WILLIAMS ADVANCES ABORTION RIGHTS LEGISLATION IN CITY COUNCIL AS STATE TAKES UP EQUALITY AMENDMENT

 

As the state legislature votes on the Equality Amendment to advance reproductive rights in the state constitution, and in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams testified in a City Council hearing of the Committee on Women and Gender Equity. He called for immediate passage of several pieces of legislation aimed at protecting abortion rights on all levels of government. 

“Institutions in our country are failing people everywhere, especially those who will be directly affected by this assault on reproductive rights with the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “As elected officials, we owe it to New Yorkers to turn our words into action, ensuring that our city will safeguard reproductive rights for all, and keep our state and federal governments accountable to this as well.”

The Public Advocate asked the City Council to quickly pass two pieces of legislation essential to protecting practitioners and patients of reproductive healthcare in New York City. The first bill, Int. 0466, which he co-prime sponsors alongside Council Member Tiffany Cabán, would "prohibit city agencies from using city resources to detain individuals who performed or aided with abortions as well as prohibit city agencies from cooperating with out-of-state entities related to abortions performed in New York state.” Next, Int. 0475 would “allow a person to bring a claim of interference with medical care when a lawsuit is commenced against them,” for accessing healthcare that is legal in New York City – so anyone who is sued for terminating a pregnancy is able to bring a claim of interference. 

New York City must always remain a safe place for anyone seeking access to abortion, so the Public Advocate also pushed for two resolutions. The first, Res. 0197, “declares New York City a safe city for all those in need of abortion-related care,” sending a strong and resounding message that the city will remain a safe haven for anyone seeking reproductive healthcare. Additionally, Res. 0245 calls on the U.S. Senate to pass, and President Biden to sign, the Women’s Health Protection Act; this bill federally protects the right to abortion care. 

This advocacy is part of a larger legislative push by the Public Advocate to enshrine and defend reproductive rights. Yesterday, at a hearing of the Committee on Civil and Human Rights, the Public Advocate emphasized the need to pass legislation from Council Member Shahana Hanif, of which he is the co-prime sponsor, that would ensure that all New Yorkers seeking reproductive healthcare or employed at a reproductive health care facility are aware of their rights and remedies under New York law.

“We have an obligation to secure rights for our communities, an obligation I know we all are committed to uphold,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “At the same time, we have an obligation to inform our communities of their rights. Even before the Supreme Court’s decision, access to reproductive health information has proved a barrier to proper care for New Yorkers. Without proper access to information, our communities cannot exercise the rights they have fought for.”

Read the Public Advocate’s testimony from today’s hearing of the Committee on Women and Gender Equity, and yesterday’s hearing of the Committee on Civil and Human Rights.

NYS Office of the Comptroller DiNapoli: Too Many New Yorkers Still Without High-Speed Broadband Access

 

Audit Finds Empire State Development Fell Short Meeting Programs Goals

State Comptroller Cautions Against Repeating Mistakes as State Engages in New Effort to Provide Equitable Access to Broadband

 Broadband access is increasingly necessary for everyday activities and especially vital for businesses, remote workers, online education and health care appointments, but Empire State Development’s (ESD) New NY Broadband Program has fallen short of its mission to bring universal broadband access to New Yorkers, according to an audit by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“The New NY Broadband Program did not meet its goal to close the internet gap because of poor planning and execution,” DiNapoli said. “As my office’s audit found, the program took years longer than promised and supplied many communities with slow, satellite-based internet that is inadequate for today’s needs. The state is now embarking on another effort to provide all New Yorkers with broadband access called ConnectALL and it is my hope it learns from the issues we found in this audit so they are not repeated.”

The program was created in 2015 to make high-speed (100 megabits per second or Mbps) broadband service “universal” in all but the most remote areas of the state by 2018. ESD’s Broadband Program Office (BPO) manages the program, which was funded with $735 million in mostly state funds, but also included private and federal matching dollars.

The money was targeted to bring access to 255,994 unserved and underserved households. Due to delays, as of March 2021, not all of those households had received access to service. Further, nearly one-third of the households that were connected to broadband — 78,690 households in remote areas — were given broadband access using satellite technology, which has a maximum download speed of 25 Mbps and whose signal can be weakened by rain or snow. In most cases that speed is not adequate for today’s commonplace needs, and especially so in homes or businesses with multiple devices connected to the internet that are being used at once.

