Email from NYS Senate What's Happening in SD28?   Dear Neighbor, I am so pleased to be able to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. In this trying period in the history of our nation and our planet, it is important to take time out to consider the ways in which we are fortunate, to practice gratitude, and to reflect on how we can help expand the circle of wellbeing to include more of our neighbors. For those looking for volunteer opportunities, click here for an extensive list. One excellent place to volunteer is the Food Bank for NYC, which I'm very proud to have helped establish many years ago. The Food Bank is one of many hunger related organizations in need of donations at this time. As we enter the holiday season, my office always receives many calls asking about Thanksgiving-specific meal programs. Please see the resources below for Tuesday, November 25th - Friday, November 28th. Not all of these locations are in the district but are accessible via public transportation. Tuesday, November 25th: New York Common Pantry (NYCP) will offer a sit-down or take-away hot meal Monday to Friday from 2:30pm - 3:30pm and brown bag meals to go on Saturday and Sunday from 2:30pm - 3:30pm at 8 East 109th Street (between 5th and Madison Avenues). You can contact them at (917) 720-9700 or [email protected]. NYCP is also seeking volunteers (must be at least 16) and anyone interested can sign-up via their website. The Urban Outreach Center offers dinner from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm on Tuesdays, at 1745 1st Avenue (between 90th and 91st Streets). The Center also offers a Market-Style Panty on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9am-1pm. You can contact them at (212) 288-6743 or email at [email protected], or visit them at [link removed]. They also accept volunteer application and donations. Wednesday, November 26th: Church of the Epiphany will offer their usual Wednesday dinner program from 6pm - 7:30pm. The Church is located at 351 East 74th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues). Volunteers and donation are accepted--contact the Church by phone at 212-737-2720 or [email protected]. Thursday, November 27th: The Bowery Mission offers a traditional Thanksgiving meal with festivities and live music for breakfast and lunch. Breakfast will be served from 8am - 9am and lunch will be served from 11:30am - 4pm at 227 Bowery (between Rivington and Stanton Streets). Indoor and outdoor seating will be available. You can contact them at (212) 674-3456. For those wishing to donate, please visit [link removed]. Hudson Guild’s Older Adult Center will be hosting a sit-down hot meal at 11:30am at 119 9th Avenue (between 17th and 18th Street). You can reach them at (212) 760-9800 or by email at [email protected]. Goddard Riverside has a sit-down Thanksgiving meal from 12pm – 3pm located at 593 Columbus Ave (between 88th and 89th Streets). The doors open at 11:00 am. You can contact them at (212) 873-6600, or visit [link removed]. Friday, November 28th: Crossroads Community Services will be distributing warm holiday meals on Friday. The pantry provides ongoing meals: hot breakfast on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:45am - 8:45am; brunch to go on Saturdays from 10am-11am; and dinner to go daily from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. They also operate a Pantry on Thursdays from 9:30am-12:45pm by appointment only. Contact them at 212-378-0234 or [email protected]. All meals are carry-out and distributed at 108 East 51st Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues). Please find additional food resources at plentifulapp.com, the NYC Food Bank's Find Food map, and Food Help NYC. Below you will find governmental updates, recent actions by the Trump Administration impacting New Yorkers, and upcoming events and other useful information affecting our district. As always, if you have any questions or need assistance, please email or call my office at [email protected] or 212-490-9535. Liz Krueger State Senator What's In This Newsletter? Governmental Updates: Update on Trump Administration Impacts Testimony Opposing Con Ed Rate Increases Testimony Opposing City Council Bills on Short-Term Rentals Statement On DEC Approval of NESE Pipeline Permit Bill McKibben, Advocates, Legislators Call on Governor to Stop Climate Polluter Handouts in her Executive Budget Meeting Young Constituents -- Visits to Schools Senator Krueger’s Virtual Older Adult Roundtable Series Helpful Information Facts About Federal Cuts to Medicaid F and M Trains Will Swap Routes Between Manhattan and Queens Starting December 8th Community Updates: Virtual Event from Weill Cornell on Hearing Changes with Aging Update on Trump Administration Impacts Below is a very small sample of actions the Trump Administration has taken that have had concrete, negative impacts on New Yorkers. Click on the links for more details. Here is some of what the Administration has been up to: A new report from Governor Hochul's office has found that President Trump's unprecedented tariffs are effectively imposing on New Yorkers a 21% tax on imported goods, costing New York households an average of $4,200 annually, and putting half a million jobs at risk. The chart below, from the Tax Foundation, shows the national impact of Trump's tariffs on prices: Meanwhile, CNN has a rundown of the president's "lying spree on inflation," with falsehoods on grocery prices, prescription drug prices, energy prices, and more. The Trump Administration is changing a Department of Housing and Urban Development policy that could result in New York City losing up to $109 million per year in funding for existing supportive housing units that help homeless New Yorkers with mental health and other needs come in off the streets. According to the NYC Department of Social Services, the funding cut could threaten the viability of 8,400 units. President Trump's war on clean, affordable energy has resulted in the loss of 159,000 jobs and $52 billion in investments nationwide, including 6,500 jobs and $2.5 