6
QUEENS WEEKLY, OCTOBER 6, 2019
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Following Mayor de
Blasio’s promise to create
100,000 “good paying jobs”
over 10 years, a Queens
councilman is calling on
the city to show its progress
in creating these jobs.
At the Sept. 25 Stated
Meeting, Councilmen Paul
Vallone and Ritchie Torres
introduced legislation requiring
the NYC Economic
Development Corporation
(EDC) to deliver annual
reports about the mayor’s
New York Works initiative.
The law states that the
reports must detail the
city’s progress of attaining
job creation for New Yorkers,
which would then be delivered
to the City Council
and published on the New
York Works website yearly
through 2027.
Information available
through the report would
include data concerning
job creation progress and
information about those
who had obtained employment
through the program.
The report would include
further demographic information
broken down by education
level, race and ethnicity,
gender and whether
the individuals are New
York City residents.
The report would also
break down data by salary,
borough, company and
number of jobs per contract
if a company is contracted
by the city.
“While the New York
Works jobs plan presents
Council members Paul Vallone and Ritchie Torres are calling on the city to provide more data
on New York Works jobs plan. Courtesy of the New York City Council
an ambitious workforce development
plan for our city,
projections and estimates
do not provide tangible evidence
that these efforts are
actually materializing into
real jobs for our New Yorkers,”
said Vallone, chair of
the Committee on Economic
Development. “Transparent
reporting at a granular
level would help develop
a clear jobs plan that defines
how the city is going
to build on the great work
that EDC has been doing for
years while ensuring that
New Yorkers of every background
are being connected
to truly good paying jobs.”
De Blasio announced
the New York Works jobs
plan in 2017, which set out
to create 100,000 good paying
jobs over a decade. The
term “good paying jobs”
is defined as jobs paying
$50,000 or more per year or
are on a pathway to paying
that wage.
But back in March 2018,
a joint hearing between the
Committees on Economic
Development and Oversight
and Investigation revealed
a need for more information
on the plan’s progress and
who had become employed
under the plan.
After the hearing, a New
York Works Progress Update
reported that EDC “directly
created 3,725 fulltime,
private sector jobs, of
which 3,072 (or 82 ) are goodpaying
jobs.”
“It is unclear whether
NY Works is creating goodpaying
jobs for New Yorkers
who need them the
most, and if the plan will
actually meet its stated goal
of creating 100,000 goodpaying
jobs,” said Torres,
chair of the Committee on
Oversight and Investigation.
“This reporting bill
will allow us to track if NYWorks
is meeting its goals,
make the plan accountable
to New Yorkers, and ensure
that jobs are going to New
Yorkers who are seeking a
path to the middle-class.”
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at
(718) 260-2583.
Attorney General
announces ICE suit
BY BILL PARRY
Since President Trump’s
inauguration on Jan. 20,
2017, courthouse arrests by
ICE agents have skyrocketed
by more than 1,700 percent
in New York, leading to
a widespread chilling effect
on non-citizens willing to
initiate and participate in
the judicial system.
Attorney General Letitia
James filed a lawsuit against
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement on Sept. 25
challenging the legality
of the agency’s practice of
making civil immigration
arrests without a judicial
warrant or court order in
and around New York State
courthouses.
“The administration of
justice and public safety are
among the most important
functions of the state, and I
will be relentless in their defense,”
James said. “When
ICE targets witnesses and
victims for arrests, it deters
non-citizens and immigrants
from assisting in
state and local law enforcement
efforts or protecting
their own rights in court.
This is a disastrous and dangerous
break from previous
policy and that’s why we are
fighting to force them to end
this practice.”
Nearly 400 immigrants,
both undocumented and
those with legal status, have
been arrested while appearing
in and around state
courthouses since January
2017, including those accused
of a crime; parents
appearing in child support
matters; survivors of domestic
violence, sexual assault,
human trafficking and other
crimes; people who are
mentally ill or homeless; and
LGBTQ individuals; among
others. Brooklyn District Attorney
Eric Gonzalez joined
the lawsuit saying, “Over
the past two years, numerous
immigrant victims and
witnesses have refused to
come forward and assist in
our prosecutions out of fear
they’ll be arrested in court
by immigration agents,
forcing my office to dismiss
or reduce serious criminal
cases.”
Queens Acting District
Attorney John M. Ryan and
the DA’s from Manhattan
Staten Island and the Bronx
did not join the lawsuit.
“The issue is does New
York State have the authority
to prevent federal agents
from carrying out their duties,”
Ryan said in a statement.
“The issue is does
New York State have the
authority to prevent federal
agents from carrying out
their duties. I remain unconvinced
that NY has the
power to do that.”
An ICE spokesperson
said its “enforcement activities
at courthouses are
consistent with longstanding
practices nationwide.
And, courthouse arrests
are often necessitated by the
unwillingness of jurisdictions
to cooperate with ICE
in the transfer of custody
of aliens from their prisons
and jails.”
Vallone demands city to provide more data
on progress of New York Works jobs plan
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Bagcal, Emily Davenport,
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