MAYOR DE BLASIO CALLS FOR FAIR CANNABIS LEGALIZATION THAT PROMOTES EQUITY AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

Report promotes small business development, redressing impacts of past criminalization and driving economic opportunity to historically marginalized communities

 Mayor Bill de Blasio today endorsed the safe and fair legalization of cannabis in New York. The Mayor also released his Task Force report on Cannabis Legalization, which calls for a strong, public health-focused regulatory framework and the empowerment of local government to prevent corporate greed, foster small businesses and meet the demands of New York City communities. The report also places great emphasis on the need to ensure that any marijuana industry in New York City right the wrongs of the past and promotes economic opportunity.

“I have been convinced that we can establish a regulatory framework that keeps our streets safe, rights the wrongs of the past, and gives economic opportunity to communities hit hardest by the war on drugs," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “I support legalization because we’ve developed a path forward that will help make our City fairer. I look forward to working with the State as to make this a reality.”

“As we go down the path toward legalization of marijuana in our city and state, let us recognize that it is not without risks,” said First Lady Chirlane McCray, who leads the City’s mental health and substance misuse efforts. “We must do everything we can to protect our city’s young people, and educate all New Yorkers about marijuana use. That’s why this report is so important, and I urge state lawmakers use the recommendations as a guide for their work in the months ahead.”

“I have long supported the legalization of recreational marijuana, and I am looking forward to reviewing these recommendations. Although whites, blacks and Latinos smoke marijuana at roughly the same rates, minorities have been arrested disproportionally for low-level marijuana possession. We have a responsibility to undo these past wrongs. As New York looks to move forward with decriminalizing marijuana, we must ensure that part of the conversation includes expunging convictions of people with low-level possession offenses,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson.

The report, A Fair Approach to Marijuana, was produced by the Mayor's Task Force on Cannabis Legalization, which was convened in July 2018 to identify the goals and challenges that should guide the City’s preparations for potential legalization.

The recommendations are centered on local development, equity, public health and a wholesale departure from the failed war on drugs. These include the automatic expungement of criminal records for conduct that would be legalized – subject to notice and opportunity by District Attorneys’ Offices to raise objections in specific cases; educational resources for youth, educators, consumers, health care workers; the elimination of routine testing as prerequisite to social service benefit eligibility and the prohibition of pre-employment and random testing, with some narrow exceptions.

It also calls for balancing State regulatory structures with local authority to permit licensed consumption sites, determine business density restrictions to avoid over-concentration and allow localities to restrict or prohibit home cultivation. The report also makes recommendations to prevent big business from market domination by instituting a licensing system that would create opportunities for small businesses.

If legalized, the City would seek to:

• Establish an Equitable Licensing System: Create local licensing programs, regulate public places of consumption, regulate home and commercial cultivation and manufacturing, and regulate home delivery services.

• Preserve Communities: Establish zoning and area restrictions for cannabis businesses, as well as restrictions on the density to determine how the location of cannabis businesses can best fit into the fabric of its communities.

• Protect Public Health: Enforce age limits of 21 and over with civil rather than criminal penalties to violations of cannabis regulations to the greatest extent possible consistent with public safety.

• Right Historic Wrongs: Recommend automatic expungement of criminal records relating to conduct that may be legalized, including personal use and possession of certain quantities – subject to notice and opportunity by District Attorneys’ Offices to raise objections in specific cases.

• Ensure Product Safety: Recommend statewide standards for product safety, labeling and packaging, marketing, and advertising, as well as a mandatory seed-to-sale tracking system accessible to State and local regulators and financial institutions serving cannabis-related businesses.

• Put Small Businesses First: Work with State authorities to reduce the risk of market domination by big businesses and foster sustainable growth, in part, by restricting businesses from owning and controlling each stage of the supply chain, which may otherwise be owned by different, specialized businesses.

• Create Equal Opportunity: Participate in a dual state-local licensing structure that will permit the City to pursue its own innovations to promote economic opportunities created by this new market, subject to the minimum standards set by the State.

• Ease Access to Capital: Advocate for legislation expressly providing that banking and professional services for cannabis-related businesses do not violate State law.

• Make Fair Investments: Allocate tax revenue, licensing fees, and other sources of financing to administer the new industry and support cannabis businesses and workers, with a focus on target populations and community reinvestment.

