MAYOR ADAMS ANNOUNCES TICKER TAPE PARADE, CITY HALL, OTHER CITY BUILDINGS TO BE LIT IN SEAFOAM TO CELEBRATE NEW YORK LIBERTY’S WNBA CHAMPIONSHIP

 

City to Announce Details on Ticker Tape Parade Honoring Championship Winning WNBA Team on Monday, October 21

New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that the City of New York will hold a ticker tape parade to celebrate the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) champions, the New York Liberty. Additionally, Mayor Adams announced that City Hall and other municipal buildings will be lit up seafoam on Monday night to celebrate the victory. The New York Liberty are an original franchise of the WNBA and tonight’s win marked their first-ever WNBA Championship in 28 seasons. Mayor Adams will release details on a ticker tape parade tomorrow, Monday, October 21.

 

“From the start of the season to the very last game, the New York Liberty were focused on one singular objective: winning. Tonight, they delivered a historic win — making our great city proud by becoming champions, the first in the franchise’s history,” said Mayor Adams. “At a time when the rest of the country is finally acknowledging the endless talent in our WNBA, we are proud to have New York City bring home the trophy. To our WNBA champions, thank you for being a role model to our city, and showcasing the values of grit, determination, and hard work. Now, we can’t wait to celebrate off the court and throw you the parade you deserve down the Canyon of Heroes!”

 

“This moment means everything — not only to the Liberty organization, but to our fans and all of New York City,” said Keia Clarke, CEO, New York Liberty. “The Liberty have been chasing this dream since 1997 and after a strategic five-year turnaround, driven by ownership’s vision of rebuilding and regrowing this historic team, we are proud to get back to first and win this championship for New York. We would not be here without our fans whose passion has helped energize this team all season long. We take great pride in what we’ve built with our fans — something special that extends far beyond the basketball court — and this moment is just as much for them as it is for us.”

 

Led by a 17-point performance from 2024 WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, the Liberty secured its third win to clinch the title after defeating the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 tonight of the WNBA finals. The 2024 regular season was a record-breaking year for the New York Liberty, clinching the overall number 1 seed in the WNBA Playoffs for a second time in franchise history, tying a franchise-best finish of 32-8, and becoming the first team in WNBA history with back-to-back 30+ win seasons.

 

In addition to City Hall, the following city buildings will be lit up seafoam Monday night in honor of the Liberty:

• Brooklyn Borough Hall: 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
• The David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building: 1 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007
• Queens Borough Hall: 120-55 Queens Blvd, Kew Gardens, NY 11424
• Staten Island Borough Hall: 10 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301 

Bronx Dems Hold Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration at PS 121.

 

Saturday, Bronx Democratic County Leader State Senator Jamaal Bailey, Assemblyman John Zaccaro, Councilman Kevin Riley, and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark were on hand for a sparsely attended Hispanic Heritage month celebration at PS 121 in the Allerton section of the Bronx. The low attendance was due to the Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade going on at the same time on the Grand Concourse. 

Senator Bailey opened the event with his command of the spanish language, stalling for a while after starting late as the other elected officials were coming from the Bronx Puerto Rican Parade on the Grand Concourse. DA Clark arrived so Senator Bailey let her speak. DA Clark said that unlike the other elected officials, she represents the entire Bronx which is a majority Hispanic borough. Next to come in was Councilman Kevin Riley, who said that he wished more people were in the audience for this event. Joe McManus who works for Congressman Ritchie Torres gave the Congressman's regrets that he could not be there.  

The entertainment arrived and performed after Councilman Riley spoke with four young ladies dressed in Puerto Rican dress doing a traditional Puerto Rican dance. Assemblyman John Zaccaro arrived as the young ladies finished dancing and spoke. Assemblyman Zaccaro said that it is for the community that events like this are held, and he mentioned the Fall Festival he hosted the night before in the school yard. After Assemblyman Zaccaro was finished Senator Bailey thanked everyone for coming, and invited everyone to have some authentic Hispanic food that was set up in the cafeteria. 

Senator Bailey with staffers from Congressman Ritchie Torres, District Attorney Darcel Clark standing between the dancers, and Councilman Kevin Riley in red. 

The four young ladies performing an authentic Puerto Rican dance in traditional dress. 

Another view of the dancers showing part of the sparsely attended event, more people are seated to the left out of the photo. 

Assemblyman John Zaccaro spoke after he arrived before Senator Bailey ended the 2024 Bronx Dems Hispanic Heritage event as everyone went into the cafeteria to enjoy some food. 

Tina Forte Demonstrates in Front of the Bronx Democrats HQ "Fire AOC"

 

Saturday afternoon Republican/Conservative candidate for Congress in the 14th Congressional District Tina Forte led a group of her followers from her office on Morris Park Avenue to the Bronx Democratic County headquarters at 1952 Williamsbridge Road to fire current 14th Congreswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by having the voters elect Tina Forte to Congress in the 14th Congressional district. 

