Third Avenue Business Improvement District - The Bronx NYS Executive Budget Presentation, 1/27/22 - 10 AM

The Bronx Chamber of Commerce and the Third Avenue Business Improvement District are hosting the Bronx NYS Executive Budget Presentation by the Office of Governor Kathy Hochul. In Governor Hochul's State of the State, she proposed a new era for New York – one in which her administration, her fellow statewide elected officials, and the legislature will work together to deliver for New Yorkers. New York State is in a position to fully fund these historic policies by making historic investments, including record aid for our children’s education, a transformative infrastructure capital plan, and a groundbreaking program to rebuild the healthcare industry. But NYS is also being smart and responsible, and recognizing that we must fund NYS reserves to historic levels as well as part of a balanced Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2023. NYS is in a strong financial position due to a combination of factors, including increased tax receipts, a thriving stock market, and an influx of federal aid through the American Rescue Plan and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This is a major change from where we were this time last year, when it was projected that the State may experience billion-dollar deficits in the years to come. Join this presentation to learn how the budget will impact you as a Bronxite.

2023 NYS Executive Budget Briefing Book - Click Here

Attorney General James’ Statement on Fatal Shooting of NYPD Officers in Harlem

 

  New York Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement in response to the police involved shooting in Harlem tonight:

“All of New York state is in mourning tonight. As we await the facts, my office may assert jurisdiction in this matter. We pray for the safety of our police and our communities.”

Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress Combating COVID-19 - JANUARY 22, 2022

Statewide Positivity Rate Below 10% for Second Day in a Row

Cases Per 100k (7-Day Average) Declining in All Regions

179 COVID-19 Deaths Statewide Yesterday

 Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combating COVID-19.         

"We are below 10% positivity rate for the second day in a row. This is extraordinary progress," Governor Hochul said. "As we continue to see numbers trend downward, let's also continue to do the right thing. Wash your hands, get the vaccine if you haven't already, get the booster dose, and wear a mask. We will continue to see this downward trend in other parts of the state soon."

Today's data is summarized briefly below: 

• Test Results Reported - 299,580
• Total Positive - 27,643
• Percent Positive - 9.23%
• 7-Day Average Percent Positive - 11.36%   
• Patient Hospitalization - 10,477 (-539)   
• Patients Newly Admitted - 1,264
• Patients in ICU - 1,504 (-44)   
• Patients in ICU with Intubation - 884 (+4)   
• Total Discharges - 262,654 (1,581)   
• New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 179
• Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 51,716

The Health Electronic Response Data System is a NYS DOH data source that collects confirmed daily death data as reported by hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities only.     

• Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC - 64,120  

This daily COVID-19 provisional death certificate data reported by NYS DOH and NYC to the CDC includes those who died in any location, including hospitals, nursing homes, adult care facilities, at home, in hospice and other settings.     

• Total vaccine doses administered - 35,409,903
• Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours - 80,188
• Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days - 496,685
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose - 90.6%   
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series - 81.6%   
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 95.0%   
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 84.1%   
• Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose - 79.7%   
• Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series - 71.3%   
• Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 86.8%   
• Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 73.5%   

Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center Offers STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Resource for High School Teachers

 

 The Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center announced the release of Energy & Us, an interdisciplinary high school curriculum dedicated to exploring the relationships between people, energy, and the environment. With the beach itself as a classroom, Energy & Us encourages students to think critically about their role in the energy systems and environments that surround them.

Located just 20 miles from New York City, Jones Beach has been a beloved New York State Park for almost a century. The opening of the Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center on the Park’s West End in September 2020 marked New York State’s commitment to transitioning to a cleaner energy future, as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019. Exhibits, educational programs, and events at the Center showcase landscapes of energy production and consumption—sites where energy sources are extracted and power plants are located; how scientists choose locations for wind turbines and the orientation of solar panels; the energy embodied in building materials; biomimicry; and the transfer of energy in a dynamic coastal environment. The exhibition theme, “the power of nature and the nature of energy,” invites visitors to conceptualize energy and environment as one. For more information, visit www.jonesbeachenc.org/exhibits.