billion in investments here in New York, while average household energy prices have risen 11% since the start of this term. The Administration has gutted the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which is at the center of the federal response to the opioid epidemic, cutting staff by 50% in a move that may be unlawful because the agency was created by Congress. The Administration's decision to keep National Parks open with skeleton staffs during the recent shutdown led to significant negative consequences for the parks, visitors, and wildlife, part of a larger Administration agenda that threatens the long-term sustainability of the park system. Linda McMahon, former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO and currently President Trump's Secretary of Education, took further steps to dismantle the Department of Education, moving closer to achieving the goals of a March executive order designed to get around the legal requirement for Congressional approval for such a move.  Amidst a national shortage of health care providers, the Trump Administration is redefining professional degrees, proposing to cut nursing and other vital programs from the list. Due to an H.R.1 provision that established a cap on student loan borrowing, nursing and other students would be restricted to borrowing $20,500 per year, with a lifetime maximum of $100,000. This could make enrolling in nursing programs cost prohibitive. President Trump's EPA approved its fifth PFAS "forever chemical" as a pesticide ingredient, despite promises to rein in dangerous pesticides. PFAS "have been linked to cancer, birth defects, decreased immunity, high cholesterol, kidney disease and a range of other serious health problems." Paul Ingrassia, who last month was forced to withdraw his nomination by President Trump to lead the Office of the Special Counsel after it was revealed that he claimed he has "a Nazi streak," used an ethnic slur for African-Americans to say that holidays like Kwanzaa, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Juneteenth should be "eviscerated," and referred to King as "the 1960s George Floyd," is being given the consolation prize of becoming Deputy General Counsel at the General Services Administration. In one of President Trump's latest moves to cash in on the office of the presidency, Trump-branded wine is now being sold in some tax-free military grocery stores. During these challenging times, take heart in the acts of nonviolent resistance that are taking place throughout the U.S.: ‘No Kings’ Launches Anti-ICE Thanksgiving Boycott Protest Protests Erupt After Trump Admin Targets Charlotte, North Carolina, for Mass Deportation Campaign Hundreds of veterans protest Trump policies at Veterans Day rally in Washington Students and faculty at over 100 US universities protest against Trump’s attacks Behind the Curtain: The resistance revitalized Trump’s racist refugee plan provokes evangelical protest 100+ US Campus Protests to Call Out Trump Attacks and Unaffordable Education Americans Continue To Build a Peaceful Mass Movement To Force Trump Administration Changes The following articles address the current path toward authoritarianism, how others have dealt with living through authoritarianism, and how to bring down authoritarian regimes:  The playbook of every successful nonviolent struggle How to Endure Authoritarianism US ‘on a trajectory’ toward authoritarian rule, ex-officials warn The Democrats’ big election revealed a hidden constraint on Trump Senator Krueger Submits Testimony Opposing Con Ed Rate Increases Earlier this month I submitted testimony to the state Public Service Commission (PSC) opposing the proposed double-digit rate hikes for both gas and electric customers served by Con Ed. I hear regularly from constituents spending well over 30% of their income on their energy bills (the PSC has a goal that no household pays more than 6%). This situation is clearly not sustainable. There are several longer-term policy solutions that need to be implemented, from reforming PSC practices around utility return on investment, to avoiding expensive and unnecessary gas infrastructure, to investing in home weatherization and energy efficiency, to reining in the growth of energy-hogging data centers and cryptocurrency miners. But in the meantime, the PSC must use the rate case process to push back on unaffordable increases. Click Here to View Senator Krueger's Testimony on Con Ed Rates Senator Krueger Submits Testimony Opposing City Council Bills on Short-Term Rentals Last week I joined Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal in submitting joint testimony opposing two bills in the New York City Council that would weaken existing laws regulating short-term rentals. It has taken nearly two decades to implement the right policies for New York City to beat back the scourge of illegal hotels that exacerbated the housing crisis, displaced residents, and endangered communities, but these bills threaten to undo that progress. At a time when affordability should be our watchword, these bills would take critical housing units away from everyday New Yorkers and serve them up on a silver platter to hedge fund speculators and the billionaires running Airbnb, raising rents and home prices for everyone else. I urge the Council in the strongest terms to reject these unaffordable bills. Click Here to View Senator Krueger's Testimony on Short-Term Rentals Statement On DEC Approval of NESE Pipeline Permit Earlier this month I released the following statement regarding the decision by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to approve the Water Quality Certificate for the controversial Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) fracked gas pipeline across New York Harbor: “Just days after an election in which voters across New York and the country made clear that affordability is their top concern, it is simply perverse that New York State will be saddling gas ratepayers with billions of dollars in costs for a dirty fracked gas pipeline that is completely unnecessary and an