroin from fentanyl,” he said. Fentanyl is dangerous because it is much more potent, he said. “The kid is addicted by the second or third hit of heroin,” he said.

Golden added that he believes there are not enough rehab centers.

Congressman Eliot L. Engel Calls Report That President Trump Tried to Fire Robert Mueller “Deeply Troubling, But Not Surprising”

  Congressman Eliot L. Engel issued the following statement in response to reports that President Trump tried to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller in June of 2017:

“This report is deeply troubling, but not surprising. Anytime the President has felt a perceived threat he has looked to ‘fire’ his way out of it. Jim Comey, Sally Yates, Preet Bharara, the list goes on. The President wrongly believes the justice system is in place to serve his interests, not the American people’s. He couldn’t be more wrong. This isn’t some reality TV show where you can dismiss whomever you want, whenever you want, for whatever reason. Firing Robert Mueller would trigger a Constitutional crisis. It is essential that we protect the independence of this investigation, make sure the Special Counsel gets to the bottom of the Trump-Russia scandal, and find out whether obstruction of justice has taken place.”

Wave Hill Events Feb 9‒Feb 16 Valentine's Day

  Wave Hill does not typically plan many programs for Valentine’s Day. The gardens—rolling lawns, historical home, jewel-like garden spaces—are serene and welcoming, providing enough romance for any visitor looking to open his or her heart. But a special Family Art Project gives families extra inspiration, and a wellness workshop offers a second, hands-on opportunity for caring.

For something quite different, hop on our Eagle Train to EagleFest for a thrilling chance to observe eagles and other local birds in their natural habitat. Our naturalists are on board for the scenic ride up the Hudson.

Sat, February 10     Ride the Eagle Train

ALL ABOARD THE EAGLE TRAIN! Attending Eaglefest at Croton Point Park? Ride the Hudson River Line train from Grand Central Terminal to Croton-Harmon with Wave Hill naturalists Gabriel Willow and Paul Keimon the Eagle Train. Bring your binoculars to spot eagles and other aquatic birds in their natural habitat. Train tickets available through Metro North Railroad; Eaglefest information and tickets at teatown.org. Free shuttle buses will bring attendees to/from the Croton-Harmon Train Station to the event site at Croton Point Park. Once you get there, be sure to stop at the table Wave Hill is sharing with partner Hudson Highlands Nature Museum. Tickets at http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/getaways/outbound_hudval_eaglefest.htm

DEPARTS GRAND CENTRAL STATION 9:20AM

Sat, February 10    Family Art Project: Hearts and Flowers, Love for Belugas

As we look ahead to Valentine’s Day, let’s spread the love like a pod of belugas! Listen to touching tales about these small, gentle, gray-white whales, then make a stuffed beluga sock-puppet for a heartwarming Valentine’s gift. Add a special notecard crafted from an abundance of hearts and paper flowers, or even decorate it with some arctic ice or ocean waves for belugas. Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon. Valentine’s Weekend event.

WAVE HILL HOUSE, 10AM‒1PM

Sat, February 10 through Wed, February 14    Valentine’s Day in The Shop

On this special weekend, spend at least $75 in The Shop and receive a Valentine’s gift of chocolate.Valentine’s Weekend event.

PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 10AM‒4PM

Sat, February 10    Winter Workspace Session 1 Open House

This winter, Glyndor Gallery is transformed again into studio spaces for artists to develop new work and offer opportunities for public interaction in the context of the garden. Individual artists share their studio practice with the public on this open studio day. This year’s Session 1 artists are Tomie Arai, Camille Hoffman, Pedro Ramirez, Jessica Rohrer, Jean Shin and Austin Thomas. Free with admission to the grounds.

GLYNDOR GALLERY, NOON‒3:30PM

Sun, February 11    Winter Birding

The Hudson River Valley hosts an impressive diversity of bird species during the winter months. Explore Wave Hill’s tranquil gardens and woodlands with naturalist Gabriel Willow to observe birds in their winter habitats. Birders of all levels welcome. Ages 10 and older welcome with an adult. Severe weather cancels. Free with admission to the grounds; NYC Audubon members enjoy two-for-one admission to the grounds. 

MEET AT PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 9:30AM

Sun, February 11    Family Art Project: Hearts and Flowers, Love for Belugas

As we look ahead to Valentine’s Day, let’s spread the love like a pod of belugas! Listen to touching tales about these small, gentle, gray-white whales, then make a stuffed beluga sock-puppet for a heartwarming Valentine’s gift. Add a special notecard crafted from an abundance of hearts and paper flowers, or even decorate it with some arctic ice or ocean waves for belugas. Free with admission to the grounds. Valentine’s Weekend event.

