Governor Hochul Delivers Remarks at the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference

 

Governor Hochul: "You are at the front line out there to keep us from descending into chaos. And it's something that I think about a lot as Governor because we share the common objective: My number one responsibility as the Governor of New York is to protect New Yorkers. And that is also the same oath that all of you take to protect and to serve...We will be a better, stronger state when we find ways to bring together that common passion that drew you to your profession and drew me to mine, which is to simply serve others."

 I know a little bit about this business, having been married to a federal prosecutor for 30 years, and we always went to the Chiefs of Police of Erie County, Western New York events all the time. And I also, as a local official, had the privilege of hiring many of the members of our police force. I did the interviews. I helped find an incredible individual to lead our police department at the time, Carmen Kesner from the Town of Hamburg, who still remains a great friend. So, I have always felt close to this community and your leadership has always been needed but needed now more than ever because of the challenges that we all face.

And so, I thank Kevin for assuming the position of leadership in becoming President and Pat Fallon and Tim Parisi, the outgoing President as well. So, leadership matters. Before I do talk about some of my reflections, I do want to just acknowledge the collective pain that all of us feel as New Yorkers at the loss of one of our own.

I'll be at the funeral very soon. I think on Monday. Anthony Mazurkiewicz, father, 29-year veteran of the Rochester Police Force, who was just simply doing his job. And when you get that call, and all of you have experiences, that one of our own has gone down in the line of duty. It's a reminder of the fragility of life and the sacrifices that all of you are willing to make and your families are willing to make when you put on that uniform.

And as the chiefs, I know that's something you also feel deeply when you lose one of you own. So, I've been to far too many funerals of police officers across the State. And I will always continue to just call out, reject the violence. Those of you who are willing to sacrifice your lives to keep us safe deserve respect. You deserve our support, our vocal support. And that the era of denigrating our police has to be over. That we support you. We support you, 100 percent.

And that includes funding. We'll always be funding our police departments. And I'll get into that in a couple of minutes. So, I do also want to talk about just my opportunities to engage. It's a solemn occasion, but I try very hard in my eight years as Lieutenant Governor, now as Governor, to never miss gathering in Albany for the memorial service to honor those we lost.

And whether they're in active duty or people that ultimately succumbed to 9/11 illnesses, a lot of people went down there, and 20 years ago, stood shoulder to shoulder with people on the pile trying to recover the bodies of people we lost on that day. So, we're always dealing with that sense of emotion, but also the stress of the everyday job when you don't feel that there is support from a community. That has to be an extra burden, and I'm going to continue to work as your Governor to just remind everybody of how we do not have a civilized society without you.

You are at the front line out there to keep us from descending into chaos. And it's something that I think about a lot as Governor because we share the common objective: My number one responsibility as the Governor of New York is to protect New Yorkers. And that is also the same oath that all of you take to protect and to serve. So, we are aligned in our common objectives here, and we will be a better, stronger state when we find ways to bring together that common passion that drew you to your profession and drew me to mine, which is to simply serve others.

And I believe that there has been a shortcoming for years in terms of making sure that the voices of law enforcement are there when we're talking about policies that affect what you do every day. You have an important perspective that needs to be heard and needs to be shared. So, I've asked my team - I've said we're working on legislation. We're talking about red flag laws, for example, trying to strengthen them to protect society when we see threats that are already out there, that we can connect the dots more often, that we work with you to get your perspectives on what we should be doing. And that's going on right now. And I told my team to be reaching out to this organization to make sure you're at the table with us.

So, these are the simple things that we can do is to change people's attitudes and say, "We're on the same side here." And the more I can say that and reinforce that as Governor, I believe that we can make real progress toward mutual understanding between the people the communities that are supposed to protect and the communities themselves, and a trust has to be rebuilt.

