MAYOR DE BLASIO SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO REDUCE CITY’S VEHICLE FLEET, REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Executive Order will help reduce congestion and furthers City’s commitment to use alternative fuels to continue increasing fuel economy

 Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order today that will reduce the size of the City’s on-road vehicle fleet, deepening its commitment to address climate change and reduce emissions 80 percent by 2050. The City will eliminate least 1,000 vehicles from its fleet by June 2021 – about the same number of cars parked on the street around about eight Manhattan blocks. The order will also reduce the number of take-home vehicles by at least 500 vehicles, curtail the reliance of SUVs in the City fleet and promote greater vehicle efficiency by using advanced data collection. With the order, the City estimates 10 million fewer miles will be driven by City vehicles each year, resulting in reduced congestion, cutting the City’s annual fuel consumption by 500,000 gallons, and decreasing annual emissions by 6,300 metric tons of CO2, the equivalent of burning nearly seven million pounds of coal. The City’s fleet currently has 25,690 on-road vehicles.

“Sustainability isn’t about maintaining the status quo, it’s about changing the way we live and get around,” saidMayor Bill de Blasio. “Eliminating unnecessary vehicles from our streets and replacing gas-guzzling SUVs with electric cars will bring us one step closer to our carbon emission reduction goals, which means a cleaner New York City for all.”

“The climate crisis is real and it’s urgent, and that is why we are scaling back and greening up the City’s vehicle fleet,” said Lisette Camilo, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services. “To support Mayor de Blasio’s vision for a cleaner and safer New York, we are using new technology to right-size the City’s fleet and to more efficiently use the cars we do need.”

“Leading the charge against climate change means constantly finding new ways to increase efficiency and decrease emissions,” said Mark Chambers, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. “This executive order uses a thorough, data-driven approach to make the nation’s greenest fleet even greener.”

This executive order is based on a data-driven approach. By removing 1,000 vehicles under the order, the City will review every agency’s fleet to ensure the vehicles are being used efficiently and will reduce the fleet size as needed. The City will increase its goal for daily vehicle usage rate from 67 percent to 80 percent. This means at least 80 percent of the City’s fleet should be used daily, except for certain emergency, specialized, or seasonal vehicles.

The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) will also review every take-home car currently in the fleet and use data vehicle data to identify usage patterns. Take-home vehicles that are underused will be re-assigned to the agency’s fleet pool, which can be used my multiple employees.

The executive order will also direct DCAS to replace at least 250 SUVs with electric plug-in sedans. In addition to environmental benefits, electric sedans have significantly lower maintenance costs.

This latest move that builds upon the Mayor’s commitment to transform the City’s vehicle fleet into a more green and carbon-neutral fleet:

• The City now operates over 1,750 on-road electric vehicles, the largest network for any municipal government.
• The City operates a network of over 568 electric vehicle charging stations, including the largest network of solar-powered vehicle chargers, with 65 in use.
• Last year the City began using renewable diesel, a 99 percent petroleum-free diesel alternative made of organic material.
• Light-duty fleet vehicles purchased during the most recent Fiscal Year achieved an average fuel economy equivalent of 100 miles per gallon (MPG).
• The City has ordered its first 190 hybrid pursuit rated police vehicles.

“CALSTART salutes Mayor de Blasio and the Fleet Services division at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services for continued leadership in the clean transportation sector,” said Bill Van Amburg, Executive Vice President at CALSTART, the nation’s leading clean transportation consortium. “The NYC Fleet is a global example for addressing congestion, clean air, climate and fuel efficiency. By adopting advanced vehicle technologies, using low-carbon fuels, and right-sizing the fleet and streamlining its vehicle demands, it is showing us how to save fuel, money and make a more livable, sustainable city – all at the same time.”

Council Member Ruben Diaz Sr. - CONSIDERING A RUN FOR CONGRESS

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

By Councilman, Rubén Díaz Sr.

District 18 Bronx County, New York

  You should know that earlier this week, U.S. Congressman Jose Serrano announced that due to medical reasons he will not seek reelection. 

