Issues: New York City

Increases Penalties on Reckless Drivers Who Injure PedestriansLegislation closing a long-time legal gap that allowed for reckless drivers who injure pedestrians to escape prosecution was signed into law last week.Elle’s Law, sponsored by Senator Martin Malavé Dilan (D-Brooklyn), Chair of Senate Transportation Committee, amends New York State’s Vehicle and Traffic Law to enact tougher penalties on motorists who blatantly disregard the vehicle and traffic code’s “rules of the road,”  and injure pedestrians as a result of dangerous and unlawful driving.

Bird to be Delivered to Recovery Sanctuary

BRONX, NY – State Senator and Deputy Majority Leader Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) announced on Friday that he has secured a safe, long term home for an abused rooster recently rescued from a South Bronx cockfight. The owner of the Hollywood Haircuts barber shop on City Island has been rehabilitating and caring for the rooster, Coco, since his rescue earlier this year. Following the press conference, Klein’s office delivered the rooster to its new home at the Berkshire Bird Paradise Sanctuary in Petersburg, NY.

NYS Senator Eric Adams today attended the signing into law of his legislation terminating the “Stop, Question, Frisk” Database of the INNOCENT.

 Senator Adams states: “Governor Paterson today signed into law my bill S.7945A, legislation prohibiting an electronic database that retains the personal information of individuals who are stopped and questioned (and perhaps frisked) by police but released immediately without being charged with a crime or a violation.

 “My legislation does not prohibit the use of “stop, question, frisk,” but it does end the practice in which the NYPD stores in a computer database the personal information of the INNOCENT.

Tenants and tourists in New York City would be protected by a new law that will make it clear that operating a residential apartment as a transient hotel is illegal in New York City.  The bill (S6873/A10008), sponsored by State Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) and Assembly Member Richard N.

The Senate Democratic Majority has passed legislation (S8130), sponsored by Senator José Peralta (D-Queens), to protect tenants from unknowingly moving into a property with a history of bed bug infestations. This legislation requires property owners or landlords within New York City to disclose infestation history to potential tenants prior to leasing. 

Senator Martin Malavé Dilan (D-Brooklyn) and Senate colleagues last night passed a budget agreement that funds a 2-year New York State Department of Transportation Capital Plan as well as provides more than $25 million to fund reduced-fare MetroCards for New York City students.

Senate Passes Klein Bill to Help NYS Local Farmers Deliver Produce in Urban Areas

ALBANY, NY – State Senator and Deputy Majority Leader Jeffrey D. Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) announced on Monday that the Senate passed his legislation to increase New Yorkers’ access to fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables. Klein’s bill (S.6203/NYS Assembly same-as A.6408/Ortiz) authorizes the NYS Urban Development Corporation to offer loans and grants to local and regional farmers, making it easier for them to distribute and transport produce to grocery stores and green markets.