Protecting Tenants Against Sex Offenders Working in Their Buildings
February 2, 2010
I was horrified to learn of a situation here in Manhattan where a building superintendent who was sexually harassing tenants was discovered to be a level three sex offender. It is disgusting and unfathomable that someone who abused three children in Long Island was given the keys to 50 apartments in two buildings.
It should also be illegal.
As the New York Post reported today (”Pol: Bar Sex-Fiend Supers“). I have introduced a bill to ban the hiring of dangerous sex offenders as building superintendent or other building agents. The bill will also allow tenants to bring action against landlords if they are being sexually harassed by a landlord or their employees under the Warrant of Habitability.
This is critical legislation because the law requires tenants to allow building owners and their employees access to their apartments–and landlords can seek eviction of tenants who refuse access. Also, while current law forbids landlords from harassing tenants, it does not specifically protect tenants from sexual harassment. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors (as was the case in the two Upper West Side buildings), and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature should have specific recourse under the law.
Assembly Member Kellner on CB8 Speaks
December 16, 2009
Kill the Drill: Protect New York City’s Drinking Water
November 10, 2009
It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of the New York City Watershed to the
City and State of New York. The Watershed is the largest unfiltered drinking water supply in the
nation, providing 1.3 billion gallons of affordable, high-quality drinking water daily to more
than 9 million consumers in New York City — half the population of the entire state of New
York.
I testified before the Department of Environmental Conservation today at a public hearing on the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement on Gas Development in the Marcellus Shale. (My testimony is below.) In my testimony, I opposed any move to allow natural gas drilling in the Watershed, and I have called upon the Department to issue a moratorium on drilling and am a co-sponsor of A.8748, which would set strict standards for protecting drinking water throughout the state, and prohibit drilling in and around the watershed.
The Department of Environment Conservation has extended the public comment period
related to this application until December 31st. Clean water is one of our most precious resources, and the extension of the public comment period is an important step in assuring that decisions regarding drilling in the Marcellus Shale will not be rushed. I encourage everyone to express their opposition through the comment submission process. As a member of the Kill the Drill Coalition, I urge you to visit Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s Kill the Drill webpage to find out other things you can do to make the call for environmental justice issue known and heard.
11.10.09 DEC Testimony Re SGEIS Opp to Drilling in Marcellus Shale
Interviewed on PBS
July 10, 2009
Recently, I was featured in a lengthy interview with Dara Welles on WLIW 21’s “New York Insiders.”
We had a great conversation about what’s next for New York City’s schools, as well as Second Avenue Subway construction issues - and we also discussed broader topics like marriage equality, disability rights, the upheaval in the State Senate, and my own plans for the future.
PBS is linking things strangely, so when you click to see the video of my interview the title will read Suffolk County Legislator Steve Levy - but don’t worry, it’s me.
VIDEO: New Bill Prevents MTA from Raising Access-A-Ride Fare to $5
March 9, 2009
Video of Sunday, March 8th press conference announcing paratransit fare equity legislation with Sen. Tom Duane, Comptroller Bill Thompson, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Advocates representing the following groups also attended: United Spinal Association, United Cerebral Palsy of NYC, MS Society of NYC, Disabilities Network of NYC, Disabled in Action, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, and the 504 Democratic Club. (Note: Some additional video footage of advocates speaking was unplayable; my apologies!)
When the MTA began operating Access-A-Ride in 1993, during the Dinkins Administration, they signed a written agreement with the City of New York promising never to raise the fare above what they charged regular mass transit users. This fall, the MTA decided to break that covenant and put forward a proposal to charge Access-A-Ride users double what they have proposed to charge everyone else. Right now, when someone with a disability uses Access-A-Ride, they pay $2; the same as when someone takes the subway or rides the bus. If the MTA has their way, straphangers will be paying up to $2.50 — a burden enough for the larger New Yorker riding public — but people with disabilities who rely on Access-A-Ride are expected to pay $5.
