Message from Senator Alessandra Biaggi
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,50 JANUARY 24-30, 2020 BTR
SENATOR ALESSANDRA BIAGGI
BY AL D’ANGELO
Time to put our political
leaders on notice: ‘No more
dumping on the Bronx.’ Manhattan
is the smallest borough
with an area of 23 square miles
and a population of 1.6 million
people; the Bronx is the second
smallest borough with an
area of 42 square miles and a
population of 1.4 million people;
Staten Island would be
next with an area of 48 square
miles and a population of a
half a million people. The second
largest borough is Brooklyn
with an area of 81 square
miles and a population of 2.5
million people; Queens is the
largest borough with an area
of 109 square miles with a population
of 2.3 million people.
Now let’s look at some
alarming statistics - the Bronx
has 206 shelters and cluster
sites (hotels, apartments and
private homes used for shelters);
Brooklyn is next with
156 shelters and cluster sites;
Brooklyn is twice the size of
the Bronx and has over 1 million
more people. Manhattan
is next with 134 shelters. Then
comes Queens with 98 shelters.
Queens is two and a half
times the size of the Bronx
with a million more people.
Finally, is Staten Island with
one shelter, that’s, what I said,
one, and it is larger than the
Bronx.
The Bronx is the least safe,
has the highest unemployment
rate, is the least healthy,
the poorest borough with a
median income of $32,000 and
we are home to the city’s worst
school districts. It’s time for
our elected offi cials to say ‘no
more’. It’s time for the city to
stop driving out the middle
class.
What happens to those who
can’t afford to move? They are
relegated to an existence of despair
and desperation. Most
Bronxites were happy when
Assemblyman Carl Heastie
was made speaker, we had
one of our own in a powerful
position in Albany surely. He
would take care of his borough.
I guess power was more
important than dedication. He
helped push through bail reform.
How’s that working out
for us? Feel any safer?
Elected offi cials should sit
down with community leaders
in their districts and discuss
the concerns of the people
they swore to serve. Town
hall meetings are not discussions.
A question is asked and
the elected goes through a
scripted answer and there is
no give and take or rebuttal.
Term limits are a must;
then maybe politicians will
work for the people and not
the party. There is extreme fi -
nancial pressure put on party
members to follow party directives,
those who disagree
or stray from the party wishes
will fi nd themselves with no
monies for their district. Term
limits will allow term limited
offi cials too do what’s right
for the people not the party
because they have nothing to
loose.
Political parties are not for
the people they are for keeping
and controlling power helping
people is a side line for many.
Guess who has to vote on term
limits. The same people who
vote on their health care and
their pensions plans.
BY TONY SALIMBENE
Ok, fi rst snow, don’t panic.
We prepare for Albany and
hopefully another successful
Mid-Winter conference as
preperation for the Department
of New York 102nd Annual
Convention at Binghampton
in July.
Continuing our busy schedule,
with committees designed
by the commander to meet our
four Pillars and Buddy Check
responsibilities. Come on by
and get involved.
Coming events: Belly
Bomber Bingo (some White
Castles.) at Bronx VA; Monday,
February 2, 4 Chaplins
Mass at St. Benedict; Hill Day
at Albany; neighborhood St.
Patrick’s Day Mass, breakfast
and parade in March of course;
April’s annual Support the
Troops Bingo fundraiser at
Post 620. Annual Commander’s
downstate visit to Antun’s
of Queens, always in April; On
June 5th, the Bronx County
Convention is also at 620.
That’s for election of offi cers
in preparation for convention,
as mentioned above.
Final confi rmation and
times to be announced, same
for Memorial Day events.
Sick call: No one currently
reported to Nick. We always
say a prayer though for our departed
members.
Until next Ttme: Remember,
we have Legion Family
meetings. Doing better but we
need to see more Auxiliary
and S.A.L. members’. That’s
American Turners, 3rd Sunday,
10:30 a.m. coffee, 11 a.m.
meeting, noon, complementary
lunch and cash bar. Can’t
get a better deal, and a parking
lot too.
