Good Morning, Brooklyn: Tuesday, November 9, 2021

November 9, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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POWER 100 WOMEN IN BROOKLYN: Regina Myer of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership is named in City & State magazine’s “The Power of Diversity: Women” 100 list. City & State’s Kay Dervishi wrote and researched the list that recognizes the prominent women —many in politics and other industries as well— who wield power across New York state. City & State credits Regina Myer with ensuring that Brooklyn businesses rebound from the pandemic’s challenges. She has “led efforts to revitalize the area’s arts and cultural activities this past year, while also taking a look at ensuring more public spaces in Downtown Brooklyn become pedestrian-friendly.”

City & State’s “analysis looks into how much influence each individual holds – and how they use it to shape New York’s political landscape.”

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MORE BROOKLYN POWER 100: City & State’s list titled “The Power of Diversity: Women 100” includes, in addition to NY Attorney General Letitia James, and Reps. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Yvette Clarke and Nydia Velázquez, several Brooklynites in public relations and health care. Among the women making this year’s roster are Valerie Berlin of the PR firm BerlinRosen; Lupé Todd-Medina, president of Effective Media Strategies; and LaRay Brown, CEO of One Brooklyn Health.

LaRay Brown has taken charge of “actively managing and integrating the component parts of One Brooklyn Health, which comprises Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, Interfaith Medical Center and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center,” according to City & State.

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PUBLIC INPUT WANTED ON REDISTRICTING: New Yorkers are invited to give comments and feedback at the next Public Forum on Redistricting taking place next Tuesday, Nov. 16, 3 p.m., at Medgar Evers College (CUNY). The Independent Redistricting Commission of New York State (NYIRC) is seeking public input about the community and feedback on voters’ current district lines for state legislative and congressional districts — and the two sets of newly proposed maps that the NYIRC published in September, available via www.nyirc.gov.

This redistricting process happens every 10 years after the decennial census, and this is the first time it will be taking place through a bipartisan commission. After a vote on the maps, the results are certified by the IRC and presented to the NYS Legislature.

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BAY RIDGE ARAB GROUPS CONVENE ON REDISTRICTING: Charging that Bay Ridge’s Arab community is being adversely affected by current political map, several advocacy groups are holding a Bay Ridge Town Hall on Redistricting. Co-hosting the meeting, which takes place tomorrow, Nov. 10 at the Beit El-Maqdis Islamic Center, are the Arab American Association of NY, Women’s Empowerment Coalition of NYC, Yemeni American Merchants Association, and the New York Immigration Coalition.

The Town Hall will focus on creating fair electoral districts to political representation and what the community can do to fix the redistricting in their part of Brooklyn.

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PROTEST LACK OF SAFEGUARDS IN DREDGING PROJECT: Coney Islanders for an Ocean Side Ferry, residents, community leaders and environmental activists and Assemblymember Mathylde Frontus will protest tomorrow at Coney Island Creek/Kaiser Park tomorrow, Wednesday, November 10, urging the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to revoke permits issued to the NYC Economic Development Corporation for dredging as part of the construction of a new ferry terminal at the Park. Their demand comes after the contractor was recorded removing materials from the polluted creek without employing the required safeguards to ensure toxins are not released into the air or water.

The Economic Development Corp. has confirmed that due to a “lapse in supervision,” a subcontractor working on the project “did not follow established protocols” and “performed the work in a manner that is against all of the precautions” the agency has instituted to protect public health during this project.

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IN PUBLIC SERVICE: VEHICLE AIRBAGS IN USED CARS: A new law, titled “Anthony Amoros’ Law,” prohibits used car dealers from selling vehicles at retail without a functioning airbag. Under this legislation, certificates given to vehicle buyers must certify that the vehicle is equipped with an airbag, as well as a readiness indicator light that indicates the airbag is functioning.

The law, which Gov. Hochul signed on Monday, is named after a young man from Rockland who died in a crash in a car that, unbeknownst to him, was sold to him without airbags.

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IN PUBLIC SERVICE: OUTRAGED OVER CLAIMS DENIAL FOR SEWERS: Assemblymember William Colton (D-Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) has expressed outrage at insurance companies denying sewer-backup coverage to their policyholders. He declared it “wrong for the insurance companies to take advantage of the policyholders by denying sewer-backup claims and at the same time charge them an extra premium for the sewer backup, just because drain backups occurred at the same time that a flood was declared.” The cause of the backup might have been inadequate sewer lines, clogged city sewer lines, or clogged catch basins.

Colton added that in the wake of a letter that was sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul, urging her to use her gubernatorial power to require insurance companies to honor sewer backup claims, “the city must execute regular maintenance of clogged sewer lines. The DEP is obliged to schedule a vacuuming-out the bottoms of city sewers and catch basins to avoid recurrence of severe leaks when there is heavy rainfall.”

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IN PUBLIC SERVICE: FLOODING ASSISTANCE: Meanwhile, Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-7^th District) is hosting a virtual Town Hall on FEMA Flooding Assistance this evening, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 6-7p.m. FEMA, SBA Disaster Assistance, the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency, will make presentations. Register: https://bit.ly/3BHjMWV

The deadline to apply for Individual Assistance is December 6.

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IN PUBLIC SERVICE: FIGHTING ROBOCALLS: A package of legislation that Governor Kathy Hochul signed on Monday requires telecommunication companies to block robocalls from certain numbers to prevent unwanted robocalls across additional service providers. One part of the bill package requires voice-service providers to implement the STIR/SHAKEN call authentication framework to validate that a call is actually coming from the number it displays. Another bill codifies the provisions of a rule allowing telecommunications companies to proactively block calls from certain numbers, including calls that are the most likely to be illegitimate, and coming from numbers that do not or cannot generate outgoing calls.

STIR/SHAKEN also makes it much easier to trace illegal calls back to their source, since each call will have an identification assigned to it. Once the source is identified, enforcement actions can be taken against the perpetrators.

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IN PUBLIC SERVICE: BLOCKING REALTORS WHO HARASS HOMEOWNERS: A new law, effective immediately, requires the Department of State to hold hearings and conduct an investigation to determine if Brooklyn needs to be designated as a real estate cease-and desist zone, which will help prevent aggressive real estate solicitation from brokers or agents at private residences. If the Department of State finds a zone is warranted, homeowners in Kings County would be able to place their names and addresses on a real estate cease-and-desist list, providing them with a choice to opt out of receiving unwanted real estate solicitation at their homes.

Sponsors for the legislation, that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed on Monday, were Brooklyn elected officials: State Senator Kevin Parker and Assemblymember (and newly-appointed U.S. Ambassador) Nick Perry.