 

Those of us who know Congressman Serrano are very sorry to hear that he is going through this. The ministers at the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization, as well as the congregants at the Christian Community Neighborhood Church, where I serve as the Senior Pastor, will be praying for Jose Serrano and his family during this difficult time.

 

It is important that you know that since Jose Serrano was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1990, he has never forgotten his roots as a native of Puerto Rico.  During his 29 years in Congress, Jose Serrano has served honorably the people of his district here in the South Bronx.

 

As I look across the political landscape and consider who might have the political experience necessary to serve the needs of our senior citizens, families, business, community in New York’s poorest Congressional District, I am praying for guidance, consulting friends, community leaders, and family members, at this time considering if I should throw my cowboy hat into a run for Congress.

 

I am NYC Councilman Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr. and this is what you should know.

MAYOR DE BLASIO APPOINTS OMAR KHAN AS DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR’S PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT UNIT AND SENIOR ADVISOR

  Mayor Bill de Blasio today appointed Omar Khan as Director of the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU) and Senior Advisor. In his role as Director of PEU, Khan will lead PEU’s efforts to proactively engage New Yorkers in need of a broad range of City services, from healthcare to housing, making them more accessible for everyone. As Senior Advisor, Khan will advise City Hall and City agencies on policies and practices that will make even more of the City’s services accessible to New Yorkers. He also will support the City’s 2020 Census outreach efforts.

Omar Khan brings years of experience leading public engagement programs, building coalitions and serving as a senior official in federal government. As the Director of PEU, Khan will work collaboratively with agency commissioners and senior staff across City Hall to increase civic participation and access to important City services. Khan’s official start date is April 8, 2019.

“Omar Khan holds years of experience conducting public outreach and striking government partnerships to improve people’s lives and to increase fairness across a number of communities,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We’re lucky to have him lead the Public Engagement Unit as we continue to do unprecedented outreach to ensure that New Yorkers are getting the healthcare coverage they deserve and the tenant protections that keep them in the city they call home. I look forward to working with Omar to further our commitment to create a fairer city for all New Yorkers.”

“Omar has led teams across the nation to make a significant difference in the lives of the most vulnerable members of our communities,” said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives Phillip Thompson. “We are thrilled to welcome him to the Public Engagement Unit so we can continue to improve our engagement strategies around data, organizing techniques and grassroots campaigns to affirmatively bring government assistance at the doors of New Yorkers who need it most.”

“I am honored and excited to lead this group of dedicated outreach specialists in our fight to address inequality and make New York City more accessible to everyone who calls this great city their home,” said Omar Khan, Director of the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit. “I look forward to building on Mayor de Blasio’s unique philosophy of proactively reaching vulnerable New Yorkers to ensure no one is left behind and make this the fairest city in the country.”

About Omar Khan

Omar Khan is an experienced government and civic leader, having previously served in several senior positions in the Obama Administration, including as the Director of Public Engagement at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Khan most recently worked at Mercury Public Affairs as a Senior Vice President in the New York City Office, where he provided counsel for clients in public affairs, advocacy, policy and political campaigns. Prior to joining Mercury, he held several senior roles in the Obama Administration. As the Assistant Trade Representative for Intergovernmental Affairs he led stakeholder and public engagement, and managed outreach to non-governmental organizations and state and local governments to address inequality in employment opportunities and promote job creation. He also served as the Director of Public Engagement at the Environmental Protection Agency and as the Director of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations for President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Task Force. In this role, Khan built strategic partnerships with state and local governments affected by Hurricane Sandy to develop policy recommendations that were implemented and continue to guide the rebuilding efforts.

In addition to his work in government, Khan has significant experience working on political campaigns, where he championed expanding voting rights and more inclusive and representative elections. He has worked in various local, state, and national elections, including as the National Associate Political Director in President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign and as campaign manager for Charlie Crist’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign.