Each year we negotiate the New
York State budget and make decisions
about education funding and Medicaid,
who we tax, and how much we invest
in the communities with the least.
The budget is an opportunity for our
community’s voices to be heard, to further
our values, and shape the future
of New York.
As a freshman senator, experiencing
the budget process for the fi rst
time, I was frustrated and disheartened.
The backroom negotiating, late
night deals and oversized power the
governor holds over the fi nal product,
are a betrayal of the very constituents
we come to Albany to represent. From
overhauling the process to affecting
different outcomes, transforming the
budget is no small task. The most important
thing I can do as your legislator,
is make space for your voices and
be transparent.
That is why, on January 30, I am
hosting my second annual budget forum
with the Bronx Senate Delegation.
We will gather at Lehman College at
6:30 p.m., to hear your thoughts regarding
the budget and funding requests
that matter most to your community.
We are also accepting written testimony,
sent to biaggi@nysenate.gov. We
want to hear about your priorities so
we are best equipped to fi ght for you in
Albany.
Despite the challenges of the budget
process, it also brings important
opportunities for change. Last year
our wins included making reductions
in our plastic use by banning plastic
bags, and creating congestion pricing
to raise critical funding needed to repair
our subways and improve the future
of our public transportation system.
Through the budget process, I allocated
money to community organizations
and institutions in District 34, including
the Bronx Health Link, Bronx
Health Reach, Bronx River Alliance,
Castle Hill YMCA, Emerald Isle Immigration
Center, Her Justice, KRVC,
LSNY Bronx Corporation, Sustainable
South Bronx, Riverdale Neighborhood
House, and Riverdale Senior Center.
This funding will help these organizations
continue their essential work in
our community.
We’ve also fallen short in signifi cant
ways, including consistently failing to
fund Foundation Aid for our schools at
legally mandated levels. Although we
made progress last year by increasing
funding for schools across the state by
$1 billion, New York schools are still
owed $3.8 billion dollars in Foundation
Aid. This year alone, District 34 schools
are owed more than $46 million. That
money could be used to retain quality
teachers, expand art and music classes
so that all our schools –– not just some
–– can offer these programs, and fi x
crumbling infrastructure, including
ensuring that all public schools are
ADA accessible and have air conditioning.
All of the excuses have run out,
and I join the community in being fed
up. This year we must fund our public
schools at the levels our children, families,
and communities deserve.
But perhaps the most damning of
all is the true disservice this state has
done to aging New Yorkers and other
benefi ciaries of Medicaid. Last year,
the governor’s budget cut Medicaid
spending by $550 million — combined
with federal cuts, this would have totaled
over $1 billion dollars in cuts to
New York. Think about that. I, along
with all of my senate colleagues fought
hard and won, against proposed cuts
to nursing homes, but in the months
since, the NYS Department of Health
has been directed by the executive, to
attempt to cut at least $250 million in
Medicaid assistance that our nursing
homes depend on to survive. This vulnerable
population of aging New Yorkers,
and the workers that serve them
are dismissed as unimportant when
they are not protected with funding
security by both state and federal government.
What is yet to be understood,
for reasons that do not compute, is that
their survival is our state’s survival.
The health of New York’s Medicaid recipients,
as well as our nursing homes
and the older New Yorkers they serve,
are vital to our state’s well-being. My
dogged fi ght for Medicaid funding will
not waiver.
So as we begin this year’s budget
process, we must ask ourselves yet
again, what values do we stand for? The
stakes are high –– New York is facing
a $6 billion defi cit. We will need to be
creative and intentional about how we
balance the budget. I support exploring
ways to raise revenue that do not hurt
low- and middle-income families. This
includes taxing luxury second homes
which could raise $650 million and legalizing
marijuana which could raise
more than $400 million for the state.
The bottom line is that we cannot balance
the budget on the backs of our
children, aging New Yorkers, and others
in need around the state.
As we negotiate this budget defi cit,
and make hard decisions, your voices
will be more important than ever. Together,
we can build the future we want
for our district and our state.
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