NEWS FROM ASSEMBLYMAN JEFFREY DINOWITZ

STATEMENT FROM ASSEMBLYMAN JEFFREY DINOWITZ ON PROPOSED ELIMINATION OF SHSAT ADMISSION STANDARDS AT SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOLS

Assemblyman Dinowitz decries rushed process; emphasizes that long-term academic parity must come from broad-based improvements in all schools.

  Recent announcements from a variety of city and state officials have caused significant concerns for many parents that the admissions process for the eight schools which use scores from the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) will soon be changing. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) issued the following statement in response:

“There is no denying that the student population at our specialized high schools does not reflect the makeup of our public school system population. However, blaming this disparity on the existence of one test is a red herring which avoids a very real problem in our public schools. For many of our students, they are behind their peers from Day One – if not before. If we truly want to help improve academic parity among all students then we need to focus on improving education quality in all schools, from pre-Pre-Kindergarten to eighth grade and beyond. It is irresponsible to blame a standardized admissions test for uneven results when the inequity was present before anyone ever sat down to take it.

Proposed legislation to eliminate the SHSAT only lowers the bar for academic success. We should instead be raising standards, and helping all students meet these lofty expectations. In 2016, I was proud to help secure an additional $2 million in state funding to increase diversity in our specialized high schools - funding which to my knowledge doesn’t appear to have been used. This funding included money for test prep in underrepresented middle schools as well as funding for test prep targeting students on free- and reduced-price lunch. While these initiatives were a good start, we all know it isn’t enough to start helping students succeed only once they are teenagers.

I have previously proposed that the Department of Education provide free test prep for any and every student who wants it. In addition, I have suggested that the SHSAT test be an opt-out test, not opt-in, meaning that every student should take the test unless they specifically choose not to. That would undoubtedly result in many more students from underrepresented communities being offered admission to one of the specialized high schools. Furthermore, the city should create additional specialized high schools, as it did a number of years ago. These additional schools could have different admissions criteria that the eight high schools currently using the SHSAT, similar to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia school.

As an elected official, and a parent and proud alumni of New York City public schools, we cannot let impassioned outrage rule the day. It is our obligation to take the time our children deserve to look carefully at the root causes of inequality and work together to address them. I cannot support the proposed legislation which would lower standards for excellence without doing anything whatsoever to improve education quality for the hundreds of thousands of students attending non-specialized high schools throughout the five boroughs.”

Assembly Education Committee votes to support legislation to phase out specialized high school admissions test in favor of subjective process.

A proposal of significant magnitude to eliminate the specialized high school admissions test (SHSAT) has continued to progress at breakneck pace, as the Assembly Committee on Education voted in favor of an amended bill which was only introduced on June 1. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) issued the following statement in response:

“I am deeply troubled by the efforts to steamroll a proposal for legislation of significant magnitude through the Assembly, without public hearing and without adequate time to bring all interested parties into the process.

The proposal to eliminate the SHSAT admission standard flatly ignores the underlying causes of disparity in these test results which often begin from a very young age, even before a child enters school, and not in eighth grade as the Department of Education would like us to believe. We need to be focusing on education at all levels - from preschool to eighth grade and beyond - in order to achieve demographic academic parity. DOE would rather rig what should be an objective process so they can pretend the problem is solved instead of putting in the hard work to improve failing primary and middle schools.

By choosing to focus only on the SHSAT admission standard, DOE is ignoring 95% of high school students that don’t go to specialized high schools. They are ignoring the fact that many students have not received the necessary academic preparation by the end of seventh grade in order to succeed on a standardized test. By choosing to focus only on the SHSAT, DOE wants us to believe that if they can get a select few additional students from struggling middle schools into a specialized high school, that they have somehow solved disparities that affect hundreds of thousands of students in New York City. This is not a good way to ensure that all students in New York City have access to high quality public education, and to act like it does is disingenuous and is a disservice to the future of our kids.”

HOME-STAT REACHES NEW MILESTONE: MORE THAN 1,800 UNSHELTERED HOMELESS NEW YORKERS HELPED OFF STREETS

Outreach teams increase average monthly placements by 51%, achieving 276 placements per month

  The de Blasio Administration announced that more than 1,800 street homeless New Yorkers have successfully transitioned off the streets and into safer, more stable environments, including transitional programs and permanent housing, as a result of the persistent, dedicated efforts of HOME-STAT outreach teams across the five boroughs. In the two years since HOME-STAT initiative was launched in 2016, through strong collaboration between the Department of Homeless Services, the New York City Police Department, Agency partners, and not-for-profit social service providers, the City has placed a total of 1,815 New Yorkers experiencing street homelessness into permanent housing or transitional settings, all of whom remain off the streets—thanks to new investments in outreach programs and providers, a dramatic increase in dedicated shelter capacity, and a doubling in the number of outreach staff deployed around the clock in all five boroughs.

