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What’s News, Breaking: Thursday, April 20, 2023

April 20, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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LEONARD BERNSTEIN REMEMBERED: INTERVIEW WITH HIS DAUGHTER NINA

The great and incomparable musician Leonard Bernstein, who created “West Side Story” among other classics, is remembered by his daughter Nina Bernstein-Simmons in an interview on brooklyneagle.com. His many close friendships, including that of composer Aaron Copland, who was born and Brooklyn and was son of the canter at Kane Street Synagogue, took him all over the world and kept him close to many international celebrities. His daughter Nina saw it all.

Bernstein is famously buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, creating his final and most definitive link to Brooklyn. Recently, his children were honored with the DeWitt Clinton Award at an annual gala of the Green-Wood Foundation. Use this link to see the recent full interview with Nina Bernstein-Simmons.

Composers Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland. Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein (Whitestone Photo). Courtesy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives.

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COMMUNITY BOARD 2 COMMITTEE WILL HEAR PRESENTATION ON YOUTH SERVICES COORDINATION PROJECT

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN —The Youth Services Coordination Project will be a central agenda item at next Wednesday’s meeting of Community Board 2’s Youth, Education & Cultural Affairs Committee, to be convened via Zoom, April 26. Funded through the NYC Dept. of Youth & Community Development, The Youth Services Coordination Project will be a key coordinating mechanism for mentorship, crisis intervention and city services to 100 youths, ages 12-15 and 16-19 years old, in selected housing projects within Brooklyn Community Board 2.

The Whitman and Farragut public housing developments are included in this project.

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TREATING ARTHRITIS FORMS THROUGH DOT IMAGING IS FOCUS OF RESEARCH BY NYU TANDON PROFESSORS

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Professor Andreas Hielscher of NYU Tandon is also working on innovations to treat osteoarthritis. He is monitoring Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus Arthritis using optical tomography — specifically, DOT imaging — to track the way the disease progresses, and offers key insights into more potential treatments.

Professor Hielscher leads the recently established Department of Biomedical Engineering and directs research in his Clinical Biophotonics Laboratory with the mission of establishing optical tomography as a viable biomedical imaging modality.

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HOUSE LEADER, REP. YVETTE CLARKE PARTAKE IN ALLIANCE-BUILDING MEETINGS IN GHANA AND ISRAEL

BROOKLYN, GHANA AND ISRAEL — Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries is steering a Congressional delegation (CODEL) to Ghana and Israel, his first delegation in this role. They will convene high-level meetings with this key U.S. ally on advancing shared interests and building on Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit. The delegates, which includes Brooklyn Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-9), will have the chance to visit Ghanaian sites related to the transatlantic slave trade, before traveling to Israel to commemorate that nation’s 75th anniversary and participating in the recognition of Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day.

A CODEL (blended abbreviation) refers to a government-paid Congressional delegation to places or events of legislative interest.

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NYU TANDON RESEARCHER DEVELOPS GROUNDBREAKING PROTEIN TO HALT OSTEOARTHRITIS

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN  —  Osteoporosis is meeting its foe in Jin Kim Montclare, Ph.D., a professor in NYU Tandon’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering who “has found both the molecular vehicle and therapeutic payload for delivering pharmacologic treatment to affected joints, halting post-traumatic osteoarthritis onset and progression,” according to New York University’s weekly e-magazine. She and investigators from NYU Grossman School of Medicine have developed a compound that enables them to reach and remain in affected joint spaces, and remain effective in suppressing inflammation and even “induce cartilage regeneration by providing an optimal biomechanical and biochemical environment.”

Dr. Montclare conducts research specializing in “engineering proteins to mimic nature and, in some cases, work better than nature. She works to customize artificial proteins with the aim of targeting human disorders, drug delivery and tissue regeneration as well as create nanomaterials for electronics,” according to her bio on the NYU Tandon website.

