Street vendors, ACS and
more dealt with by City Council
e’ve
all seen them and most of us have bought things from them - those
enterprising, hardworking street vendors of New York City.
Whether
we came out without our umbrella and it’s starting to rain, or it’s 98
degrees and we feel like we’re going to expire without a cold beverage,
it seems like there’s always a vendor nearby, offering us what we need.
These individuals, many of them immigrants, are part of what gives this
city its unique flavor.
Yet, since 9/11, street vendors have been having a
tough time of it. That’s why it was good to see Council Member and
mayoral candidate Charles Barron introduce legislation on their behalf
at the latest City Council meeting.
With a contingent of impeccably well-behaved vendors
watching from the Council Chamber Balcony, Barron asked his colleagues
to support his Intro. #491, which would terminate the requirement that
applicants disclose their immigration status when applying for a street
vending license. As Barron pointed out, no one else going into business
has to reveal this information about themself.
And what this requirement does is turn the vendors
licensing process into an extension of the Department of Homeland
Security, formerly know as the INS. "We are not going to act as cops for
the INS," Barron said. "Our vendors work hard. They come here and the
city hasn't provided jobs for them, so they are creative, energetic, and
intelligent enough to provide jobs for themselves. It's high time we
respect the intellectual, cultural, and economic capital that immigrants
bring to this city of immigrants."
The
legislation was met enthusiastically by many council members. Miguel
Martinez said that the bill simply requires that this application
procedure meet the standards set forth in the City’s Executive Order 41,
which ensures people’s right not to disclose their immigration status.
This legislation would give them the opportunity to work without fear of
being harassed by the Police Department or Department of Consumer
Affairs when they're trying to earn a decent living.
Council Member Margarita Lopez added that it’s time
for the City to stop giving lip service to immigrants. "If we're really
going to assist them, we should help them sustain themselves through
decent jobs that they provide for themselves," she stated.
During
the meeting several other excellent pieces of legislation addressing the
concerns of people, from children to senior citizens, were also
introduced. Tracy Boyland, Chair of the Women’s Issues Committee,
brought her colleagues’ attention to a bill Letitia James and she were
introducing to deal with what many people perceive to be the too hasty
removal of children from their parents by the Administration for
Children’s Services (ACS). It has also been noted that these policies
have had a disproportionate impact on communities of color and the poor.
The bill calls for the establishment of a Child
Welfare Parent Advocate Advisory Program and an Advisory Board. It would
require organizations that supply foster care services to the City to
provide a parent advocate to advise parents of their rights and
obligations and to help them navigate the system. Further, it would
create an advisory board of parent advocates to critique ACS programs
and policies.
Council
Member John Liu, Chair of the Transportation Committee, also introduced
a resolution calling upon the Governor and the Mayor to address the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) projected budget deficit
in 2005 so that the proposed service cuts and fare hikes do not fall on
the backs of transit riders or transit workers. Margarita Lopez backed
him to the hilt, declaring that the actions of the MTA Board can no
longer be tolerated. They raise the fares for people who use the transit
system but don’t do anything to fix the mess in the administration of
the system where people are drawing down big fat salaries.
Finally,
Council Member David Weprin introduced a resolution calling upon the New
York State Assembly to amend the definition of "income" to exclude
medical and prescription drug expenses paid by senior citizens that are
not reimbursed or paid by insurance. This would allow seniors who fall
out of the Senior Citizens Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) program
because they have too high an income, to get back into the program if
they have out-of-pocket medical expenses. This resolution hopes to ease
the burden that skyrocketing health care costs place on seniors, and
lessen their worries about living in unregulated apartments where
they’re in danger of becoming unable to pay their rent and thus losing
their homes.
e’ve
all seen them and most of us have bought things from them - those
enterprising, hardworking street vendors of New York City.
Whether
we came out without our umbrella and it’s starting to rain, or it’s 98
degrees and we feel like we’re going to expire without a cold beverage,
it seems like there’s always a vendor nearby, offering us what we need.
These individuals, many of them immigrants, are part of what gives this
city its unique flavor.
The
legislation was met enthusiastically by many council members. Miguel
Martinez said that the bill simply requires that this application
procedure meet the standards set forth in the City’s Executive Order 41,
which ensures people’s right not to disclose their immigration status.
This legislation would give them the opportunity to work without fear of
being harassed by the Police Department or Department of Consumer
Affairs when they're trying to earn a decent living.
During
the meeting several other excellent pieces of legislation addressing the
concerns of people, from children to senior citizens, were also
introduced. Tracy Boyland, Chair of the Women’s Issues Committee,
brought her colleagues’ attention to a bill Letitia James and she were
introducing to deal with what many people perceive to be the too hasty
removal of children from their parents by the Administration for
Children’s Services (ACS). It has also been noted that these policies
have had a disproportionate impact on communities of color and the poor.
Council
Member John Liu, Chair of the Transportation Committee, also introduced
a resolution calling upon the Governor and the Mayor to address the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) projected budget deficit
in 2005 so that the proposed service cuts and fare hikes do not fall on
the backs of transit riders or transit workers. Margarita Lopez backed
him to the hilt, declaring that the actions of the MTA Board can no
longer be tolerated. They raise the fares for people who use the transit
system but don’t do anything to fix the mess in the administration of
the system where people are drawing down big fat salaries.
Finally,
Council Member David Weprin introduced a resolution calling upon the New
York State Assembly to amend the definition of "income" to exclude
medical and prescription drug expenses paid by senior citizens that are
not reimbursed or paid by insurance. This would allow seniors who fall
out of the Senior Citizens Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) program
because they have too high an income, to get back into the program if
they have out-of-pocket medical expenses. This resolution hopes to ease
the burden that skyrocketing health care costs place on seniors, and
lessen their worries about living in unregulated apartments where
they’re in danger of becoming unable to pay their rent and thus losing
their homes.