Although many households were connected, many still were not by the announced 2018 completion deadline, with more than half of the program’s 126 projects delayed by as long as 48 months.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fact that many New Yorkers lacked access to high-speed broadband or found it too expensive. It also highlighted the inequity of access, with Black and Hispanic households being less likely to have high-speed internet service than white households.

As New York continues to rebuild from the pandemic’s impact, nine projects under the program still await completion, including four affecting 12,400 households that won’t have access until December 2022.

In addition to the projects in the works, the BPO reported that 14,000 New York households remained unserved or underserved for broadband access as of March 2021. BPO stated that most of these were downstate households that had been mistakenly deemed to have access based on Federal Communications Commission (FCC) data.

The FCC relies on self-reported information from Internet service providers (ISPs) regarding where they have completed access. But ISPs may report that an entire census block is served by broadband even if it only offers a connection of 25 Mbps service to one location on that block. In remote areas, a census block can encompass hundreds of square miles. As a result, BPO’s estimate that 98.95% of New York has access to high-speed broadband internet is an overstatement. An October 2021 estimate by BroadbandNow found that FCC data for New York was off by 20% and that 1.3 million New Yorkers lacked access to high-speed Internet.

The audit noted that in September 2021, the Executive announced the launch of a mapping survey in the state to examine the quality and availability of broadband access. In January 2022, the Executive announced a $1 billion ConnectALL public-private initiative to deliver affordable broadband to millions of New Yorkers.

DiNapoli’s audit recommended that ESD and BPO:

• Work with ISPs to complete outstanding projects as soon as possible;
• Use a disclaimer when reporting the percentage of broadband availability in the state to reflect limitations in the data’s accuracy; and
• Ensure that future state-funded projects are based on accurate broadband availability data; and that technologies that provide high-speed, reliable internet are used.

In its response, ESD disagreed with some of the findings of the audit. The agency’s response is available in the audit.

Audit

New NY Broadband Program

Further Reading

Availability, Access and Affordability: Understanding Broadband Challenges in New York State

Assemblymember Nathalia Fernandez - Community Shredding Event

 

Greetings, On Friday, July 8th between 11:00am - 1pm, our office will be hosting a Community Shredding Event in partnership with the Department of Sanitation at the 80th Assembly District Office: 2018 Williamsbridge Road, 10461 Our office invites you all to come out and shred as many documents as needed on a first come, first serve basis! We appreciate your time and efforts in advance!   Best Regards, New York State Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez

MAYOR ADAMS’ STATEMENT ON GOVERNOR HOCHUL SIGNING HISTORIC GUN SAFETY LEGISLATION

 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams today released the following statement on New York Governor Kathy Hochul signing landmark gun safety legislation in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen:  

  

“I am grateful to Governor Hochul for convening an extraordinary session to address gun safety legislation and swiftly signing this bill into law. We need every level of government and both sides of the aisle working together to end the scourge of gun violence facing our city and country, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reckless decision.   

 

“While the Supreme Court may have opened a river leading to the sea of gun violence, this bill will dam other rivers by creating common-sense objective criteria for licensing eligibility, requiring completion of a firearms safety training course, identifying sensitive locations where concealed carry is illegal, and strengthening the existing laws on background checks.   

 

“More work remains to be done to save lives, and my team will continue to examine additional measures we can take. I look forward to continued partnership with federal, state, and local leaders as we fight to get guns off our streets and keep people safe.”   

Attorney General James’ Statement on New Efforts to Protect Abortion and Strengthen Gun Control

 

New York Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement on the new measures passed today to protect access to abortion and strengthen gun control in New York following last week’s decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court: 

“Today, our state government made important progress to protect New Yorkers’ rights. In the aftermath of these harmful decisions from the Supreme Court, New York acted swiftly and thoroughly to preserve the right to abortion and enact common-sense measures to protect our communities from gun violence. I want to thank the governor and our legislative leaders for the opportunity to work with them on these critical issues and for getting this done. Once again, New York is leading the way.”

New York City Comptroller Lander Announces Audits of City Agencies

 

New York City Comptroller Lander announced the release of several audits conducted by the Office of the New York City Comptroller’s Bureau of Audit.

The Comptroller’s office is responsible for conducting audits and analyses of City agencies to determine whether funds are being used efficiently and economically, and whether the desired goals, results, benefits, of agency programs are being achieved. The recommendations included in these audits are designed to further the Comptroller’s mission to promote efficiency, integrity, and performance in City government for all New Yorkers.

