Brooklyn Political Roundup, March 7: Jeffries urges Amazon to come to Brooklyn

In Public Service, From The Political Staff Of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle

March 7, 2018 By Paula Katinas & John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle

U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Photo courtesy of Hakeem Jeffries’ office

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Jeffries urges Amazon to set up shop in Brooklyn

U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Canarsie-Sheepshead Bay-Coney Island) is calling on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to abandon Georgia as a possible location for Amazon’s second headquarters and come to Brooklyn instead.

Jeffries made his statement in the wake of a vote in the Georgia Legislature to strip Delta Airlines of a tax exemption after the airline announced that it would no longer offer discounts on fares to members of the National Rifle Association (NRA). The airline’s announcement came in the wake of the massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14 in which a gunman opened fire with an AR-15, killing 17 people.

The vote by the Georgia lawmakers was seen as retaliated against Delta Airlines for its NRA decision, Jeffries said. Delta’s headquarters is based in Atlanta.

In a letter to Bezos, Jeffries called the decision by Delta Airlines courageous.

“Georgia’s retaliation against Delta, one of the state’s most important private sector employers, demonstrates that companies residing in the state could be subject to arbitrary and capricious governmental retribution if not in lockstep with an extreme right-wing agenda. The targeting of Delta by the Georgia Legislature is a frightening act of governmental overreach that raises a severe red flag about the stability and business-friendly nature of the state,” Jeffries wrote.

Jeffries also suggested to Bezos that Brooklyn would be a better location for Amazon’s headquarters. Bezos is currently scouting out possible locations to establish a second headquarters for his giant company.

In a move to Brooklyn, Bezos’s company “will benefit from a more hospitable environment, where it will not be viciously targeted simply for taking action consistent with the sentiments of a majority of American consumers,” Jeffries wrote. “Brooklyn, with its highly skilled and diverse workforce, great cultural institutions and significant transportation options, is such a place.” – PK

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Working Families Party endorses Rose

U.S. Army veteran Max Rose, one of several Democratic candidates running for Congress in New York’s 11th Congressional District (Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn-Staten Island), has been endorsed by the Working Families Party.

“The Working Families Party is proud to endorse Max Rose for the 11th Congressional District. He is a dedicated advocate for universal health care, a fair tax code and good-paying jobs for working families,” Bill Lipton, state director of the New York Working Families Party, said in a statement.

“I am grateful for the support of the Working Families Party as we continue to build a broad coalition to take back this seat and restore honor and integrity to Washington, D.C. This Congress hasn’t done a thing to protect our kids from mass shootings, rebuild our infrastructure or lower our health care costs. It’s a national disgrace, and I look forward to working with our brothers and sisters in the labor movement, the Working Families Party and Staten Islanders and South Brooklynites of every political affiliation to fight for the America we know is possible,” Rose said.

The congressional district is currently represented by Republican-Conservative U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan, who is running for re-election in November. Donovan faces a primary challenge from a fellow Republican, former Congressmember Michael Grimm. – PK

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Bunkeddeko releases housing plan

Adem Bunkeddeko, a Democrat running against U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-Central Brooklyn) in a Democratic primary in Brooklyn’s Ninth Congressional District, has released a five-point plan that he said will improve affordable housing in Central Brooklyn.

“We see it every day. Our neighbors are forced out by high rents and bad landlords; new developments come in with no room for local families; NYCHA homes are decaying to the point of being unsafe. We need a Congress member who supports plans to create low-equity housing cooperatives, fix NYCHA, develop community land trusts and stop allowing homes to be turned into investment profit centers for wealthy non-residents. These are proven ways to slow the spread of gentrification and preserve affordable housing in our communities,” Bunkeddeko said in a statement.

The plan calls for the creation of low-equity housing cooperatives, reinvesting in NYCHA housing, developing community land trusts, creating tax abatements for developers and entrepreneurs who bring business into Central Brooklyn and hire local residents must be encouraged to hire locally, offering quality careers to residents and a moratorium on wealthy developers being allowed to buy up apartment buildings and leave the units vacant.

“Housing is a human right. We are in dire need of affordable housing, and it’s time our leaders start supporting new, creative solutions to address this crisis,” Bunkeddeko said. – PK

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Treyger praises Mayor’s Chancellor choice

City Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island-Gravesend-Bensonhurst), chairman of the Council’s Education Committee, said he is pleased with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s choice for New York City schools chancellor, Richard Carranza.

