“Bravo. Today’s Supreme Court ruling is exactly as it should be--a final authority that protects the constitutional rights of citizens against a dictatorial government. This is a ruling for the people over the politicians. It’s disgusting-- yet highly predictable --that Kathy Hochul and the Democrats are trying to gin up fear and division over a legal gun owner’s right to protect themselves and their family. Democrats have no problem with releasing violent criminals onto our streets but they want to restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners. This is the insanity we are fighting against and while this is an important victory, we must take our fight all the way to November.”
Thursday, June 23, 2022
Attorney General James Vows to Protect New Yorkers in Wake of Supreme Court Ruling
New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, overturning New York’s century-old proper cause requirement in its concealed carry gun licensing law, a common-sense law that has allowed New York to fulfill its responsibility to establish its own gun licensing laws and protect residents:
“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court to strike down New York’s proper cause requirement to carry a concealed weapon is incredibly disappointing. For more than a century, this law has protected New Yorkers from harm by ensuring that there are reasonable and appropriate regulations for guns in public spaces.
“The Supreme Court made its decision, but the fight to protect American families from gun violence will march on. In the days to come, my office will be taking action to address the potential harm that this ruling may cause, and we will continue to defend the constitutionality of our state’s laws, as we’ve always done. We will work with the Governor and Legislature to amend our licensing statute that will continue to protect New Yorkers. I want to reassure all New Yorkers that our robust gun protection laws remain intact and we will be working with our partners in government to further strengthen them.
“Make no mistake: This decision will not deter us from standing up to the gun lobby and their repeated efforts to endanger New Yorkers. I vow to use the full force of my office to protect New Yorkers and American families.”
Since 1913, New York law has required individuals to obtain a license to be able to carry a handgun outside their home. In March 2019, the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association (NYSRPA) and two individuals, who had been denied a license, sued New York state in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, claiming that New York’s concealed carry law infringed upon their Second Amendment rights. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) successfully defended the law, and the lawsuit was dismissed in March 2018 and then again affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The plaintiffs then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, which Solicitor General Barbara D. Underwood argued on behalf of the state of New York in November 2021.
Governor Hochul Issues Response to Supreme Court Ruling Striking Down New York's Concealed Carry Restriction
We just received some very disturbing news from Washington; that the Supreme Court of the United States of America has stripped away the state of New York's right and responsibility to protect its citizens with a decision - which we are still digesting - which is frightful in its scope of how they are setting back this nation and our ability to protect our citizens back to the days of our founding fathers. And the language we're reading is shocking.
As Governor of the State of New York, my number one priority is to keep New Yorkers safe, but today the Supreme Court is sending us backwards in our efforts to protect families and prevent gun violence. And it's particularly painful that this came down at this moment. We are still dealing with families in pain from mass shootings that have occurred; the loss of life of their beloved children and grandchildren.
Today, the Supreme Court struck down a New York law that limits who can carry concealed weapons. Does everyone understand what a concealed weapon means? That you have no forewarning that someone can hide a weapon on them and go into our subways, go into our grocery stores like stores up in Buffalo, New York, where I'm from, go into a school in Parkland or Uvalde.
This could place millions of New Yorkers in harm's way. And this is at a time when we're still mourning the loss of lives, as I just mentioned. This decision, isn't just reckless, it's reprehensible. It's not what New Yorkers want. We should have the right of determination of what we want to do in terms of our gun laws in our state.
If the federal government will not have sweeping laws to protect us, then our states and our governors have a moral responsibility to do what we can and have laws that protect our citizens because of what is going on - the insanity of the gun culture that has now possessed everyone all the way up to even to the Supreme Court.
The law we're talking about has been in place since the early 1900s. And now to have our ability to determine who is eligible for a concealed carry permit - this is not an ordinary permit. This is a special use that you can hide it from people. We have limitations, if it's for a proper cause, someone who's been threatened, someone who needs it for their job as a security guard. We have classifications where it is allowed and has been allowed for over a hundred years.
We do not need people entering our subways, our restaurants, our movie theaters with concealed weapons. We don't need more guns on our streets. We're already dealing with a major gun violence crisis. We don't need to add more fuel to this fire.
But I will tell New Yorkers, we've been ready for this. We feared this day would come and it came. At this very moment when we are about to sign a law into place, the origins of which was a loss of a 14 year old child, Alyssa, in her school.
The confluence of these two events is shocking. But again, I'm going to reassure this state. We are reading the language as we speak. We've been preparing, but we have been working with a team of experts, legal experts from all over this country and organizations like Everytown, true leaders, to make sure that we are prepared.