“Thanks to the persistence of our outreach teams, we’ve been able to convince more than 1,800 homeless New Yorkers to come off the streets and subways and into shelter and housing,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Homelessness wasn’t created overnight and won’t be solved overnight, but this new milestone shows were making progress on our citywide effort to turn the tide on this decades-old challenge.”

“Helping every person living on our streets find a safe place to live and keeping them stably housed remains a top priority for our Administration,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Herminia Palacio. “The data released today show that our approach to reducing the city’s street homeless population is working. As we enter the warmer season, we will continue our aggressive efforts to engage unsheltered New Yorkers, help them find an appropriate place to live and access services to get back on their feet.”

“Thanks to the day-in and day-out dedication and compassion of our outreach teams, we’re proud to announce that our HOME-STAT outreach program has helped 1,815 homeless New Yorkers come off the streets and subways into safe, stable housing and transitional programs,” said Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks. “Individuals experiencing homelessness on the streets have fallen through every social safety net available and building the trust that encourages them to accept services can take hundreds of contacts over many months, which is why each and every individual helped off the streets and back onto the path to permanency is a hard-fought victory. We remain persistent in our efforts to engage New Yorkers in need 24/7/365 in all five boroughs, helping them get back on their feet one person at a time.”

Rolled out in 2016, HOME-STAT (Homeless Outreach & Mobile Engagement Street Action Teams) is a citywide multiagency initiative to address street homelessness in which hundreds of highly-trained not-for-profit outreach staff, including licensed social workers, canvass the streets 24/7/365, proactively engaging homeless New Yorkers, offering services and assistance, and working to gain their trust with the goal of addressing the underlying issues that may have caused or contributed to their street homelessness in order to ultimately help these individuals transition off the streets. HOME-STAT encapsulates all of New York City’s street homeless outreach efforts across the board, including:

·       our commitment to continually redoubling those efforts by investing further in our not-for-profit partners who coordinate outreach across the five boroughs

·       adding new staff, including canvassers and analysts, to expand the scope, reach, and focus of those efforts

·       opening new high-quality capacity dedicated to serving street homeless New Yorkers

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to ending homelessness. With a dedicated not-for-profit provider for each borough (the Manhattan Outreach Consortium, led by CUCS in partnership with Goddard-Riverside and Breaking Ground in Manhattan; Breaking Ground in Brooklyn and Queens; BronxWorks in the Bronx; Project Hospitality on Staten Island; and BRC in the subways), HOME-STAT outreach teams working around the clock across the five boroughs, building relationships by making regular—often daily—contact with street homeless New Yorkers: getting to know them, developing trust, and sharing information about the resources available to them.

Not-for-profit outreach provider partners and outreach teams also have psychiatrists who perform psychiatric evaluations on the streets and thereby help outreach teams understand and better meet the individual needs of each street homeless New Yorker. These clinicians and psychiatrists help outreach teams make more effective connections with clients, many of whom have fallen through every social safety net, and who may be difficult to engage, in many cases due to potential mental health or substance use challenges. HOME-STAT also provides aftercare services, continuing to work with individuals who receive placements to ensure that they get the supports they need to remain in housing and off of the street.

EQUIPPING HOME-STAT OUTREACH TEAMS WITH NEW TOOLS AND RESOURCES

In addition to redoubling and enhancing proactive round-the-clock street outreach efforts, DHS operates facilities dedicated to serving street homeless New Yorkers—and is in the process of opening more. Drop-In Centers and Safe Havens are low-barrier programs specifically targeted toward homeless individuals who may be resistant to accepting other services, including traditional shelters. Both Drop-In Centers and Safe Havens are equipped with on-site services and staff who work closely with the clients to deepen those relationships, stabilize their lives, and encourage them to transition further off the streets, and ultimately into permanent housing. These facilities are often the first step towards bringing street homeless New Yorkers indoors.