“As a former educator, a product of immigrants and chair of the City Council’s Committee on Education, I am eager to speak with Chancellor Carranza, who began his career as a teacher, and learn more about his vision for our school system. I am pleased that, continuing the legacy of Chancellor Carmen Farina, Chancellor Carranza makes it a priority to spend time on-the-ground in schools,” Treyger said in a statement.

Prior to running for City Council in 2013, Treyger was a teacher at New Utrecht High School in Bensonhurst.

“I look forward to discussing opportunities to expand community schools, enhance social-emotional supports, tackle basic infrastructure needs, ensure that equity is felt in every school throughout the five boroughs and address many other pressing issues in our school system. As a fellow ‘vocal, voracious, passionate’ supporter of public schools, I welcome Chancellor Carranza, and look forward to working with him to ensure that all of our city’s 1.1 million students have an opportunity to excel,” Treyger said. – PK

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CBID endorses Velazquez, Jeffries, Clarke, Rose

The Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) announced the congressional candidates the club is endorsing for election in November.

The list includes incumbent U.S. Reps. Nydia Velázquez, Hakeem Jeffries and Yvette Clarke, as well as newcomer Max Rose.

In addition, CBID is backing two Long Island candidates, David Pechefsky and Liuba Grechen-Shirley.

“This election cycle is too important for us to only focus in our backyard, and we are excited to work with all six of these progressive Democrats across New York state. All six candidates represent the passion and fight that Democrats need to display this year as we work to take back the House. We look forward to supporting their campaigns and engaging with New Yorkers in the coming months,” CBID President Asher Novek said in a statement. – PK

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Brooklyn legislators fight internet sales tax

On March 1, state Sen. Marty Golden (R-C-I-Brooklyn), along with Assemblymembers Nicole Malliotakis (R-C-I-Brooklyn-Staten Island) and Ron Castorina Jr. (R-C-I-Staten Island), spoke out against an internet sales tax proposal expected to burden New Yorkers. The bill will require online providers with distribution centers in New York and at least $100 million in sales nationwide to collect state and local taxes on purchases by New York residents.

“This internet sales tax is merely an attempt to force the state’s working class to subsidize the governor’s reckless budget spending,” Malliotakis said. “States like Massachusetts and Maine have attempted to enact similar taxes in the past and have failed miserably, resulting in costly lawsuits that New York cannot afford at this time.”

Malliotakis also said this taxation would result in unfair increases in item costs nationwide and allow the government to retain lists of names and addresses of people who buy items online, which she called an intrusion on an individual’s privacy.

“As we all know, the digital marketplace has revolutionized how we buy and sell products. Placing a tax on items sold in the digital marketplace will have an adverse impact on internet consumers and businesses. This tax will send a message to digital companies that New York is closed for business,” Golden warned.

Castorina echoed Golden and voiced his own concerns about the proposed legislation saying, “This bill is premature. The Supreme Court has not yet decided on a major case affecting interstate commerce and the ability of vendors to collect sales tax. In addition, this bill only makes doing business in New York state more difficult.”

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Brooklyn Teen Republican Club calls for Pamela Harris’ resignation

The Brooklyn Teen Republican Club (BTRC) is calling for the resignation of Assemblymember Pamela Harris, who they feel has taken advantage of her position as an elected official and committed fraud by stealing thousands of taxpayers’ dollars.

Harris (D-Coney Island-Dyker Heights-Bay Ridge) is facing serious legal trouble over wire fraud, witness tampering and other charges.

Prosecutors said Harris pocketed $25,000 in federal funds by falsely claiming that Superstorm Sandy chased her from her Coney Island residence according to a report the Associated Press. She was also alleged to have spent some of the proceeds of the crimes on her mortgage, vacations and merchandise from Victoria’s Secret.

Harris pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges she has been accused of.

Seventeen-year-old political conservative activist Batya Goldberg is BTRC president and works closely with the Young Republican Club and its President Brandon Washington.

“On behalf of the Brooklyn Teen Republican Club, I am very excited to rally together residents of Brooklyn, who are tired of corrupted politicians,” Goldberg told the Brooklyn Eagle. “Pamela Harris has not only stolen thousands of dollars in taxpayers money, but she is still receiving her salary even though she is not showing up to work.

BTRC has planned a rally for Sunday, March 11 at 1:30 p.m. outside Harris’ district office at 8925 Third Ave. in Bay Ridge.