14th Congressional Republican/Conservative candidate Tina Forte in front of the Bronx Democratic County headquarters with some supporters calling for voters to fire Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and elect her in the 14th Congressional district. 

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli's Weekly News Italian Heritage and Culture Month

 

October is Italian Heritage and Culture Month 

This month is an opportunity to celebrate the impact of the Italian American community in the United States. New York State is home to over 2.1 million Italian Americans—the most of any State in the U.S.—more than 1 in 5 of whom reside in New York City. There was no more fitting a place for State Comptroller DiNapoli's annual celebration than in the heart of New York City’s Little Italy, surrounded by the rich cuisine, music, and culture of the Italian American experience.  

This year, he honored:  

• National Organization of Italian American Women (NOIAW) (Accepted by Donna Corrado, Treasurer) 
• John A. Fratta, NYS Chair Commission for Social Justice, Vice President, Figli di San Gennaro. 
• Thomas Gesualdi, President Teamsters Local 282, President of Joint Council 16, Director of the Construction Division at the IBT 
• Father Zachariah Presutti, Founder and Executive Director of Thrive For Life Prison Project 
• Dr. Joseph V Scelsa, Founder and President, Italian American Museum

And two special achievements:

• Posthumous honoree: Vincent Arcilesi, Artist and Professor at Fashion Institute of Technology (Accepted by daughter, Francesca Arcilesi).
• Posthumous honoree: Mario De Gennaro, who always participated in our events and supplied the coffee. (Accepted by wife, Antonella De Gennaro and daughter, Mariella De Gennaro). 

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State Agency Mishandled Housing

Discrimination Complaints

DHR officials put some complaints in a filing cabinet labeled the “Twilight Zone,” where they were considered “defective” and not investigated further.

The New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR) failed to properly investigate dozens of housing discrimination cases, according to an audit released by State Comptroller DiNapoli.

“New Yorkers who face housing discrimination are told they can report it to the State Division of Human Rights and that it will be investigated, but the agency often failed to do its job,” DiNapoli said. “It lost cases due to carelessness and failed to properly or quickly investigate others. Tenants whose complaints were mishandled may have been left to face continued discrimination or forced to move. The agency should establish new procedures that ensure complaints are handled with the attention and respect they deserve. It is encouraging that the agency is taking steps to address the issues raised by this audit.”

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DiNapoli Report Highlights Where New Yorkers Work

A report by State Comptroller DiNapoli shows the State’s employment picture has changed in significant ways since 2000 with the health care and social assistance industries increasing their share of total employment as manufacturing and financial activities shrank. Employment in health care and social assistance had the greatest increase in jobs since 2019, with the sector now comprising nearly one in five jobs statewide. This sector was also the top employer in 2023 in every region of New York except the Southern Tier, and had an average annual wage of $65,407, 28.5% below the state average of $91,427.

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NYC Metro Transportation Costs Rose 56% Over Past Decade, Slower Than Other Major Areas

Transportation costs for households in the New York City metropolitan area grew by about 56% between 2012-13 and 2022-23, less than in the Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco metropolitan areas according to a report released by State Comptroller DiNapoli. Transportation made up the second-largest cost for New Yorkers, behind housing, at 14% of household spending.

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State Tax Receipts Tracking Close to Projections Through First Half of the Year

State tax receipts totaled $54.6 billion through the first six months of State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2024-25, $682.1 million higher than the State Division of the Budget estimates in the First Quarterly Update to the SFY 2024-25 Enacted Budget Financial Plan. On a year-over-year basis, tax collections were $3.1 billion higher than those through September 2023, primarily driven by the Personal Income Tax according to the monthly State Cash Report released by State Comptroller DiNapoli.

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DiNapoli Op-Ed in City & State: NY ABLE Celebrates Seven Year Anniversary

City & State published an op-ed from State Comptroller DiNapoli on Saturday (10/12) on the importance of the NY ABLE program and efforts by his office to increase access to the program. 

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Audits Empire State Development – New NY Broadband Program Department of Health – Oversight of the Early Intervention Program State Education Department – Privacy and Security of Student Data Office of Information Technology Services – Windows Domain Administration and Management Workers’ Compensation Board – Assessment of Costs to Administer the Workers’ Compensation Program for the Three State Fiscal Years Ended March 31, 2023 State Education Department (Preschool Special Education Audit Initiative)

ALSO IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK

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• Mishandled housing discrimination complaints ended up in "Twilight Zone," New York state comptroller says

• State report says NYC households spend nearly $13G annually on transportation costs
  
  

• NY Tax Revenue Beats Estimates by $682 Million Through September

Post of the Week

Tom DiNapoli @NYSComptroller