Thomas K. Duane

Below please find a comprehensive list of articles, editorials, letters to the editor, press releases, testimonies and resolutions regarding horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale formation in and around New York State.

I have also provided links to environmental advocacy organizations that are working to ensure that this method of natural gas drilling does not proceed without adequate protection for our precious natural resources. 

--Senator Thomas K. Duane

Articles

On Sunday, December 18, I participated in a Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village (ST-PCV) Tenants Association (TA) Telephone Town Hall.  The hour and fifteen minute event focused on residents’ questions about the TA’s recently announced proposal to partner with Brookfield Asset Management on a tenant-led, non-eviction conversion plan that would protect current residents and help preserve the middle-class character of this historic community.  Nearly 25 questions were answered by Meredith Kane from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Alex Rubin from Moelis & Co.; Jonathan Moore from Brookfield Asset Management; TA President Al Doyle; New York City Councilmember Dan Garodnick; New York State Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh and myself.  The call was kicked off b

On December 14, I joined thousands of commercial building workers represented by SEIU 32BJ and their supporters at a rally to demand a fair contract from the Realty Advisory Board (RAB).  The contract for the more than 22,000 workers expires on December 31 and the RAB has proposed a two-tier wage and benefit structure for new hires that would effectively create a second class of workers.  As the commercial real estate industry has seen record profits, especially in the past quarter, I cannot support a contract that would put the interests of the 1% before that of the 99%.  On December 1, the union members voted to call a strike if the contract negotiations did not progress and I will continue to stand with the 32BJ members who keep our office buildings clean and running w

Every December 1 since 1988, World AIDS Day has been observed around the globe.  As New York State’s only openly-HIV-positive State legislator, and as the representative of a district that has one of the highest rates of known HIV infections in the country, HIV/AIDS is, for me, a daily concern.  However, I recognize the importance of World AIDS Day in helping to bring the HIV/AIDS pandemic – and what each individual can do to bring an end to it – into focus for the wider public.

On November 30, I, along with New York City Councilmember Dan Garodnick, New York State Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer joined the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village (ST-PCV) Tenants Association (TA) and Brookfield Asset Management in a press conference announcing their partnership on a tenant-led bid to purchase the development with the goal of maintaining it as a haven for middle-class New Yorkers.  

On Sunday, November 20, I joined Manhattan Community Board 2 (CB2) Chair Brad Hoylman and dozens of other West Village residents, business owners and community stakeholders in a march calling for increased public safety on and around Christopher Street.  I applauded the West Village Coalition for organizing the march and the New York Police Department’s Sixth Precinct for its efforts to fight crime and protect all of us who call the West Village home.  I and my colleagues in government are working with the Sixth Precinct, CB2, the West Village Coalition and representatives of FIERCE, The Door and other organizations that serve the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender youth who have historically congregated on the Christopher Street pier to develop new, collaborative strategi

As a longtime tenant advocate, I have always fought to preserve and expand New York State’s Emergency Tenant Protection Act and to ensure that tenants are armed with the information they need to defend themselves against harassment, neglect and unwarranted evictions.  Toward that end, I was a proud sponsor the Sixth Annual West Side Tenants’ Conference on November 5, 2011, where I led a break-out session with New York State Assembly Member Dick Gottfried and Legal Aid staff attorney Ellen Davidson on the new rent laws, recent legal rulings and what tenants can do to help in the fight for stronger rent regulations.  I focused my remarks on the struggles and gains of the past year’s rent law renewal fight, as well as the challenges that lay ahead.  This annual conference, o

I encourage you to consider participating in END TO END FOR THE 99%, a November 7 solidarity march from Uptown Manhattan along Broadway to Zucotti Park, where we will join the Occupy Wall Street protest.  The march is leaving 181st Street and St. Nicholas at 10:30 A.M. and is expected to pass through Verdi Square at 72nd Street and Broadway at approximately 1:30 P.M.

File: 
Verdi Square Flyer.pdf

File: 
Union Square Flyer.pdf

On October 12, 2011, The EPL/Environmental Advocates, the lobbying arm of Environmental Advocates of New York, issued its annual scorecard grading members of the New York State Legislature on their positions and votes on key legislation affecting New York’s air, land, water, wildlife and public health.  I am pleased to have received a 99, tied with Senators Bill Perkins, Gustavo Rivera and Jose Serrano for the highest score among members of the Legislature’s upper house.  By contrast, the average score for New York State Senators was a 70. I will continue my work to pass legislation that will have a positive impact on our environment and it is my sincere hope that when next year’s scorecard is issued, every one of my Senate colleagues will receive a similarly high mark.