14 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 4, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
New state budget will aff ect congestion pricing and more for Queens residents
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e massive $175.6 billion state budget,
passed in the early morning hours
of Monday, April 1, is, according to
Governor Andrew Cuomo, “probably the
broadest, most sweeping state plan that
we have done.”
Th ere are numerous in this budget that
will profoundly change aspects of the life
of every resident in Queens, beginning
with congestion pricing in which drivers
will pay to enter Manhattan south of 60th
Street by the end of 2020 with proceeds
going improve mass transit.
“I endorsed congestion pricing because
I knew, if done right, it was our best hope
at getting the trains moving and ending
the suff ering our riders face every day,”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “Th is budget
represents a giant step in the right
direction. With a guaranteed lockbox for
New York City riders, fairness for the
outer boroughs, and exemptions for people
experiencing hardships, I am confi -
dent this dedicated revenue stream will go
a long way towards fi xing the MTA’s broken
subway system.”
Also enacted by the state budget is a ban
on single-use plastic bags to protect the
environment. Shoppers will have to bring
their own bag for groceries, or opt to pay
a 5-cent fee for a paper bag.
“You have extreme weather and climate
change that is undeniable,” Cuomo said.
“Th at needs immediate attention and it’s
not going to happen from Washington.”
Th e budget addressed several criminal
justice reforms including the elimination
of cash bail for most misdemeanors and
low-level charges. More than 16,000 people
are currently held in New York state
jails pre-trial, according to state Senator
Michael Gianaris, the author of the Bail
Elimination Act and a longtime advocate
for criminal justice reform.
“Th ese reforms will deliver justice to
thousands of people incarcerated without
a conviction,” Gianaris said. “I am proud
to have helped usher in the most historic
and dramatic reforms our troubled criminal
justice system has seen.”
Th e budget will also enact signifi cant
transformation of the discovery process,
which favored prosecutors and restoring
speedy trial processes. Cuomo said the
budget also increases school aid by more
than $1 billion, bringing the total school
aid to $27.9 billion, and promotes education
equity by prioritizing funding for
poorer schools.
It also means de Blasio will retain control
of the city’s public schools until the
end of his term in 2020.
“Mayoral accountability of our school
system has led to a record-high graduation
rates and record-low dropout rates,
the creation of Pre-K and 3-K for All, and
the ability to provide all of our 1.1 million
school children with access to an excellent
education regardless of their ZIP code,”
de Blasio said. “Th e buck stops with me,
and I vow to continue fi ghting on behalf
of our children and to continue working
with all of our parents whose voices help
improve our school system every day.”
Th e budget codifi es Aff ordable Care Act
provisions and the New York Health Care
Exchange into state law, and it strengthens
the women’s agenda initiatives by
improving access to IVF and egg-freezing
services, instituting a rape shield for sex
traffi cking victims and investing in initiatives
to combat maternal mortality.
It also included key election reforms
requiring three hours of paid time off so
New Yorkers will be better able to vote on
Election Day, the allocation of $10 million
in funding for early voting and a public
fi nancing commission with binding power
to implement public campaign fi nancing
for legislative and statewide offi ces.
Courtesy of governor’s offi ce
Queens lawmakers seek new agency to clean up Jamaica Bay coast
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A bill in City Council aims to establish
an offi ce that will take up the mantle of
clearing trash and abandoned boats from
the city’s coastlines, specifi cally Jamaica
Bay.
Councilmen Costa Constantinides and
Eric Ulrich gathered in Broad Channel
on March 29 for a press conference urging
the passage of legislation to create the
Offi ce of Marine Debris Disposal, claiming
that unwanted vessels create an eyesore
with nobody in particular tasked
with removing them.
“Th ere’s over 200 miles of shoreline
in New York City, that means an ample
opportunity for garbage, glass and other
harmful materials to wash up on shore,”
Constantinides said. “Too oft en they buy
a boat, it’s exciting. But when the real
work comes and they get too expensive,
in the middle of the night they scratch off
the vin, they cut it loose and away it goes
… It then becomes all of our
problem.”
Ulrich noted that he had allocated
$12,000 to $13,000 from
his offi ce to cleanup initiatives
on Jamaica Bay where nonprofi
t organizations struggle for
resources to keep the waterway
clear of debris.
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
“I should not have to be
using my discretionary money
to clean up abandoned boats in
the bay. Th e city and the state
should be doing that on their
own and this bill I think is defi -
nitely a step in the right direction,”
Ulrich said. “Boats do
irreparable harm to the environment;
it takes years to undo
the damage from petrochemicals.”
Broad Channel sits within Gateway
National Recreation Area and Park
Rangers have struggled with litter in the
past surrounding not only abandoned
watercraft , but with Hindu religious ceremonies,
as one New York Times article
put it.
QNS encountered people along the bay
making off erings on Friday who said they
were being made in prayer for safety.
Th ey used fruit such as bananas and coconuts,
as well as aluminum containers. A
walk along the beach also shows clay dishes
used in prayer ceremonies, as well as
empty incense packages.
Sadhana, a Hindu organization for
social change, holds regular beach cleanups
to address this issue.
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
“Th is bill will have a huge positive
impact on Jamaica Bay as for years there
was no agency that was willing to take on
the responsibility for cleaning up marine
debris that became deposited throughout
the bay,” Dan Mundy of the Jamaica Bay
Ecowatchers said. “Old boats, abandoned
docks and large marine timbers could be
found strewn along the shoreline, on the
islands, and out on the wetlands. Oft en
times it would destroy sensitive environmental
areas such as recently restored
wetland islands.”
Though the city Department of
Environmental Protection take responsibility
for removing boats, the bill introduced
on March 28 will only off er additional
support.
Courtesy of Councilman Constantinides via Flickr
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