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NY ATTORNEY GENERAL LEADS COALITION TO DISARM DOMESTIC ABUSERS

NATIONWIDE — New York Attorney General Letitia James and a multi-state coalition are fighting a court to prevent individuals under a domestic violence restraining order from accessing guns, and on Thursday filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court with that purpose. The coalition of 25 attorneys general is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (with jurisdiction in Louisiana and Texas), and is challenging that court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment to prohibit the disarming of persons even if they are subject to orders of protection. The coalition holds that federal law, by contrast, bars people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms.

The amicus brief refers to the case United States v. Rahimi, in which the defendant was placed under a domestic violence restraining order in Texas for assaulting and shooting a firearm at his girlfriend, and was subsequently involved in multiple shootings.

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CONEY ISLAND RESIDENTS SOUND OFF ABOUT NEW PROPOSED CASINO PLAN

Charlene Davis, a 40-year Coney Island resident, said that her neighborhood is already overcrowded, and she is also afraid that the crime will increase. Photo: Brooklyn Eagle.

CONEY ISLAND — Coney Island residents verbally clashed with developers in a heated and passionate exchange regarding the proposed “Coney” Casino and Entertainment Resort, where it seemed that the overwhelming majority of locals vehemently opposed the idea. Tempers flared and emotions ran high at the community forum held at Gargiulo’s in Coney Island this past Wednesday evening. Residents voiced their concerns, which included crime and overcrowding, among other “as yet unforeseen things.”

This was a stark contrast to a recent press release, courtesy of “The Coney,” the partnership group putting together the bid. The group is composed of Thor Equities, Saratoga Casino Holdings, Chickasaw Nation and Legends Hospitality Group. The release said that a significant number of community members are vastly in favor of a casino in their backyard. For more details on the meeting, click here.

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STATE CLOSES SHELLFISH COLLECTION AREAS AFTER TOXINS ARE FOUND IN MUSSELS

LONG ISLAND: BK, QNS, NASSAU, SUFFOLK — Brooklynites who collect and eat shellfish and other marine life like conches or snails from further out on Long Island are alerted that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on Thursday, April 20 temporarily closed certain shore harvest areas in Suffolk County after a batch of mussels tested positive for saxitoxin. The mussels were collected as part of the Marine Biotoxin Monitoring Program from monitoring sites in Meetinghouse and Jockey Creeks. The closures also impact Flanders Bay, Riverhead, Southampton Town and Jockey Creeks in Southold.

Filter-feeding shellfish — clams, oysters, mussels, and scallops — can accumulate marine biotoxins, which can cause illness in shellfish consumers. Carnivorous gastropods — whelks, conchs, moon snails — feed on shellfish and can accumulate biotoxins at levels that are hazardous to human health.

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MAIMONIDES MIDWOOD COMMUNITY HOSPITAL CUTS RIBBON ON NEW INFUSION CENTER

MIDWOOD/FLATBUSH — Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital (MMCH) officially cut the ribbon this week on a 17-chair infusion center and opened a new state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology area. The advancements are part of a transformation effort underway since 2018, when MMCH joined the Maimonides Health system. The Infusion Center, in partnership with Hematology Oncology Associates of Brooklyn, eliminates the need for patients to travel to other locations for treatment, and spans two floors and patient care areas, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows that create a bright, airy environment for infusion therapy, and plush recliners and televisions for patients receiving treatment for cancer, multiple sclerosis, kidney disease, and anemia, among other conditions.

The transformation began with the addition of cutting-edge technologies in the emergency department and will continue with the planned addition of a cardiac catheterization suite in 2024.

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COMMUNITY HEALTH AND RESOURCE FAIR OFFERS TESTING, VACCINES AND OTHER SERVICES

CONEY ISLAND AND BRIGHTON BEACH — Residents of southern Brooklyn, including Brighton Beach and Coney Island, will be treated to a Community Health And Resource Fair this Sunday, April 23, thanks to a partnership between the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island and The Shorefront Jewish Community Council. The fair, running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., will offer tuberculosis and COVID-19 testing, vaccines, health insurance enrollment, mammogram services (registration required via phone: 718-449-5000 x 2406); social services, emergency food pantry, and blood pressure screening. The venue is 128 Brighton Beach Avenue, 5th Floor,

Gift cards of $25 will be distributed to all participants who get vaccinated at Sunday’s event.

