February 2012
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2012 State of the Borough Address: Reclaiming NYC...
Click here to read the full text of my State of the Borough Address
Over the last decade, the average family has seen the price of everything go through the roof – housing, healthcare, taxes and tuition. Since 2000, the price of a 30-day Metrocard has increased 65%, and gasoline and heating oil prices have tripled. Meanwhile, salaries and benefits are not keeping pace.
We need to reclaim the...
January 2012
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Help Out the Family of Deshane Santana
On Friday, January 13th, 12 year old Deshane Santana was tragically killed while crossing Delancey Street. Today, her family is still struggling to raise the money needed for her funeral and burial expenses.
See this story on MyFoxNY about Deshane.
YOU CAN HELP
Today I’m asking New Yorkers if they will make a small donation to help Deshane’s family in this time of need. Checks made...
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Drawing Inspiration, as a City, from Martin Luther...
Martin Luther King, Jr. has a long history with our city. At a ceremony in 1964 where he was proclaimed an honorary New Yorker, Mayor Wagner said: “This is not the city of your residence, Dr. King, but it is your city nonetheless.” Today let’s honor Dr. King by taking action to rid our city of the current blights on its proud history of social justice, especially stop and frisk in it’s...
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December 2011
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New Huffington Post Op-Ed: Fixing Our Broken...
NYC’s building inspection process is broken, and last week’s tragic elevator fatality in a Madison Avenue office building is just the latest reminder. Please read my op-ed in the Huffington Post about creating an independent office of inspections that operates without conflict and provides the public with detailed and meaningful information about the results of inspections.
Read the op-ed at the...
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Help Us Collect 100,000 Coats This Holiday Season
I’m proud to participate in the 23rd annual New York Cares Coat Drive. Throughout December, you can drop off coats at my offices, downtown at 1 Centre St. South, 19th Fl. and in Harlem at 163 West 125th Street.
As we prepare to celebrate this holiday season with our families and friends, let’s not forget the devastating fact that 1 out of every 5 New Yorkers are living in poverty. We...
November 2011
10 posts
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Hydraulic fracturing will be a roll of the dice. We’ve witnessed the...
– US News & World Report Debate Club
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Making Kindergarten Admissions Easier for Parents
NYC’s current kindergarten admissions process can be overwhelming for parents. I’ve written to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott with suggestions about how to make it less confusing. We can:
standardize applications and put them all on online;
create kindergarten directories for each district;
improve the timeline for notifying parents about acceptances.
To learn more about what we can do to...
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Honoring Our Veterans
As we take this day to remember the men and women who have served in our nation’s military, I ask that you take a moment to reflect on all that our veterans represent. Today, I am honored to celebrate the men and women who have served in the U.S. military during times of war and peace, at home and in outposts around the world. I especially thank the nearly 300,000 brave New York City veterans,...
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October 2011
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Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, said that even though white...
– The New York Times
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Statement on Occupy Wall Street
My statement this morning on Occupy Wall Street:
I want to commend Brookfield Office Properties and the City of New York for postponing the scheduled cleaning of Zuccotti Park this morning. I strongly believe we can move forward on this issue without unnecessary conflict, and constructive dialogue is always preferable to precipitous action.
Yesterday I met with the Occupy Wall Street protestors...
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New Huffington Post Piece on Occupy Wall Street
Read my Huffington Post piece on Occupy Wall Street: Many of the Occupy Wall Street protestors are angered by the feeling that government hasn’t done enough to stem the tide of economic fall-out caused by the last recession. They are outraged that millions of Americans from all walks of life are unable to find or keep jobs. They are vocal about the widening chasm between rich and poor in our...
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September 2011
36 posts
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Protect and Respect
Today, at the Think Outside the Cell symposium, I called for a re-examination of NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy. While Commissioner Kelly and the NYPD deserve enormous credit for making the city safer, stop-and-frisk has inflicted enormous and unnecessary collateral damage upon young black and Latino males. We can be tougher on crime by being smarter on crime. My full remarks are below.
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