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Meng joins Biden for signing of COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2021 13
BY ARIEL PACHECO
As the issue of crime continues
to rise in the city, leading
mayoral candidate Eric Adams
today pushed back on the idea
that only mental health professionals
should answer calls
where there is a mental health
crisis, without the assistance of
a police officer.
Adams’ comments came
as he sat down with the Schneps
Media Editorial Board,
where the current Brooklyn
borough president touched on
several topics ranging from
affordable housing to crime
to rezoning.
“That sending only mental
health professionals is reckless
and that is irresponsible,”
Adams said. “Every call of a
mental health person is not
merely that someone is feeling
depressed.”
Adams pointed to instances
where incidents did turn violent
and says there needs to be a
combination of the two.
“If the call for service is
dealing with a person that is
not violent, no imminent threat
or danger, have a mental health
professional go,” Adams said.
“We should also have that police
officer on backup just in
case.”
Additionally, Adams looks to
fix the affordable housing crisis
through various methods like
basement apartments, apartment
sharing and shared living
spaces that are used in parts of
Europe. This is also part of his
plan to help with homelessness,
as Adams says he wants to retrofit
hotels and move away from
shelters.
A real-time system will
be built to analyze the pool of
apartments that are currently
built, but where the area median
income (AMI) is too high.
“We need to think not outside
the box, but we have to destroy
the box,” Adams said.
Adams is in support of the
SoHo/NoHo rezoning plan. The
plan would add affordable housing
to two of the more affluent
neighborhoods in the city.
“We’ve had an improper approach
to affordable housing in
this city. We’ve upzoned poorer
communities, ignored affluent
areas. I say let’s upzone those
areas as well as 42nd Street to
14th Street, from Ninth Avenue
to Park Avenue.”
He says this would solve multiple
problems like diversifying
schools that are segregated.
“We can get a better return
on our investment by upzoning
these areas.”
Adams believes the Brooklyn
Queens Expressway (BQE)
fix should come from state
funding, but if it does fall in the
hands of the city, jobs can be created
to “reimagine” the BQE.
This would include putting it on
the ground level, submerging it
in some areas and creating a
park over the structure.
“This is an excellent opportunity
to rethink how we’re
gonna use that BQE.”
Adams placed a focus on
creating a new position, deputy
mayor of efficiency, to ensure
that city agencies are on the
same page and communicating.
He says this would allow for everyone
to be in the same room
when solving problems.
“We’re going to start bringing
together the agencies that
impact a particular area and
have him or her in charge of
that,” Adams said.
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
President Joe Biden on
Thursday, May 20, signed
the COVID-19 Hate Crimes
Act into law to help combat
the rising hate and violence
against Asian Americans
during the pandemic.
In his speech, Biden
thanked both Democrats and
Republicans for passing the
COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act,
which received bipartisan
support in Congress — something
that hasn’t happened
for far too long in Washington,
Biden said. The president
said he hopes the signing
ceremony, which comes
during Asian American and
Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage
Month, sends a message
to the Asian American community:
“We see you.”
“For centuries, Asian
Americans, Native Hawaiians,
Pacific Islanders, diverse
and vibrant communities,
have helped build
this nation only to be often
stepped over, forgotten or
ignored,” Biden said. “My
message to all of those who
are hurting is, we see you.
And the Congress has said,
we see you. And we are committed
to stop the hatred and
the bias.”
Vice President Kamala
Harris, the first woman and
person of Asian descent to
hold the office, thanked lawmakers
for their work on the
legislation.
“To the members of our
United States Congress on
both sides of the aisle who
helped pass the COVID-19
Hate Crimes Act, thank
you,” Harris said. “Because
of you, history will remember
this day and this moment
when our nation took action
to combat hate.”
The COVID-19 Hate
Crimes Act will establish
an office in the Department
of Justice to facilitate an
expedited review of COVID-
19 hate crimes, encourage
more reporting of incidents
in multiple languages, and
help make different communities
feel more empowered
to come forward and report
incidents. It would also direct
federal agencies to work
with community-based organizations
to raise awareness
of hate crimes during the
pandemic.
The bill, reintroduced
by Queens Congresswoman
Grace Meng and Senator Mazie
Hirono (D-HI) in March,
was passed in the House of
Representatives on May 19
with a vote of 364-62 following
last month’s approval in
the Senate by a vote of 94 to 1.
An enrollment ceremony was
held on Capitol Hill following
the passage of the bill in both
chambers of Congress, which
was printed on parchment paper
and signed by House and
Senate officials, and sent to
the president for signature.
Truly heartened by the
moment of the signing of her
bill into law, Meng said she is
“proud to have championed
this issue of fighting for the
safety of Asian Americans.”
After the event, Meng was
presented with a pen that the
president used to sign her
legislation.
U.S. President Joe Biden signs the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into
law, with Queens Rep. Grace Meng (third from r.) in attendance.
Kevin Lamarque/ REUTERS
File photo by Jessica Parks
Adams makes mayoral case before
Schneps Media’s editorial board
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