LOCAL NEWS OP-ED
Remembering
Sarah
Weddington
BY REBECCA SEAWRIGHT
The nation has truly lost one of its most iconic
“sheroes” through the passing of Sarah Weddington,
Esq. on Dec. 26, 2021 in Austin,
Texas.
I was blessed to serve fi rst as an intern in Washington
D. C. with Sarah; then as her assistant; and
fi nally as the great friend of a lifetime.
Following her victory in the “Roe vs Wade” case
before the U.S. Supreme Court — where at the
time she was the youngest attorney to win a decision
— I accompanied her to numerous speeches
and conferences.
Sarah joined my husband Jay Hershenson and
me in performing our wedding ceremony and remained
a highly valued member of our family.
When I lived in Texas, we would take long
walks around Town Lake in Austin. One morning,
we encountered a homeless man. She was
wearing a burgundy coat with perfectly matching
gloves. He was shivering and asked if she had a
spare pair of gloves.
Sarah instantly removed her own gloves, handed
it over and we went on our way. This was the
kindness that I constantly saw in Sarah, along
with her persistent activism on behalf of women’s
rights.
Sarah was an extraordinary leader, serving as
a presidential advisor to President Jimmy Carter.
She was a highly gifted speaker, a professor for 28
years at the University of Texas at Austin, and a
Distinguished Lecturer at Texas Women’s University
for 19 years.
She was the fi rst woman to be elected to the
Texas House of Representatives, serving for three
terms. She overcame many barriers to public service
and inspired audiences throughout the nation
with stirring speeches and her book, “A Question
of Choice”.
Sarah personally asked that I write the introduction
to her most recent republishing of the
memoir of her Roe vs. Wade experiences. She
strongly supported my election to the NYS Assembly
— speaking at my inauguration in 2014 —
as the fi rst woman elected to the position on the
Upper East Side, Yorkville, and Roosevelt Island.
Sarah Weddington was an indefatigable warrior
for the rights of women and families everywhere.
Rebecca Seawright represents the 76th Assembly
District.
Mayor Adams showcased the “Small Business Forward” executive order on Jan 4. Easing the burden
Mayor Adams inks order to ease small biz fi nes
BY DEAN MOSES
On Jan. 4, Mayor Eric Adams
signed an executive order
to amend violations small
businesses face in order to help
provide some economic relief with
fewer or reduced fi nes.
The new mayor visited the oldest
Chinese-American tourist market
in New York on Tuesday, Pearl
River Mart at 452 Broadway, where
he himself has made purchases in
the past. Flanked by Manhattan
Borough President Mark Levine
and City Councilman Chris Marte,
Adams spoke candidly regarding
the fi nancial loss AAPI business
owners have undergone.
Deputy Mayor for Economic &
Workforce Development, Maria
Torres-Springer underscored the
diffi culty of running a small business
in the best of times and stated
that 98% of New York City’s
230,000 businesses have less than
100 employees. With the economic
crisis induced by the COVID-19
pandemic, many of these small
businesses have struggled to stay
open with a skeletal staff.
“This is changing fundamentally
the city’s relationship with small
businesses, changing the culture
of agencies so that we work harder
for small businesses. This is about
making sure that we give small
businesses the room and the freedom
to propel our economic recovery,”
Torres-Springer said.
The “Small Business forward”
executive order is set to reform
small business violations, which
would allow for fi nes to be reduced
and even replaced with warnings
for those who are fi rst-time violators.
With the precarious future of
dining, tourism, and overall commerce
in the city in dire straits due
to the surge in COVID-19 cases,
Mayor Adams says he took this
step to ensure local businesses do
not suffer needless fi nes and penalties
due to small infractions.
“We have used our agencies to
turn the American dream into a
nightmare. Every day, all day, in
the way of small businesses not allowing
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
them to fl ourish and grow,
resenting the fact when an agency
walked through the door, not to say
we’re here to help, but we’re here to
hurt and that has to stop,” Adams
said.
The order takes the existing Local
Law 80—an amendment of
administrative code of the city that
reduces penalties and allows for opportunities
to cure violations within
a specifi c time frame—several
steps forward by having agencies
review and identify 25 health and
hygiene violations (over the course
of three months) that are responsible
for the greatest number of summonses
with the Department of
Buildings, Department of Environmental
Protection, Department of
Sanitation, Fire Department, Department
of Consumer and Worker
Protection, and the Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene. Thus,
creating an Inter-Agency Working
Group, which will be overseen by
the Deputy Mayor for Economic
and Workforce Development and
the SBS Commissioner.
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