Senator Ramos kills Cohen's casino

 

 Queens Chronicle

After more than a year of deliberation, state Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Jackson Heights) on Tuesday announced that she will not be introducing the legislation necessary to make way for Mets owner Steve Cohen to build a casino next to Citi Field. 

Instead, she is introducing her own plan.

“We’re not in a place to host a casino,” Ramos told New York magazine, which first reported the decision Tuesday morning. “The people who are here, they’re hoping to build generational wealth. And I just don’t see how a casino helps us meet that goal. I mean, it’s literally the opposite. It’s the extraction of the very little wealth we have.”

In a statement, she elaborated, “Whether people rallied for or against Metropolitan Park, I heard the same dreams for Corona. We want investment and opportunity, we are desperate for green space, and recreation for the whole family.

“We disagree on the premise that we have to accept a casino in our backyard as the trade-off. I resent the conditions and the generations of neglect that have made many of us so desperate that we would be willing to settle.”

Since the parking lot at the stadium is legally parkland, in order for anything to be built at the site, the state Legislature must pass parkland alienation legislation allowing the spot to be used for that purpose, be it a casino or otherwise. While Assemblyman Jeff Aubry (D-Corona) had introduced that legislation to back a casino as part of Cohen’s Metropolitan Park plan — which would include a casino, a hotel, 25 acres of green space, a concert hall and a Queens food hall — Ramos had not, and said Tuesday she will not do so. Aubry did not immediately respond to the Chronicle’s request for comment on the matter. 

The senator’s alternative plan, parkland alienation legislation that she introduced Tuesday, essentially includes Cohen’s entire proposal, minus the casino. Instead of 25 acres of green space, she’s calling for 50 acres. 

Ramos’ decision follows several town halls on the issue over the last year and a half, some of which she has hosted and others of which Cohen has. The senator also conducted a poll on the project within her district, which found that 75 percent were opposed to a casino; Cohen’s own poll, meanwhile, showed that 62 percent were in favor of one, with 75 percent backing the plan as a whole.

Throughout the process, Cohen and his chief of staff, Michael Sullivan, have been adamant that the project cannot go forward without a casino, saying there would be no year-round economic driver for the complex without it. But Ramos called that idea into question while speaking with reporters via Zoom Tuesday afternoon. 

“Cohen is worth an estimated $18 billion-plus, to my estimation, and so math would dictate that a casino would not be necessary to build out any part of the remaining project,” the senator said. “My hope is that he sees that people are counting on him to do the right thing here. He will remain our neighbor as long as he is the owner of the Mets, and he can gain trust and good public will by being responsive to our neighbors’ desires.”

When the Chronicle asked Aubry about Ramos’ desire for Cohen to foot the bill without a casino, the assemblyman cut in, “Stop. Just stop.”

“She isn’t hoping that they would — she’s only trying to cover up so that no one will blame her that she has denied the kind of real benefits that the community would get if the whole plan is going,” Aubry said. “You don’t take out the money-generating portion of this plan, and then say, ‘Oh, well, do everything else.’”

Meanwhile, Cohen’s camp still thinks a casino is the only way to build anything financially feasible at the site, which the team has under lease for another 81 years. Asked whether Cohen and his team will consider Ramos’ proposal, Karl Rickett, a spokesperson for the project, told the Chronicle, “Year-round entertainment is core to any realistic vision for this area, and casino gaming is that economic engine. So it’s an absolutely critical part of this process.”

As such, per Rickett’s statement, Cohen and his team “remain committed” to making Metropolitan Park a reality, and to getting the parkland alienation and one of three downstate casino licenses the state Gaming Commission will award in 2025.

AOC AWOL

Respectfully, she ran on breathing our air. I do see the other neighboring congressional representatives quite often. I’ve met w Meng and others. Seems there’s different standards for folks. We’ve been through some bad crises and never a phone call. I’ve tried many times.

— Jessica Ramos (@jessicaramos) July 25, 2022

 

 NY Post

A progressive state lawmaker from Queens took a shot at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for being “absent” and out of touch — accusing the left-wing icon of blowing off a meeting.

Sen. Jessica Ramos, whose western and central Queens district overlaps with AOC’s congressional district and who has been an ally, unloaded on the congresswoman after a med student complained about her canceling a health care forum.

“A couple of the most highly respected health policy academics recently set up a meeting with AOC’s office to discuss NHS-style healthcare reform,” said the medical student, who uses the Twitter handle @jai_lies.

“They were told bluntly by AOC’s staff, ‘we’re not doing healthcare right now.'”

The health activist added: “So while she’s doing performative resistance art for the cameras she’s ‘not doing healthcare right now. We are in the middle of two pandemics & people are still dying because they lack healthcare. this is not fighting.”

He was referring to AOC getting arrested during an abortion protest and faking that her hands were handcuffed behind her back. 