·       Drop-in Centers provide baseline services with the goal of meeting immediate needs for individuals, such as showers, meals, and clothing. They also have on-site case management services and provide an immediate option for individuals who want to transition off the streets

·       Safe Havens are transitional housing options geared toward chronic street homeless individuals. Safe Havens only take referrals from street outreach teams, offer overnight beds, and have physical and program characteristics more suitable for engaging street homeless New Yorkers, who may be more resistant to accepting services, including case management services to stabilize chronically homeless individuals in an effort to move them into permanent housing

We are nearly tripling the number of beds dedicated to supporting street homeless New Yorkers citywide since 2014, with hundreds of beds opened during this Administration, hundreds more coming online this year, and an additional commitment to another 250 beds, increasing the operating total from roughly 600 beds to nearly 1,800 beds. 

UNPRECEDENTED INVESTMENTS TO CONTINUALLY ENHANCE OUTREACH EFFORTS

Since 2014, the de Blasio Administration has committed unprecedented new resources to street outreach programs and providers:

·       Increasing joint outreach operations with City Agency partners to utilize each Agency’s expertise, engage more New Yorkers, and offer more supports. As part of our HOME-STAT efforts, DHS regularly performs joint operations with community stakeholders and Agency partners, including the NYPD, the Parks Department, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Department of Sanitation, and the Department of Transportation. Earlier this year, DHS and NYPD expanded joint outreach operations in Midtown, Manhattan to seven days per week, further increasing the number of individuals with whom the City is constantly engaged as well as the number of contacts made in the effort to encourage homeless New Yorkers to accept services and transition indoors.

·       More than doubling the City’s investment in street homeless programs, increasing by more than $53M (119%) from $44.6M in 2013 to more than $97.7M today.

·       Nearly tripling the number of beds dedicated to supporting street homeless New Yorkerscitywide since 2014, with hundreds of beds opened during this Administration, hundreds more coming online this year, and an additional commitment to another 250 beds, increasing the operating total from roughly 600 beds to nearly 1,800 beds.

·       More than doubling the number of outreach staff canvassing the streets engaging New Yorkers 24/7/365 since 2014, from 191 to nearly 400. Those outreach staff spend months building relationships by making regular—often daily—contact with street homeless New Yorkers:  getting to know them, building trust, and sharing information about the resources available to them. It can take months of persistent and compassionate engagement to successfully connect street homeless individuals with City services (5 months on average).

·       Building the City’s first-ever by-name list of individuals known to be homeless and residing on the streets to improve delivery of services. Central to the HOME-STAT effort, these outreach teams continue to build the City’s first-ever by-name list of individuals known to be homeless and residing on the streets, more effectively enabling the teams to directly and repeatedly engage New Yorkers in need where they are, continually offering supports and case management resources while developing the trust and relationships that will ultimately encourage these individuals to accept services and transition off of the streets. As part of that by-name list, outreach teams now know more than 2,000 individuals by name who are confirmed to be homeless and living on the streets and are actively engaging more than 1,500 individuals encountered on the streets to evaluate their living situations and determine whether they are homeless as well as what specific supports they may need.

·       Helping more than 1,800 individuals off the streets who’ve remained off the streets. In the two years since the launch of HOME-STAT in Spring 2016, the City has helped 1,815 people transition off the streets into transitional programs or permanent housing, due in part to a doubling in the number of street homeless outreach workers dedicated to cultivating relationships with our street homeless neighbors and connecting them with the services they need.

Accepting outreach efforts, including services that will help homeless New Yorkers transition indoors from the streets, is voluntary. It can take months of persistent and compassionate engagement and hundreds of contacts to successfully connect street homeless individuals with City services. Together, the City and not-for-profit outreach service provider partners remain undeterred in the ongoing effort to engage unsheltered New Yorkers proactively, offering services and support, until making the connection that will help them transition off the streets and out of the subways. HOME-STAT outreach teams continue to reach-out to these New Yorkers to offer services and help them come indoors.

Cynthia Nixon Calls for Release of Lhota's Correspondence with State Ethics Panel

Cuomo's handpicked MTA chairman says panel cleared him to hold outside jobs in an email. Now he's refusing to release that email. 

  News broke that MTA Chairman Joe Lhota was asked by the MTA board to hand over documentation that shows the State Ethics Panel cleared him to hold outside jobs while serving as the head of the MTA. Lhota had previously said to members of the media that the Board cleared his work arrangement in an email, but today's reports say Lhota refused to hand over that email to the MTA Board. Lhota currently holds several six figure jobs, outside of his work  MTA. 

"It was bad enough that Lhota is only working part-time on an issue as urgent as fixing our subways," said Cynthia Nixon. "But now, it appears that the Ethics Board may never cleared his work arrangement in the first place. Governor Cuomo personally pushed for Joe Lhota to become the head of the MTA and did so knowing he would hold these outside jobs. It is now on the Govenor to ensure these documents are released the public. Straphangers deserve to know that their MTA Chairman has their interest as his number one priority." 