I think that's going to go a long way. We're just working closely together on eradicating this spike in cases and spike in gun violence. And what we have to do is continue support. I mentioned funding. I have said no one will ever say the words defund the police in my presence. That is not going to go anywhere. You're not going to make friends with me if you say that. In fact, in my budget, I said, "We're going to show our commitment to making sure you have the resources to do what you need to do." So, our funding for local law enforcement agencies is now $393 million annually. That is our budget. We put that in. I said I wanted to see increases.

Also, our crime analysis centers. I do hope that you're engaged with this. I really wanted to stand these up and make sure that they're really an active resource for you as we share information. That's how we're solving crimes. That's how we're getting ahead of the bad guys. The ones who are out there plotting every day how to prey on our citizens. We have to analyze this and share data. And I believe that we can be doing more. We have 10 facilities across the state and we're working closely with over 350 law enforcement agencies. And those of you who are participating in the training, I do hope you're starting to see the benefit of this cooperation.

We also are going to continue fighting. Our budget just passed and some of these laws just went into effect to give the law enforcement more opportunities to have arrests for repeat offenders and property thefts and gun violence cases and hate crimes. All of those are now covered back under the law that had not been covered before. We also gave more authority for our judges to analyze the severity of an offense when they're making their decision. So, all these are not out there in the news, but that's exactly what we did in our budget. Just passed. Just went into effect a couple of weeks ago.

We are very concerned also about people with mental health problems that are posing threats to our law enforcement, as well as to our citizens. So, we have to address that head on. It got worse during the pandemic. Everybody knows it got worse during the pandemic, and now you are having to deal with this. I mean, members of your police departments, your police forces, are dealing with this problem more than they probably ever have in their lifetimes. And it's really having an effect, and we have a responsibility as government to help people get support and help and stop them from being a threat to society.

But also, we've had to make some changes to our own laws. It was so clear after we saw the massacre of 10 neighbors in my community of Buffalo. Literally 10 minutes from my home, that Tops Grocery Store, and I'm going back there again this weekend to just help this community heal. It was absolutely devastating. But after we came back from that and we assessed, connecting the dots, what went wrong in that scenario, we realized we needed to pass a number of laws and change some laws saying that 18-year-olds should not have their hands on AR-15s.

Because a short time later, an 18-year-old also went into Uvalde and destroyed the lives of 19 children. So, we changed the law to say, you at least have to be 21 years old. We think that is reasonable. It makes sense. It's going to help protect your members as well, but also closing some of the loopholes that were out there and we're now starting microstamping.

I believe that this is going to, it's going to take a little time to develop, but ultimately this will allow you, as you're trying to solve crimes, have a fingerprint on a bullet so you can trace it. It doesn't affect anybody's right to own a weapon, own a gun. You will always continue the legal permit process.

That's what we're going to focus on, making sure that that runs smoothly. I used to run the pistol permit office. I was the County Clerk. I issued all the pistol permits. So, I understand the process and the background checks that are involved. I also understand people's rights but being able to trace where a bullet originated is going to help all of you be able to do your jobs as well.

So, we're focused on that. Also, we're focusing on hate speech because so many times the intent of a mass killer is telegraphed to everybody on social media but no, one's been able to see that. And so, our State Police have stepped up with the monitoring. I've added more staff to that agency to focus on this, as well as having this, asking the Attorney General, to investigate the role of hate speech in people's activities, how they're becoming radicalized sitting in their house, being able to download videos of other mass shootings as we saw happen with the Buffalo shooter.

You know, he had already been watching the Christchurch Massacre over and over, as inspiration for his, you know, his radicalization. So that's what we're focusing on. Also trying to help identify and track ammunition is coming from. And I do want to give a shout out to the incredible leadership we saw in Buffalo at that time.

So, I want to just leave with you with a couple thoughts. We are making progress. This is a high priority of mine to make sure that we start eradicating gun violence, fighting crime, working together in teamwork. That's something that hasn't happened before. We have seen a decline in gun shootings and violence.