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HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS CHARGED IN SCHEMES: FAKE VACCINE CARDS, LOAN APPLICATIONS

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Instead of helping their patients stay well, five health care professionals have been charged in Brooklyn federal court for their participation in separate schemes that fraudulently distributed more than 2,600 fake COVID-19 vaccination records cards, and defrauded the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program of more than $1.7 million. The five, including two certified nurse midwives, one licensed practical nurse and two health care business owners, have been charged with fraudulently enrolling an Albany-based midwifery company, Sage-Femme Midwifery PLLC, as COVID-19 vaccination sites, creating fake vaccination cards and claiming to have administered the dosages to minors who were ineligible due to age — and not even physically present in the U.S. on the recorded date of vaccination.

The charges filed in federal court in Brooklyn, NY, are part of a nationwide COVID-19 enforcement action led by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

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SPAYATHON WEEKENDS AIM TO PREVENT PROLIFERATION OF HOMELESS CATS IN CITY

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS AND PARK SLOPE — Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition (BBAWC), the nonprofit animal rescue that operates the rescue refuge Brooklyn Cat Café, is sponsoring two Spayathon weekends offering free spay/neuter services for up to 400 rescued and feral cats. The free services, made possible through a generous grant from the Regina Bauer Frankenberg Foundation, will include a brief veterinary exam, rabies vaccine, FVRCP vaccine, flea and worm treatment, and microchip, and will be available at the BBAWC Rescue Clinic surgery locations at Brooklyn Cat Cafe and Park Slope Veterinary Center on the weekends of May 6-7 and June 2-4.

“If you want to stop the proliferation of homeless cats on the streets of New York City, then small rescues need institutional and financial support, including access to low-cost spay/neuter services,” said Anne Levin, Executive Director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition and Brooklyn Cat Café, a community space where felines can adopt the human of their choice.

Photo: Alexandra Steedman/Eagle.

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HIGH SCHOOL ART CONTEST CELEBRATES JEWISH LIFE IN BROOKLYN

BOROUGHWIDE — Artwork that depicts Jewish life in Brooklyn is the focus of a competition that The Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative has launched, inviting students grades 9-12 around the borough to contribute drawings, paintings, photos, sculpture or mixed media art that showcase Jewish life in the borough. The art can chronicle holiday celebrations, services at shul, cooking or dancing. Students will need to fill out the online form with their name, school, grade, teacher and contact information when submitting their applications, along with photographs of the completed art projects.

Winners will receive a cash prize and an invitation to a public installation and an awards ceremony to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month.

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TEENS PLAN URBAN ART PARTY

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — The Brooklyn Public Library’s Youth Council is producing the Urban Art Jamm this weekend, a party for teens and by teens that will feature music, food, crafts and more. This year’s theme is “Library After Dark,” and participants can enjoy a DIY photobooth, cornhole and board games, tote bag decorating, slime making, personal book recommendations and a cooking demonstration; while teen bands Bombe de Terre and Cellarhead will perform live.

The event will take place on Saturday, April 22, at BPL’s central branch in Grand Army Plaza from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; teens can get a gift by bringing unopened period products to support BPL’s Cycle Alliance and fight period poverty in Brooklyn.

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GOLDMAN DEMANDS ETHICS BILL AFTER THOMAS BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS

WASHINGTON — Congressman Dan Goldman on Wednesday joined 34 of his colleagues in sending a letter to Republican House leaders demanding action on the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, which would create a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court, involving guardrails against conflicts of interests, gift and lobbying disclosures, amicus brief funding source disclosures, mandatory recusals in certain circumstances and a Supreme Court complaint investigative board. The letter comes after investigations earlier this month uncovered decades of undisclosed gifts and travel received by Justice Clarence Thomas from GOP political donor Harlan Crow, totaling millions of dollars; including a trip worth over $500,000 and overvalued purchases of homes from family members.

