Welcoming Our New Constituent Service Director!
We’re excited to welcome Bryan Gross as our new Constituent Services Director. Bryan has years of experience working in constituent services, building a vast array of skills that will make him an invaluable asset to our office. He previously served as a Community Advocate with our close colleague, Council Member Alexa Avilés. Bryan is fluent in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, reading, and traveling. Bryan hopes to bring his vast range of community outreach skills to this role. For any constituent service needs, reach him at [email protected]. He looks forward to serving District 39 constituents!
Legislative Update
This week, two of my bills were heard in committee in the Council Chambers. At committee legislative hearings, the Administration, issue experts, and members of the public are given the opportunity to provide testimony in support of or against the bills on the agenda. This is the first step that a bill must go through in order to be eligible to be voted on and passed.
Intro. 217: Ban the Scan
On Monday June 10th, the Committee on Technology heard my bill Intro. 217, also known as Ban the Scan, which would prohibit retail stores, performance venues, and other public facing businesses from using facial recognition and other biometric surveillance tools to identify customers. This is a basic privacy measure—people should have a right to access essential places like grocery stores without having their personal biometric information collected, used, and sold. It is also essential to combatting wrongful discrimination, as evidenced by the Federal Trade Commission’s recent finding that Rite Aid used facial recognition technology to falsely and disproportionately identify people of color and women as likely shoplifters in its New York City stores. Thankfully, Rite Aid is now prohibited from using biometric surveillance for the next five years, but we shouldn’t need a federal investigation to prohibit other businesses from replicating this practice and victimizing more New Yorkers. While industry lobbyists claim that this technology is needed to prevent theft, it is clear that tools with consistently high rates of inaccuracy for women and people of color are not useful security measures. See video of the hearing here.
Intro. 216: Reforms to the IDNYC Application Process
On Tuesday June 11th, the Committee on Immigration heard my bill Intro. 216, which would reform the IDNYC application process. IDNYC is a municipal identification card available to all New Yorkers. For immigrants who lack access to other forms of identification, IDNYC is an essential resource that can be used for everything from applying for a work permit to entering government buildings. However, due to the Administration’s failure to properly operationalize the application process, many who need an IDNYC are currently unable to get one. The Department of Social Services ended walk-in applications and as you can see on the IDNYC site, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to make an appointment. Intro. 216 would address this issue by requiring DSS to supply enough application slots to meet the demand for the card, including walk-in appointments. It would also improve training for IDNYC workers and the appeals process for application denials. See video of the hearing here.