Energy & Us extends this commitment to high school students, striving to equip young people with sophisticated scientific, historical, and political frameworks to understand their place the changing global climate. Over five Units, the curriculum explores the intersection of energy, environment, and society from the atomic to the global scale:

• Unit 1: Water, air, and light at the tideline demonstrate the essential physics and chemistry of energy at the molecular level, while the electrical system of the Center itself is a template for understanding the physical science behind human-built energy infrastructure.
• Unit 2: Plants and animals of Jones Beach’s West End are a window onto the cycling of energy through the ecosystem.
• Unit 3: Surveying the historical geography of Long Island reveals how energy has shaped the environment throughout US history, particularly through the development and expansion of cities, suburbs, and transportation networks.
• Unit 4: Reflecting on the role of energy in contemporary American culture, students are empowered to forge a new relationship to energy consumption.
• Unit 5: Students understand the dynamics that connect energy consumption to global climate change — as well as the possibilities of mitigation, adaptation, and migration in response to climate change — and begin to imagine their own place in a world shaped by altered weather patterns, rising sea levels, and people on the move.

Each unit comprises a narrative discussion and 2-3 interactive or creative activities, including role-plays and debates, scavenger hunts, research reports, and creative writing exercises. Activities involve work with historical documents, contemporary data sets, journalistic accounts, scientific research abstracts, and interactive maps. Students move fluidly and confidently between different knowledge-production frameworks and learn to identify trustworthy sources of information. Throughout, critical thinking and Social and Emotional Learning skills are prioritized, allowing students to continually relate the materials they encounter to their prior knowledge and their own lived experiences. All activities can be carried out at the Center, during scheduled field trips funded by the Connect-Kids-To-Parks program, or used in classrooms.

“We are excited to weave this new curriculum into our existing International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Regents, and elective science courses,” said Cristie Tursi, Science Director of Long Beach Public Schools. “We look forward to a continued partnership and making the Center’s resources an integral part of Long Beach Public Schools’ growing program in Environmental Education and Sustainability.” Kimberly Williams, New York State Master Teacher in Science, celebrated the curriculum for having “something for everyone who wants to help foster their students' curiosity and drive. It offers a fantastic guide for educators who need to learn with their students! The fun, creative, hands-on activities can be easily tailored for a variety of learners whether at the Center, at home, or in the classroom.”

“By bringing together history, environmental conservation, and energy, Energy & Us will increase the capacity of the Center to achieve its mission of educating and inspiring the public about environmental stewardship and responsible energy consumption,” said Jeanne Haffner, Director and Chief Curator.

Energy & Us was developed by Olivia Schwob, formerly a member of Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center Curatorial Team, in collaboration with Dr. Jeanne Haffner, Director and Chief Curator of the Center, as well as volunteer teacher advisors from Long Beach Public Schools, Roosevelt Public Schools, Freeport Public Schools, the New York State Master Teachers Program, and the New York State Marine Education Association. The development of the curriculum was supported by a generous grant from the Rauch Foundation, which also sponsors ongoing exhibitions and programming at the Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center. In a public talk at the Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center on January 22, 2022, at 11:00AM, Olivia Schwob will discuss the making of the curriculum. The Center will use Energy & Us to launch a Teacher’s Academy in summer and fall 2022, offering professional development programs for educators across Long Island and New York State.

NEW YORK STATE’S BROWNFIELD CLEANUP PROGRAM MARKS SUCCESSFUL YEAR IN 2021

 

State Cleanup Program Continues to Advance Comprehensive Cleanups and Economic Redevelopment Statewide

42 Cleanups Completed in 2021, 90 New Sites Accepted into BCP

 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos today celebrated another year of successful environmental cleanups as part of the State’s Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP). In 2021, DEC issued a total of 42 Certificates of Completion and accepted 90 new sites into the program, helping to protect public health and the environment across New York State while revitalizing neighborhoods and strengthening local economies.

“New York’s Brownfield Cleanup Program is a powerful tool transforming former industrial properties across the state, improving quality of life, and revitalizing communities,” Commissioner Seggos said. “With site visits to cleanups from Buffalo to Long Island, I’ve seen first-hand just how valuable this program is for New York. During 2021, DEC’s Brownfield Cleanup Program completed 42 cleanups and accepted 90 new sites into the program. With Governor Kathy Hochul’s leadership, DEC is bolstering our commitment to restore, redevelop, and revitalize abandoned and underutilized properties in even more neighborhoods, particularly in communities historically overburdened by environmental pollution.”

