We strongly object to and condemn Saturday Night Live and NBC 4 for their insensitive portrayal of Governor Paterson, which unfairly suggests that the blind are incapable of a high level of professional performance. Not only was this depiction unfair to the Governor, it also reinforces false and offensive stereotypes regarding people with disabilities.

Contrary to this tactless portrayal, hundreds of thousands of individuals who are blind or have limited vision perform their professions in an outstanding manner.

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It is with deep regret that I learned of the passing of Jose Sucuzhanay, a resident of Brooklyn and an Ecuadorean native, who was a victim of a brutal anti-gay, anti-Latino hate crime in the early morning hours of December 7th in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

These cowardly acts are outrageous and will not be tolerated. We will not let the behavior of these individuals who committed this horrible, senseless crime go unchecked.

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In January 2008, the New York City Council passed a law creating the most expansive plastic bag recycling program in the nation. In June of this year, the State Legislature passed a bill that would bring plastic bag recycling to the entirety of New York State.

The State legislation initially threatened to preempt the Council’s law, and would have drastically reduced the number of city stores required to accept bags from consumers.

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Increase of .875 percent would raise $80 million by end of Fiscal Year 2010

City Hall, December 9, 2008 – At today’s Stated Council meeting, the New York City Council will introduce legislation that would raise the New York City hotel tax by .875 percent, an increase that could raise an estimated $80 million by the end of Fiscal Year 2010.

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I was outraged to learn this morning that two men were assaulted at Kossuth Place and Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn, and especially horrified to learn that anti-LGBT and anti-Latino slurs were used by one or more of the assailants raising this event to the level of a hate crime.

My office is in touch with the family of the victims and offers our prayers.

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December 8, 2008, City Hall – Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, together with Council members Diana Reyna, Rosie Mendez, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Oliver Koppell, David Yassky, Miguel Martinez, Gale Brewer, Dan Garodnick, David Weprin, and Letitia James, denounced a violent hate crime against two Ecuadorian men in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood on early Sunday morning.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, State Senator Tom Duane, Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo, NYC Labor Council for Latin American Advancement President Sonia Ivany, the International Ecuadoran Alliance, President of Sharon Staple of the NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, Ecuadorian Civic Committee President Carlos Zamora, Jeffery Davis of the James E.

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Alternative cuts highlight budget priorities, while minimizing the impact on core services

CITY HALL – Speaker Christine C. Quinn, together with the Budget Negotiating Team and other Council Members, today released nearly $500 million in additional and alternative spending reductions designed to steer the City through the fiscal crisis while minimizing the negative impact on core services. The cuts would reduce the FY09 budget by nearly $170 million and the FY10 budget by over $325 million.

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Governor Paterson and Attorney General Cuomo are absolutely correct in pointing out the lack of diversity among the candidates recommended to succeed Chief Judge Judith Kaye, who after 25 years of public service is retiring from our State’s highest court.

As an elected official serving one of the most diverse states in our country, I find it extremely disconcerting that the New York State Commission on Judicial Nomination was unable to recommend at least one qualified woman or Hispanic candidate to lead New York’s Court of Appeals.

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In spite of months of efforts on the part of the New York City Council and environmental advocates, the “Plastic Bag Reduction, Reuse and Recycling Act” State legislation that undermines and preempts the City Council’s stronger plastic bag recycling legislation has made its way unchanged to Governor Paterson desk.

The following is a statement from Council Speaker Christine C.

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