I'm prepared to call the legislature back into session to deal with this. We've been in contact with the leadership. We're just looking at dates. Everyone wants a little bit of time to digest this, but I will say we are not powerless in this situation. We're not going to cede our rights that easily. Despite the best efforts of the politicized Supreme Court of the United States of America, we have the power of the pen.
And I just want to read some language here. Apparently, the Supreme Court has now decided with this far reaching decision that the two step standard that had been in place since Heller [and] McDonald, where they analyze the Second Amendment, where it combines history. We have a history, yes we do, but also means and scrutiny. Does the means of the restriction justify the infringement.
And most people would say, yes, we have a right to protect people from gun violence. But I'll simply say in our very quick analysis because this is only minutes old, they have now said that the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.
That's it. No longer can we strike the balance. Only if a firearm regulation is consistent with this nation's historical tradition may a court conclude that the individual's conduct falls outside the Second Amendment's unqualified command.
Shocking, absolutely shocking that they have taken away our right to have reasonable restrictions. We can have restrictions on speech. You can't yell fire in a crowded theater, but somehow there's no restrictions allowed on the second amendment.
This is New York. We don't back down, we fight back. And we'll be alerting the public, the media in the very short term of exactly what our language is that we've been analyzing. We have language we'd like to now enact into law. We'll be sharing that with the leaders.
And I'm sorry this dark day has come. That we're supposed to go back to what was in place since 1788 when the Constitution of United States America was ratified. And I would like to point out to the Supreme Court justices that the only weapons at that time were muskets. I'm prepared to go back to muskets.
I don't think they envision the high capacity assault weapon magazines intended for battlefields as being covered from this, but I guess we're just going to have to disagree.
NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE RESPONDS TO THE SUPREME COURT RULING IN FAVOR OF GUN VIOLENCE
"Last year, the United States saw more gun deaths than any other year in our history. Last month, gun violence stole the lives of ten people in a Buffalo supermarket. Nineteen children were massacred in a Texas school. This week in Harlem, nine people were shot and one killed in a mass shooting that has become so frequent it barely made headlines.
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"The Supreme Court’s answer to this crisis is to make it easier to conceal and carry a gun, to arm oneself with the constant threat of violence and pain. To bring more hidden weapons to our streets, subways, and schools all under the guise of safety and self defense. The Supreme Court places our country’s demonic obsession with guns, paired with conservative ideology, ahead of the over 40,000 lives that will be lost this year in our country to gun violence.
"This is not well-regulated. It is irresponsible, illogical, and immoral.
"We cannot let this conservative, counterintuitive ruling deter us from what we know works to address the epidemic of gun violence. In addition to moving quickly to resource community violence initiatives on a city level and pass federal legislation, the state legislature should immediately be called back into session to pass legislation addressing this ruling before the iron pipeline can burst and flood our city and state with more weaponry and preventable death."
MAYOR ADAMS’ STATEMENT ON BRUEN SUPREME COURT DECISION
New York City Mayor Eric Adams today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court today issued a decision in the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen:
“Put simply, this Supreme Court ruling will put New Yorkers at further risk of gun violence. We have been preparing for this decision and will continue to do everything possible to work with our federal, state, and local partners to protect our city. Those efforts will include a comprehensive review of our approach to defining ‘sensitive locations’ where carrying a gun is banned, and reviewing our application process to ensure that only those who are fully qualified can obtain a carry license. We will work together to mitigate the risks this decision will create once it is implemented, as we cannot allow New York to become the Wild West.
“One thing is certain: We will do whatever is in our power, using every resource available to ensure that the gains we’ve seen during this administration are not undone, to make certain New Yorkers are not put in further danger of gun violence. This decision may have opened an additional river feeding the sea of gun violence, but we will do everything we can to dam it.”
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Statement from State Senator Gustavo Rivera on The Rent Guidelines Board's Decision to Significantly Increase Rent on Rent Stabilized Apartments
"Last night, the Rent Guidelines Board voted to increase rents by 3.25 percent on one-year leases and 5 percent on two-year leases for rent-stabilized tenants for leases beginning on or after October 1, 2022. This is an assault on a dwindling affordable housing stock while market-rate rents are at a record high. We cannot continue a disconnected approach to housing where tenants pay more than half of their income towards rent while landlords expect guaranteed profit, neglect their responsibilities, and aggressively evict low-income New Yorkers."