• Build Local Businesses: Develop an incubator program to provide direct support to equity applicants in the form of counseling services, education, small businesses coaching, and compliance assistance.

The above recommendations would follow a series of steps by the Administration that have successfully reduced arrests for marijuana in New York City.

The Task Force was coordinated by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and includes representatives of relevant City agencies. The Task Force was divided into five subcommittees –focused on Licensing and Land Use; Economic Opportunity; Taxation and Finance; Law Enforcement and Social Justice; and Public Health, Social Services and Education – that met regularly to develop the recommendations reflected in the Task Force report. Members consulted with experts both supportive and opposed to legalization and studied jurisdictions that have regulated the adult use of cannabis.

In November of 2014, the NYPD changed its policy to issue criminal summonses instead of arresting for possession of marijuana in open view. That policy led to a 37 percent decline in arrests from 2014 to 2015. Then, in September 2018, the NYPD began issuing criminal summonses instead of making arrests for marijuana consumption in public. Since this change in policy for public consumption enforcement, arrests are down 80.6 percent and summonses are also down 30 percent.

To see the entire report of the Mayor's Task Force on Cannabis Legalization, click here. To see a quick cannabis fact sheet, click here.

“As New York moves closer to creating a legal market, which my office has shown will generate billions of dollars, we must prioritize correcting historic injustices and backwards policies of the past,” said New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer. “We know that lower income Black and Latinx New Yorkers have been hit hardest by marijuana enforcement, and they should be the first to benefit from legalization. That means developing a cannabis equity program and investing in these communities – it’s the only way forward.”

Wave Hill events January 3‒10

Sat, January 5

Family Art Project: Create Your Year—Hello 2019!

Embrace the circle of time by creating a calendar highlighting your favorite aspects of each season. Use vibrant colors to capture the delights that nature presents throughout the year on a circular calendar that you can hang on your wall and enjoy all year long. Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon.

Wave Hill House, 10AM–1PM

Sun, January 6

Family Art Project: Create Your Year—Hello 2019!

Embrace the circle of time by creating a calendar highlighting your favorite aspects of each season. Use vibrant colors to capture the delights that nature presents throughout the year on a circular calendar that you can hang on your wall and enjoy all year long. Free with admission to the grounds.

Wave Hill House, 10AM–1PM

Sun, January 6

Garden and Conservatory 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

Sun, January 6

Curatorial Talk: Waterways, Sites of Action and Reflection

Wave Hill is a member of the seven museums in the Fairfield Westchester Museum Alliance(FWMA), which allows members at participating museums to enjoy free, reciprocal admission. This winter, Wave Hill collaborates with FWMA member the Hudson River Museum on two talks, in early December and early January,  linking the visual arts with the natural world. The January 6 conversation, which takes place at the Hudson River Museum, considers the ways that artists are engaging with waterways. Eileen Jeng Lynch, Curator of Visual Arts at Wave Hill, speaks with Dr. Miwako Tezuka, Curator of the Hudson River Museum’s exhibition Maya Lin: A River is a Drawing. Free with admission to the Hudson River Museum; admission is free for Wave Hill Members.

At the Hudson River Museum, 2PM

Mon, January 7

Closed to the public.

Tue, January 8 ‒Fri, January 11

Wave Hill House is closed for repairs

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 – $10 adults, $6 students and seniors 65+, $4 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.

News From New York State Assembly Member Marcos A. Crespo

Good morning and Happy Friday!

Every holiday season the New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx invites multiple schools throughout the borough to participate during their annual Christmas Tree Decoration Competition. The schools are then encouraged to work with their students to create hand-crafted ornaments, which they then use to decorate a designated Christmas tree within garden grounds.

This year, P.S. 75 within our very own 85th district, was one of the schools chosen to take part in the competitive decorating activities.

I am excited to inform you that P.S. 75 has been officially named WINNER of the 2018 Christmas Tree Decoration Competition!

We should all feel proud of the very hard work put forward by students, and of course the efforts put forward by Principal Arrieta-Cruz and their very talented Art teacher Ms. Hidalgo.

Please enjoy the video below put together by my office. 

Sincerely,

Marcos 

P.S. 75 Students Decorating Christmas Tree at

The New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx.

Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy Sentenced To 40 Years In Prison For Plotting To Carry Out Terrorist Attacks In New York City For ISIS In Summer Of 2016

El Bahnasawy, a Canadian Citizen, Planned to Detonate Explosive Devices in Times Square and the New York City Subway System and Shoot Civilians at Concerts in the Name of ISIS

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John C. Demers, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced today that ABDULRAHMAN EL BAHNASAWY was sentenced to 40 years in prison for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in New York City during the summer of 2016 in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (“ISIS”), a designated foreign terrorist organization.  EL BAHNASAWY pled guilty on October 13, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman to a seven-count Superseding Information charging EL BAHNASAWY with terrorism offenses.  Judge Berman also imposed today’s sentence.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “In the name of ISIS, Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy planned an elaborate attack to wreak havoc and destruction on New York City.  He planned to detonate bombs in Times Square and the New York City subway system, and to shoot civilians at concert venues.  Demonstrating his commitment to carry out the attacks, El Bahnasawy pinpointed bomb locations on a map of the subway system, and acquired an array of bomb-making materials.  El Bahnasawy aspired, in his words, to ‘create the next 9/11.’  Thanks to our law enforcement partners in New York, nationally, and internationally, this potentially devastating plot was thwarted.”

Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers said:  “El Bahnasawy conspired with others to conduct terrorist attacks in New York City in support of ISIS, and came into this country to carry them out.  Today’s sentence reflects the severity of his conduct and holds him accountable for his terrorist activities.  I want to commend the prosecutors, agents, and analysts who are responsible for this successful result.  The National Security Division is committed to identifying and holding accountable those who seek to harm to our country and our citizens.”

According to the Indictment, Superseding Information, and other court filings:

Using encrypted electronic messaging applications, EL BAHNASAWY, a 20-year-old Canadian citizen and resident, plotted with Talha Haroon, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen residing in Pakistan, and Russell Salic, a 38-year-old Philippines citizen and resident, to conduct bombings and shootings in heavily populated areas of New York City during the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan in 2016, all in the name of ISIS (the “NYC Attacks”).  EL BAHNASAWY acquired bomb-making materials and helped secure a cabin within driving distance of New York City to use for building explosive devices and staging the NYC Attacks.  Haroon allegedly made plans to travel from Pakistan to New York City to join EL BAHNASAWY in carrying out the attacks.  And as EL BAHNASAWY and Haroon prepared to execute the NYC Attacks, Salic allegedly wired money from the Philippines to the United States to help fund the terrorist operation.

An undercover FBI agent infiltrated the co-conspirators’ terrorist plot, posing as an ISIS supporter prepared to join in the attacks.  The FBI arrested EL BAHNASAWY in May 2016 after he traveled from Canada to the New York City area in preparation for the attacks, and he has been in custody since that time.  Haroon was arrested in Pakistan in September 2016, and Salic was arrested in the Philippines in April 2017, based on Complaints filed against them in Manhattan federal court, and they remain in foreign custody pending proceedings for their extradition to the United States.

In addition to the prison term, EL BAHNASAWY, 20, of Mississauga, Canada, was sentenced to lifetime supervised release.

Mr. Berman and Mr. Demers praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the NYPD, and the FBI’s Los Angeles and Denver Field Offices.  Mr. Berman and Mr. Demers also thanked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the FBI’s Cleveland Field Office, the FBI’s Legal Attaché Offices in Canada, Pakistan, and the Philippines, the New York State Police, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California for their assistance.      

Second Bronx Gang Member Arrested And Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With 2011 Murder Of Bolivia Beck

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James P. O’Neill, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), and Raymond P. Donovan, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced today that KAREEM DAVIS, an alleged member of the “Killbrook” gang based in the Mill Brook Houses in the Bronx, was arrested and charged in connection with the April 18, 2011, murder of Bolivia Beck, the girlfriend of a rival gang member.  Beck was shot and killed as she was being introduced to her boyfriend’s grandparents on a sidewalk in the Mill Brook Houses.  DAVIS will be arraigned in Manhattan federal court later today before United States Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman. 

Fifteen individuals were previously charged in an initial Indictment unsealed on October 11, 2017.  That Indictment charged four individuals, including Gary Davis, the brother of KAREEM DAVIS, with racketeering conspiracy, in connection with their membership in the Killbrook gang, and charged other individuals with narcotics conspiracy and firearms offenses.  On January 8, 2018, Gary Davis was charged with the 2011 murder of Beck.  The Superseding Indictment adds KAREEM DAVIS as the second defendant charged with that murder.  The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield. 

