8 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 30, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens lawmakers applaud State Supreme Court decision of farmworkers rights
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
For more than two decades, Queens
Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan has
championed the rights low-wage workers
through support of labor pushing
for passage of her Farmworkers Fair
Labor Practices Act.
So, Nolan was particularly pleased
with the decision by the New York
Supreme Court Appellate Division on
May 23 declaring that farmworkers
across the state have the right to organize
and bargain collectively.
“This laudable decision by the court
recognizes that our New York State
Constitution was written to ensure that
the human rights of all workers are
respected,” Nolan said. “While there is
still more work to be done that ensures
farmworkers are provided the same
protections as other employees in the
state, this decision marks a great stride
forward in our fight to see long awaited
justice for farmworkers here in New
York.”
State Senator Jessica Ramos joined
forces with Nolan visiting farms across
the state pushing for the end of the last
vestiges of Jim Crow discrimination.
She called the ruling monumental.
“It is of the utmost importance that
the New York State Legislature step up
and pass the Farmworkers Fair Labor
Practices Act to codify the labor rights
that farmworkers have been waiting
on for decades, including a day of rest,
overtime pay, unemployment benefits,
and the right to collectively bargain, I
have been touring New York State, visiting
farms and hearing the stories from
both farmers and farmworkers, and it
is clear we must pass the Farmworkers
Fair labor practices Act this session.”
The agriculture industry brings in
more than $6 billion a year in New York
so it was no surprise that Governor
Andrew Cuomo also applauded the
court’s decision. When the suit was
filed by the New York Civil Liberties
Union against the state in 2016, Cuomo
decided the state would not defend
itself in the case.
“From the beginning, we chose not
to defend against this lawsuit because
farmworkers never should have been
denied the same basic rights as other
workers and we believed this is to
not only be morally wrong, but also
unconstitutional,” Cuomo said. “I commend
the court’s decision to correct
this undeniable injustice and reaffirm
New York’s principles of fairness and
equity for all.”
The Farm Bureau, which represents
to owners of the state’s 35,000 farms,
vowed an appeal to the state’s highest
court, the Court of Appeals.
“We are extremely disappointed in
the majority’s decision and the breadth
of it’s ruling,” Farm Bureau President
David Fischer said.
Meanwhile, Nolan will keep pushing
for the passage of the Farmworkers
Fair Labor Practices Act with less than
a month to go in the legislative session,
which will break for the summer.
“Congratulations to the farmworkers
of our state, who finally have a
chance to see real change for themselves
and their families, and to the
NYCLU, Attorney General James, and
many groups who have worked tirelessly
alongside our farmworkers to see
the end of this injustice in our state,”
she said.
Courtesy of Nolan’s offi ce
Long Island City comedy bar caught in alt-right imbroglio
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Rebecca Trent, the owner and operator
of Long Island City’s Th e Creek and
Th e Cave comedy bar, said that she heard
secondhand that her venue was going to
get a visit from arguably the most widely
known name brand of the alt-right
media sphere: Milo Yiannopoulos.
“Legion of Skanks,” a podcast that the
club hosts every week, was scheduled to
host Yiannopoulos at 9:30 p.m. on May
27, according to the podcast’s Twitter
feed. Once she heard about their plan to
host the rightwing troll, Trent said, she
asked the podcasters to relocate their
event to another studio or venue.
Trent said that she had been getting
messages not just from outsiders on
social media, but people in the comedy
scene and others close to her asking her
not to host the controversial character.
Aft er Yiannopoulos became famous in
his former role as a Breitbart editor, the
rightwing provocateur has had a series of
setbacks over the past two years.
Publisher Simon & Schuster canceled
his book deal in 2017 aft er he
publicly defended sexual relationships
between adult men and boys. Facebook
and Instagram also deleted his accounts
this past May for promoting “violence
and hate.”
“Hey everybody, that hate-speech
Photos via Google Maps and Wikimedia Commons
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lovin, pedophilia apologist Milo is going
to be at @creekandcave next week, so
hopefully none of you will be. Ever again.
Sorry, creek, loved ya but this is a real bad
look. Comedy peeps, speak up,” tweeted
@kevinasarobot on May 23.
Th e Legion of Skanks podcast is no
stranger to alt-right fi gures. Last year,
they hosted Gavin McInnes, leader of the
Proud Boys, a far-right group with strong
white nationalist ties.
On May 22, Luis J. Gomez, one of the
co-hosts, posted a Twitter video explaining
his decision to invite Yiannopoulos,
and saying that he did not see the controversy
coming.
“I don’t pay attention to politics at all.
At all. Th e only thing I know about Milo
is from these Youtube videos like ‘Milo
destroys a feminist,’ and he’s just a fl amboyant
homo. It’s hilarious,” Gomez said.
Trent said she would have liked to have
avoided this “dumpster fi re” altogether.
She doesn’t want to provide a forum for
Yiannopoulos nor, in the likelihood that
the event would attract protesters, create
a spectacle that would provide him with
the attention he craves.
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