“Audits are a critical transparency and accountability tool for New Yorkers to ensure our public resources are being used wisely, spot problems, and propose changes to how government agencies deliver services.  I applaud our audit team’s hard work during this fiscal year and their continued efforts to ensure City agencies are meeting their obligations and making the best use of resources to serve New Yorkers,” said Comptroller Brad Lander.

Between January 2022 and the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2022, Comptroller Lander and his office has released 23 audits and audit letters, and today the Comptroller announced the completion of the following audits.

FINANCIAL AUDITS 

Financial Audit on the Financial and Operating Practices of Union-Administered Benefit Funds with Fiscal Years Ending in Calendar Year 2019

In 2019, the 92 welfare and annuity funds spent nearly $118.1 million (5.28% on average) of their total revenue on administration as compared with $113.5 million (7.01% on average) in 2018. Among the findings were several financial issues including expenses that exceeded revenues, resulting in operating deficits; administrative expenses that exceeded the average for that category of fund; and operating surpluses that resulted in higher-than-average reserves. (Issued January 25, 2022) 

New York City Department of Probation: Financial Audit on the Management and Control of Overtime Costs

While the New York Department of Probation (DOP) generally complied with the applicable regulations, directives, policies and procedures, DOP did not obtain overtime cap waivers as required and, as a result, DOP paid cash overtime to 49 employees in Calendar Year 2019 and 12 employees in Calendar Year 2020 who were not entitled to receive it. The auditors also found that no staff documented taking any meal breaks during their overtime shifts, despite the mandate to provide such breaks under NYS Labor Law.  While employees may voluntarily waive this right, the waiver is intended to be occasional and at the option of the employee. The absence of documented meal breaks and/or waivers raises compliance concerns. In addition, weaknesses were found in DOP’s monitoring and control of overtime usage. (Issued May 10, 2022) 

City University of New York: Financial Audit on Guttman Community College’s Controls Over Student Activity Fees

This audit found that all student activity fees collected through CUNY’s Fully Integrated Resources and Services Tool (CUNYfirst) during Fiscal Years 2019 through 2021 were turned over to the Guttman Association, which supervises and reviews budgets for programs supported by student activities. The audit found certain weaknesses in the Guttman Association’s controls over expenses funded by student activity fees. In addition, the audit found no evidence of the Audit Committee’s activity or evidence that authorization for student activity fees receivable write-offs was maintained. (Issued June 29, 2022) 

New York City Department of Finance: Financial Audit on Verizon New York, Inc.’s Compliance With New York City’s Enhanced 911 Surcharge Regulations

Although Verizon promptly remitted monthly 911 surcharges to the New York City Department of Finance (DOF), the auditors were unable to determine whether Verizon billed and collected the 911 surcharge from all customers required to pay the surcharge, or whether Verizon paid all 911 surcharge revenues that it collected from customers to DOF because Verizon did not provide requested access to relevant information and staff. As a result, the auditors were unable to determine the accuracy and completeness of Verizon’s data and obtain sufficient evidence to verify that Verizon properly billed, collected, and remitted the correct 911 surcharge amounts. In addition, Verizon did not submit the required annual report and monthly lists of non-paying customers to DOF. (Issued June 30, 2022) 

New York City Department of Transportation: Financial audit on the management and procurement of Brooklyn Bridge Rehabilitation Contract No. 6

The Comptroller’s Office found that the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) generally complied with the federal, State, City and its internal requirements when procuring and managing Contract No. 6. However, certain weaknesses were found in DOT’s internal controls that resulted in inefficient use of funds and reflected a lack of transparency and accountability in some of the agency’s public procurement and contract administration processes. The audit found that DOT accepted an inadequate bid analysis and did not require a revision of the engineer’s estimate as necessitated by the New York State Department of Transportation (SDOT). The audit also found weaknesses in DOT’s change order and payment processes. Weaknesses in the payment approval process resulted in overpayments to contractors, totaling $52,228 in disallowable charges. (Issued June 30, 2022) 

MANAGEMENT AUDITS

Department of Citywide Administrative Services: Management Audit on the Awarding and Monitoring of Its Emergency Contract with Best Buy Stores for WiFi Air Conditioning and Related Services