In her 2022 State of the State Agenda and 2022-2023 Executive Budget, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed to build upon the success of New York State’s BCP by extending and expanding the program, which is set to expire in December 2022. The proposal, which includes the 10-year extension, would reauthorize the program and improve it by making property tax credits available in certain disadvantaged, low-income communities, and providing credits for the development of certain renewable energy facility sites to help focus BCP-driven redevelopment and meet the State’s ambitious climate goals. Governor Hochul also plans to grow the State’s Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) program, which provides communities with guidance, expertise, and financial assistance to help develop revitalization strategies for areas affected by urban blight or economic distress. For more information about the BCP, visit https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8450.html.

“The Brownfield Cleanup Program continues to transform communities from blight to economic and environmentally sustainable areas across the state,” said Acting Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez. “Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, we will continue to redevelop and revitalize these underutilized and dormant areas and continue to make our communities stronger.”

New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, "The Brownfield Cleanup Program is a critical tool in the fight to remove blight and decay from communities, safeguard the environment, and transform contaminated sites into high quality neighborhood assets and affordable homes.  I commend Governor Hochul for embracing the tremendous potential of the Brownfield Cleanup Program and working to expand its reach. By growing and improving the program, we can make sure it revitalizes more communities across New York and returns distressed properties to productive use.”

DEC oversees New York State’s BCP, which encourages the voluntary cleanup of contaminated properties known as “brownfields,” so these sites can be redeveloped and returned to productive use. A brownfield site is any real property where a contaminant is present at levels exceeding health-based or environmental standards or applicable cleanup objectives based on the anticipated future use of the property. The program encourages private-sector cleanups of brownfields and promotes redevelopment of these sites as a means to revitalize communities. Site uses many include recreation, housing, business, or other uses. The BCP is a sustainable alternative to greenfield development and helps remove barriers to, and provide tax incentives for, the redevelopment of urban brownfields.

Since its inception in 2003, DEC has approved 1,156 applications to the program, and to date, the State has issued Certificates of Completion (COCs) to 543 formerly contaminated properties statewide. DEC issues COCs based on its review of the Final Engineering Report, which certifies the remediation work performed by the applicants meets cleanup requirements for the protection of public health and the environment. The COC triggers the availability of tax credits for eligible parties and also allows the certificate holder to redevelop the site, subject to certain restrictions, if applicable.

Some completed BCP projects are located in the New York Department of State's Brownfield Opportunity Areas. The BCP and BOA programs complement one another and, along with DEC partners including the State Department of Health and State Office of Homes and Community Renewal, help transform former industrial sites into community assets that support businesses, jobs, and revenue for local economies, as well as new housing opportunities and public amenities.

In addition, in December 2021, DEC proposed changes to the BCP, State Superfund, and other cleanup program regulations. This rulemaking would create new cleanup standards for the oversight of the emerging contaminants perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanoic sulfonate (PFOS), and strengthen the implementation of cleanups. To comment on the proposed regulations or attend one of the two virtual hearings on the draft rulemaking, go to https://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/101908.html. The public comment period on the proposed changes ends on April 21, 2022.

For more information on the BCP, visit DEC's BCP webpage. A list of sites that have been completed and issued a COC in New York can be found at the New York State Open Data website.                    

Senator Biaggi's Week in Review: 1/17/22-1/21/22

 

Dear Community,

New York State’s eviction moratorium expired on January 15th, 2022. Unfortunately, as of yet, the Legislature has failed to take action to extend the moratorium or pass legislation to protect New Yorkers from displacement. I understand that this is a stressful time for many New Yorkers across our state, and I promise to remain committed to fighting to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to safe and affordable housing without the risk of being evicted. In the midst of this situation, I want to provide New Yorkers with the resources and rights you should be aware of.  

As of right now, the best way to protect yourself against eviction is to apply for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), which reopened on January 11th, 2022. ERAP was created to provide significant economic relief to help low and moderate-income households at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability by providing rental arrears, temporary rental assistance and utility arrears assistance. While we are fighting for additional rental assistance from the State and Federal Government in the coming weeks, applying for ERAP will provide applicants with protection against eviction until a final decision on their application is made. Apply here. 

