Home sweet home: De Blasio helps NYC commemorate
1,000th veteran housed with Lower East Side celebration
BY DEAN MOSES
Mayor Bill de Blasio threw
a welcome home party
for one veteran on the
Lower East Side on Tuesday
afternoon.
Military veteran Jocelyn Miller
has been living in a homeless
shelter for some time now. When
the NYC Department of Veterans’
Services learned of her situation,
the organization went about fi nding
this hero a place to live.
Setting up a renovated onebedroom
apartment on Grand
Street, Commissioner of NYC
Veterans’ Services James Hendon
and de Blasio threw Miller
a housewarming party, complete
with balloons and a “Thank you
for your service” sign to celebrate
her welcome home.
The mayor served as a tour
guide, showcasing the freshly
painted premises. From the living
room to the bedroom and
bathroom, de Blasio excitedly
pointed out the space’s amenities
before stopping to present Miller
It was a welcome home party for Jocelyn Miller.
with the keys to her new home.
Overwhelmed by emotion, Miller
began weeping at the sight of
the keys before they could even
be dropped into her hands—a
symbol that she was no longer
homeless.
“I’ve got to hold it together; I
am in front of the mayor crying.
Thank you so much,” Miller said
trying to hold back tears.
“It’s real, it’s real. It’s a good
dream,” the Mayor said, clutching
her shoulder.
Miller marks the 1,000th
veteran granted a home by the
NYC Department of Veterans’
Services, when she moved into
her new one-bedroom apartment
on the Lower East Side with support
from the DVS Housing and
Support Services (HSS) team on
Feb. 23.
Although the afternoon was
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
brimming with happy tears and
smiles, the journey to this moment
had not been an easy one.
Miller joined the Army right
out of college in order to serve her
country, but after completing her
service, she fell on diffi cult times.
“It’s hard because it has been
years that I have been going
through a lot. I went to the shelter
and they put me into the DVS
program, and they helped me
and here I am, and I am happy. It
feels great, it feels great! I didn’t
think this would happen!” Miller
exclaimed gazing around at her
apartment.
The mayor thanked Hendon —
a veteran himself — for his work
serving New York veterans in
need. Acknowledging that more
needs to be done on the federal
government’s part in terms of
aiding those who have served, de
Blasio commended Hendon for
making things right one person
at a time.
The mayor also pointed out
that some veterans may not be
aware that there is help available.
“I didn’t know. There is help
out there, I am a prime example. I
got the help. Everybody else needs
to go get it,” Miller said.
Before leaving Miller to
enjoy her home, Commissioner
Hendon implored Miller to pass
along the message of help to
other veterans who may be in
need of assistance.
“It is all about paying it forward,”
Hendon added.
Maloney package of bills aiming to include $70B
for state in American Rescue Plan
BY MARK HALLUM
A package of bills advanced from the
Oversight Committee to a full fl oor
vote in the House of Representatives
that could provide up to $23 billion in
federal aid to New York state, according to
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney.
The package also includes direct payments
to families as well as $23 billion
to the state government and $12.7 billion
to New York City to absorb the costs of
fi ghting the COVID-19 pandemic. About
$8.8 billion for transit agencies in New
York was approved through a different
committee.
“We have many, many bills to pay at
this point, we have a desperate need for
federal aid in our city and our state and
this is a package that we are passing next
Friday from Congress to the Senate will
do just that,” Maloney said in Union Square
on Saturday. “This bill is the embodiment
of President Biden’s American Rescue
Plan and it’s projected to provide over $70
billion to New York state communities,
families, the city and provide rent relief.”
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney,
state Senator Brad Hoylman, and Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards on Feb. 20 in Union Square.
The $70 billion for New York state
overall was approved through a number
of committees.
But the benefi ts are not only for New
York. According to Maloney, the entire
package delivers up to $350 billion nationwide
with congress expected to cast a vote
on Friday. Direct to relief to Americans
through this bill will amount to $1,400.
PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM
Extended unemployment supplements
of $300 could be provided through the
funding in these bills.
“What we’ve seen since the beginning
of this pandemic is, unfortunately, a lot of
temporary help, a lot of stopgap measures,
Right? And while that is important and
while that has been helping people survive,
it really is urgent that we see meaningful
comprehensive aid from every level of
government,” Brooklyn state Senator Julia
Salazar said
Maloney was joined in this press conference
by Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards who said up to 7,000 residents
died while immigrant communities,
especially in the northwestern section of
the borough, faced considerable hardship.
Elmhurst Hospital in particular shared the
highest burden of any medical center in the
country during the spring.
“This this package is not just about dollars.
It’s about ensuring that we can keep
people stable in their homes. You talk about
healthcare and the impacts on our local
hospitals, hospitals that were inundated
at one point with so many positive cases,
frontline workers who had to endure seeing
bodies refrigerated outside their institutions,
because we know that there are not
enough beds in our system, not enough
hospitals,” Richards said.
According to Maloney, this package
will precede more funding in the form of
infrastructure payments to aid economic
recovery, but did not elaborate at this time.
4 February 25, 2021 Schneps Media