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Dear Neighbor,
I hope you have had a great summer and are looking forward to the back to school season.
I am excited to share some updates with you! Below you will find news from City Hall, community updates, and information on upcoming events.
Please do not hesitate to reach out.
In Community,
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Council Member Amanda Farías
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I joined Mayor Eric Adams and Speaker Adrienne Adams to sign the NYC Reproductive Rights Bill Package into law. I am extremely proud of the New York City Council’s Women’s Caucus, we fought hard to ensure that every person across this country who needs healthcare access can come to New York City and be fully protected.
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I stood on the steps of City Hall for Intro 637, which aims at giving our local nonprofits a first show at purchasing for sale city property to build true affordable development in our communities. I am proud to be a Co-Prime Sponsor on this bill that would ensure affordable housing is built on city-owned land.
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I joined Majority Leader Keith Powers and my Council colleagues on the steps of City hall for the Fair Chance for Housing Act. I am proud to be a Co-Prime Sponsor on this bill that would prohibit housing discrimination on the basis of arrest record or criminal history and gives formerly incarcerated people the opportunity for safe and stable housing.
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I joined the Committee on Education hearing led by Chair Rita Joseph to discuss Resolution 283 on the floor calling on the Department of Education Chancellor David Banks and Mayor Adams to immediately reverse reductions to school budgets, submit school budgets that reflect the restoration as well as the unspent federal stimulus funds, and more. Check out the hearing here.
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As the Co-Chair of the Womens Caucus, it is our top priority to fight for expanded care, services, education, and access in all aspects of maternal healthcare. I joined the Pre-Stated press conference to speak on recently introduced and unprecedented legislation to expand doula and maternal care education in New York City. I am proud of a Caucus that is fighting for maternal health care for all New Yorkers.
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I attended a press conference with Mayor Eric Adams and the NYCEDC to announce several new exciting initiatives that the NYC Ferry will be implementing for a more accessible and fiscally sustainable system. Read more about those announcements here.
As Chair of the Committee on Economic Development, I visited two city owned and operated sites this summer to get a better feel of the investments and properties the NYC EDC has jurisdiction over in the City. I am first visiting the sites in our home borough of the Bronx, as our borough has faced decades of divestments as well as economic and municipal neglect. First, I toured the Kingsbridge Armory to check in on the current conditions of the building and to continue the conversation on how we ensure that this creates a community forward space. Second, I visited Arthur Ave Retail Market and the Bathgate Industrial Business Zone to check out their operations, needs, and how they are currently prioritizing the vendors.
Additionally, I wrote a letter with Assembly Member Burgos that calls on Mayor Eric Adams to appoint a Latino FDNY Commissioner. Latino New Yorkers represent 15% of the FDNY, but overall we are lacking representation in leadership with only 5% in leadership roles.
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I know how special family days are to our NYCHA communities. That is why I am so proud to have been able to fund every NYCHA development's Family Day this Summer!
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Huge thank you to all our Tenant Association President's and everyone who helped put together incredible events across the district. My office and I had a great time seeing neighbors at each annual family day!
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I visited the Annual Watson Basketball Classic in Soundview! It was great to watch the game and meet our SYEP youths working the tournament. We need opportunities where skills are being perfected and resume building helps our students - and they are doing just that!
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I presented Engine 96/Ladder 54 in Soundview with a $2.4 million check for a generator and a kitchen renovation!
Huge thank you to the firefighters of Council District 18 who work hard to protect our neighbors everyday.
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I was joined by Mayor Eric Adams to visit the street festival organized by our Bangladeshi American National Democratic Society. The Mayor got to enjoy and see the cultural hub that is Starling Ave and see the level of community that is centered around uplifting one another.
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I presented a proclamation to the recently promoted Inspector Keiyon Ramsey of the 43rd Precinct. Congratulations to Inspector Ramsey for this well-deserved promotion and a big thank you for your continued work in the community and in our precinct.
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I had a fun time at this years National Night Out with our local 43 Precinct and the PSA 8 Council! It’s always great to come out and see the kiddos enjoying themselves, especially with school coming up soon.
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It was great to come back to Soundview Park to celebrate the 32nd year of the Soundview Old Timers Reunion. I loved seeing the history of Soundview families, neighbors and community members that was present at the event.
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I visited the New York Edge summer program at P.S. 106X. It was clear that our students were gaining educational enrichment while having a fun time. It’s great when parents and their children have the option to spend the summer in a safe, fun, and educational environment because of programs like NY Edge.
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I partnered up with Lime to host a free helmet giveaway and e-scooter tutorial outside my district office. We want people to feel comfortable and ride safely - so we got neighbors to try it out with an instructor!