Ramos then began a series of attack tweets on the congresswoman.

“Maybe if you spent more time in your office and with your team you’d know what goes on. Just saying it would be nice if you breathed our air,” Ramos, who chairs the Senate Labor Committee and is backed by the left-leaning Working Families Party, said in a tweet.

“So, as an employer, what happens with the staffer who said this?”

Sen. Ramos honors World Hijab Day with some inappropriate appropriation

I’m wearing a hijab today to celebrate the many women #SeenIn13 & worldwide who wear their hijab with pride.

A hijabi’s right to express her faith & cover her hair is a choice to be honored. I’m proud to recognize #WorldHijabDay to fight back against repression & islamophobia. pic.twitter.com/p7x8lpp3Oh

— Jessica Ramos (@jessicaramos) February 1, 2022

Politicians scared straight after Rikers tour

  

AMNY

Elected officials inspected the conditions at Rikers Island on Sept. 13 following yet another death in the jail — and they said what they found shook them to the core.

The visit came days after Esias Johnson, a 24-year-old awaiting trial, became the 10th individual to perish within the controversial penal facility this year when he was discovered unresponsive on Sept. 7. A coalition of politicians toured the prison on Monday in hopes of pinpointing the issue at hand.

Gathering at the intersection of 19th Avenue and Hazen Street after their visit, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, state Senator Jessica Ramos, Senator Alessandra Biaggi, and many more stood in shock and disgust after visiting the complex. They professed ] seeing urine and fecal matter strewn over the floor; individuals coughing up blood and even an attempted suicide.

Some of the speakers said Rikers Island had become a humanitarian crisis.

 “I can’t begin to tell you the deplorable conditions that we saw inside OBCC. In one of the intake rooms there are at least one dozen men per cell. The conditions are so extreme that Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas and I witnessed somebody attempting to commit suicide just a little while ago. These men are desperate for simple medical attention as just measuring their sugar. They need their fingers pricked to figure out whether their diabetes is under control or not, never mind they are not obviously receiving any insulin. Those that need to access the methadone clinic have not been able to do so,” Ramos said, describing the unsanitary conditions. 

“It’s all because the incarcerated men and women who are on that island are being treated unfairly, and the correction officers are working under very deplorable conditions themselves,” Ramos added, stating that everyone on Rikers Island should be kept safe. 

In response to these claims regarding the conditions within Rikers Island, DOC Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi has launched #NewDayDOC to target initiatives that will help increase staffing and safety through scheduling changes, new recruitment, and establishing a new process for calling out sick with Mt. Sinai so that they may return to active duty quickly, as well as other changes.

Yeah, a hashtag will stop the violence and abhorrent environment that was exacerbated by the city's decision to shut down Rikers to build borough jails and the closing of other facilities on the island. Feckless moron.

Jackson Heights fire victims about to be kicked to the curb

So where are the elected officials who represent this area? Out on the campaign trail pimping for progressive candidates instead of helping their constituents? I can't help but notice the absence of Danny Dromm in this piece. Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas gets a temporary pass because she's in Albany. Jessica Ramos showed up and said she was heartbroken but that's about it. How about tapping into Mutual Aid and BLM funds? After all, all that money was raised "for the community!" (/end sarcasm)

JQ LLC: Danny Dromm has been more concerned with turning the avenue that charred building is on into a "linear park". Even after the inferno displaced hundreds of tenants.

Also absent in de Blasio's HPD's sadistic treatment of these people is his buddy and upper class Windsor Terrace neighbor Stephen Banks of the Department of Social Services, which is still using hotels to shelter people who are mentally ill or just came out of prison, but for some reason the D.S.S. doesn't seem to think hotels cannot be utilized for people who have been disenfranchised from their homes and community by fire.

 

Jessica Ramos used community fridge funding for herself

 

 

NY Daily News

A Queens politician who raised more than $35,000 to replace a vandalized community refrigerator accepted the contributions through her campaign account, raising questions about the transparency of her charity effort.

When a fridge providing free food to the hungry outside state Sen. Jessica Ramos’s East Elmhurst office was damaged last month, the outcry was loud and contributions to replace it poured in quickly.

“The community fridge outside our district office was vandalized and destroyed last night. So many of our neighbors depend on the generosity of other neighbors to get through these difficult times. Now this lifeline is gone. I’m heartbroken,” Ramos tweeted Jan. 2., garnering coverage from multiple news outlets.

In a follow-up tweet, the Democrat included a link to accept contributions, explaining, “We’re going to need your help to keep our community fridge project going. Any little bit helps! 100% of your donations will keep our fridge stocked for our neighbors.”

But the link took visitors to an ActBlue page for her campaign account. The page, since taken down, stated, “All proceeds from this link will go directly to keeping the refrigerator stocked for our neighbors in need.” Above boxes used for specifying the amount of one’s contribution, the page said, “Your contribution will benefit Jessica Ramos.”