We really have. Down about eight percent statewide, down 12 percent in New York City. So, we're starting to turn the corner. You know, we're comparing our numbers with the last two years. We're also going way back into 2012. And we're seeing, you know, property crimes are down 28 percent, violent crime is down about four or five percent, but we still have challenges.

That is very impactful for all of us. We need that. We need that sense of security because fear is debilitating. When people are afraid to walk down the streets afraid of having their house broken into when they leave, fearful something's going to happen to their children. That is debilitating.

We all have a responsibility to try and eradicate that. Give people the sense of security they deserve as a New Yorker, someone living in our State. They're the people that we are collectively fighting for every single day. So, thank you. Thank you for what you do, and I'll continue to support you in every way I can. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak.

State Labor Department Releases Preliminary June 2022 Area Unemployment Rates

 

The New York State Department of Labor today released preliminary local area unemployment rates for June 2022. Rates are calculated using methods prescribed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The State’s area unemployment rates rely in part on the results of the Current Population Survey, which contacts approximately 3,100 households in New York State each month. To recap last week’s statewide press release, New York State’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held at 4.4% from May to June 2022.

Local Area Unemployment Rates*(%)
June 2021 and June 2022
(Not seasonally adjusted)

The data in the preceding table are not seasonally adjusted, which means they reflect seasonal influences (e.g., holiday and summer hires). Therefore, the most valid comparisons with this type of data are year-to-year comparisons of the same month, for example, June 2021 versus June 2022. Labor force data for the current month are preliminary and subject to revision as more information becomes available the following month. Revised estimates for prior months are available at: https://dol.ny.gov/local-area-unemployment-statistics

Labor force statistics, including the unemployment rate, for New York and every other state are based on statistical regression models specified by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These are the most up-to-date estimates of persons employed and unemployed by place of residence. Estimates are available for New York State, labor market regions, metropolitan areas, counties and municipalities with population of at least 25,000.

Unemployment Rates By County,
New York State,
June 2022

Jobs and Unemployment Fact Sheet This fact sheet conveys important technical information that will contribute to a better understanding of labor force data (“household survey”), including resident employment/unemployment rates, and jobs by industry data (“business survey”), which are presented in the New York State Department of Labor’s monthly press release. State Unemployment Rates Based on Regression Model Beginning with data for January 1996, unemployment rates for New York State and all other states (as well as New York City and the City of Los Angeles) have been estimated using time-series regression statistical models developed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Advantage of Regression Model Use of a time-series regression model reduces the month-to-month variation in unemployment rates and resident employment by reducing variation caused by sampling errors and other components of statistical noise (irregularities). Benchmarking of Estimates Once each year, labor force estimates, such as civilian labor force and the unemployment rate, are revised to reflect updated input data including new Census Bureau populations controls, newly revised establishment jobs data and new state-level annual average data from the Current Population Survey (CPS). As part of this procedure, all state figures are reviewed, revised as necessary and then re-estimated. This process is commonly referred to as “benchmarking.” Changes in Methodology Labor force estimates are now produced with an improved time-series regression model, which utilizes “real-time” benchmarking. “Real-time” benchmarking reduces end-of-year revisions, which also means that major economic events will be reflected in a more timely manner in state labor force estimates. In addition, the new methodology includes an updated way of estimating for sub-state areas (e.g. counties, metro areas) the number of unemployed who are new entrants or re-entrants into the labor force. This change in methodology will result in lower unemployment rates in some areas and increased rates in others. Unemployed and UI Beneficiaries The estimate of the number of unemployed includes all persons who had no employment during the reference week (the week including the 12th of the month), were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the reference week. Unemployment insurance (UI) beneficiaries include those who apply for and qualify for UI benefits. Consequently, the estimate of the number of unemployed and the number of UI beneficiaries do not necessarily move in tandem. Jobs Data Jobs data are obtained from a separate joint federal-state survey of business establishments. The survey, called the Current Employment Statistics of Establishments, has a sample size of 18,000 establishments in New York State. It excludes self-employed workers, agricultural workers, unpaid family workers and domestic workers employed by private households. This data represents a count of jobs by place of work. Data for each month is revised the following month as more complete information becomes available. The New York State Department of Labor is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.

