Photos: https://www.flickr.com/gp/42441242@N03/tFNwos
NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman, Council Speaker Corey Johnson, and 18 Council Members hosted a celebration of Diwali at City Hall last night that featured a lamp lighting ceremony, dance performances, and the presentation of proclamations to distinguished South Asian leaders. Several dignitaries delivered remarks during the program, including Sandeep Chakravorty, the Consul General of India; READ MORE
NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman, chair of the Committee on the Justice System, which oversees the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and the city’s five District Attorneys, issued the following statement after 30 members of the “Proud Boys,” a white supremacist hate group identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center, brutally attacked individuals on the streets of New York City last night, while shouting anti-gay slurs and even brandishing a sword, in full view of the police. READ MORE
NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman and the Community Service Society of New York (CSS) today criticized the NYPD for falling short of its obligations under Local Law 47, which requires the Department to report quarterly on the number of arrests made and civil summonses issued for fare evasion, broken down by demographic information, at each of the city’s 472 subway stations. READ MORE
NEW YORK – The New York City Council’s Committees on Governmental Operations and Criminal Justice today held a hearing to consider legislation on voting rights for justice-involved individuals, including Council Member Lancman’s bill, Intro. 514, to require the Department of Correction (DOC) to inform every released individual of their voting rights. The legislation was first introduced in the City Council in November 2016, and re-introduced earlier this year at the start of the new Council session. READ MORE
NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman, chair of the Committee on the Justice System, issued the following statement on Raise the Age legislation, which goes into effect statewide today:
“While Raise the Age is critical reform for New York’s criminal justice system, I have serious concerns that the city’s use of DOC staff in juvenile correction facilities will fundamentally undermine goals and spirit of this landmark legislation. READ MORE
NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman today formally introduced legislation, Int. 1130, to prohibit auto body shops, mechanics, car rental businesses, and gas stations from parking or storing any inventory or shop vehicle on city streets.
Lancman drafted the legislation in response to complaints from residents and local businesses in his District that a row of auto body repair shops routinely parked cars they were servicing on city streets. READ MORE
NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman, local artists and social justice advocates yesterday celebrated the opening of the third annual Social Justice Art Exhibit at the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL) in Jamaica.
The Social Justice Art Exhibit, hosted by Council Member Lancman and artist Wanda Best, features more than forty original works of art, from more than a dozen local artists, focused on social justice issues and racial discrepancies within the criminal justice system. READ MORE
NEW YORK – On Thursday, October 18, Council Member Rory I. Lancman will host a film screening and panel discussion of “By Any Means Necessary,” a new documentary examining how and why Police Departments use force, like chokeholds, against non-violent minor offenders. “By Any Means Necessary,” directed and produced by first-time filmmaker Damian Kudelka, is told primarily through the lens of the Eric Garner tragedy. READ MORE
NEW YORK – Council Member Rory I. Lancman, chair of the Committee on the Justice System, issued the following statement after Governor Cuomo signed legislation to create a prosecutorial oversight commission in New York State:
“I commend Governor Cuomo for signing legislation today to create the nation’s first independent commission to oversee prosecutorial misconduct. Prosecutors are public officials with responsibilities and obligations that go beyond those of lawyers in private practice representing private litigants, and it is important that there is an oversight body capable of ensuring that those obligations and responsibilities are met when people’s lives and liberties are at stake. READ MORE
KEW GARDENS HILLS- Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal and Council Member Rory I. Lancman issued the following statement regarding news that the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) approved dual left turn signals on Main Street onto Jewel Avenue in Kew Gardens Hills. The intersection is at the center of a major traffic corridor that has proven to be dangerous to drivers and pedestrians alike. READ MORE
New York City Council