The Comptroller’s Office has found that the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) generally complied with the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services’ (MOCS’) guidance on COVID-19-related procurements and with its own COVID-19 procurement process when awarding the contract to Best Buy. However, DCAS did not ensure that its understanding with the New York City Department of Emergency Management concerning the agencies’ respective roles in awarding the contract and in monitoring and paying the vendor was clearly formulated in a written agreement. (Issued May 17, 2022) 

Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Management Audit on Oversight of Mobile Food Vending Units

The Comptroller’s Office has found that that Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) did not consistently conduct inspections as required or within the timeframes established in Title 24, Chapter 6, of the Rules of the City of New York and by DOHMH guidelines. For one type of inspection where the Rules did not set timeframes – re-inspections required due to violations found in earlier inspections – DOHMH did not establish any. Agency protocols concerning follow-up inspections were not always followed, and the auditors also found that controls over the issuance and tracking of permits, permit decals and grade cards could be improved. (Issued June 13, 2022) 

Manhattan Borough President’s Office: Management Audit on Controls over the Inventory of Computers and Computer-Related Equipment

The Comptroller’s Office has found that the Manhattan Borough President’s Office (MBPO) lacked adequate controls over its inventory. The MBPO did not (1) maintain a complete inventory listing, (2) perform periodic inventory counts, (3) immediately tag equipment when received, or (4) store unissued equipment in a secured area. Notwithstanding these deficiencies, the MBPO was generally able to account for the computers and related equipment it recently purchased through September 2021. Additionally, the MBPO took several actions during the audit—such as drafting a framework for written policies and procedures and consolidating its inventory into a comprehensive list—to begin rectifying several of the deficiencies identified. (Issued June 27, 2022) 

New York City Department for the Aging: Management Audit on Controls Over Payments for Home Care Services

The New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) contracts with Home Care Agencies (HCA) to assist older adults (clients) with daily living activities. The Comptroller’s Office has found that DFTA ensured that the invoices paid to HCA for services provided during Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 were generally calculated correctly, that all paid invoices were approved, and that all advances provided to HAs during Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 were recouped. However, DFTA lacked an adequate review and reconciliation process to assess HCA’s reporting of services provided to clients and their invoicing of those services. DFTA did not review time records to verify that the payments rendered by DFTA were for service hours actually provided and did not perform other compliance tests which would identify potential issues. (Issued June 27, 2022) 

District Attorney for New York County: Management Audit on the Inventory Practices over Its Office Equipment

The Comptroller’s Office has identified weaknesses in the District Attorney for New York County’s (DANY’s) oversight of its office equipment inventory. Specifically, DANY performed periodic counts of only those items purchased with federal funds rather than its entire inventory, did not consistently assign its asset tags in sequential order, and did not ensure that all tagged assets were recorded in its inventory records. After sharing these matters with DANY in the above-referenced management letter, the agency took corrective action. (Issued June 28, 2022) 

New York City Police Department: Management Audit on Controls Over Seized Property Inventory

The Comptroller’s Office has found that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) was generally able to account for property related to the sampled invoices recorded in its property tracking systems. However, the audit found that NYPD did not consistently conduct required inventory counts of property on hand. While NYPD generally met the minimum retention periods before disposing of held property, many items are held well beyond their retention periods. Finally, the audit found that NYPD should improve its documenting of claimants’ identification information when property is returned. (Issued June 28, 2022)  

New York City Health + Hospitals: Management Audit on Controls Over Inventory of Medical Surgical Supplies Including Personal Protective Equipment at its Post-Acute and Long-Term Acute Care Facilities

The Comptroller’s Office has found that H+H has established several inventory rules and guidelines relating to the supply and management of medical surgical supplies at its post-acute and long-term acute care facilities. However, the agency does not adequately ensure that its facilities comply with those rules and guidelines, nor do those rules and guidelines address certain essential aspects of inventory management. H+H has instituted cycle counts to help ensure that each facility has sufficient PPE in stock and has established policies requiring that physical inventory counts be conducted periodically and that material discrepancies be investigated. H+H has also established protocols to distinguish responsibilities for receiving inventory from storing and distributing inventory. However, H+H did not ensure that some of its inventory policies and procedures were implemented. Additionally, some of the existing inventory procedures do not appropriately account for all inventory items. (Issued June 29, 2022) 

AUDIT LETTER & SPECIAL REPORTS 

Department of Homeless Services: Audit Letter Report on Controls over Its Hotel Lodging Contract with the Hotel Association of New York City, Inc. 