“Justice Thomas’ conflicts of interests have not only permanently undermined his ability to do the job, they also have severely damaged the legitimacy of the Supreme Court. Ethics regulations are imperative for the Legislative and Executive branches, and it is long past time that the Supreme Court be held to ethical standards that assure the American people that the Court is acting in the interests of the country,” wrote Goldman in a press release.

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WILLIAMS, ACTIVISTS APPLAUD $53M SOLITARY JAIL SETTLEMENT

CITYWIDE — Public Advocate Jumaane Williams on Wednesday released a statement praising a $53 million settlement between the city and a group of thousands of former prisoners who suffered under solitary confinement, but criticized the city’s prisons for continuing the practice and called for the passage of legislation banning solitary confinement citywide. Williams also criticized what he called “disingenuous disagreements about the semantics of solitary confinement and the false assertions that it does not occur,” on the part of the city, which refers to the practice as “punitive segregation” and claims that it is only used to isolate dangerous prisoners — a claim that Williams believes the settlement disproves.

Activists at the #HALTsolitary campaign echoed these sentiments, with Co-Director and former solitary inmate Victor Pate writing in a press statement, “Now is the time for the New York City Council to pass Intro No. 549, legislation with veto-proof supermajority support, to finally end solitary confinement in all its forms by all its names, and to utilize alternative forms of separation proven to better protect people’s health and improve safety for all.”

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COUNCIL TO HOLD HEARING ON ACCELERATED CUNY DEGREE PROGRAM

CIVIC CENTER — The City Council’s Higher Education Committee will on Thursday conduct an oversight hearing on CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) initiative, a program available for associate-degree students at select CUNY schools that provide academic, financial and personal support, as well as an accelerated study program that helps students graduate in less time. The committee will seek an overview of ASAP’s status, CUNY’s assessment of its targeted and actual graduation rates for ASAP students and CUNY’s plan to publicize ASAP moving forward.

The hearing will take place in City Hall’s Committee Room on Thursday, April 20, at 1 p.m. and can be viewed online via livestream on the council’s official website.

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SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT CENTER TO OPEN IN EAST NEW YORK

EAST NEW YORK — The Institute for Community Living on Wednesday announced the launch of the new Hope and Recovery Center, an outpatient substance-use treatment program, at its East New York Health Hub. Individuals and family members coming to the Hub (which offers integrated physical and mental health care and resources for families and children) can receive substance-use disorder treatment along with primary care, therapy, medication management and more, in a compassionate and trauma-informed environment.

“The need for substance use disorder treatment has never been greater. The overdose crisis has reached historic levels — 2,668 individuals died of a drug overdose in New York City in 2021, an increase of 78% since 2019 and 27% since 2020. Alcohol-related deaths increased by 25% nationwide from 2019 to 2020,” the institute wrote in a press statement.

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CHAPIN SISTER SINGERS RELEASE ODE TO BERGEN STREET

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Folk singers Lily and Abigail Chapin — the daughters of Tom Chapin and nieces of Harry Chapin, singer of “Cat’s in the Cradle” — have released a new ballad paying wistful homage to their childhood home, Brooklyn, reports BK Reader. The song, “Bergen Street,” is based around the sisters’ adult lives in Prospect Heights, and is a long goodbye to the neighborhood, as the duo has decamped upstate due to pandemic concerns.

“Bergen Street” is about the “dance between the timelessness of a place… with the history that’s constantly written and rewritten over it. New developments going over old developments, things coming down and going up, people coming and going, businesses closing and opening,” Lily told BK Reader.