THE CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION WILL HOLD AN ISSUE FORUM ON ELECTION ADMINISTRATION, VOTING PARTICIPATION AND VOTING ACCESS

 The City’s Charter Revision Commission will hold an issue forum on Tuesday, June 12^th, 2018.The issue forum will feature experts to discuss Election Administration, Voter Participation, and Voting Access.  The meeting will be held at the 125 Worth Street, 2^nd floor Auditorium. This meeting is open to the public. Because this is a public meeting and not a public hearing, the public will have the opportunity to observe the Commission’s discussions, but not testify before it. 

WHO: The Charter Revision Commission

WHAT: Issue Forum

WHEN: Tuesday, June 12, 2018 at 1PM

WHERE: 125 Worth Street, 2^nd floor Auditorium New York, NY 10013

LIVE STREAM: NYC.gov/charter

FOLLOW US: https://twitter.com/nyccharter and facebook.com/nyccharter

This location is accessible to individuals using wheelchairs or other mobility devices. Induction loop systems, ASL interpreters, and Spanish interpreters will be available. In addition, with advance notice, members of the public may request language interpreters. Please make language interpretation requests or additional accessibility requests by 5PM no later than June 8, 2018 by emailing the Commission at requests@charter.nyc.gov or calling 212-386-5350.

News From Congressman Eliot Engel

Engel Statement on Republican Attempts to Sabotage Medicare

“Yesterday’s report provides further proof that the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans’ irresponsible policies are hurting American families. By repealing the individual mandate, driving up individual market premiums, and increasing the rate of uncompensated care, the GOP is expected to drain the Medicare trust fund years sooner than anticipated. Their willingness to cut vital health programs is due in no small part to the tax scam they passed, which blew an additional trillion dollar hole in the deficit. So, to pay the price for their giveaways to the top 1 percent, Republicans are willing to sacrifice seniors’ health care.

“Just this week, we also learned that New Yorkers’ health insurance premiums are set to rise because of Republicans’ continued sabotage of our health care system. I am outraged that Americans, especially New Yorkers, are being forced to pay for the GOP’s political ploys. I will continue to hold the GOP accountable for their reckless governing.”

Engel Re-Introduces Anti-Swatting Act 

  Congressman Eliot Engel re-introduced the Anti-Swatting Act, a bill that would enhance penalties for people who falsify their caller ID information to mislead law enforcement.

“Just this morning, another serious incident of swatting occurred – this time at the home of Parkland survivor David Hogg. People who pull these dangerous ‘pranks’ are sick and need to be held financially and criminally responsible for their actions,” Engel said.

“Swatting” is the act of deceiving law enforcement by using falsified caller ID information to incite them to respond to a nonexistent emergency. Named for the SWAT teams that are frequently deployed in response to these phony emergency calls, swatting can cost taxpayers thousands of dollars every time a SWAT team is deployed, according to the FBI.  

Swatting also risks injury to the unassuming victims who are present when law enforcement arrives at the supposed crime scene, as well as to the hardworking officials who rush to the scene anticipating danger. The act also illegitimately occupies law enforcement’s time, creating the risk that they will be unable to respond to an actual, life-threatening emergency in a timely fashion.

This past December, our nation experienced its first fatal swatting attack when a 28-year-old father of two in Wichita, Kansas was shot by police who were duped into thinking that they were responding to a hostage situation.

The Anti-Swatting Act seeks to curtail these hoaxes by enhancing penalties for people who falsify their caller ID information, a technological trick known as “spoofing,” with the intent of misleading law enforcement. In addition, the bill would force swatters to reimburse the emergency services that squander finite resources while responding to the false emergency.

“Multiple swatting incidents have occurred in and around my district, and each one puts innocent civilians and our brave first-responders at risk, while wasting time and tax dollars. In response, I am re-introducing the Anti-Swatting Act to make clear that this type of behavior is dangerous and criminal,” Engel said. “My bill will increase penalties for this despicable act, and hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions. We need to do everything we can to combat swatting, and I encourage my colleagues to support this important measure.”

ENGEL TO POMPEO: TURN OVER DOCUMENTS RELATED TO WHISTLEBLOWER CHARGES

  Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, is calling on Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo to honor his commitment and produce documents related to whistleblower allegations of improper conduct by Trump Administration officials. In a letter to the Secretary, Rep. Engel pressed the Secretary to provide a timeline for turning over these materials, which deal with actions taken against career State Department employees because of their national origin or perceived political beliefs.