The Comptroller’s Office has found that the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) followed the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services’ (MOCS) guidance for COVID-19 related emergency procurements in awarding the contract to HANYC. Auditors reviewed 434 lodging invoices, which revealed that the requests for lodging payments had the proper supporting documents and were paid in a timely manner. However, the auditors also found that DHS did not always ensure that its mechanism for keeping track of payments accurately reflected the contract and payment information associated with the hotels. (Issued April 29, 2022) 

New York City Commission on Human Rights: Audit Letter Report on Compliance with Local Law 25 of 2016 Regarding Website Translations

The Comptroller’s Office has found that the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) complied with Local Law 25. CCHR’s website includes a translation feature at the top of the page for viewing text and essential information of the website in various languages, including the top 10 designated NYC LEP languages. (Issued May 25, 2022) 

New York City Commission on Human Rights: Audit Letter Report on Compliance with Local Law 30 Regarding Access to City Services for Residents with Limited English Proficiency

The Comptroller’s Office has found that the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) complied with Local Law 30. CCHR has developed and updated its Language Access Plan and designated its Policy Analyst as its Language Access Coordinator. CCHR contracts with several language access vendors for language access services including Langalo and Human Touch for translations, Voiance for telephonic interpretation, and B&N Legal Interpreting Inc. for in-person/virtual interpretation. (Issued May 25, 2022) 

New York City Commission on Human Rights: Audit Letter Report on Compliance with Local Law 120 of 2020 Regarding the Creation of An Anti-Discrimination Poster 

The Comptroller’s Office has found that the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) complied with Local Law 120 of 2020. CCHR developed the required anti-discrimination poster, also known as the Notice of Rights poster, which provides information on the forms of discrimination prohibited by the City Human Rights Law including age discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, discriminatory harassment, bias-based profiling by law enforcement, and lending practices. (Issued May 25, 2022) 

New York City Department of Transportation: Audit Letter Report on the Compliance of JCDecaux North America Inc. with Its Coordinated Street Furniture Franchise Agreement 

On May 19, 2006, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) entered into a $1.397 billion 20-year franchise agreement with Cemusa. Cemusa was purchased by JCDecaux Europe Holding and JCDecaux SA who later obtained the contract   to design, construct, install, and maintain coordinated street furniture throughout the City for at least 3,300 bus stop shelters and 330 newsstands. The Comptroller’s Office has found that JCDecaux paid the correct cash component of the franchise fee, in both years, and accurately recorded and reported advertising revenue, with the exception of coin revenue that it deducted from the revenue it reported to the City. JCDecaux also provided up to 22.5% of its inventory of advertising panels to NYC & Co. as required by the agreement. However, only limited assurance could be obtained by the auditors about the extent and value of the alternative compensation provided as the value of alternative compensation is determined solely by JCDecaux. (Issued June 15, 2022) 

New York City Department of Finance: Report on the Administration of the Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption Program 

The Comptroller’s Office has found that the New York City Department of Finance (DOF) generally followed its process to ensure that all owners and co-owners receiving the Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption (SCHE) met the eligibility requirements to receive the exemption. DOF improved certain aspects of its controls over the exemption process that were identified in a prior audit issued in 2016 that found DOF granted the SCHE to ineligible properties, including those owned by corporations. In the current review, the auditors found DOF reduced the number of ineligible properties granted the SCHE by 95% as compared to the prior audit. However, auditors conducting the recent review still identified errors that led to a loss of property tax revenue of $3,076,362 during Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020. (Issued June 27, 2022) 

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Special Letter Report on Compliance With Section 23-702 of the New York City Administrative Code Regarding School Food Service Establishment Inspection Results 

The Comptroller’s Office found that the New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene (DOHMH) made genuine efforts to comply with the requirements of Section 23-702 of the City Administrative Code – by automating the process for posting all inspection results for all public schools as inspections are completed. Despite this, the auditors were unable to locate such postings for many Manhattan schools for School Years 2018-2019 and 2021-2022. (Issued June 30, 2022) 

The Comptroller’s Office also conducted two audits on access and security controls over security systems, for the New York City School Construction Authority (issued June 14th) and New York City Small Business Services (issued June 17th). Previously announced audits during this period covered the NYPD’s civilianization efforts, enforcement of pandemic price-gouging, and shelter intake processes for homeless families.