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Bolivia Beck was murdered in 2011, in the most horrible and tragic of circumstances.  Over seven years have passed, but our remarkable partners at the NYPD and DEA have remained committed to holding her killers accountable.  As a result, Kareem Davis now stands charged with this terrible crime.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge Raymond P. Donovan said: “This investigation into the Killbrook Gang uncovered a racketeering conspiracy involving drug trafficking, firearms offenses and murder. Allegedly, Bolivia Beck was put in the crosshairs of gang rivalry and gang violence by Kareem and Gary Davis, both of whom are charged with murder.  There is no place for criminal gang activity in our communities and law enforcement is working to remove threats of violence by putting those responsible in jail.”  

According to the allegations in the Superseding Indictment[1] and information in the public record:

On April 18, 2011, Bolivia Beck was struck in the head by a bullet as she was being introduced to her boyfriend’s grandparents on a sidewalk in the Mill Brook Houses.  The shooting occurred in broad daylight.  Beck died two days later from the gunshot wound.  The shooting arose out of an ongoing gang dispute between Killbrook and the rival “MBG” street gang. 

KAREEM DAVIS, 29, of the Bronx, New York, is charged in the Superseding Indictment with one count of racketeering conspiracy, one count of murder in aid of racketeering and aiding and abetting the same, and one count of murder through the use of a firearm and aiding and abetting the same.  DAVIS faces a maximum penalty of death or life in prison.  The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. 

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the NYPD and the DEA.

The charges contained in the Superseding Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.     

[1] As the introductory phase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Superseding Indictment and the description of the Superseding Indictment set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation. 

State Sen. Kevin Parker’s most notable eruptions

New York State Senator Kevin S. Parker

Here is a rundown of Parker’s most notable eruptions.

2005 – Parker’s temper came to public attention early in his career as a state senator. He was arrested in 2005 for punching a traffic agent who was giving him a ticket for double parking. In order to resolve a misdemeanor assault charge, Parker agreed to participate in an anger management program.

2005 – A legislative staffer accused Parker of threatening her in an Albany restaurant after she accused him of shoving and hitting her when she was working as his office manager.

2008 – An argument in Parker’s Brooklyn campaign headquarters got physical in 2008. The Daily News reported at the time that Parker pushed his aide Lucretia John while they were arguing about an unknown issue, knocking her glasses off her face. Parker then intentionally smashed the glasses by stomping on them, John later told police.

2009 – Parker was convicted of misdemeanor criminal mischief after he reportedly damaged the camera of a New York Post photographer in May 2009. The state senator was arrested after he reportedly chased the photographer, who had used a flash to take Parker’s picture outside his mother’s house. Then Parker sat on the hood of the journalist’s Subaru Forester and tried to grab the camera when he returned, breaking it in the process. Though Parker was eventually cleared of felony assault charges, he was sentenced to three years’ probation.

2009 – Parker also raised eyebrows that year for calling then-Gov. David Paterson a “coke snorting, staff-banging governor” after Paterson cut off some pay for senators amid a partisan fight for leadership of the chamber. While Parker initially stood by the comment, he later apologized to Paterson and praised him for his honesty about past drug use and extra-marital affairs.

2010 – Parker reportedly charged toward state Sen. Diane Savino during a contentious meeting of Senate Democrats. The incident began during a discussion about whether then-state Sen. Hiram Monserrate should have been expelled from the chamber following his own conviction for misdemeanor assault. Parker opposed Monserrate’s expulsion and reportedly called Savino a “bitch” and dropped some “f-bombs,” the Daily News reported at the time. "Do you want a piece of me?" he reportedly asked Savino’s boyfriend, then-Senate Deputy Majority Leader Jeff Klein, after Klein intervened.

2018 – Parker tweeted, “Kill yourself!” at GOP political operative Candice Giove after she called him out on Twitter for misusing his parking placard. Parker deleted the tweet and apologized for “a poor choice of words” later in the day, but then provoked additional controversy less than an hour later. He suggested in a follow-up tweet that Giove, deputy communications director for state Senate Republicans, deserved such treatment because of her past work for the now-defunct Independent Democratic Conference. She has been “on the wrong side of history for every important issue facing New York State!” Parker added in a third tweet. Since then, Parker has resigned as chairman of New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams’ campaign for public advocate.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

If after thirteen years of abusing and disrespecting women has not taught Democrats about Kevin S. Parker, we only wonder what will happen to the new Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins when she disagrees with Kevin S. Parker.