“During your May 23 testimony before this Committee, you committed to providing us a timeline by the end of that week for the release of documents related to these allegations,” wrote Rep. Engel.

He continued, “The most recent attempts by my office to obtain these materials have been met with the response that ongoing investigations by the State Department Inspector General (OIG) and Office of Special Counsel (OSC) preclude the Department from complying with our oversight request. An official asserted to my staff that such an action would jeopardize these executive-branch-based investigations. I don’t accept this explanation.”

Full text of Rep. Engel’s letter follows and can be found here.

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

I remain deeply concerned that Trump Administration appointees at the State Department have targeted career employees based on national origin or perceived political beliefs. During your May 23 testimony before this Committee, you committed to providing us a timeline by the end of that week for the release of documents related to these allegations.

Ranking Member Cummings and I made this request to your predecessor after whistleblowers provided evidence of these allegations. Heather Nauert, the acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, told reporters that our request would be fulfilled. Your May 23 testimony reiterated that commitment.

However, we have not received that timeline or any other acceptable response to our requests. Furthermore, correspondence to my staff from the Bureau of Legislative Affairs suggests the Department has no intention of fulfilling this commitment. The most recent attempts by my office to obtain these materials have been met with the response that ongoing investigations by the State Department Inspector General (OIG) and Office of Special Counsel (OSC) preclude the Department from complying with our oversight request. An official asserted to my staff that such an action would jeopardize these executive-branch-based investigations.

I don’t accept this explanation. No law or policy exists, to my knowledge, that would prevent the Department from turning over the requested documents while these other investigations go forward. Indeed, with your experience as a member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, you understand that it’s entirely appropriate for Congress to conduct such an investigation on a track parallel to OIG or OSC efforts. 

Therefore, I renew my request for these documents and expect, by the end of the week, an appropriate timeline for access to these materials.

Sincerely,

ELIOT L. ENGEL

A.G. Barbara Underwood Statement On Facebook Investigation

“The news that Facebook struck ‘data-sharing’ partnerships with other corporations is yet another reminder of the many questions that remain unanswered – questions to which New Yorkers deserve clear answers.

Consumers have the right to know how their personal information is being used; and the companies we trust with our information have a critical responsibility to protect it.

Our investigation into the reported misuse of Facebook user data by Cambridge Analytica and others remains ongoing – including into these ‘data-sharing’ partnerships. We’re committed to getting to the bottom of what happened.”

BP DIAZ CALLS FOR 'PROTEST MARCH' AT THIS YEAR'S NATIONAL PUERTO RICAN DAY PARADE

  In today’s New York Daily News, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. writes that this year’s National Puerto Rican Day Parade must reflect the realities on the ground in Puerto Rico and serve as a protest march, rather than a celebration.

“Puerto Ricans are American citizens, and deserve the same assistance and respect that our fellow citizens would receive after a disaster. That has not been the case, and we will not stand for it. At this year’s parade, we must send a wake-up call to those who would ignore us, be it President Trump, Congress or anyone else,” writes Borough President Diaz.

The op-ed comes following the release of a study last week by the by the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center which found that the death toll in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria was 4,645, 70 times higher than the Trump Administration’s count of just 64.

The op-ed, titled “This year demands a defiant Puerto Rican Day Parade,” can be read at https://nydn.us/2sv6Ti1. The parade takes place on Sunday, June 10.

Bronx Chamber of Commerce - Preliminary List of Exhibitors for the June 9th Expo in the Mall at Bay Plaza

Preliminary List of Exhibitors for June 9th  New Bronx Business & Real Estate Expo Applebee's Apple Bank Bronx Historical Society Bronx Tax Man Bronx Chamber of Commerce Bronx Council on the Arts Bronx YMCA Bronx Zoo/Wildlife Conservation Society Camp Bronx Core Realty Family Costco David Lerner Associates Fidelis Care Gilco Realty JPMorgan Chase Loconsolo Paints of Morris Park New York Life NYC Department of Sanitation NYC Department of Small Business Services People's United Bank Residence Inn by Marriott Richard Rosario Photography Ridgewood Savings Bank T-Mobile United Metro Energy Corp. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Woodlawn Cemetery Register TODAY to participate in the 2018 Expo! Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Participate in  The New Bronx Business & Real Estate Expo Saturday, June 9, 2018, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm 1. Hundreds of consumers and attendees will be there! 2. Have an Edge over Your competition 3. Showcase Your Company or Organization 4. Easy access to mass transit and highways 5. Easy parking for 2,800 in garage plus outdoor spots  "You never know where your next big deal is going to come from"!