environmental nightmare. This is the exact same project that was rejected by the DEC on three previous occasions. There is no reason to waste New Yorkers' money and lock us into a dirty, expensive, fossil fueled future that only benefits Donald Trump and his billionaire Big Oil donors. This is not how you stand up for New York ratepayers.” Bill McKibben, Advocates, Legislators Call on Governor to Stop Climate Polluter Handouts in Her Executive Budget Last week I joined a coalition of statewide groups and national climate leader Bill McKibben to share reporting that Big Oil companies reaped over $1.2 trillion in profits from 2021 to today. At the same time, the state faces an affordability crisis, compounded by federal funding cuts, and therefore it is critical for Governor Kathy Hochul to repeal some of the state’s taxpayer-funded subsidies to the fossil fuel industry by including the revenue-positive Stop Climate Polluter Handouts Act (S3606A/A3675A) in her upcoming Executive Budget. The Act would repeal 20% - about $350 Million - of the $1.8 Billion in taxpayer subsidies to an industry that receives trillions of dollars of government support globally every year. Evidence of the industry’s booming profits, combined with the state’s multibillion dollar budget gap and expectations of statewide budget cuts, have underscored the need to end these subsidies. At a time when our state budget is stretched to the limit because of Trump's radical cuts, and New Yorkers in every corner of our state are facing an affordability crisis, how can we possibly justify spending $350 million of taxpayers' money to prop up the oil and gas industry? How can we tell our constituents that we are struggling to fund vital programs but can easily line the pockets of Exxon's shareholders with their money? It's long past time for these outdated, unnecessary, and wasteful subsidies to end. Click Here to View the Press Conference Meeting Young Constituents -- Visits to Schools Recently, I joined a "Women in Politics" panel at the W.O.W. (Women in Our World) Summit at Marymount School of New York. This week I will also be meeting with the 5th grade classes, the Student Council, and the principal at PS 183, organized by our summer intern and PS 183 alum, Asher Kurtz. Last week I was a guest at the Upper School Assembly at Trevor Day, where I spoke about my career as an elected official. Our intern, Nina Simoni-Cooperman, a Trevor sophomore, organized the event and moderated a discussion with the students (pictured above). Nina reports many of the high school students were so inspired they filled out early pre-voter registration forms as part of the program. Teens 16 and 17 years old interested in pre-registering to vote can go to Youth/NYC Votes: [link removed] Senator Krueger’s Virtual Older Adult Roundtable Series on the Impact of Federal Funding Cuts on Older Adults Session IV - Benefits and Older Adult Centers Tuesday, December 16th 2 pm – 3:30 pm Find out how federal cuts will impact your benefits like SNAP, HEAP, and cash assistance, and hear about the new work requirements for people under age 64. Also, learn about how budget cuts are impacting Older Adult Centers, and the programs and services they continue to provide to support you. Presenters: - Jeremy Kaplan, Executive Director, Encore Community Services - Kim Lerner, Director of Benefits Outreach Program, LiveOn New York In addition to attending the event on Zoom, you will also have the option to view online through Facebook. Please note that you do not need a Facebook account or profile to view the event through Facebook. If you do not have access to a computer, tablet, or other electronic device, you can listen in by telephone. **If you register, you will be sent a confirmation email with the Zoom link and the call-in information at least a week in advance of the event.** The event will feature a question-and-answer session with the presenters. If you have questions about cuts to SNAP, HEAP, cash assistance, or the impact cuts to the federal budget will have on Older Adult Centers, please RSVP for the event on December 16th. Attendees will be able to submit questions through Zoom and Facebook during the event but are *strongly* encouraged to submit them in advance. The event will be recorded and available online approximately one week afterwards. A link to the recording and resources will be emailed to everyone who RSVPs. Please let us know if you plan to attend the Tuesday, December 16th Roundtable and RSVP to [link removed] Click Here to Register for the December 16th Older Adult Roundtable Facts About Federal Cuts to Medicaid F and M Trains Will Swap Routes Between Manhattan and Queens Starting December 8th Virtual Event from Weill Cornell on Hearing Changes with Aging While a gradual decline in hearing for both ears, difficulty hearing high-pitched sounds, and distinguishing speech in noisy environments may all be common hearing changes with aging, certain medical conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure, genetics, and some medications can accelerate or worsen age-related hearing loss. Importantly, untreated hearing loss as we age can lead to social isolation, in addition to a decline in relationships, and has been linked to an increased risk of conditions like depression, heart disease, and dementia. On December 11th at 5pm, join Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell Tech, and the Good Life on Roosevelt Island Association (GLORIA) for a virtual session exploring hearing changes with aging, including what it is, what causes it, how it is diagnosed, and ways to manage it through lifestyle and treatment options. Click Here to Register for the Virtual Event District Office: 211 East 43rd Street, Suite 2000 | New York, NY 10017 | (212) 490-9535 | Fax: (212) 499-2558 Albany Office: Capitol Building, Room 416 | Albany, NY 12247 | (518) 455-2297 | Fax: (518) 426-6874 Email: [email protected] | On the Web: krueger.nysenate.gov   Senator Liz Krueger | 211 E 43rd St #2000 | New York, NY 10017 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice