In Public Service – January 30, 2020

January 30, 2020 Paula Katinas

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Frontus sponsors sex harassment prevention bill

Assemblymember Mathylde Frontus is sponsoring a bill that would require colleges in New York State to develop policies to protect students from sexual harassment.

“Students who are sexually harassed face their tormentors on campus again and again, but the problem remains underreported and unaddressed far too often,” said Frontus, a Democrat representing Coney Island and parts of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights.

“A hostile campus culture denies students access to a safe and secure educational environment,” said Frontus, a professor of social work who has taught at Columbia University and New York University.

Frontus said a constituent who was sexually harassed by a fellow student on a New York City campus alerted her to the gap in the state’s existing “Enough is Enough” law regarding colleges and their responsibility to protect victims. Frontus’ bill aims to close that gap.

Myrie leads student voter registration drive

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, chairperson of the State Senate’s Elections Committee, will lead a student voter registration drive at three Brooklyn high schools at the Wingate Campus in East Flatbush on Jan. 31.

Under state legislation passed in 2019, 16- and 17-year-olds are allowed to pre-register to vote before they turn 18. The law went into effect on Jan. 1.

Myrie will be working with Deputy Mayor J. Phillip Thompson and the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Policy Initiatives on the voter registration drive.

The three high schools involved in the effort are the High School of Human Rights, the Brooklyn Institute of Liberal Arts and the High School for Public Service.

Myrie, a Democrat, represents Crown Heights and parts of Park Slope and Sunset Park.

Salazar, Reynoso to co-host ‘Green Light NY’ session

State Sen. Julia Salazar and Councilmember Antonio Reynoso will co-host an information session to help residents learn more about New York State’s “Green Light NY” law allowing all people in the state, regardless of immigration status, to obtain a driver’s license.

The information session will take place on Saturday, Feb. 1, at Bushwick United Methodist Church, 1139 Bushwick Ave., from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The “Green Light NY” law went into effect on Dec. 16.

The event will include a childcare area for parents attending with their children, refreshments, representatives from the Department of Motor Vehicles and NYC ID, and immigration lawyers and activists.

Both Salazar and Reynoso are Democrats representing Bushwick and neighborhoods in North Brooklyn.