MAYOR ADAMS, PARTNERSHIP FOR NEW YORK CITY LAUNCH HOMELESS ASSISTANCE FUND WITH NYC’S BUSINESS COMMUNITY TO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR UNSHELTERED NEW YORKERS

 

New York City’s Business Community Pledges Over $8 Million to Support Expansion of Breaking Ground’s Connect to Care Initiative, Targeting High-Density Areas Of Employment, Reach Unsheltered People, and Facilitate Housing Placements

 

Public-Private Partnership Welcomes Additional Funding for Future Program Expansion

  New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Partnership for New York City today announced the launch of the Homeless Assistance Fund — a collective public-private initiative to provide services and mental health resources to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. The Homeless Assistance Fund will partner with Breaking Ground, a homeless outreach and housing nonprofit, to accelerate getting unsheltered New Yorkers and individuals living with mental illness into the treatment programs and housing they need. This program will layer and strengthen the city’s existing homeless outreach initiatives, including Mayor Adams’ Subway Safety Plan, that has connected approximately 2,000 individuals to shelter since beginning in February. 

 

“When New Yorkers come together to do the right thing, we can make real progress,” said Mayor Adams. “The Homeless Assistance Fund is a public-private partnership that will continue our work to tackle street homelessness by bringing together more than 60 of New York City’s businesses to offer support, resources, and a path to stability for people experiencing homelessness. In concert with the city’s unprecedented efforts and investments on the subways and in the streets, we can make sure that none of our brothers and sisters experiencing homelessness falls through the cracks. I’m grateful to the Partnership for New York City for spearheading this effort and our business partners for stepping up and coming together to help fight homelessness.”

 

“The city’s business community believes that Connect to Care offers a tangible way to help address a humanitarian crisis that has become larger and more visible during the pandemic and demands a compassionate response from both government and the private sector,” said Kathryn Wylde, president & CEO, Partnership for New York City.

 

“We’re tremendously thankful to the Partnership for New York City and each of the companies that stepped up to expand Connect to Care’s reach to more individuals experiencing homelessness,” said Brenda Rosen, president and CEO, Breaking Ground. “While it’s already an impactful program in New York, the addition of corporate funding to expand outreach is crucial to closing the gaps in services across the city. Thanks to this new private-public partnership, Connect to Care will add a layer of care to the New Yorkers who desperately need it today.”

 

“To tackle the city’s homelessness issue, it will take a sustained multilayered, multi-stakeholder approach. Today’s announcement puts that approach into practice, with a robust public-private partnership and the enlistment of service providers on the ground,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom. “Thank you to the Partnership for New York City and all our corporate partners and to Breaking Ground for doing the hard work each and every day to reach New Yorkers experiencing homelessness."

 

“Today’s announcement shows what happens when the public and private sectors join together for the betterment of all New Yorkers,” said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Sheena Wright. “Through this new, multi-million-dollar fund, we have another tool to make sure our brothers and sisters experiencing homelessness receive the care they deserve. I applaud this cross-sector collaboration and innovative approach to tackling one of the city’s most critical, pressing issues.”

 

“These unprecedented times call not just for a ‘whole of government’ approach to our economic and social issues, but a ‘whole of society’ approach,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer. “Since day one, the Adams administration has worked closely with private enterprises to help city government address the challenges of today, and I thank the participating business community for their commitment to help all New Yorkers.”

 

“We are paying attention to the voices and ideas of all New Yorkers, including our not-for-profit provider-partners and the business community, as we continue to find creative new ways to build on our existing efforts to address the citywide challenge of homelessness,” said New York City Department of Social Services Commissioner Gary P. Jenkins. “The Homeless Assistance Fund will prove to be an absolutely vital resource and help strengthen and expand our outreach efforts for New Yorkers experiencing unsheltered homelessness. We are ever-grateful for the generous donations we have received and look forward to seeing this incredible public-private partnership continue to grow as our city comes together to help serve and support some of our most vulnerable neighbors with care and compassion.”