About the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit

The Public Engagement Unit was created by Mayor de Blasio in 2015 to proactively engage New Yorkers and provide them with individualized assistance in accessing key City services. PEU uses innovative tools, outreach methods and case-management strategies, in addition to multilingual and multimedia advertising campaigns, to help individual New Yorkers understand what services may be available to them and streamline their enrollment process. To date, PEU has reached hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers through targeted outreach and by working collaboratively with other government agencies, community organizations and elected officials.

PEU’s work centers around five teams:

•    The Tenant Support Unit, which knocks doors and partners with community groups to inform tenants in targeted zip codes of their housing rights, identify housing-related issues and connect them with a range of resources, including HRA’s anti-eviction legal assistance and HPD’s home repairs program;

•    The Rent Freeze team, which goes door to door, makes phone calls and holds community events to enroll senior citizens and people with disabilities in the Department of Finance’s rent freeze and homeowner tax exemption programs;

•    The Universal Access to Counsel team, which partners with HRA’s Office of Civil Justice and community-based legal services providers to connect New Yorkers facing eviction in housing court or NYCHA proceedings to free legal assistance;

•    The Home Support Unit, which partners with DHS and community-based organizations to identify and facilitate the rental of affordable, long-term housing to New Yorkers who receive rental subsidies and are transitioning out of shelter; and

•    GetCoveredNYC, which provides free in-person health insurance enrollment assistance and promotes access to primary and preventive care.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. - Greek American Heritage Month Celebration

PUBLIC ADVOCATE WILLIAMS - STATEMENT ON PASSAGE OF MARIJUANA JUSTICE RESOLUTIONS

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement today after the City Council approved two resolutions, of which he was the prime sponsor, focused on Marijuana Justice Reform. They include  Res. 0641, which would expunge the records of all city misdemeanor marijuana convictions, and Res. 0296, which adds the unlawful possession of marijuana and criminal procession of marijuana in NYCHA facilities to the 4th and 5th degrees to its list of overlooked offenses.

"New York lags far behind states across the country in enacting a marijuana justice platform, but the passage of today's resolutions in the City Council sent a clear message that the time for Albany to act is now. For far too long our city has witnessed how disciplinary actions and criminal penalties for marijuana possession disproportionately affect low income communities and communities of more color.  My resolutions passed today demand that we right those wrongs by expunging records of those whose lives have been ruined by a conviction and protecting against NYCHA residents losing their homes because of marijuana usage. It is time to stop treating marijuana with inordinate hysteria and apply common sense to our laws.

"I would also like to thank all of those who are now vocally advocating for this cause I've long championed, and I urge Albany to act."

Speaker Johnson and Public Advocate Williams Release Results of Bus and Subway Rider Surveys

  City Council Speaker Corey Johnson joined newly elected Public Advocate Jumaane Williams to share the results of two transit rider surveys Speaker Johnson conducted as Acting Public Advocate. The results – available online here – revealed firsthand insights on the types of frustrations New Yorkers face when navigating our subways and buses. Speaker Johnson and Public Advocate Williams vowed to keep fighting for better transportation options for all five boroughs.

“It’s no secret that I’ve had a lot to say about the City’s mass transit system recently, but I think it is vital that the voices of the riders never get left out of conversations on how to solve our mass transit crisis,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson. “New Yorkers who ride the subways and buses every day know better than most that something needs to change, and I hope their answers to these surveys add to the chorus of voices around our City and throughout our state calling for big ideas and serious solutions to get our trains back on track and our buses moving again. I will never stop fighting to make it easier to get around our City and I will always do so with the concerns of subway and bus riders in mind.”

“The survey results reinforce what many of us experience everyday— the MTA is broken and New Yorkers are ready to see significant improvements,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. “I’d like to thank Speaker Johnson who conducted a five borough transit tour during his time as acting Public Advocate to gather these results, and urge the state to make the capital investments needed to get New Yorkers where we need to go on time.”