I also want to make sure that everyone is aware of their rights as a tenant. The following are important rights every tenant should be aware of: 

1. Your landlord cannot directly evict you – Even if you owe rent and your landlord tells you to move, they cannot legally evict you without taking you to court first. Only a judge can legally evict you and a Marshall with a court order can move your belongings. 
2. Your landlord cannot change your locks without your permission – Unless your landlord has a warrant for eviction, changing the locks on your apartment without giving you a key is illegal.
3. Harassment by landlords is illegal - Any form of harassment by landlords, especially if the goal is to get you to move out, is illegal. This includes and is not limited to physical violence, sexual harassment, property damage, turning off the heat or hot water, and threats of eviction.

CASA Bronx, a tenants rights organization in the Bronx, has also created useful tenants’ rights fliers with more information that are available here in both English and Spanish. The NYC Housing Preservation and Development website also provides resources for tenants. I strongly encourage you to take a look, as knowing your rights can also serve to protect you against eviction. 

My office and I are here to assist you with any questions or concerns you may have. Please email my office at biaggi@nysenate.gov or call us 718-822-2049, and a member of my team will assist you. 

With Gratitude,

State Senator Alessandra Biaggi

Statement from Governor Kathy Hochul on Shooting of NYPD Officers in Harlem

 "I am horrified by tonight’s tragedy in Harlem. My thoughts are with the family who answered the phone to receive the news they've always dreaded: that their loved one, who had sworn to protect and serve New Yorkers by joining the NYPD, will not be coming home. I am praying for the recovery of his partner, the officer who is fighting for his life, and for his family. I know that all of New York is standing with these officers and their families.

We must urgently confront the plague of gun violence in our state. Too many lives are being lost, and too many New Yorkers are living in fear. This is a crisis. That's why earlier today, I extended an Executive Order declaring a gun violence State of Emergency. In the Executive Budget I released earlier this week, I put forward a plan to triple resources for our gun interdiction efforts, so that we stop the flow of illegal guns into our state, and also triple resources for violence interrupter programs to address the root causes of violence. 

I refuse to allow our cities to be gripped with fear. New​ Yorkers deserve action from their elected officials — and they will get it. I’ve pledged my full support to Mayor Eric Adams and look forward to working with him and other leaders to continue to take meaningful actions to make New Yorkers safer."

NYPD Commissioner Sewell Announces New Executive Designations and Appointments

 

 Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell today announced additional appointments to her executive staff team following the recent appointments of First Deputy Commissioner Edward A. Caban and Chief of Department Kenneth E. Corey. The appointments are key operational positions that are critical to the success of the NYPD’s sustained commitment to crime reduction, intelligence-driven policing, training, transparency, and community engagement.

“The NYPD, the city, and its people can share in my confidence in this group of distinguished policing leaders that I have selected as my core command staff,” said Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell. “Each of these executives has displayed exceptional leadership and vision in guiding the NYPD to many accomplishments across all five boroughs. They are consummate police professionals who also reflect the values and concerns of the citizens the NYPD serves. I look forward to working with them as we rise to new challenges.”

Announcements include:

Chief Kathleen O’Reilly was appointed Chief of Patrol from her previous position as Chief of Transit.

Chief Juanita Holmes was appointed Chief of Training, having served as Chief of Patrol.

Chief Jeffrey Maddrey was appointed Chief of Housing from his previous position as Chief of Community Affairs.

Chief David Barrere was appointed Chief of Internal Affairs from his previous position as Chief of Housing.

Chief Donna Jones was promoted to Chief of Staff to the Police Commissioner from her previous position as Commanding Officer of the Criminal Justice Bureau.

Assistant Chief Jason Wilcox will be promoted to Chief of Transit from his previous position as Assistant Chief in the Detective Bureau overseeing the Specialty Enforcement Division.

Assistant Chief Philip P. Rivera was appointed Borough Commander Patrol Borough Bronx from his previous position as Borough Commander of Patrol Borough Manhattan North.

Deputy Chief Olufunmilola F. Obe was appointed Borough Commander Patrol Borough Manhattan North from her previous position as Commanding Officer School Safety Division.

Deputy Chief Gin Y. Yee was appointed Commanding Officer Patrol Borough Staten Island from his previous position of Executive Officer at Patrol Borough Staten Island.