John,

Before we jump into the newsletter, I need to make a quick note. We are now in the formal “communications blackout” period, less than 90 days out from the June 2023 primary. To comply with election law, we are restricted with what we can discuss in mass communications from now until the primary is over. We will continue to send out a weekly newsletter to keep our community updated, but bear with us as we pare down and change content to comply with election law. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Last but not least, today is the last day to cast your ballot for our Participatory Budgeting projects! Cast your ballot online before midnight tonight and be sure to check out the list of projects beforehand.

Time To Dine Out

We know many constituents in District 39 love outdoor dining. In every season and nearly every kind of weather, neighbors throughout our community enjoy outdoor dining wherever they can get it. With changes coming to the Open Restaurants program, it’s important to share with our community where I stand and what policies I will be advocating for in the future. As always, continue to share your feedback with my office.

First and foremost, I believe that outdoor dining should be available year-round. During the height of COVID-19, New Yorkers, many in our own community, were dining out in colder months and even sometimes in the snow when indoor dining was unavailable or limited. Mandating a seasonal approach would require many restaurants to dramatically change their setups at a high cost to the small businesses in question. I also support future regulations about heating options to ensure people can stay warm, while not dramatically harming our environment.

I have been thrilled to see outdoor dining expand beyond the roadside and give opportunities to our restaurant community to reclaim our sidewalks and streets for accessible public use. Streets are for more than just cars! We’ve seen the benefits of innovative dining structures that activate public spaces, but these structure setups need to be implemented thoughtfully and with deep community engagement and feedback. There should be clear protocols around dining structures that address sanitation, environmental issues like shade during the warm months and heating during the cold months, pedestrian and disability access, and street safety. This program has been widely successful under the Department of Transportation (DOT) and should absolutely live in the DOT with proactive coordination between other pertinent agencies to support. The DOT should be working hand-in-hand with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) to ensure restaurants are well-equipped to meet the necessary worker and health and safety standards. To streamline this work more comprehensively, our City should appoint an Open Restaurants Czar. The outdoor dining program needs a dedicated team not just to manage applications and questions but also serve as a creative hub to incubate expansion and new policy innovations.

Community Bulletin

● Got questions about the state of legalization in New York City? Join our office and an all-star panel of cannabis experts on 4/12 over Zoom for our Candid Cannabis Conversation! We’ve pulled together industry experts and locals with deep knowledge about the state of marijuana legalization in our community. The event is at 6:30 PM and you can register, as well as read more about our panelists, here.

● Join our friends at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange on 4/4 at 6 PM as they partner with Dance/USA’s Archiving and Preservation team to host a virtual Archiving Workshop! Join EmergeNYC and Practice Lab Director Marlène Ramírez-Cancio in this 75-minute workshop to learn practical tips, guidelines, and skills to organize and securely store digital assets.

● Join the South Asian Book Club to read South Asian authors every other Saturday morning at 10 AM via Zoom. Contact Anaka Purohit at [email protected] if you’re interested!

● The MyCity Portal is now live! Check out the new one-stop-shop for City resources available in one convenient location.

● Looking to work for the City? The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) will be holding a hiring fair on Wednesday, 4/5 at the Ingersoll Community Center. Learn more and RSVP here.

● Trash take out times have changed! Residential buildings of any size (single-family and multi-unit) have two options to ensure that collection:

○ Place waste out after 6 PM in a container of 55 gallons or less with a secure lid

○ Place waste out after 8 PM, if putting bags directly on the curb

● The Child Mind Institute’s School and Community Programs is hosting a free Behavioral and Emotional Skills Training (BEST) workshops for parents, family members, babysitters, and caregivers of children in grades K-5 to help caregivers increase their child’s social and emotional development skills, and improve their child’s self-esteem. Learn more and register here!

● Have an idea to improve your neighborhood? Own a small business and need funding for a new project? CitizensNYC has been providing grants and support to community groups, small businesses, and individuals with big ideas for the past 50 years. Applications are now open for community grants of up to $3,000 and small business grants of up to $10,000. Join an upcoming virtual info session to learn more.

In Solidarity,

Shahana