WAVE HILL HOUSE, 10AM‒1PM

Sun, February 11    Wellness Workshop: Luscious Lips and Silky Skin

Treat yourself to handmade self-care products or create gifts for your valentine or loved ones. Using all-natural organic ingredients, work with aromatherapist and skin care expert Melissa Rivera of Essence and Aroma to create tinted lip balms and scented salves. Ages 12 and older welcome with an adult. $55/$45 Wave Hill Member. Registration required, online at wavehill.org or onsite at the Perkins Visitor Center. Valentine’s Weekend event.

WAVE HILLHOUSE, 10AM−1PM

Sun, February 11    Garden Highlights Walk

Join a Wave Hill Garden Guide for an hour-long tour of seasonal garden highlights. Free with admission to the grounds.

MEET AT PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 2PM

Mon, February 12

Closed to the public.

A 28-acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River  and Palisades, Wave Hill’s mission is to celebrate the artistry and legacy of its gardens and landscape, to preserve its magnificent views, and to explore human connections to the natural world through programs in horticulture, education and the arts.

HOURS  Open all year, Tuesday through Sunday and many major holidays: 9AM–4:30PM, November 1–March 14. Closes 5:30PM, starting March 15.

ADMISSION  $8 adults, $4 students and seniors 65+, $2 children 6–18. Free Saturday and Tuesday mornings until noon. Free to Wave Hill Members and children under 6.

PROGRAM FEES  Programs are free with admission to the grounds unless otherwise noted.

Visitors to Wave Hill can take advantage of Metro-North’s one-day getaway offer. Purchase a discount round-trip rail far and discount admission to the gardens. More at http://mta.info/mnr/html/getaways/outbound_wavehill.htm

DIRECTIONS – Getting here is easy! Located only 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan, Wave Hill’s free shuttle van transports you to and from our front gate and Metro-North’s Riverdale station, as well as the W. 242nd Street stop on the #1 subway line. Limited onsite parking is available for $8 per vehicle. Free offsite parking is available nearby with continuous, complimentary shuttle service to and from the offsite lot and our front gate. Complete directions and shuttle bus schedule at www.wavehill.org/visit/.

Information at 718.549.3200. On the web at www.wavehill.org.

DNC Chair Tom Perez Announces New Chief Security Officer

  Tom Perez announced today that Bob Lord is joining the Democratic National Committee's senior leadership team as the Chief Security Officer, where he will bring his industry experience to build up cybersecurity defenses for the DNC and state parties across the country. He joins a strong leadership team at the DNC that includes CEO Jess O’Connell, CMO Caitlin Mitchell, COO Laura Chambers, CFO Joe Smolskis, CTO Raffi Krikorian, Chief of Staff Sam Cornale, National Political and Organizing Director Amanda Brown Lierman, National Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa, Research Director Lauren Dillon and Senior Advisor Will Hailer.

Bob is a technology executive who has more than 20 years of experience managing cybersecurity teams and establishing best information security practices.  At Yahoo, Bob managed teams that conducted electronic crimes investigations. As the first security hire in the early days of Twitter, he served as director of information security where he was charged with building the teams responsible for application security, product security, and information security.

“We’re excited to welcome Bob to the team and can’t wait to work with him on shoring up the DNC’s institutional cyber defenses,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez. “When I took this job, I made it crystal clear that our organization’s cybersecurity required immediate attention and resources. I’m confident Bob’s skills and hard work will help protect us against the sort of cyberattacks and intrusions that are unfortunately all too common in today’s age. Defense is an essential part of any game plan, and I couldn’t be happier with Bob holding the line for the DNC.”

“I’m looking forward to helping strengthen the cybersecurity infrastructure and strategy for the Democrats,” said Bob Lord. “Cyber attacks are an unfortunate, but very real threat to our work. I'll be working  to protect my new colleagues at the DNC from the attackers who would prefer to keep us distracted from our mission of getting Democrats across the nation elected. And my job doesn’t stop at the front door of the building—my team and I will work with state parties to update their information security strategies and deployments to change the economics for the attackers.”

In addition to his work at Twitter, Bob was most recently the Chief Information Security Officer at Yahoo, where he was responsible for all aspects of information security, product security, and electronic crime investigations. He managed dozens of security professionals who focused on software development, incident response, corporate security, security risk management, threat investigations, and offensive engineering.