 

The Homeless Assistance Fund is an expansion of Breaking Ground’s Connect to Care initiative piloted over the past two years with several private sector partners, including Macy’s, Vornado, Starbucks, and the MetLife Foundation. The Partnership’s interest in the project was in response to the concerns expressed by employees of its member companies in a Morning Consult survey. Employees identified care for the city’s mentally ill and unsheltered population as the top priority for charitable action by the business community.

 

In a demonstration of the business community’s commitment to helping city government address the challenges of homelessness and mental illness, 61 companies contributed to the launch of the Homeless Assistance Fund, including:

 

• Advance/Condé Nast
• Ainslie Foundation
• Apollo Global Management
• Bank of America
• BlackRock
• Blackstone
• Bloomberg LP
• BNY Mellon
• Brookfield Properties
• Capital One
• Carlyle
• Centerbridge Partners
• Chubb
• Crown Castle
• Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.
• Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
• Deanna Mulligan, CEO, Purposeful
• Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
• Deloitte
• Etsy, Inc.
• Ernst & Young LLP
• Evercore Foundation
• Fairstead
• First Republic Bank
• Fisher Brothers
• FOX News Media & News Corporation
• Glenwood
• Global Atlantic Financial Company
• Goldman Sachs Gives
• Hearst
• Interpublic Group
• JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• KPMG LLP
• Latham & Watkins LLP
• Marsh McLennan
• Mastercard
• MetLife Foundation
• Mizuho Americas
• Morgan Stanley
• Neuberger Berman
• New York Life
• Newmark & GFP Real Estate
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
• Pfizer Inc.
• PwC
• Ropes & Gray
• Rockefeller Group
• Sidley Austin LLP
• Silver Lake
• Silvercup Studios
• Solomon Partners
• SS&C Technologies
• Take-Two Interactive
• The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
• The Related Companies, L.P.
• The Rudin Family
• The Travelers Companies, Inc.
• Tishman Speyer
• Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
• Warburg Pincus
• Wells Fargo

 

Other donors are encouraged to join this effort, with the goal of expanding the program to areas across the city with high concentrations of unsheltered individuals.

 

The Homeless Assistance Fund will allow Breaking Ground to add additional outreach worker teams and serve areas not covered by city contracts, such as ATM vestibules, retail spaces, and plazas. The program will initially target areas around major transit hubs and dense office districts. Breaking Ground will offer training for people commuting to work in these districts to help them better understand populations facing homelessness and mental illness and equip employees with practical ways to help.

 

Preliminary data shows Connect to Care can help someone experiencing homelessness access a transitional housing placement up to three times faster due to more frequent engagement and access to locations that had not previously been canvassed. Connect to Care is a value-add program that layers over existing outreach with opportunities for more intensive trust building. Breaking Ground expects to begin phasing in deployment of expanded outreach teams in seven initial areas by early fall 2022.

 

“Tishman Speyer is proud to stand with the city of New York, the Partnership for New York City, and other business leaders to support this vital initiative,” said Rob Speyer, co-chair, Partnership for New York City; president and CEO, Tishman Speyer. “We know that the health, safety, and wellbeing of our fellow New Yorkers are key to the city’s future. The Homeless Assistance Fund will ensure more residents get the care they need.”

 

“Supporting our communities and those in need is a cornerstone of our culture. This unique partnership provides assistance, care, safety, and compassion, and we are proud to be a part of it,” said Steve Swartz, co-chair, Partnership for New York City; president and CEO, Hearst. 