Former Director Of Accounting And Human Resources Pleads Guilty To Embezzling From Her Employer

 

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced that SUSANA RIVERA, the former Director of Accounting and Human Resources for a kitchen remodeling firm located in Westchester County and Greenwich, Connecticut, pled guilty to wire fraud in connection with her embezzlement of more than $630,000 from her former employer. 

According to the allegations contained in the Information:

In October 2019, RIVERA was hired as the Director of Accounting and Human Resources at the victim company, a family owned kitchen design and remodeling business in Mamaroneck, Bedford and Greenwich, Connecticut.  Starting in November 2019, RIVERA made hundreds of unauthorized charges in a total amount exceeding $175,000 to the victim company’s credit cards for personal expenses, including jewelry, beauty treatments, laser treatments, travel, pets, cosmetic surgery, clothing and cars, including a partial payment on a  $100,000 Corvette.  RIVERA also caused the victim company’s payroll company to make unauthorized payments in a net amount of more than $370,000 to a fake vendor that RIVERA created to receive the money.  RIVERA also caused unauthorized transfers from the victim company’s bank account in an amount exceeding $2,900 to pay her personal utility bills.  To get restrictions on the use of the victim company’s credit cards removed, RIVERA posed as an owner of the victim company in telephone calls with the company’s credit card company.  RIVERA also sent the credit card company photographs of the owner’s driver’s license to cause credit card company personnel to believe she was the owner.

RIVERA, 40, of the Bronx, New York, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. 

The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as the sentence will be determined by the court.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on Extraordinary Session

 

Governor Hochul: "I refuse to surrender my right as Governor to protect New Yorkers from gun violence or any other form of harm. We're not going backwards. They may think they can change our lives with the stroke of a pen, but we have pens too I intend to fully exercise those rights, working with our partners in the legislature to protect our freedoms and to keep New Yorkers safe."

 How many of you thought you're back in college pulling all-nighters last night? Certainly my team has done an incredible job, and I want to thank them before I get started. These are the unsung heroes of our state government. People like Karen Persichilli Keogh, who's our Secretary. We also have Robin Golston is the Executive Deputy Secretary, who's been working so hard on our policies. The best legal minds in the state are led by Liz Fine, who's still working on this, making sure everything is airtight as we go into some uncharted territory here, but that's all right. Also, Micah Lasher and his entire policy team. Our communications team, led by Julie Wood, and also Hazel and Bryan, and my entire team, and Avi. They're just extraordinary individuals. So our legislative shop, our policy team, our communications team, all changed their plans this week, as did all of you. And I'm grateful for the media that is here today. And it's been tough. It's been tough but necessary, necessary.

So as you know, we're here because of a set of Supreme Court rulings that came down literally in the last day or two of session. And there, it was heartbreaking. It was a difficult week for our nation, and for the people we represent here in New York. And I would say with respect to the Dobbs decision, it was the biggest setback for women's rights in modern history. So what we had to do is adapt to the circumstances, recognize there's a lot of fear and anxiety and it was palpable.

I was out in subway stops and farmers markets, and just people coming up to me, young women literally just throwing their arms around my neck and just some of them sobbing. It was very hard for people to anticipate a post-Roe world, despite the fact that in New York, we feel protected, but there's always that underlying anxiety. "But what if Washington does something else? What if there's a change in leadership in our nation's capital?" So they're scared, they're scared. And they're looking to us for leaders. And for leadership. And I want to thank everyone who stepped up, my partners in state government. Extraordinary, the work that they did, Speaker Carl Heastie, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins of the Senate, coming together to help us fight back.

And so we knew what we had to do. We had already called an extraordinary session, and they literally are called extraordinary sessions, to deal with the cessation of our right to deal with concealed carry guns, the way we choose to, after 100 years — I'll talk about that in a minute. But as part of our fighting back to protect women's reproductive freedoms here in the State of New York, at 2:00 AM I issued a proclamation to say that in this extraordinary session we'll not only deal with the issue of making changes in our law to deal with the conceal carry decision last week, but also to allow for there to be an amendment to our State Constitution, to protect the rights that we hold dear in the state, the right to reproductive freedom, the Equality Amendment, which Senator Liz Krueger has been a champion for years and years and years, finally received word at 2:00 am that there had been a conceptual agreement between the two Houses. And that's when we took the action to allow the consideration of this, during this timeframe that we have before us, which was late last night today, and it's being worked on now. And that basically prohibits discrimination on a number of reasons, including pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes.