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MAYOR ADAMS OPENS AFFORDABLE HOMES ON FORMER SITE OF SPOFFORD JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER, WHERE HE WAS ONCE HELD
First Residential Building of New Mixed-Use Development Includes 183 Deeply Affordable Homes and Cultural Arts Center, With Studio Space for Emerging Artists
Project Will Ultimately Deliver 740 Affordable Homes, Childcare, Wellness Facility, and Supermarket, Replacing Notorious Detention Facility Closed in 2011
New York City Mayor Eric Adams today continued efforts to provide New Yorkers with affordable housing options by opening 183 deeply affordable units, in addition to a cultural arts center, on the former site of the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center — the site where he was held at 15 years old — in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx. The detention center was closed in 2011, after 54 years in operation with notoriously poor conditions for the youth detained there. Once complete, the full five-acre redevelopment project — called The Peninsula — will bring 740 affordable homes, an early childhood education center, a wellness center, a one-acre public plaza, and a supermarket to Hunts Point.
“The Peninsula highlights the city’s efforts to prioritize the needs of the Hunts Point community and to build a more inclusive economic recovery that delivers not just new housing but also an opportunity for residents to participate in the neighborhood’s economic revitalization,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer. “Building on the first phase of this project — which created light manufacturing space that several Bronx-based small businesses are already planning to call home — we are celebrating today both the first residential building completed at this new campus, as well as the completion of affordable rehearsal spaces and performing space for local artists. I thank all involved on this project and look forward to working with them all to bring the rest of the vision for the campus to life in the coming years.”
This $121 million, 100-percent affordable housing phase of this project — with retail space and studio space for emerging artists — reflects Mayor Adams’ commitment to place New Yorkers into safe, high-quality, affordable homes, as outlined in his blueprint for the city’s affordable housing crisis, ‘Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness.’ The first phase of the project, completed today, includes 183 affordable homes for New Yorkers earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income, with 18 homes specifically reserved for New Yorkers who previously experienced homelessness. The building also offers a wide range of amenities, including a community room, a children’s playroom, a fitness room, and bike storage space.
The development additionally includes a cultural arts center with a state-of-the-art black box theater, an art gallery, a dance studio, a coworking space, and 26 artist studios. Inspiration Point Center for the Arts — a Bronx-based nonprofit — will operate the space, which will also serve as a community space for local events. The ground floor includes a 5,000-square-foot retail space.
When the entire project is complete, The Peninsula will feature:
- Approximately 740 units of 100 percent affordable housing, with studio, one-, two-, three-, and some four- bedroom apartments;
- An early childhood education center designed in coordination with the New York City Department of Education and the New York City School Construction Authority;
- Recreational and community facilities, including artist studios, expanded programming for The Point Community Development Corporation (CDC), and a wellness center to be operated by community partner Urban Health Plan;
- Commercial space, including a supermarket; and
- Open space, including a one-acre landscaped public plaza.
“NYCEDC is proud to work with the mayor, our city partners, and the community to redevelop the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center into a place that meets the community’s most pressing needs and transforms the site into a symbol of hope,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President and CEO Andrew Kimball. “Once complete, The Peninsula will help create a more equitable and resilient economy in Hunts Point by providing affordable housing, community arts space, and good jobs.”
The nearby light industrial building, completed last year, offers several small production-based businesses affordable space to grow and create good jobs in and for the Hunts Point community. Current tenants include bakers, coffee roasters, and noodle, tamale, and greens producers, along with an organic knitting research, development, production, and training center. One building will also be home to a shared incubator kitchen that will be developed jointly with HotBread Kitchen, offering entrepreneurs who cook in their homes the opportunity to expand their production. The light industrial building is projected to create upwards of 100 jobs over the next five years.
The Peninsula project team includes Gilbane Development Company, The Hudson Companies, and MHANY Management. The project was designed collaboratively by WXY Architecture + Urban Design and Body Lawson Associates Architects and Planners.
“After hosting our Bronx Week Ball at La Peninsula, once the site of the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center, I am excited to see this project’s continued transformation,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. “La Peninsula is a 68,000-square-foot facility in Hunts Point that represents our borough’s potential with new affordable housing, retail space on the ground level, an outdoor community room, studio space for inspiring artists, and other amenities that will truly enhance the neighborhood. I applaud the New York City Economic Development Corporation, community organizations, and the developers for their work in bringing this project to fruition and for bringing positive change to the South Bronx.”
“One of the most important resources in the Bronx is affordable housing. For this reason, I welcome with great joy the first affordable housing development in The Peninsula,” said New York State Senator Luis Sepulveda. “This 14-story development will not only provide 183 permanent homes to individuals that are home insecure, but it will also help with the transformation of the area as Hunts Point moves forward. I applaud Mayor Adams for investing in the Bronx and look forward to working together to develop the community of Hunts Points as well as other areas in the borough.”
Senator Luis Sepulveda - Bronx Bus Redesign Routes
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