Whether you are tired of your walk to the train or you just want to explore new parts of your neighborhood, e-scooters are a great way to do that.
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I joined NYC Parks for a Playground Re-naming Ceremony in honor of the brave and loving Captain William Harry Thompson who was raised in Bronx River Houses. Thank you to the entire Thompson family and to the friends like Gerald Hollingsworth who pushed for this re-naming for a decade. I am overjoyed that Captain Thompson’s legacy is now engraved in the same place he was raised for all to remember.
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This summer I marched in the Dominican Day parade with Speaker Adrienne E. Adams and my council colleagues.
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I partnered up with the NYC EDC SWARM Team to clean up areas in CD18! One of the top areas our office receives complaints about is outside the USPS Office on Lafayette Ave and Stickball Blvd and around Stevenson HS. So - we tackled cleaning it up this August.
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In total, NYC EDC, DSNY, and the Doe Fund have collectively cleaned:
- 39.7 miles of our streets
- 326 litter baskets
- Graffiti from 33 properties
- 40 oversized items
- and collected 13,853 pounds of trash
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I toured Rocking The Boat’s headquarters and hoped on a speedboat to meet up with the Billion Oyster Project! We toured our beautiful waterways, and saw how their programming in the Bronx & Queens has been growing. I allocated $55,000 collectively to the Billion Oyster Project & Rocking The Boat because I believe in protecting our waterfront communities. They are doing a lot of waterfront protection in our Soundview waterways which is critical to protecting homeowners and our environment.
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I celebrated the legacy of the late Mrs. Marie Reid with a co-naming ceremony on the corner of Soundview Avenue and Lafayette Avenue.
Thank you to the entire Reid family for celebrating all Mrs. Reid gave to our community.
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My office partnered with SAPNA to bring a Community Safety training to the Bangla Bazaar, which was available in both English and Bangla. I allocated $15,000 to support this initiative by SAPNA which focuses on de-escalation (verbal and physical), situational awareness, and more for our drivers and community members.
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I sponsored a Family Day at our Waterfront Community Garden. It was great to see so many families enjoying the bounce house, yummy food, and just being in community with their neighbors. We even got to give some of the kiddos new backpacks and school supplies!
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I joined Community Leader and Community Board Member Ram Halder at his local Hindu Temple, Bronx Puja Mandir, to celebrate Janmashtami! I’m deeply honored to have been able to join in celebration of Lord Krishna with our Hindu Community.
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I toured Bronx River Houses & Community Center with Team Acacia Network, West Side Campaign for Hunger, and TA President Norma Saunders - and of course all our older adults at the center!
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I visited the Glover Street Community Garden team with New York Restoration Project. If you have never been you can visit it at 1642 Castle Hill Ave. I look forward to seeing the tomatoes, green beans, and other plants continue to thrive.
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I visited Commonwealth Veteran Housing to meet some vets in CD 18 and check out the program operated by Volunteers of America! Shout out to the VOA team for giving us the best welcome. Cannot wait to come back!
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I got to read at three of our local libraries storytimes with our CD 18 kiddos. Big thank you to the entire staff at the Soundview, Castle Hill, and Parkchester library for having me!
It’s always great to be with our NYPL family and I look forward to doing more storytime’s in the Fall!
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Happy Back to School Season!
My office and I hosted 10 back to school giveaways this summer giving away more than 2,200 backpacks with school supplies! I hope that all our CD 18 students walk into school proud with their new and super cool bookbags. Our summer of book bag giveaways took place in every corner of the district this summer. Thank you to everyone who came out and good luck to our students this school year!
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- Friday, September 9th- 7pm| Movies Under the Stars Watching ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’ @ Soundview Park RSVP HERE
- Saturday, September 17th- 11 am| Free Shredding Event @ Virginia Park
- Saturday, September 24th- 12pm – 4pm| Skate Party @ Caserta Playground RSVP HERE
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If you have not already, make sure to fill out the NYC Ferry survey. As the Chair of the Committee on Economic Development which oversees our ferry system I want to hear directly from Bronx ferry riders on their experiences, click on the button below to take the 1-3 minute survey.
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- Bronx Times: Will Newly Redrawn City Council District Lines Reflect And Preserve The Bronx’s Decade-Long Growth Of Ethnic Communities?
- News 12: Power & Politics Full Show: City Council Women’s Caucus Plans To Protect Abortion Access
- Bronx Times: Highlights from Council District 18’s budget for FY 2023
- Streetsblog NYC: To-Do List: Congestion Pricing Must Mitigate Added Bronx Trucks, Pols Say
- Bronx Times: Column: Investing in affordable housing is critical to our economic recovery
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