And so that is going to protect reproductive health in the state of New York for generations to come. And we'll continue with the legislature, just get it over the finish line, which we expect, hopefully in the next few hours. I know this senate has been working hard, wrapping things up, and now the Assembly is in session. So, dealing with that, middle of the night, made the adjustment. Good news.

Happy to wrap that one up, but also the purpose we gathered, after I heard the Supreme Court decision last Thursday seems like an eternity ago. We heard that and I said, I will bring back this session. I will get the legislature back and we'll start up again and to adapt and make the changes necessary after the Supreme Court overturned our concealed carry law, again on the books. On the books in the state. Working well, working successfully for over 100 years.

And because of the stroke of a pen, they removed longstanding limitations that we were able to use in the State of New York to make smart decisions on who should have the right to carry a weapon. Literally concealed carry means a hidden weapon. And so we believe that gun laws like those have made New York State safer and have made us the fifth-lowest state in the nation in terms of firearm-related deaths.

Remember, there are 50 states. New York State with our sensible gun safety laws, including the concealed carry law we had on the books for a hundred years, had us as the fifth lowest in the nation in terms of firearm-related deaths. So the CDC national data shows that there are far fewer people killed in states like New York.

Well, we have strong gun laws compared to other states that have very limited, if any restrictions at all: who can receive guns, background checks, concealed carry opportunities. New York state has a small number, five per hundred thousand deaths from firearms. Now, how does that compare with other states? Mississippi has 28.6 deaths per hundred thousand; Louisiana, 26 per hundred thousand; Wyoming, 20. I can go on and on. So those are the states that have minimal gun safety restrictions. Minimal compared to us.

And what has happened? The whole argument that the more people who have weapons will stop the bad guys with a gun because a good guy has a gun. You've heard this argument. It doesn't work. The data shows that that is a false argument. We have the statistics that show that because the takeaway we get from those data is that you're four or five times more likely to be killed by guns in those states than you are in the State of New York.

And there's another important statistic that I want to share with you. And this is the one about states that perform their own background checks, something I'll be talking about as part of our new law, when it's passed. States that perform their own background checks. Now, right now, the federal government has its own background checks. Point of contact, point of sale. If you want to purchase a pistol, for example, you have to go through a very quick, it's very quick background check at the point of sale. So the states that actually are doing it on their own, and there I believe there are 13 states that do it on their own, instead of relying just on the federal database.

And what does this give you access to? When states do it on their own, they have a 27 percent reduction in firearm suicides and a 22 percent reduction overall in homicides. So what's clear is, there's also an opportunity for states that are serious about protecting their citizens like New York, where we can say, we should be able to take this over. We don't need the feds to do the work. We will do it here in the state of New York where we can have access to our state database as well as the federal database. So I just want to demonstrate again, through statistics because the data will tell the story. So we're talking about the need for more common-sense gun safety measures, not fewer.

Because think about this scenario, in light of what the Supreme Court decision just did, imagine you're on a crowded subway and you bang into somebody inadvertently, tempers flare, and the person that you banged into happens to be carrying a concealed weapon. Imagine you're in a bar, someone starts a fight, they have a concealed weapon on them. Imagine you're in Times Square visiting with your family. You're on the way to a show with your family and you're surrounded by people with concealed weapons. Does that make you feel more or less safe? I think we all know the answer to those questions.

And again, the numbers don't lie. According to data published two days ago by the National Bureau of Economic Research, there's a 29 percent increase in firearm violent crimes when citizens are given the right to carry handguns. I will repeat that. 29 percent increase in firearm violent crimes when citizens are given the right to carry handguns.

So that brings us here to today. As you know, we've already covered the fact that, just a couple weeks ago, we signed nation leading laws into place, the toughest gun laws in America. You have to be older to buy an AR-15, no longer an 18-year-old. We expanded our red flag laws and we're doing whatever it takes to protect our citizens.

But what the Supreme Court did in the Bruen decision is totally, absolutely, 100 percent out-of-touch with what new Yorkers want and what they need. So, over this last week, I mentioned round-the-clock, extraordinary team, extraordinary hard work, in preparation of an extraordinary session, my team has been working with our partners to craft gun safety legislation.

And as a result of our quick work and collaboration with my partners, again, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Carl Heastie, our state will continue to keep New Yorkers safe from harm, even despite this setback from the Supreme Court. So, minutes ago, maybe probably an hour ago now, the Senate passed our proposed bill by vote of 43 to 20.