It is the opinion of this reporter that Kevin S. Parker will not change, and that the new Democratic State Senate majority must not ignore this outlandish STUPID act of BULLYING by Kevin S. Parker, and expel him from the State Senate. 

We also want to know what Mayor Bill de Blasio is going to do about the parking placard that was misused by Kevin S. Parker. Is Mayor de Blasio going to live up to his word that people found misusing parking placards will have them taken away and the offender fined. 

Thanks to City & State for the list of the most notable eruptions of Kevin S. Parker.

VISION ZERO: MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES NEW YORK CITY ADDED OVER TWENTY MILES OF PROTECTED BICYCLE LANES IN 2018

New bike lanes include major additions to 1,200-mile bicycle network; As 2018 ends with record-low cyclist fatalities, protected bike lanes have helped make streets safer for all users

  Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced that DOT had this year constructed over 20 miles of new on-street protected bike lanes along some of New York City’s major streets.  The additional lanes have expanded the city’s bike network, the nation’s largest, to 1,217 miles, of which 119.5 miles are on-street protected lanes. 83 miles of these protected lanes have been added since 2014 (see chart at the end of release).  DOT has continued its high productivity under Vision Zero, with this year’s 20.9 miles a record second only to last year’s 25 miles -- that includes major projects in all five boroughs, among them midtown Manhattan’s first-ever crosstown protected lanes as well as new lanes along: Broadway in the northern Bronx; Skillman/43rd Avenues in Sunnyside, Queens; 9th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn; and on Park Row connecting Chinatown and Lower Manhattan. As part of City Hall in Your Borough, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg was joined by transportation advocates and elected officials in Midtown for a bike ride along the new 26th Street crosstown protected bike lane, where she also cited a dramatic decline in cyclist fatalities during 2018.

“Our Vision Zero work never stops, as we have continued adding protected bike lanes at a steady pace across the city,” said Mayor de Blasio. “This work saves lives. With more New Yorkers than ever using a bicycle to get around, we are expanding our bike lane network to make biking more safe, convenient, and comfortable.”

“I want to thank DOT’s planners, designers and construction crews, as well as our Borough Commissioners and their teams, for another great year of new protected bike lanes,” said DOT Commissioner Trottenberg.  “From the north Bronx to Long Island City, and from Park Slope to here in Manhattan, where we installed four new crosstown protected lanes, our bike projects this year included important safety-focused projects and key network connections to make cycling in New York even easier and more enjoyable.  And while our Vision Zero work is far from complete, as we near the end of the year, we are grateful for the decline in cyclist fatalities we have seen this year.”

New protected lanes: Much of DOT’s protected bike lane production in 2018 focused on preparations for the L train tunnel shutdown that begins next April.  According to DOT estimates, 2-3 percent of the 275,000 displaced L riders will turn to cycling, which will more than double current cycling volumes – especially on routes in lower Manhattan nearest the Williamsburg Bridge.

This year’s new protected bike lanes are listed below.  Projects that are expected to be used most heavily by displaced L train riders are marked by *:

Manhattan

Park Row (Frankfort Street to Chatham Square)*             0.5 miles

Delancey Street (Clinton St to Allen St)*                          0.5

12^th St/13^th St (Ave C to 8^th Ave)*                                    3.1

East 20^th Street (Ave C to First Ave)*                               0.7

26^th St/ 29^th Street (1st Ave to 12th Ave)*                        2.8

7^th Ave South (Clarkson St to 11 St)                                  0.5

2^nd Ave (68^th St to 74^th St)                                                 0.3

Brooklyn

Grand Street (Bushwick Ave to Union Ave)*                    1.8

Morgan Ave. Knickerbocker Ave, Grattan St*                   0.3

4^th Ave (60^th – 64^th Street)                                                 0.4