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GILLIBRAND LEADS SENATE HEARING ON UFOS

WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Wednesday chaired a Senate Armed Forces subcommittee hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena encountered by troops in the skies over the U.S., otherwise known as UFOs. The senator spoke on reports of military members encountering flying objects with what she called “strong evidence of advanced technology reflected in [their] features and performance characteristics,” and criticized the Biden administration and the Pentagon for underfunding and sidelining the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, established by Congress to investigate these phenomena, in recent budgets, and when confronting aerial objects like the Chinese spy balloons earlier this year.

“While we have made progress, there remains a stigma attached to these phenomena… We don’t know where they come from, who made them, or how they operate. As former Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist observed, had any of these objects had the label ‘Made in China’ there would be an uproar in the government and media. There would be no stone unturned and no effort spared to find out what we were dealing with,” Gillibrand stated. “But because of the ‘UFO’ stigma, the response has been irresponsibly anemic and slow.”

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STATE SENATE CONFIRMS APPEALS COURT JUSTICE ROWAN WILSON AS THE NEW CHIEF JUDGE IN 40-19 VOTE

ALBANY — The New York State Senate on Wednesday, April 19, with a 40-19 vote, smoothly confirmed Governor Kathy Hochul’s nomination of Justice Rowan D. Wilson as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, according to several news reports. Wilson, considered a progressive, becomes the first Black jurist to become the state’s highest-ranking judge of the court in which he has served as Associate Justice since 2017; and as Chief Judge, he will also administer the state’s complex court system.

The Democratic-controlled State Senator had rejected Gov. Hochul’s first nominee, Hon. Hector LaSalle, Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division/2nd Department in Brooklyn. Though also a Democrat, Justice LaSalle was viewed as too conservative and anti-union.

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BROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL TO HOST FIELD HEARING ON ‘ZOMBIE’ SECOND MORTGAGES AND OTHER DEBT

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — “Zombie” second mortgages — ones that consumers thought had long been satisfied or forgiven — will be the topic of a field hearing that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will hold, to be hosted at Brooklyn Law School next week. CFPB Director Director Rohit and local community organizations, advocates and lenders will discuss the “zombie” mortgages and other debt issues, and what policy leaders are doing to help those who are impacted. Members of the public will also have the chance to give testimony at the field hearing, taking place at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26.

The experts will explain how homeowners can protect themselves from old-debt collections.

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GOWANUS GRIND SKATEBOARD EVENT THIS WEEKEND

GOWANUS — Thomas Greene Park will host the 14th annual Gowanus Grind event this Saturday, a yearly celebration of skateboarding talent and culture. The event will feature youth skateboarding lessons, performances from the Gowanus Wildcats Drill Team, a pizza party and more.

The Gowanus Grind will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 22; more information can be found online on the Friends of Thomas Greene Park website.

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ELECTRIC CAR CHARGER NETWORK PILOT ANNOUNCED

SUNSET PARK — Brooklyn-based electric car charger company itselectric, in partnership with Hyundai, on Tuesday announced that it will be deploying a pilot program of six of its chargers to two Brooklyn locations — the Brooklyn Army Terminal and Steiner Studios at the Brooklyn Navy Yard — and recruiting local electric vehicle owners to test the viability of its concept, according to a press release on PR Newswire. itselectric’s innovative network concept involves revenue-sharing for property owners who install the publicly accessible chargers streetside on their land, which it hopes will allow for city-wide car charging networks without putting strain on municipal budgets.

The pilot program will run for two months, followed by another four months during which the chargers will remain operational.

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NEW YORK TIMES 100 BEST RESTAURANTS LIST RELEASED

CITYWIDE — The New York Times has released its list of the 100 best city restaurants of 2023, with Williamsburg’s Scandinavian-tasting restaurant Aska taking the top spot for Brooklyn’s restaurants, coming in at number 16 citywide. Williamsburg had an excellent showing in this year’s awards, with other local spots like Italian restaurants Lilia and Misi and New American restaurant The Four Horsemen getting rave reviews.

Some were unhappy with Brooklyn’s relative lack of representation on the list, however – Greenpointer notes that the Times only selected 19 Brooklyn restaurants this year, and points out the surprising omission of Michelin-starred Mexican eatery Oxomoco.