I've outlined, a couple days ago I outlined our conceptual agreements, but we've been fine tuning through the night, but now that they're about to become law, I want to go through them again.

We are creating a definitive list of sensitive locations where individuals will not be able to carry firearms. Common sense: schools, summer camps, libraries, daycares, parks, and playgrounds places children gather, theaters, museums, entertainment venues, places of worship for religious observation, polling places, educational institutions, and health and medical facilities, federal, state, local government buildings, homeless and domestic violence shelters, places where alcohol is consumed, restaurants, bars, public transportation, subway buses, airports, and at public demonstrations and rallies, and at Times Square.

We are making no open carry, no open carry the default position for private businesses. That means that any business, grocery store, retail, private home, place that wants to allow guns on their premises will have to demonstrate that and establish that they put a sign out there that says concealed carry guns are welcome here.

I don't know how many we'll see, but that's exactly, we're going to give them the option. Because what we're trying to do is protect the legitimate rights of private property owners by telling them they don't have to have someone walk into their establishment with a concealed weapon, ramping up their anxiety causing great concern, and they don't deserve that.

We are respecting private property owner rights. So, we're standing up for their rights, the business owner, the rights of their patrons, the rights of their employees, and the rights of the public.

We're also going to be expanding the disqualifying criteria for, for a permit. For example, if you have a history of dangerous behavior, you shouldn't be able to get a gun, full stop, period. It's just common sense. We're updating our safe storage laws in anticipation that more people because of this decision, we'll be able to be certified to have a concealed carry permit. And that means a lot of guns are transported in cars. Well guess what? The criminals know where guns are, and they can steal them. So, you have to be able to demonstrate you can lock them up in your car because a higher high percentage of stolen guns are taken from stolen cars, as well as in homes.

I mean, right now, the majority of, I think it's 67,000 permit owners in the State of New York have their permits limited to residential for their own protection, safety, their families. We are saying that we're changing the law from homes that have children 16 and under are required to store the guns in a safe place, to 18 year old's, again, because we are seeing a real increase in suicides from teenagers and the accessibility of unlocked up firearms in the home is a point of danger for them. So it's necessary.

We're also fixing something, we're updating our definition of body armor to include any form of soft or hard body armor that protects against gunfire and prohibiting the sale, except for those who need it for their profession. And finally, as I've said before, strengthening our gun laws, doesn't just mean adding new ones. We went back and looked at our laws, because I had a lot of questions about ammunition. Whatever happened to that ammunition database? Could there be a background check for ammunition? We're trying to find how to make sure we get things right here. And in our review, we determined that there's actually an old MOU that was signed related to ammunition sales after laws were passed the decade ago, it was an administration document between the prior administration and the Senate Republicans. And it blocked the State from taking critical measures to keep ammunition away from criminals.

So we are literally tearing it up and New York will now require and conduct background checks for all ammunition purchases. And we'll also be standing up an ammunition database, so law enforcement can identify and prosecute criminals and comparing ammunition records against records of other databases, which identifies people convicted of felonies. We're on top of this, we know this is nothing to do lawful gun owners, nothing to do with them at all. These are people who have been convicted of felonies or other categories of people that should be prohibited from firearms and ammunition. So I'm directing the State Police to move forward and work with our ITS team to move forward in establishing this, outside consultants, whatever's going to be necessary to get this done.

So, so in conclusion, after all that news, and thank you again for your patience. The Supreme Court's decisions were certainly setbacks. But we view them as only temporary setbacks, because I refuse, as I've said from day one, I refuse to surrender my right as Governor to protect New Yorkers from gun violence or any other form of harm. We're not going backwards. They may think they can change our lives with the stroke of a pen, but we have pens too, I give out a lot of pens. And that draws from the office of the Governor of the State of New York. And I intend to fully exercise those rights, working with our partners in the legislature to protect our freedoms and to keep New Yorkers safe.

So, some of you will have a delayed start to your 4th of July weekend. Let us not forget what this holiday means. It's to honor the founding of a great country, that cherish the rights of individuals, freedoms and liberty for all. I am standing here to protect freedom and liberty here in the State of New York. Protecting lives, protecting individual freedom of women to make decisions about their own bodies, because this to me is the embodiment of what it means to be an American. In honor, of our 4th of July weekend, I look forward to signing the legislation as soon as it's finished.