In January and February, City Council Speaker and Acting Public Advocate Corey Johnson initiated a unique exercise to hear from transit riders about their commutes by conducting two citywide transit surveys. The first focused on subways and the second survey on buses. These surveys, which were available in six different languages, were conducted throughout the City’s train stations and bus stops. The Speaker and Acting Public Advocate and his staff focused on a different borough each day.

Over 10,000 people took part in the subway survey and over 6,000 took part in the bus survey.

The mass transit system has been a growing source of frustration for New Yorkers, many of whom rely on subways and buses as their primary means of transportation. 

Interesting takeaways included:

55% of subway survey respondents saying they experience subway delays a few times a week and 27% saying they experience delays every day;

The delays are lasting significant amounts of time, with 47% of subway survey respondents saying the delays they experience are approximately 10-20 minutes long and 11% saying their delays are approximately 20-45 minutes long;

The greatest concerns for bus riders were infrequent service, lack of reliability, and multiple buses arriving at once (bunching);

Only 6% of bus riders are very satisfied.

The full results of both surveys can be found online here.

FOLLOWING THRIVE NYC HEARING, WILLIAMS CALLS FOR FUTHER ACTION TO ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC ADVOCATE FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today sent the following letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray and Commissioner James P. O'Neill after the New York City Council's Committee on Finance held a hearing focused on ThriveNYC. March 26, 2019 To Mayor Bill de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray and Commissioner James P. O'Neill, As you may know, mental health issues and access to adequate care and resources are of paramount importance to me, both personally and in my capacity as Public Advocate. I know that you share this commitment, and I have been glad to see investments made toward improving these services- in healthcare, in law enforcement, and in community outreach. However, as has been discussed in reporting and in public hearings over the last several days, there are a number of areas where I believe more clarity and greater prioritization are required. With regards to ThriveNYC, it is clear that the intentions of the program, and its breadth, are positive. I do believe though, as was made clear in the hearing today, there are many unanswered questions and unresolved issues regarding the focus of the various programs and their metrics. In the hearing, it was stated that all of Thrive is focused on serious mental illness. I believe that we have to do a better job of separating out providing services for acute mental illness and general mental health- both are extremely important to address, and I do believe Thrive can and is addressing both, but they cannot be conflated. To do so is harmful to both the issues and the ability to collect meaningful metrics on the program. It was also left unresolved when the final report would be made available regarding the recommendations of the Crisis Prevention and Response Task Force. After the administration denied for so long the need for such a task force, I was glad to see it convened and to weigh in with my own experiences and prescriptions, but it is time for results to be finalized so that policy can be built around those recommendations. Both the creation and the discussions of the task force relate directly to police interactions, and this is an area where the city has profoundly failed many people experiencing mental health crises. It was recently reported that despite the administration's promise to provide all officers with crisis intervention training in 2015, in the years since only about a third of active officers have received this training. The overwhelming majority of officers still lack this critically important and sometimes life-saving training. I was glad to see the administration commit to further and faster training for 16,000 officers, but I believe that not a single officer in the field should go without this training. We are all in agreement that crisis intervention training is invaluable, so we must correct this deficit as quickly as possible. Police officers are real people, with real, difficult jobs. Yet as a city, we often seem to ask officer to have  have superhuman abilities. They are real people, with real, difficult jobs. Yet as a city, we often seem to ask officers to have superhuman abilities, we give them too much to do. I firmly believe that not every emergency calls for a police response, and that we should be developing alternatives that allow officers to focus with greater intention on specific responsibilities. At the same time, as long as our city calls upon the police force to respond to mental health crises, we must at a bare minimum give them the tools to do so safely and effectively- for both the officer and the individual in distress. Mental health is a crucial concern for New York City and the individuals within it who face a broad spectrum of issues with a varying degree of severity. What unites them all is the need for a robust, wholistic response that removes stigma and fear in favor of understanding and treatment. I look forward to moving with resolve toward this common goal and the solutions that enable it. Sincerely,   Jumaane D. Williams Public Advocate for the City of New York

VAN NEST NEIGHBORHOOD ALLIANCE–MONTHLY MEETING–MONDAY APRIL 1, 2019–7:00PM