Beloved Parks employee has special
day at Washington Square Park
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A Parks Department employee is being
honored for her commitment to
Washington Square Park.
Debra Hopkins, known as “Miss Debbie,”
serves as the NYC Parks Playground
Associate/Youth Activities Coordinator
for Washington Square Park. July 20 was
offi cially declared “Debra Hopkins Appreciation
Day” in the city’s 27th District to
honor Hopkins work in hosting and assisting
with scheduled programs for children,
as well as facilitating play in the Park’s 3
playgrounds, and helping to maintain the
children’s spaces including the playground
and family restroom.
Senator Hoylman said,“Ms. Debbie
has been instrumental in making sure
Washington Square Park a special and
welcoming place for children and their
families — including mine — since 2018.
This proclamation celebrates her three and
a half years of hard work in the Greenwich
Village community, which is especially
important as we resume full park events
and programming after the pandemic.I’m
thrilled to proclaim July 20 “Debbie
Hopkins Appreciation Day” in our Senate
District!”
Hopkins hosts a number of activities on
any given day, including arts & crafts on
Wednesdays and a borrowing library of
toys and games on Thursdays. On Fridays
PHOTO COURTESY OF STATE SENATOR BRAD HOYLMAN
and Saturdays, Hopkins will soon be hosting
a dance and music class on alternating
Fridays and Saturdays. She also assists at
additional kids programs such as yoga on
Thursdays.
The Washington Square Park Conservancy
funds Hopkins’ position with
support from Council Member Margaret
Chin. The Conservancy also purchases all
necessary supplies and additional required
resources for kids programs that take place
in Washington Square Park.
“Children are among the most frequent
users of Washington Square Park, and it’s
important that they have a fun and enriching
experience here. Miss Debbie helps
to make that happen,” saysWashington
Square Park Conservancy Deputy Director,
Sheryl Woodruff. “She encourages
children to exercise their creativity, fi nd
their confi dence, and care about their
community. The Conservancy is proud
of the impact she has made and looks
forward to connecting with more children
and families as they spend more time in
the Park.”
“Debra ‘Miss Debbie’ Hopkins has gone
above and beyond to care for Washington
Square Park and engage children and families
with fun, creative activities,” saidNYC
Parks Manhattan Borough Commissioner
William Castro. “We join Senator Hoylman
and our colleagues at the Washington
Square Park Conservancy in thanking
Debra for her outstanding service to the
park and surrounding community.”
For a full schedule of events and activities,
visit www.washingtonsqpark.org/
events.
De Blasio repeats push for MTA to speed up congestion pricing
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Mayor Bill de Blasio and a cadre
of local politicos again pushed
state transportation honchos on
Tuesday to put the pedal to the metal on
the proposal to toll drivers heading into
Manhattan below 61st Street in order to
fund upgrades for the city’s public transit
system.
“Congestion, unfortunately, is back
and it’s starting to come back with a vengeance,”
said de Blasio at his daily press
briefi ng on July 20. “But what’s happening
with congestion pricing, when you look at
the State of New York, when you look at
the MTA, you hear the sound of crickets
because nothing is happening.”
Hizzoner called on the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority to convene a
six-member panel known as the Traffi c
Mobility Review Board, which is required
to make recommendations for how the socalled
Central Business District Tolling will
work, including how high the charge is and
who gets exempt from it.
De Blasio on July 15 nominated his one
pick for the six-member board, Department
of Finance Commissioner Sherif Soliman,
saying at the time he wants MTA to have the
charge in effect by the end of 2022 with all
Mayor Bill de Blasio holds up a symbolic oversized check for congestion
pricing at his July 20 press briefing.
of the preparation work done by June of that
year and “shovels in the ground” by July.
That followed an earlier comment he
made in response to a reporter’s question
on July 13 saying he wanted to see the fee
“as fast as humanly possible.”
On Tuesday, de Blasio renewed his
call by bringing in an oversize $15 billion
check, the prop symbolizing the amount of
new debt fi nancing congestion pricing is
NYC MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY UNIT
promised to generate for the MTA, in addition
to an annual $1 billion in toll revenue.
“Imagine what $15 billion dollars could
do for your daily commute on the subway,”
the mayor said. “Any problem the MTA says
they have could be addressed with this. We
want to fi x the horrible fl ooding we saw last
week, if we want to make sure the signals
are fi xed so the trains actually can move, if
you want modern stations, here it is, staring
us in the face.”
The funds make up nearly 30% of the
MTA’s $51.5 billion 2020-2024 capital plan
and the tax would also encourage people to
switch from driving to taking public transit.
MTA chief fi nancial offi cer Robert Foran
said at last month’s agency board meeting
that the agency was fi ne without congestion
pricing dollars for now, as transit offi cials
are able to front the capital program with
other state tax revenues.
MTA’s senior advisor on congestion pricing
Ken Lovett reiterated that the agency
wants to have the program in effect “as
soon as possible,” but said that offi cials
are still hashing out issues with its federal,
state, and city partners.
“The MTA is following that detailed process
which doesn’t allow arbitrarily cutting
corners,” Lovett said in a statement. “An
Environmental Assessment is complicated
and we are working through issues with the
Federal Highway Administration and our
partners at the New York City and New
York State Departments of Transportation.
As we have said repeatedly, the Central
Business District Tolling Program will be
a huge environmental benefi t for the region
while also providing a major boost to mass
transit, and we’re working diligently to
implement it as soon as possible.”
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