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Dear District 39 Constituent,
* As a reminder, our new office is located on the Ground Floor of 197 Bond Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217. To make an appointment, contact our Constituent Services Director Bryan Gross at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . Appointments are available from Monday-Thursday 10 AM to 4 PM.
* Our office is sponsoring Camp Friendship’s School Supply Drive! They are accepting donations from now through August 23rd. See details on desired supplies and drop-off locations here ([link removed]) .

Advice and Consent + The Sham Charter Revision Commission

Currently, the City Council has advice and consent authority over more than 70 positions that are appointed by the Mayor. This process allows Council Members to ask nominees tough questions, evaluate their merits, and ultimately vote to approve or disapprove their nomination. This week, we are seeing the importance of this ability following Mayor Eric Adams’s nomination ([link removed]) of Randy Mastro to serve as Corporation Counsel, the City’s top lawyer. Given Mastro’s controversial record ([link removed]) , the Council has a critical role to play over the next month in evaluating if he is the right person for the position.

Earlier this year, the Council passed Speaker Adrienne Adams’s bill Intro. 908 ([link removed]) , which would grant the Council advice and consent authority over 20 new positions, including the Commissioners of the Parks, Sanitation, and Social Services Departments. This would mimic the way that Congress has the ability to review the President’s nominees for Cabinet Secretaries. I supported this bill because I believe the nominees for these important positions should go through a rigorous vetting process to ensure they are prepared to take on the urgent challenges our City is facing. I view Intro. 908 as an essential good government measure that would install needed checks and balances on the City’s executive branch.

Because this bill would change the City’s Charter, it needs to go to the voting public to be approved or disapproved as a ballot question. The Council filed ([link removed]) for the question to be included on the ballot in the upcoming elections this November. However, Mayor Adams has sought to block the question from reaching NYC voters. He is attempting to put his own questions on the ballot because as Mayor, his questions would be allowed to reach the voters first, pushing back the public vote on Intro. 908 back to a future election.

In order to manufacture an air of legitimacy around his procedural block, the Mayor launched a sham Charter Revision Commission that was stacked ([link removed]) with his allies and ran a public input process that Speaker Adams aptly criticized ([link removed].) as “wholly unserious”. I joined ([link removed]) Council colleagues at a Commission hearing last week to criticize their work. See my testimony to the Commission in full here ([link removed])
. Last week, the Commission reached its predetermined outcome—producing new ballot questions that would undermine ([link removed]) the Council’s ability to legislate. I see this move as not only a cynical power grab, but retaliation for the admirable actions the increasingly bold Council has taken over the last year, including overriding ([link removed]) the Mayor’s vetoes to pass a ban on solitary confinement and requiring more demographic reporting on NYPD stops.

I oppose the ballot questions that the Mayor’s Commission has proposed and urge him to allow the public to vote on expanded advice and consent authority.

Kensington Plaza

Last week I joined DSNY to walk-through the expanded Kensington Plaza after receiving complaints about dumping violations. I’m happy to report that thanks to DSNY’s attention and enforcement, there is no lingering trash! Residents, businesses, and all stakeholders must work together to keep our plazas clean.

Council Member Shahana with DSNY Officials, Ryan Merola, Deputy Commissioner & Chief of Staff (right) & Thomas Sica, Assistant Chief of Brooklyn South Borough (left), at Kensington Plaza

Gowanus Family Day

Family Day at Gowanus Houses was a huge success! It was a joy to join residents for an afternoon of music, food, and community building. My team was thrilled to kick off our book bag distribution program in partnership with the Arab American Family Support Center. I also had the privilege of honoring Tenant Association President Theresa Davis, whose exceptional leadership helped secure critical capital investments in this public housing campus.

Council Member Shahana at the Gowanus Houses Family Day

Community Bulletin
* Youth ages 18 and under can stop by the Free Meals Truck at the Parkside and Ocean Avenue Entrance to Prospect Park for free healthy and delicious food options daily through August 30. Distributed by the NYC Department of Education in partnership with Prospect Park Alliance, the truck offers a menu of healthy options all summer long including sandwiches, salads, wraps, hummus, snacks and more. Learn more here ([link removed]) .
* CEC15 currently has a vacant seat on the council and is accepting applications. Please apply to the DOE directly at [email protected]. Applications ([link removed]) are available in nine languages and all information about eligibility to CECs can be found here ([link removed]) . Please also visit CECd15.org ([link removed]) to learn more.
* Learn more on how to find and use NYC Open Data at a free online introductory workshop ([link removed]) with BetaNYC and the Open Data Team at the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation on Wednesday, August 7th at 6 PM ([link removed]) .
* Do you ride buses on Flatbush Avenue? Take this survey ([link removed]) to help us understand the needs of bus riders, and demonstrate how better buses will benefit residents, businesses, schools, and the community. Participants will enter a raffle with several chances to win $150!
* SBS started info sessions for the HVAC Pre-Apprenticeship ([link removed]) and ApprenticeNYC ([link removed]) training programs. Both programs will start cohorts in October.

In community,
Council Member Shahana
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Our mailing address is:
New York City Council Member Shahana Hanif
197 Bond Street,
Brooklyn, NY 11217
USA
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