The more than $35,000 in contributions raised through the effort made up the majority of Ramos’s campaign haul for January, according to state filings.

 She spent $6,000 on consultants and a few hundred on staff meals and transportation — but no money for the fridge or food for the community.

“It’s not right,” Betsy Gotbaum, executive director of government watchdog Citizens Union, told the Daily News. “I would not mix campaign work with charity.

Holden's opponent campaigns in the wrong district

This article was published in QNS and I couldn't help but chuckle at it. For example, here is a passage about the pictured business owner who was visited:

Lagos made some time, and spoke about the hardships of maintaining his business for what is nearly a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lagos, who noted Tasty’s has been in Ridgewood for 40 years, said not having indoor dining and getting “a bunch” of violations from the Department of Transportation for his outdoor setup are some of his biggest issues.

The response from the candidate during the listening tour?

When asked for his response to [incumbent Robert] Holden’s calls to open indoor dining to 50 percent capacity, Ardila said it’s “irresponsible.” Holden wants the governor to allow for the city’s restaurants to open indoor dining at the same capacity of Long Island, where there is a higher positivity rate of COVID-19 compared to the city, before more go out of business.

Sorry, Mr. Lagos, but Juan thinks you should just suck it up, because COVID spreads more in Queens restaurants than it does in Nassau County ones, or something like that.

Also interesting is the fact that the Tasty Diner is not in Council District 30. In reality, only about 3 blocks of the Ridgewood section of Myrtle Avenue are, and only on one side of the street. This diner is in Antonio Reynoso's district but he's too busy running for Brooklyn Borough President to care.

But do you know whose State Senate district this actually is? Not Jessica Ramos' but Michael Gianaris' who also endorsed this guy. Unfortunately, Mike sadly can't find anyplace outside of Astoria even if he uses Google Maps.

Keep voting for people who don't give a flying fig about you, because that's worked out well so far.

NY State Senate legalizes street usage of e-motored cycles and motor scooters

QNS

The state legislature is on the verge of legalizing e-bikes and e-scooters in New York City after a deal was reached Monday.


Lawmakers will vote Wednesday on legislation originally introduced be state Senator Jessica Ramos and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic that would end the de Blasio administration ban on e-bikes used by thousands of immigrant delivery workers as a public safety issue while NYPD statistics show they caused just 9 pedestrian injuries in 2018.

“For many of my neighbors, who are immigrant delivery workers, using alternative modes of transportation is a matter of livelihood,” Ramos said during a June 17 rally with workers in the State Capitol Building. “Legalizing e-bikes and e-scooters is a matter of equal access to our streets and our city.”


Ramos added the legislation will decriminalize the work of the estimated 30,000 food delivery workers who use e-bikes daily across the five boroughs.


“From lost wages and confiscations, delivery workers in New York City have been impacted by the ongoing criminalization of unregulated e-bike for far too long,” Rozic said. “Passage of this bill would not only deliver economic justice for thousands of workers, but also bring New York into the fold as micro mobility takes shape across the country as a means to provide affordable transportation alternatives.”

The de Blasio administration adopted a conciliatory tone.
 
“We appreciate this commonsense legislation that clarifies the rules around e-bikes on our streets,” City Hall Spokesman Seth Stein said. “Safety for everyone on our roads is a priority, and we look forward to work ing with legislators and communities as we deliver plans to implement the new law.”

 I wonder which foot delivery app Assemblywoman Rozic ordered for that word salad. I don't know what economic justice will be served now that these electric motorcycle users will certainly be emboldened to break traffic laws to make their deliveries. "Micro-mobility"??

Avella, Peralta defeated in anti-IDC votes

From the Queens Chronicle:

New York State is a different place today. It's littered with the wreckage of what once was the Independent Democratic Conference.

And nowhere was the rubble deeper than in Queens, where a pair of state Senators were ousted in Tuesday's Democratic primaries by challengers who dubbed them traitors to their party.

In District 13, it was four-term state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) who lost his re-election bid to former mayoral aide Jessica Ramos — a fierce critic of her "turncoat" opponent's IDC membership.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Ramos had won 12,181 vote to Peralta's 10,021 — good for a 10-percentage point margin.

In District 11, fellow four-term incumbent state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) was defeated by former city Comptroller John Liu in a rematch of 2014's Democratic primary — a race Avella won by a mere 568 votes.

This time around, it was Liu who came out victorious, defeating the incumbent 12,133 ballots to 10,846 — a 6-point margin.

The funny thing is unless there's a flip in the Senate then there won't be any "progressive legislation" getting passed in Albany because Simcha Felder won re-election easily. Basically all that happened is that the greater Bayside area voted for overdevelopment and corruption. Smart move!