 

Construction Tops Out At 2856 Webster Avenue, Affordable Housing Complex In Bedford Park, Bronx

 

Douglaston Development has topped out construction at 2856 Webster Avenue, the first phase of a new affordable housing complex in The Bronx. The building is located in the Bedford Park neighborhood and will comprise 188 units of affordable senior housing, a 12,000-square-foot Cherry Valley supermarket, and a community facility offering on-site social services.

The residential component will be reserved for individuals and households at 50 percent Area Median Income. The community facility will be operated by Fordham Bedford Community Services, a nonprofit organization founded by the Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation that serves underrepresented families in the Northwest Bronx.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate this topping out milestone as we continue moving closer to delivering the Bronx community a much-needed senior affordable housing option,” said Jeffrey E. Levine, Founder and Chairman of Douglaston Development. “We look forward to continuing our work alongside all project and community partners as we bring Phase I to fruition and embark upon Phase II.”

Levine Builders, the general contracting and construction management affiliate of Douglaston Development, is leading project construction. The first phase is expected to debut in March 2023.

Phase II of the two-phase project, located at 410 Bedford Park Boulevard, will deliver affordable rental units for families with ground floor retail space.

KZA Realty Group Secures $4 Million In Property Sales In The Bronx

 

KZA Realty Group has facilitated the purchase of a developmental property site located in the bustling thoroughfare of the Bronx. Plans for the property have not been disclosed as of yet, however, its prime location in the Norwood section of the Bronx allows for ample business opportunities for the new owner.

Kathy Zamechansky of KZA Realty Group represented the owner, Pars Enterprises Inc, during this month’s closing at 3578 Jerome Avenue. Working alongside Rick Stassa of Emerald Commercial Properties, LLC, the two were able to come to a mutually acceptable purchase price of $1.2 million for the 5,000 square feet of developmental space. The property currently has a commercial building and adjacent parking lot available for immediate use. Access to the #4 subway line and Bx10, Bx16, Bx34, and BxM4 are also only a short distance away.

“We are seeing a strong increase in sales for commercial properties. For many, locations such as this are becoming increasingly popular, especially for entrepreneurs wanting to bring their businesses to life,” said Kathy Zamechansky.

The Norwood section of the Bronx is a working-class residential neighborhood known for its diversity and landmarks. This includes the Valentine-Varian House, which houses the Museum of Bronx History, Williamsbridge Oval Park, and the Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center.

Jerome Avenue is located inside the Norwood section of the Bronx and is well regarded as one of the Bronx's most established commercial thoroughfares. It offers many different types of small businesses, including grocery stores, delis, auto body shops, and professional services within walking distance.

KZA Realty Group also secured a buyer for a 12,310 sq. ft. lot on 296 W. Fordham Road, Bronx, NY for $3 million. Kathy Zamechansky represented both the buyer Shahzad Mir and the seller Z. Zindel Inc.

The new owner will be building a drive-thru Dunkin Donuts and a parking lot on the property. Mr. Mir has several Dunkin Donuts and Edible Arrangement stores in the Bronx and Connecticut.

SENATOR RIVERA SHOWS HE IS THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR SD-33

 

"In tonight's debate, Senator Rivera once again showed why he is the best candidate to continue to represent District 33 in The Bronx and win his reelection.  

With a proven track record of defending abortion rights, protecting tenants, passing tough gun laws and delivering record funding to Bronx schools, Senator Rivera clearly and forcefully laid out his ideas to continue to improve access to quality healthcare and demonstrated his grasp of issues like public safety and gun violence prevention, build an economy that works for all of us with good paying jobs and affordable housing, and fight hate crimes, white nationalism, bigotry, and anti-semitism here in the Bronx and across New York State. 

And he highlighted his strong and diverse coalition that will lead him to victory once again -- of labor unions like 1199SEIU and RWDSU and his colleagues like Senator Biaggi and Senate Leader Stewart-Cousins and of working families across the district who support him and the values he strives to represent."

EDITOR'S NOTE:

This comes from the candidates consulting company, and is the opinion of the consultant.