Bob’s team responded to two breaches that occurred before his employment at Yahoo: one in 2014 and one in 2013. He worked with teams across the company to identify affected users, provide notice, and work with appropriate authorities as well as to identify and deploy security improvements to improve prevention and detection capabilities.

Bob’s team worked with the FBI to identify the individuals who committed the 2014 breach. In March of 2017, the Department of Justice indicted two FSB officers and two criminal hackers. The ​DOJ press release​ and underlying indictment detail the activities surrounding this crime. One of the indicted persons, a Canadian national, was arrested in March, extradited to the US, arraigned​ in San Francisco last August, and finally pleaded guilty in November.

Bob’s hiring is the latest in a series that Tom and the DNC have made in an effort to rebuild the Democratic Party’s tech and cybersecurity infrastructure. Last year, Tom hired Raffi Krikorian, formerly of Uber and Twitter, to serve as Chief Technology Officer.  Raffi and the majority of his team come not from the political world but from the tech sector.

The DNC is building an amazing team that brings together top tech talent with people familiar with the way our political infrastructure works -- all with the goal of building the data and infrastructure needed for candidates to win up and down the ballot.

The DNC tech team’s initial hires include the following:

Pam Cardona – Program manager in charge of the Uber self-driving launch in Pittsburgh;

Lennon Day-Reynolds — Engineering at Stripe; formerly Director of Engineering at Urban Airship; Twitter Advertising;

Peter Seibel – Author and former lead of the abuse team and the internal tools team at Twitter;

Liza Daly – Former CTO of Safari Books;

Trisha Quan – Former HFA and Pinterest analytics engineer;

Felicity Pereyra – Analytics lead for HFA for FL, NC, NV, CO

MAYOR DE BLASIO MEETS WITH U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS COMMANDER LIEUTENANT GENERAL TODD T. SEMONITE

  This morning, Mayor de Blasio met with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commander Lieutenant General Todd T. Semonite. The 45-minute meeting began at 10:45 AM and was held at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquarters in Washington, D.C., and focused largely on coastal protections on the Rockaway peninsula and in Jamaica Bay. Mayor de Blasio made the case that residents of the Rockaways felt vulnerable to the beach erosion they were seeing in their community. Lieutenant General Semonite agreed to accelerate the project timeline by expediting beachfront protections and continuing to move forward on bayside investments. The Mayor expressed his appreciation for the work of the Army Corps. He and the Lieutenant General agreed to continue working together collaboratively on this project and others in New York City.

The Taxi & Limousine Commission Should have a Temporary Moratorium on For Hire Vehicles Industry Hails

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz

District 32 Bronx County, New York

You should know that the New York City Council Speaker Mr. Corey Johnson, has created a new committee with power of subpoena to deal only and exclusively with any vehicles for rental, hired or leasing under the supervision of New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.

This included but not limited to Uber, Lift, Via, Yellow, Black, Green, Livery and Para-Transit Vehicles.

You should know that I had been chosen by Speaker Johnson to be the Chairman of the newly created committee.  And as a Chairman of these committee I am calling for an emergency public hearing on Monday February 12, at 10:00 am in the City Hall Chamber, to deal with specific issues pertaining to   enforcement, entrapment and the excessive fines imposed by the TLC to the For Hire Vehicles industry especially in the Bronx County and Upper Manhattan.

It is also very important for you to know that I am calling upon Commissioner Meera Joshi to immediately impose a temporary moratorium on all outer Boro livery seizures and summoned for on street hails and focus on hotels airports and midtown Manhattan. 

I am calling for this temporary moratorium based mainly on a regrettable TLC action of a seizure and ticketing of a livery last night in the Bronx which resulted in damage to a city owned vehicle. I do not condone such action by the drivers, but understand the frustration which exists within the drivers.

I personally had met with Commissioner Meera Joshi on many occasions and had brought to her attention regarding the abusive enforcement by the TLC Inspectors and their Agents.

This is Councilman Rev.  Ruben Diaz and this is what you should know.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

First, we think that Ruben Diaz Sr. needs to look this statement over from the heading. We wonder why he opens as State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr., and ends the letter as Councilman Ruben Diaz. The election was last November, and the good councilman is already sitting in the City Council. 

Second, we wonder why he calls the TLC out for enforcement, entrapment, and excessive fines imposed on For Hire vehicles especially those in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan. Does the new committee chair of Horse Buggy and Stagecoaches have any figures to back up his claims? Or is Marshal Diaz Sr.'s statement based on what the For Hire industry has told him?

