City Council Grappling
With Many Large Issues

he City Council meeting of October 15^th dealt with several issues of both local and international import.

The long-debated bill concerning advertisements on public newsstands finally came to a vote. Explaining why she was for it, Melinda Katz, Chair of the Land Use Committee, commented, "This will be the most money-making street furniture contract in the entire city, giving New York about $400 million in the next 20 years." She sees it as a fair agreement for the newsstand owners who will not be paying for the new structures, and she believes it will also create an incentive for the city to put more newsstands on the streets, thus increasing business opportunities for newsstand operators.

Alan Gerson, like many other Council Members, voted for the bill based on certain conditions: that 1) every displaced news dealer be given the chance to continue their business as close to their current location as possible, 2) in their design and ads, the newsstands respect the character of the neighborhoods, and 3) the dealers be afforded every right to display first amendment protected material.

Council Member and mayoral candidate Charles Barron voted against the legislation, stating, "I think the bill is much better than it was, but we should go further and look out for the little guys in town. They will not own their newsstands or get a piece of the advertising money. We can still come up with some legislation where the city can make its money and at the same time look after the working class, the struggling poor people in this town."

The bill passed 45 to 3. Council Members Barron, Allan Jennings and Hiram Monserrate cast the dissenting votes.

Another piece of legislation dealing with the rights of "the little guys" was the local law introduced by Monserrate requiring that any bus or other motor vehicle transporting children with disabilities to and from school be air conditioned. "I am the parent of an autistic child," he said, "and this will go a long way towards alleviating the anxiety our disabled children have while being on these small buses in the summer for over an hour in 100-degree temperatures. No child should be subjected to heat and illness to get to school, especially those with limited ability to communicate their needs."

This bill, too, passed overwhelmingly.

When the meeting moved on to the introduction of new legislation, Council Member Yvette Clarke introduced a bill she is co-sponsoring with Peter Vallone, Jr. It is aimed at protecting the rights of another very specific segment of our population: the survivors of sex crimes. Currently sex crimes cannot be prosecuted in the criminal courts after a specific time because of the statute of limitations. This proposed law would make it possible for people to pursue redress through the civil courts. "This is something desperately needed, given all of the recent scandals around sex crimes in New York City," stated Clarke.

Council Member Barron also introduced his very important resolution proposing an annual Racial Justice Day. "I think it's time for the City Council to take an annual stance and lay out its agenda to deal with racism in New York City," he declared. "Whether it's structural or institutional racism, or the economic racism that comes in with such things as contracting - too many contracts are given to groups other than people of color - or individual bigotry as happened on Staten Island, it must be addressed."

As to the issue of racism, Council Member Bill Perkins took a moment to speak out against the highly offensive board game Ghettopoly, a supposed spoof on Monopoly, saying it "has attacked communities of color in a very racist way." He applauded Council Member John Liu for spearheading a press conference the previous day, giving the leadership of the council the opportunity to make it clear that they, as an institution, do not condone such racism.

Stated Liu, "This so-called game is offensive on so many levels. It perpetuates the worst kinds of racist stereotypes. Its designer, David Chang, has been quoted saying that it draws on stereotypes not as a means to degrade, but as a medium to bring together in laughter. That statement itself is a joke. This thing will not bring anyone together; rather, it will divide people and communities."

The final resolution introduced at the meeting was by Council Member Larry Seabrook. It urges Congress to reject President Bush's request for $87 billion to fund ongoing military and intelligence operations and relief efforts and reconstruction activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While the US government certainly owes a huge debt for the destruction it caused these countries and should pay reparations to the Iraqi people for the suffering and destruction caused by war, occupation, and 13 years of economic sanctions, this $87 billion is not really going to them, but to the US military and into the coffers of select corporations.

Seabrook's resolution proposes that this $87 billion be allocated instead towards meeting the needs of people here at home. He spoke of the countless things the federal government is denying residents of this country - hospitals, firehouses, schools, filtration plants, job training, housing - and said, "We should show the Iraqi people how democracy works by providing all of the people of America with the basic fundamentals they need."

Council Member Kendall Stewart expressed his strong support for the resolution. "This money should be used for the improvement of the infrastructure and social services so badly needed right here in the United States, not for the occupation and the economic re-colonization of Iraq to the benefit of corporations like Halliburton, Bechtel, ExxonMobil and other well-connected trans-national corporations," he stated. "The use of our money for this purpose is obscene and an insult to every hardworking taxpayer in the nation."