43^rd & 44^th Sts./57^th & 58^th Sts.                                        0.6

9^th Street (3^rd Ave to Prospect Park West)                         1.8

Bronx

Broadway (West 242nd  Street 

to Westchester Co line, along Van Cortlandt Park)           2.4

Queens

73 Ave/233 Street 

(Alley Pond Park to Horace Harding Expw)                    1.8

43^rd Ave/ Skillman Ave 

(Queens Blvd Br. to Roosevelt Ave)                                2.6

Jewel Avenue                                                                    0.2      

Staten Island

Staten Island Ferry Ramps                                               0.9

Cyclist Fatalities at Record Lows:  DOT announced that in 2018 cyclist fatalities had declined to a single-year record low: 10 cyclist deaths so far this year compared to 24 last year, and an annual average of 19 since Vision Zero began in 2014.  The previous annual low for cyclist fatalities was 12, during both 2009 and 2013. 

According to a DOT report released last year, Safer Cycling, an increase in cycling volumes and greater cycling infrastructure are direct correlated to fewer crashes and injuries for all street users: cyclists, pedestrians and motorists. 

“Protected bike lanes are good policy because they are lifesaving policy, and I am proud to support their construction here in my district and all over the city,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson. “We should be proud of the bike lanes we’ve built this year, from here in Chelsea to Skillman Avenue in Queens and everywhere in between, but we can always do more. I thank the Department of Transportation for its commitment to Vision Zero and I look forward to continuing our work together to help New Yorkers get around our city safely and efficiently.”

About Vision Zero

Vision Zero is the de Blasio administration’s initiative to use every tool at its disposal to reduce traffic deaths and injuries on New York City streets. In 2017, New York City experienced its safest year on record with the fourth straight year of fatality declines. Since the program’s inaugural year in 2014, when New York City became the first American city to adopt Vision Zero through 2017, the city’s traffic fatalities have declined 26 percent with a 42 percent decline in pedestrian fatalities — bucking national fatality trends, which have increased 13 percent over the same period.

For more information about the Vision Zero initiative, please see www.nyc.gov/visionzero.

  

TRANSIT LOCKBOX BILL PROCEEDS TO GOVERNOR’S DESK

If signed, legislation would prohibit transit funding from being diverted for non-transit purposes without accounting for the impacts on riders.

  As the conversation on how to adequately fund New York’s mass transit system heats up, so too have calls for improved cost controls and revenue accountability. While there is general consensus that a significant influx of dedicated and sustainable revenue for mass transit is needed to bring New York City’s subway and bus networks into a state of good repair befitting a modern global city, critics have maligned a checkered history of MTA funding diversions and massive debt service payments. Assembly Bill 8511, championed by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, would require funding dedicated to public transportation systems (including the MTA) be used for their intended purpose. This legislation passed unanimously through both chambers of the State Legislature this past spring.

The bill, which would require express legislative consent to divert transit funding to other purposes, also adds several layers of transparency to the process. For any diversion, there must be a diversion impact statement which reflects the amount of the diversion from each fund listed separately, the amount diverted expressed as current monthly transit fares, the cumulative amount of diversion from the previous five years, and a detailed estimate of the impact on service, maintenance, security, and current capital program. Transit and government reform advocates have maligned the current system where funding intended for mass transit is frequently reallocated to cover budgetary shortfalls in unrelated areas without any input from the public.

Proponents of increased funding for mass transit, particularly for NYCT President Andy Byford’s Fast Forward Plan, have discussed a multitude of possible new revenue sources – including congestion pricing, millionaire’s tax, lifting the cap on gas tax, registration surcharges, and a restoration of the commuter tax. All of these funding mechanisms, if approved, would be implemented with the express intent of funding mass transit improvements such as those mentioned in Fast Forward. In the past, similar revenues have been diverted and replaced with bonds or loans that are backed by these same revenue generators, further adding to an existing debt service burden that has ballooned to over $2.5 billion in 2018 alone.

The bill was delivered to the Governor’s desk on December 17, who now has 10 days (not including Sundays) to either sign or veto the legislation.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said: “However we decide to fund our mass transit system, one thing is clear: we need this money to actually be spent on tangible improvements to subway and bus infrastructure in our neighborhoods. Nobody wants to pay more in taxes or tolls or fees, and especially not when they can’t be certain that the money collected from them is actually going to be spent appropriately. We have an obligation to keep our promises to straphangers, and I urge Governor Cuomo to sign this common-sense bill into law before we head into next year’s budget conversation on how to raise revenue for transit.”