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LEGAL AID SOCIETY URGES END TO NYPD GANG DATABASE

CITYWIDE — The Legal Aid Society on Tuesday issued a statement calling for the abolishment of the NYPD’s gang member database, which tracks individuals the police suspect of being involved with criminal gangs, in response to a report analyzing the database recently released by the NYPD Inspector General. The Society contends that the database is needlessly broad and can put members of underprivileged groups under unfair suspicion on the basis of things such as appearing in photographs with other alleged gang members or even just wearing certain colors in social media post, and is urging the City Council to pass legislation that would ban the use of the database and prevent the police from creating another one.

While the report did not find that inclusion in the database produced adverse effects for individuals, it also revealed that the NYPD doesn’t follow consistent procedures when adding people to it and that its existence reduces trust in the police in impacted communities.

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AGRICULTURE DEPT. APPROVES REIMBURSEMENTS TO VICTIMS OF SNAP BENEFITS THEFT

STATEWIDE — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved New York’s plan to reimburse SNAP recipients who had their benefits stolen, and three members of Congress representing the state applaud the move. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Reps. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-7/eastern Brooklyn and Queens) and Grace Meng (D-6/Queens) had fought to include in last year’s federal government spending bill relief funds for victims of SNAP theft from skimming scammers. The state can now process household claims of stolen benefits and reimburse households using federal funds.

The 2023 omnibus appropriations bill provided two years of reimbursements for SNAP recipients who had money stolen from their benefits.

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STATE UNVEILS NEW CANNABIS CAMPAIGN: ‘BUY LEGAL’

STATEWIDE — Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday announced the launch of “Why Buy Legal New York,” a public education campaign promoting the state’s licensed dispensaries, prior to the popular cannabis-centered celebration of April 20. The campaign’s announcements, which will run mostly on digital platforms, warn of the potential health risks of consuming unregulated cannabis products from unlicensed businesses, and explain the social and economic equity goals of New York’s cannabis licensing process.

Critics of New York’s cannabis legalization rollout believe that the state’s equity-focused licensing requirements for recreational dispensaries are too restrictive — a lawsuit over the terms of the legalization delayed recreational dispensaries from opening in Brooklyn, with only three operational in the city, all in Manhattan — and has caused the emergence of a gray market for weed products.

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NEW CONSUMER GUIDE AVAILABLE FOR  BUSINESSES TO PROTECT CUSTOMERS’ SENSITIVE DATA

STATEWIDE — A new consumer guide from the New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office aims to help businesses adopt effective data security measures to better protect New Yorkers’ personal information. Drawn from the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) experience investigating and prosecuting businesses following cybersecurity breaches, this online guide offers a series of recommendations intended to help companies prevent breaches and secure their data, discusses some failures found in recent data security investigations, as well as recommends practices business should adopt to better secure their systems, fortify their networks and strengthen their data security measures.

Among these recommendations: maintaining controls for secure authentication; encrypting sensitive customer information such as social security or account numbers; and, ensuring that a business’ third-party vendors also use reasonable security measures.

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NY ELECTEDS INTRODUCE CLOSING THE MEAL GAP ACT TO EXPAND SNAP BENEFITS

NATIONWIDE — Two members of the New York Congressional delegation on Wednesday, April 19, introduced the Closing the Meal Gap Act, which would expand and strengthen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for more than 40 million vulnerable Americans, nearly half of whom are children. U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Representative Nydia Velázquez (D-07/eastern Brooklyn and Queens), and Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) held a press conference on the Closing the Meal Gap Act, which would also benefit older adults, people with disabilities and veterans.

Senator Gillibrand leads this legislation with Representative Alma Adams (D-NC-12/Charlotte area). The lawmakers made sure to make constituents aware of Republican efforts to slash SNAP benefits during the debt ceiling fight. Leaders of Hunger Free AMERICA and Foodlink WIC Outreach were also present for the announcement.

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