This is discrimination, plain and simple. Unbelievably, it is 2009 and a public agency is singling out a class of people and saying, “You should pay more based on who you are.” If this was being done to people based on their race or their gender there would be widespread outrage. But sadly, discriminatory attitudes towards people with disabilities are so deeply ingrained in our society that people still need to be reminded that it is wrong.
This week, Senator Tom Duane and I are introducing legislation to force the MTA to keep their word about treating people with disabilities fairly. Our bill prevents any transportation authority in New York State from raising paratransit fares higher than what they charge regular transit users.
It is sad that this is necessary. At the MTA’s budget hearings we saw hundreds of wheelchair users and other people with severe disabilities braving a difficult commute to tell the MTA that a $5 fare would sentence them to isolation. Articulate and passionate advocates stood before the MTA Board and reminded them of the contract they made with the City of New York and admonished them to keep their word. But the MTA hasn’t changed its mind; instead, it has dug in its heels and decided to balance their budget on the backs of the riders who can least afford it.
We will not allow this to happen. As a person with a mobility impairment myself, and as a legislator, I will not sit back and watch the MTA implement a fare structure that discriminates against a class of New Yorkers. New York has a proud tradition of equality and opportunity for all, and together we can ensure that this continues. We will not allow the MTA to use this fiscal crisis to leave the frail elderly and riders with disabilities stranded.
The New York Post ran an article (”Don’t Hike Disabled Fares: Pols” 3/7/09) about this legislation last weekend.
Lighting Up the Night for Marriage Equality
January 5, 2009
On December 20th, State Senator Tom Duane and I took part in a powerful event organized by Join the Impact, a grassroots national organization that is fighting for marriage equality. The march and rally was coined “Light Up the Night for Equality” and hundreds of LGBT people and their friends braved some pretty cold temperatures to march from Bryant Park to Times Square and rally for marriage rights. In the video above, Senator Duane’s remarks start at about 2:30 and mine start at about 3:15.
The event was a national one with similar rallies being held all over the country. The candles were held in vigil in rememberance of the rights that may have been lost to the over 18,000 couples in California whose legal status is now up in the air after the passage of the homophobic Proposition 8 last November.
Last year, I was proud to be part of history and vote in favor of same-sex marriage when the bill sponsored by Assembly Member Danny O’Donnell was passed by the New York State Assembly. While there is a long way to go until same-sex couples can legally marry in New York (the New York State Senate must also pass the bill before the Governor can sign it into law), step by step we are coming closer to marriage equality.
Video from “Traffic Congestion and the Future of Mass Transit: What’s Next?”
July 6, 2008
For those of you who missed the public forum I held on June 26, it was an excellent event. Here is some video of what you missed.
The event started with introductory remarks from each of our three panelists. First, Ted Kheel from the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility spoke.
Next, Gene Russianoff from NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign gave his remarks.
Finally, Jeffrey Zupan of the Regional Plan Association gave his introduction.
Then we took questions from the audience. The following clips show me reading an audience member’s question and different members of the panel responding to those questions.
QUESTION 1: Is the MTA fundamentally broken? Has any third party actually looked at the MTA’s books? And what can be done to make the MTA more responsive?
QUESTION 2: Why do we persist in linking funding mass transit with vehicle reduction?
QUESTION 3: Is is it realistic to expect progress out of Albany on things like bus lane cameras?
QUESTION 4: What can we expect from the federal government in terms of mass transit money in the future?
QUESTION 5: Should we consider changing to a system where MTA users pay based on the length of their ride?
QUESTION 6: How is congestion pricing working in other cities that have adopted it?
QUESTION 7: How do we change the culture of the way MTA riders use the system to make it more efficient (i.e. leaving from the back of the bus)?
QUESTION 8: Why are we investing in old technologies with the MTA?
QUESTION 9: How could free mass transit reduce vehicle usage?
QUESTION 10: If each of you could be the Czar of Mass Transit - what would your plan be?
