Before we start, this has been a difficult week. The Supreme Court has gutted Miranda Rights, made it easier to carry gun in our City, and outlawed abortion in over a dozen states. This right-wing Court has made it clear they are protecting the interests of the rich and powerful rather than standing up for the rights of the rest of us. Outlawing abortion will not end abortion in our country, it will only lead to more people dying from unsafe abortions. This is an economic assault on the rights of millions of people and we will not stand for it. New York was a beacon for hope before Roe, providing safe and legal abortions to millions every year, and we will continue to do so after Roe. Our State, and our City, will ensure people here in New York and across the country can still access the fundamental right to an abortion. 

I know this has been a tough week. I was out with many of you on Friday marching. I won’t stop marching. I won’t stop fighting. Our future depends on our resolve to not back down in the face of this right-wing terror.

Budget Breakdown Part 2
Last week we focused on most of the big-ticket items in the budget, but this week we’ll focus on some of the small line items. We’ll start with programs and services that help our immigrant communities! While housing, policing, and education have budgets in the billions - many of the critical programs that support immigrant communities across our City are small multi-million dollar parts of the budget. These items represent a tiny fraction of our City’s overall spending, but for many people in our City, they are key to a dignified life. As Chair of the Immigration Committee, and the daughter of immigrants, I knew it was my responsibility to fight for increased funding to many of these initiatives. 

While our State invested billions in childcare for people across New York, undocumented families were left out. Thanks to the advocacy and organizing of myself, Council Member Cabán, and Comptroller Lander, we secured $10 million to fund universal childcare for undocumented families in our City. In addition to this incredible win, we were also able to secure a record $8.6 million (nearly double from last year) for adult literacy programs to help immigrant communities continue learning and developing a civic education. Another notable line item was the inclusion of investments in building Community Interpreter Banks across our City. Far too often, critical translation work is outsourced to people who don’t even live in New York City when we have talented native speakers right here in the five boroughs. This historic investment will create the foundation for translation for government, personal, and business use, relying on the talent right here in our City and paying our neighbors to do it.

Now, on parks and sanitation. The Mayor’s original budget included massive cuts to these critical departments but thankfully we were able to defeat them. Parks will see a historic increase of $44.1 million in funding and sanitation will be restored to pre-pandemic levels with specific investments in rat mitigation (a growing problem in our City and we’ve heard from many of our constituents!). We were also able to secure $32 million for various composting programs – including about $12 million for curbside collection, $7 million for organics drop-off sites, and $9.2 million to expand the school organics collection program to every school in the City over the next two years. These investments, coupled with our legislative push for universal residential composting, will be an incredible environmental benefit and bring us one step closer to meeting our City’s zero waste goals.

Last but not least, throughout the budget process each Council Member can advocate for investments in community organizations to support work in their neighborhoods. Thanks to my team and the advocacy of the organizations included, we are able to secure record funding for critically important organizations in District 39! The Asian-American Federation (AAF) will receive $200,000 from the Council to provide services to the AAPI community in New York City. The Asiyah Women’s Center, the first Muslim Women's Shelter in the City, will receive $75,000 to continue serving at-risk Muslim women. Planned Parenthood of New York will receive $200,000 to provide on-the-ground services through Project Street Beat. Finally, Her Justice will receive $25,000 to assist in their work of providing free legal counsel to women in poverty across our City.

I know the budget is complicated and confusing so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. My team and I are here to help!

COVID-19
Short COVID-19 update this week! As case numbers continue to decline, the City alert rate has been reduced to “medium”. Additionally, given the FDA emergency approval of the COVID-19 vaccine for young children, the City now has set up dedicated hubs to help vaccinate our City’s youngest residents. Appointments are available online or by calling 877-VAX-4NYC.

Community Bulletin

• The Gowanus Canal is one of the most polluted bodies of water in the City — but did you know work is being done to clean it up? Join the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group for a town hall on Thursday June 30th at PS 32 to learn more about the cleanup under the EPA's Superfund Program! The meeting starts at 6 PM.
• Our City is making historic investments in transportation including improving the busway on Flatbush Avenue! To kick off this process, the Department of Transportation will be hosting a public engagement town hall on Thursday June 30th at 6 PM over Zoom to solicit community feedback. You can register for the event here. 
• GrowNYC’s food access and zero waste programs are currently hiring for multiple seasonal and year-round part-time positions. Check out their open positions and job openings here.
• This upcoming Wednesday June 29th is the Brooklyn public hearing on the City’s redistricting process! It will be at 4 PM at New York Technical College (285 Jay St, Brooklyn) and you must register here to testify. It’s important we show up and make our voices heard to ensure we don’t end up with the same mess we saw this summer at the state and congressional levels.
• The New York State Department of Transportation is advising motorists of early morning closures of the ramp from eastbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I-278) to eastbound Grand Central Parkway in Queens, on or about Tuesday morning, June 28th through Thursday morning, June 30th from 12 AM to 5 AM each morning. The closures will also take place on Wednesday morning, July 6th through Friday morning, July 8th from 12 AM to 5 AM each morning, and on Saturday morning, July 9th from 12 AM to 8 AM. To access the eastbound Grand Central Parkway during these closures, motorists should take Exit 5 (Astoria Boulevard-82 Street) and follow the signed detour. Inclement weather could cause these closures to be rescheduled. These closures are needed to facilitate work on a project to rehabilitate the Astoria Boulevard Bridge over the eastbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway ramp.

One last thing, we wanted to let everyone know that vaccinations for orthopoxvirus (commonly known as monkeypox) are now available at the Chelsea Sexual Health Clinic. There’s a lot of information, and misinformation, floating around about this new disease so be sure you check out the Department of Health website to learn more. Right now, there are 28 confirmed cases in New York City and vaccinations are only recommended for gay, bisexual and other men (18+) who have sex with men. Vaccinations are free of charge and available to anyone, regardless of immigration status.  

In Solidarity, 
Shahana