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SE Queens City Council candidate attacked in Hollis
BY BILL PARRY
Councilman I. Daneek
Miller had his historic “Retirement
Security for All”
legislation signed into law by
Mayor de Blasio on Tuesday,
May 11.
The new law will establish
a retirement savings board to
facilitate the implementation
of an individual retirement
(IRA) program for private sector
workers at businesses with
five or more employees located
in New York City that do not
already offer retirement savings
plans.
“Retirement security is so
crucially important as we envision
a more equitable and
fairer city. The ‘Retirement Security
for All’ legislative package
will ensure that working
New Yorkers have access to a
secure, city-sponsored individual
retirement account, allowing
them to retire with dignity
and furthering the city’s
commitment to supporting
working people,” Miller said.
“My bill, Intro 901, creates the
retirement savings board that
facilitates and oversees the
program’s implementation.
I thank Mayor de Blasio for
signing this legislation into
law today, Speaker Johnson,
and my colleagues for their
support in getting this done
at such a pivotal time in our
city’s history.”
The Retirement Security
for All legislation has been
years in the making. Just before
the COVID-19 pandemic,
data showed that only 33 percent
of private sector workers
across the city aged 25 to 64
years old were participating
in a workplace retirement
plan, down from 39 percent
in 2006. Research from the
Schwartz Center for Economic
TIMESLEDGER | Q 14 NS.COM | MAY 21-MAY 27, 2021
Policy analysis warned in
2018 that if nothing was done
to address the nation’s inadequate
retirement system, two
out of every five older American
households would fall into
poverty or near-poverty upon
retirement.
Nearly 2.8 million New
York City residents will be
provided coverage under the
new law. Eligible employees
will be automatically enrolled
in the savings program, but
can opt out if they prefer. Employers
will be required to distribute
program information
to their employees, but will
not contribute to the plan or
undertake any costs.
The automatic savings plan
also creates an opportunity
to generate economic wealth
for communities of color who
have faced the worst impacts
from the pandemic.
“Working New Yorkers
have been tested like no other
due to the pandemic,” de Blasio
said. “With Retirement
Security for All, we’re fulfilling
our commitment to make
New Yorkers more financially
secure as they age.”
The automatic workplace
retirement savings provide an
easy pathway for workers to
start building a safety net and
grow the sayings they need to
take control of their future,
according to AARP New York
State Director Beth Finkel.
“Employees are 20 times
more likely to save for retirement
with automatic payroll
deduction,” Finkel said. “On
behalf of our 750,000 New
York City members, AARP
New York thanks Mayor de
Blasio for signing this critical
program into law so more
New Yorkers can save at
work.”
BY BILL PARRY
A City Council candidate was
attacked in southeast Queens on May
15 as he confronted two men who were
dumping trash in Hollis.
Al-Hassan Kanu was recording
with his cellphone as he approached
the two men at 202nd Street and 99th
Avenue and asked why they were
throwing trash beneath an overpass
in a residential area of the neighborhood.
One of the men, who was the driver
of a rental truck, can be seen on video
punching Kanu multiple times in the
head and his surgically repaired left
shoulder before grabbing Kanu’s cellphone
and throwing it to the ground as
the assault continued. The two attackers
jumped back in the truck and drove
off. Kanu was checked out at Queens
Hospital in Jamaica before reporting
the assault at the 103rd Precinct.
A witness to the attack told Kanu
that illegal dumping is a constant
quality-of-life issue in the area, with
people leaving furniture, car parts,
food and even dead animals at the locations.
“Nobody wants to do anything,”
the witness told Kanu. “I come walking
here every day. Sanitation was just
here yesterday, but there’s a different
pile of stuff here every day. It’s been
going on for a long time.”
Kanu said he was investigating a
complaint made to Councilman I.
Daneek Miller’s district office, where
Kanu used to serve as a district director,
but Miller’s spokeswoman said he
“wasn’t acting on a complaint received
through our official channels.”
It was later determined that the
constituent who lodged the complaint
with Miller’s office also sent an e-mail
to Kanu, who went to the location on
his own accord, something he does often
while combating illegal dumping
in southeast Queens.
“Illegal dumping cannot continue
in our community and we need to enforce
the laws we have on the books
and make sure it stops,” Kanu said on
May 16. “It should not take citizens to
post these incidents on social media
for enforcement to occur. I am doing
well and I want to thank Queens
Hospital and the 103rd Precinct for
helping me after the attack, as well as
everyone who has reached out to me
personally.”
Kanu is no stranger to violence.
His family moved to southeast Queens
from war-torn Sierra Leone in the late
1990s. He graduated from York College
before his activism led him to enter
public service as an intern for then-
Councilman Leroy Comrie.
When Comrie was elected to the
state Senate, Miller succeeded him
and appointed Kanu as district director.
Now Kanu is among nearly a dozen
candidates in District 27 campaigning
to succeed Miller, who is term-limited.
Just a week before the attack, Miller
endorsed Kanu as his successor.
“More than ever southeast Queens
needs dedicated competent community
oriented leaders, and Al Kanu fits
the bill for District 27,” Miller said.
“I’ve seen Al’s work up close as my district
director, and also while he worked
for then-Council member Leroy Comrie.
Al has been a tireless community
advocate for over a decade, organizing
to keep homeowners in their houses,
connect families to affordable housing
and mitigate flooding issues in our
residential community.”
There have been no arrests,
according to the NYPD.
Al-Hassan Kanu
Photo courtesy of Al-Hassan Kanu
Councilman I. Daneek Miller (l.) had his historic “Retirement
Security for All” legislation signed into law on May 11.
Photo courtesy of City Council
Miller’s ‘Retirement Security
for All’ bill signed into law
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