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NEW YORK – Today, State Senator Daniel Squadron announced that New Amsterdam Market President Robert LaValva has been appointed to the New York State Council on Food Policy. Senator Squadron asked the Senate Minority Leader to officially recommend Mr. LaValva to the Governor for the appointment.

Mr. LaValva founded the New Amsterdam Market in Lower Manhattan, creating a flourishing center for sustainable regional and seasonal food that is open to all New Yorkers. The Market and Mr. LaValva have led efforts to redevelop the East River Market District and the South Street Seaport, helping to revive Lower Manhattan’s economy.

“We agree that Zuccotti Park must be open and accessible to everyone – OWS, the public, law enforcement and first responders – and that it is critical to protect the health and safety of protesters and the community.

“We have also been urging the City to have a zero tolerance policy on noise and sanitation violations, and to make the results of its enforcement public.

“But we must balance the core First Amendment rights of protesters and the other legitimate issues that have been raised.

“The City’s actions to shut down OWS last night raise a number of serious civil liberties questions that must be answered.  Moving forward, how will the City respect the protesters’ rights to speech and assembly?  Why was press access limited, and why were some reporters’ credentials confiscated?  How will reported incidents of excessive force used by the police be addressed?

NEW YORK, NY – Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senator Daniel Squadron, and Councilwoman Margaret Chin responded to the steps being taken by both the City and Occupy Wall Street (OWS) to ameliorate the serious quality-of-life and safety issues near the demonstrations and, in particular, today’s announcement that OWS has secured off-site 24-hour access bathrooms. 

They issued the following joint statement:

“We are pleased that, on the heels of the City responding to our calls to remove excessive barricades, there has been significant progress on one of the other pressing quality-of-life issues: improved bathroom access.  

“OWS states that it has secured access to a loading dock area connected to 52 Broadway and has obtained three portable bathrooms to install there, with a trained security guard 24-hours-a-day.  We appreciate their attention to this issue.

“We reiterate our call on the City to take a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to public urination and other such behavior, and to enforce laws prohibiting excessive noise.

“The fact that both the City and OWS are making progress in addressing serious quality-of-life issues signals that there is a path for solving these and other emerging concerns.  We strongly encourage the parties to continue to communicate and we ask that the park remain open and accessible for emergency personnel.  

“As we have said before, these concerns must be solved but cannot be used as a pretext for the violation of First Amendment rights.”

Senator, Assemblymember Call on State to Pass Legislation, Give Communities Choice

NEW YORK – Today, State Senator Daniel Squadron and Assemblymember Joan Millman heralded City Council committee passage of a 'home rule message' to allow New York State to move forward with legislation that authorizes residential parking permits in the city. 

Senator Squadron and Assemblymember Millman sponsor the legislation, which would address increasingly prohibitive parking for residents while easing traffic congestion, pedestrian hazards, and air and noise pollution, and protecting small businesses.

NEW YORK -- Today, the MTA formally announced plans to improve L train service by mid-2012, following requests by State Senator Daniel Squadron to review and increase service. 

"Today's NYC Transit committee meeting makes official the MTA's plans to heed my call and increase L train service beginning in mid-2012," said Senator Squadron. "This L train improvement is an important step toward a subway system that works for its riders every day of the week."

NEW YORK -- Tonight, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released the following statement upon committee passage of a Community Board 1 resolution regarding Occupy Wall Street and quality of life:

Last week, we called on Brookfield to delay its clean-up of the park to allow for dialogue and, ultimately, a long-term solution that works for the community and protects the First Amendment rights of OWS.  

Tonight’s Community Board resolution is an attempt to establish a sensible framework that respects the protesters’ fundamental rights while addressing the very real quality of life concerns for residents and businesses around Zuccotti Park. Protecting the needs of Lower Manhattan and the rights of OWS do not need to be mutually exclusive.

We must all work together to make that framework a reality.

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