“For too long, students from New York’s Hindu, Sikh, and Jain communities have had to choose between their faith and their education on Diwali. With the signing of legislation to make Diwali an official school holiday, families across the city can finally celebrate the Festival of Lights without interruption. I’m proud to be a longtime supporter of making Diwali a school holiday, including co-sponsoring a resolution by former Council Member Danny Dromm in support of this goal during the last Council session.

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The Council also voted to educate and inform immigrant New Yorkers of their workplace rights

City Hall, NY – Today, the New York City Council voted to require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in consultation with New York City Health and Hospitals, to create guidance to educate medical professionals and the public on the detection of the sickle cell trait through pre- and post-conception genetic screening and on the management and treatment of sickle cell disease.

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Kicking off National Veterans and Military Families Month, the bills aim to raise awareness of the mental health services available throughout the city

City Hall, NY – Today, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Mental Health Committee Chair Linda Lee, together with Council Members Robert Holden, Mercedes Narcisse, and Eric Dinowitz and Public Advocate Jumanne Williams, announced a package of bills aimed at addressing the mental health needs of veterans.

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On Monday, October 30, the Department of City Planning kicked off the public review process for Mayor Adams’ City of Yes for Economic Opportunity citywide text amendment. In response, Speaker Adams, Land Use Committee Chair Rafael Salamanca, Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee Chair Kevin Riley, and Economic Development Committee Chair Amanda Farias released the following joint statement:

“Expanding access to equitable economic opportunities is critical to our communities being healthy and safe, and will facilitate the city’s long-term recovery and success.

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City Hall, NY – Today, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Council Member Linda Lee, and Queens Public Library (QPL) President Dennis Walcott spoke at the Glen Oaks Branch about funding for the city’s libraries and enrichment programs, like City’s First Readers (CFR), to support the needs of communities and literacy development of children.

In the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget, $135 million in operating funds were allocated to QPL, including $12 million in proposed spending cuts that the Council successfully advocated to restore.

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“New York City is stronger when we prioritize racial justice and confront long-standing structural and systemic inequities that impact New Yorkers. The appointments of Sideya Sherman as Chief Equity Officer and MOERJ Commissioner and Linda Tigani as Chair and Executive Director of the Commission on Racial Equity are important steps forward to address racial disparities in our city. I look forward to working with them to create a more just and equitable city for all.”

“The Department of Education’s decision to broadly remove funding from the individual budgets of schools would leave them without the needed resources at this critical moment when they are being asked to do more for students. The Fiscal Year 2024 budget that the Council voted to adopt included funding to maintain school budgets at steady levels going into this academic year.

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17 Organizations to Support City’s Youngest in Reaching Reading Proficiency

Today at the Cortelyou Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) branch, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Council Member Rita Joseph, the Brooklyn Public Library and Jumpstart for Young Children celebrated over $5 million in City Council funding for early childhood literacy programs. The Council’s City’s First Readers (CFR) initiative supports nonprofit organizations that provide programming to help children five years old and younger to build their reading skills and attain reading proficiency by third grade.

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New York, NY – Speaker Adrienne Adams and Majority Leader Keith Powers, the lead sponsor of Introduction 279, which would make New York City the largest municipality in the nation to requires its fleet to consist of zero emission vehicles, released statements celebrating the legislation being signed into law. In addition to requiring the City to only purchase zero emissions light- and medium-duty vehicles after 2025 so that all such vehicles are electric by 2035, the bill would also require all heavy-duty vehicles purchased after 2028 to be zero emissions, and ensure the entire municipal fleet is converted by 2038.

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City Hall, NY – Today, Speaker Adrienne Adams delivered opening remarks at the Council’s Committee on Finance, Committee on General Welfare, and Committee on Oversight and Investigations’ joint oversight hearing on the costs and projections of the mayoral administration’s asylum seeker response effort. In her remarks, Speaker Adams expresses the importance of the City using taxpayer dollars efficiently and clients receiving effective services.

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