Soon you can make your own "City Of Yes"

Council Member Holden's bill calls for slamming the brakes on ebikes and e-scooters

 

 Sunnyside Post

Council Member Robert Holden, who represents the Queens neighbors of Ridgewood and Glendale, says that electric scooters and electric bikes are putting New Yorkers in danger and has introduced legislation that would ban them until they can be properly policed.

Holden introduced a bill last week that would repeal city regulations that allow e-bikes and e-scooters to be driven throughout the five boroughs.

The lawmaker says that some riders are ignoring traffic laws — since they are not required to have a license to ride their bikes – which is leading to crashes. In addition, he said, there have been instances where the batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters have sparked fires.

Holden wants the ban imposed until state lawmakers pass legislation that would require the vehicles to be registered, licensed and insured.

The legislation that would require the vehicles to be registered, licensed and insured, can only be enacted at state level since state lawmakers legalized the vehicles in the first place in 2020, Holden said. The state law gave municipalities the ability to legalize e-bikes and e-scooters.

“The scourge of these devices throughout our city has led to people disregarding traffic laws resulting in injuries or death, lithium ion-based fires that killed several people and injured hundreds, and a feeling of disorder on our streets and sidewalks as well as a diminished quality of life,” Holden said.

“We must ensure that these vehicles are operated safely before allowing them back on our streets.”

Linky's illegal parking Angels

 

Bloomberg 

It’s a familiar experience for pedestrians and bicyclists — a car or truck parked in a bike lane or on the sidewalk forces a detour into the street — and into traffic. When vehicles block these travel paths, it's not just an annoyance and safety hazard. It’s illegal.

Now a New York City Council member is pushing a bill that would give civilians the power to report bike lane scofflaws, as well as vehicles that block entrances or exits of school buildings, sidewalks and crosswalks. New Yorkers who submit evidence of a parking violation can earn 25% of a proposed $175 ticket. The Department of Transportation would review the evidence to determine whether an infraction has occurred, according to the bill’s text.

Council Member Lincoln Restler said the bill is necessary because the New York City Police Department, which has traditionally been responsible for enforcing these traffic rules, isn’t giving out enough tickets. The number of traffic citations issued in the city increased from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2022, but remains nearly 50% below pre-pandemic levels, according to the Mayor’s Management Report.

“I feel the safety risks every day that are associated with illegal parking,” said Restler, who is a cyclist. “It’s even more problematic for the parent pushing a stroller or a person in a wheelchair who can’t get by on the sidewalk because of illegally parked cars. That’s why we are creating, in this legislation, a new structure to bring real accountability.”

If passed, the law would be the first time such civilian authority was extended to personal vehicles in New York. It’s modeled after the Citizens Air Complaint Program, which allows New Yorkers call in tickets for idling commercial vehicles for the same 25% reward.

Three city council cronies sponsor sanctuary from surveillance to gangbangers

Queens Post 

Three Queens Councilmembers are co-sponsoring a bill that would abolish the NYPD’s gang database.

The bill, which is being co-sponsored by Queens progressives Tiffany Cabán, Julie Won and Shekar Krishnan, would end the database and prevent the police department from compiling a replacement.

The NYPD’s gang database is a police resource tool containing the names of alleged gang members and other intelligence relating to street gangs. It is estimated that there are around 18,000 people currently listed on the database.

In a 2021 report, the NYPD stated that the database is a “critical component of modern policing and an invaluable tool for detectives investigating crime.”

However, advocates for the bill say that police have abused the database by unfairly targeting people of color. They often point to former police commissioner Dermot Shea stating in 2018 that 99 percent of those on the database are people of color.

Supporters of the legislation also say that people with no ties to gangs have been placed on the database and there is no way for them to get their names removed. They say that this can often lead to intensive surveillance, police harassment, overcharging, increased bail, risk of deportation and prejudicial treatment in court.

“The gang database is nothing but a dragnet to surveil and criminalize Black and brown New Yorkers, especially youth,” Cabán said in a statement to the Queens Post.

“It does nothing to reduce violence and plenty to intensify the horrors of the criminal punishment system.”

Cabán, a former public defender, said she has witnessed prosecutors weaponizing the database to coerce false confessions from people.

“Kids on this list for as little as wearing the wrong colors in the wrong place are threatened with gang conspiracy charges, and more,” said Cabán, who represents the 22nd District in western Queens covering Astoria, Rikers Island and portions of East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Woodside.

“We must eliminate the gang database and prevent the creation of a replacement.”

Cabán attended a protest in Brooklyn earlier this month to rally support for the legislation. She has previously called for the need to defund and disband the NYPD, as well as advocating for Rikers Island to be shut down without the construction of new jails. The Astoria resident has also opposed Mayor Adams’ decision to bring back plainclothes police teams — saying they are ineffective and unfairly target minorities.

Cabán is instead calling for a radically different approach to public safety which would include less policing and encouraging local business owners to get trained in de-escalation tactics should they encounter a conflicting situation.

“If we truly care about public safety outcomes, the evidence-based, data-driven way forward is crystal clear,” Cabán said. “We must invest in the supports our young people need: mental healthcare, high-quality education, restorative justice, employment opportunities, nutritious food, and more.”

 

Rep. Maloney proposes bill for more LLC transparency

 

QNS

 

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney is pitching a bill on Capitol Hill that will put an end to shell companies across the United States, and possibly alleviate some of the issues facing everyday New Yorkers in an inflated housing market.

The main objective of the bill, however, is national security exemplified in the history of 650 Fifth Ave., once owned by the Iranian government and used to launder money for the benefit of terrorism groups.

“It’s not owned by the government of Iran anymore. It’s owned by a private U.S. company, but for many years, Iran was able to circumvent U.S. sanctions and launder their money, right here, in the US financial system,” Maloney said. “Now, people ask how did they do this? They used two anonymous shell companies, both formed here in the United States that hid their ownership. Fortunately the era of anonymous shell companies is almost about to end.”

Mayor de Blasio prefers that his appointed officials testilie instead of testify

NY Post

Mayor Bill de Blasio is opposing a bill requiring officials correct the record if they give inaccurate statements in sworn testimony — and is allegedly threatening to prevent his commissioners from testifying before lawmakers if the bill passes.

The administration’s reluctance to support the legislation comes just a week after The Post revealed that de Blasio officials mislead the City Council about the ouster of a whistleblower.

Mayoral spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein called the bill Tuesday “unnecessarily duplicative.”
“It’s our policy to correct the record with the City Council if someone misspeaks at a hearing,” Goldstein said.

Councilman Ritchie Torres blasted the administration’s response as “Trumpian.”

“There’s no rational justification for obstructing legislation that would require public officials to tell the truth unless you have something to hide,” he said.

The bill, which Torres introduced in 2018 and had a hearing last March, would amend the City Charter by requiring agency heads who give a “materially inaccurate statement” in sworn testimony or an official report to correct the record.

“There is a clear obligation not to make knowingly false statements,” Torres told The Post. “But there’s no obligation to subsequently correct false statements that might have been made unknowingly. The bill is to close that gaping loophole.”

He claims members of the city Law Department essentially put the proposal on ice by threatening, “If you pass the bill then we will no longer allow commissioners to testify before the City Council.”

Torres called “threatening obstruction of City Council oversight a Trumpian assault on the separation of powers.”