Brad Hoylman Hosts Shredding Event
State Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Chelsea, Midtown) will be hosting “Stuyvesant Shred Day” next week.
The event, which is co-sponsored by Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens), Assembly Member Harvey Epstein (D-Lower East Side, East Village) and City Council Members Keith Powers (D-Upper East Side, Carnegie Hill) and Carlina Rivera (D-East Village, Gramercy Park) will allow attendees to shred confidential documents for free.
The event is slated for Wednesday, July 31, from 3-7 p.m., inside Stuyvesant Town on the 14th Street loop. To RSVP, call 212-633-8052.
Espaillat Moves to Abolish Death Penalty
Representative Adriano Espaillat (D-Washington Heights, Sugar Hill), joined by seven of his colleagues, introduced legislation that would abolish the death penalty for a range of criminal offenses.
The bill, entitled the Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2019, also converts the sentences of those currently on death row into life imprisonment without parole.
“The Death Penalty is an immoral practice and it should be abolished,” said Espaillat. “There are myriad reasons to oppose the death penalty. One of the most crucial is the heavy racial bias of those on death row, and the fact that death sentences are disproportionately handed out if the victim is white, but the alleged perpetrator is not. No instance better demonstrates this than the story of the Central Park Five. People on death row can be found innocent and exonerated. But if executed, there is no turning back. This uncomfortable truth has been a stain on America’s justice system for too long, and it must come to an end.”
Gottfried Speaks Out Against Trump’s Gag Rule
Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Chelsea, Midtown) sent out a release yesterday denouncing the Trump administration’s gag rule on abortion and reproductive health services.
The gag rule, effective as of July 15, bars family planning providers from using federal funds to offer patients information about birth control or abortion. In anticipation of the gag rule, Assembly Member Gottfried and other legislators worked with Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) to include money in the 2019 State budget to support family planning providers to compensate for lost federal funding.
“Family planning providers understand that patient health comes first,” said Gottfried. “New York prepared for the threat from the Trump administration and must keep its commitment and release the funding necessary to fill the Title X gap. No provider should have to close because of the Trump gag rule. New York is a pro-choice state and needs to step up. Now.”