Third, we suggest That Councilman Diaz Sr. see what is exactly going on by For Hire drivers who pick up passengers after making illegal U-Turns, put pedestrian safety in jeopardy, and have no regard for other vehicles on the road. Chair Diaz Sr. should look at police records for traffic summonses to see what type of vehicle they were given to. It is unfortunate that with most UBER, LIFT, VIA or other non TLC plated For Hire cars there is no way to tell that they are For Hire vehicles. Instead Chair Diaz Sr. should be looking into having said non TLC plated vehicles be required to have TLC plates along with the other requirements of those vehicles which have TLC plates. 

Know what you are talking about.

That is what you need to know.   

DE BLASIO ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES 5,000 ADDITIONAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS

ONE YEAR AFTER LAUNCH OF THE NYC YOUTH MENTORING INITIATIVE

City agencies, mentoring nonprofits, public schools, and the business community engaged 10,000 New Yorkers as volunteer mentors to 25,000 high school students

  To celebrate national mentoring month, Chief Service Officer Paula Gavin and Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina announced that 25,000 high school students and 10,000 mentors participated in programs associated with the NYC Youth Mentoring Initiative. Launched in January 2017, this initiative brings together individuals from city agencies, mentoring nonprofits and businesses to mentor high school students. In 2017, the local business community recruited nearly 6,000 of their employees as volunteer mentors through NYC Service’s Good for Me. Good for My City. campaign. Student participation increased 25 percent since the start of the initiative. This announcement puts the program on track to reach its goal of engaging 14,000 mentors and 40,000 students by 2022.

“Connecting young people to caring adults is key to ensuring students in our city have every chance for success,” said Mayor de Blasio. “I want to thank the thousands of New Yorkers who answered the call to be a high school student’s personal champion over the last year.”

“One year ago, our City came together to ensure more New Yorkers see the value in mentoring and take action, enabling more high school students to have a mentorship experience,” said NYC Chief Service Officer Paula Gavin. “Today we celebrate the work of our partners and recommit ourselves to our City’s high school youth through quality mentoring experiences. NYC Service is proud to continue collaborating with our partner agencies, mentoring nonprofits, and the Good for Me. Good for My City. partners to inspire more New Yorkers to mentor young people. I encourage every New Yorker to explore all the mentoring opportunities at nyc.gov/mentornyc and personally experience the joy of inspiring someone else, while at the same time, allowing them to inspire you.”

“As the first in my family to go to college, I know it’s not a given that our students envision themselves going to college or pursuing certain careers. Strong mentoring is one way that we open students’ eyes to the options available to them and put them on the path to success,” said Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina “I look forward to our continued partnership with NYC Service as we strengthen and expand mentoring programs for New York City high school students.”

Mentors will continue to be recruited through citywide promotion of volunteer opportunities through colleges and universities, associations, faith-based organizations, and businesses. Increased mentee participation will be driven by the establishment of mentorship programs in 400 high schools, expanding embedded mentoring programs in DYCD workforce development programs, and expanding community-based organization programs at CBO centers.

“The power of mentoring is profound, and DYCD is proud to be part of ongoing efforts to increase the number of mentors and mentees citywide,” said DYCD Commissioner Bill Chong. “Students in DYCD’s funded workforce development programs are being connected with responsible, caring adults—providing them with academic, career, and general life guidance as they grow into New York City’s next generation of leaders.”

CONGRESSMAN ADRIANO ESPAILLAT RECOGNIZES VLADIMIR GUERRERO UPON BEING NAMED TO THE NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME

  Today, Congressman Adriano Espaillat issued the following statement congratulating Vladimir Guerrero upon being named to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  

“Congratulations to Vladimir Guerrero upon his selection to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, making him only the third Dominican baseball player to be inducted following baseball giants Juan Marichal and Pedro Martínez.  

“As a nine-time All Star, Guerrero has a .318 average with 449 homers and 1,496 RBIs. In 2004, he was chosen as the MVP of the American League and was voted one of baseball's most feared hitters in a 2008 poll by the 30 managers of the Major Leagues.  

“In addition to his success on the field, Guerrero is an example of perseverance and grit. Born in Nizao, a town nearly 45 minutes from Santo Domingo, Guerrero is one of nine children and grew up in extreme poverty. He ended his education after only the fifth grade in order to help his family harvest in the field. During his spare time, he played baseball and followed his passion to become one of the greatest hitters in Major League Baseball.

“Today, we celebrate Guerrero’s accomplishments and the significant contributions he continues to make in his hometown and throughout the Dominican Republic.”