Innovative Law Will Require Housing Improvements for Presence of Designated Asthma Triggers and Will Increase the Number of Housing Units Captured By the Safe Housing Act

January 5, 2011, New York – At today’s Stated Council meeting, members of the City Council will vote to greatly expand the criteria for the Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP), a tool of the Safe Housing Act designed to focus on the top 200 properties that generate a significant level of enforcement activity at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).

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“Yesterday, the Council filed a proposed amicus curiae brief with the New York Court of Appeals, asking the Court to affirm a June 2010 ruling that the Rent Guidelines Board cannot authorize a higher rate of rent increase for low income, long-term tenants. In 2008, the Board issued Order No. 40, which set maximum rent increases for stabilized leases renewed between October 2008 and September 2009.

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Renovation and Fit-Out of New 3,000 Square-Foot Kitchen Incubator and 1,600 Square-Foot Bakery Space Completed in Six Months

Non-Profit Hot Bread Kitchen will Operate Incubator Space to Provide Training and Job Placement to Culinary Entrepreneurs

New York, January 4, 2011 – City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito and New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President Seth W.

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CITY HALL – City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Annabel Palma, Chair of the Council’s General Welfare Committee, GrowNYC Executive Director Marcel Van Ooyen, and Michael Hurwitz, Director of GrowNYC’s Greenmarket Program today announced a dramatic increase in the use of food stamps at the city’s Greenmarkets.

Food stamp purchases during 2010 at Greenmarkets doubled, growing from $251,000 in 2009 to over $500,000 in 2010.

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“Yesterday, Members of the Council encountered the true spirit of New York in every corner of the five boroughs as neighbors helped one another overcome the difficulties brought on by the elements.

“Council Members also encountered justified anger throughout their districts as New Yorkers were stranded on trains and buses, forced to suffer with a backlog in response to emergencies.

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Generosity of Congregation Remembered

New York, NY – On Sunday, Speaker Christine C. Quinn spoke before Congregation Shearith Israel to welcome Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, to New York, where she commemorated the historic generosity of the congregation, who donated $1,000—nearly $82,000 in today’s currency—in aid for the Irish Potato Famine.

In 1847, Reverend Jacques Judah Lyons held a meeting in his synagogue to organize financial support to be sent to Ireland.

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“We are pleased and truly thankful to the United States Senate for approving the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Thanks to the leadership and advocacy of New York’s Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, the Senate passed this important bill that will provide much needed healthcare and compensation for the First Responders and heroes of 9/11.

“This legislation will also apply to the residents who lived through the attacks and continued on in lower Manhattan to help heal our community.

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As a woman, as a New Yorker and as a human being, I am angry, disappointed, and dismayed by the comment that Luis Diaz, also known as “Cipha Sounds” made last week on his morning show. Saying that he’s HIV negative because he doesn’t date Haitian girls is not only ignorant and inflammatory, but also hurtful.

I can only imagine the pain such an unthinking comment caused within the Haitian community.

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Also votes to approve a large retail and affordable housing development on the Upper West Side

City Hall – Today, the Council voted unanimously in favor of a bill that will provide unprecedented information regarding student disciplinary measures and actions relating to school safety.

The Council also voted to approve the Riverside development on the Upper West Side, which is anticipated to improve the neighborhood with additional affordable housing units, retail space and a school.

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The United States was founded upon the belief that the pursuit of happiness is not a privilege but an inalienable right.

Today, immigrant students, families and brave soldiers serving in our military are awaiting their chance to have the pursuit of happiness and the American dream. The passage of the DREAM Act would have made that dream a reality.

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