Tag: new york

Gov. Kathy Hochul Plan to Overrule Local Zoning as Democrats Head Into Election Season

New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed she is dropping an initiative to pass legislation mandating the Empire State expand its housing growth in individual communities as Democrats head into an election season that could prove contentious.

“I’ll work with [the Legislature], but I also have so many priorities, I’m not going to head down the same path we did last year with the exact same plan, in a year that is an election year for members,” Hochul said Thursday at an unrelated event, according to City & State.

Hochul is readying to release her agenda for 2024, but pursuing legislation that would mandate housing construction will not make the cut, sources previously told City & State. Housing was a cornerstone of Hochul’s agenda after she was elected to four years in office in 2022.

Hochul attempted to rally the legislature to pass her “New York Housing Compact” earlier this year, which aimed to build 800,000 new homes and affordable housing over the next decade. The plan would have handed the state new authority to override zoning laws in towns that did not want to comply with expanding housing options.

The plan, however, failed in the legislature this spring, after lawmakers, most notably in New York City suburbs, railed against Albany having a say in how municipalities build and regulate housing.

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NY Lawmaker Claims “Smoking Gun” In NYC Migrant Voter Fraud Scheme

A New York state lawmaker says she’s found ‘smoking gun’ evidence that New York City is trying to illegally register migrants to vote in upcoming elections.

“On page 50 of this contract, there is an entire section dedicated to voter registration,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) on Sunday, after she and four other Staten Island Republicans claimed a city contract with a nonprofit hired to run a Staten Island shelter includes a stipulation that voter registration forms are to be distributed among asylum seekers.

“We believe this is the smoking gun that proves what we’ve been saying all along — that the city intends to register non-citizens to vote.”

The contract in question, between the city and Homes for Homeless, governs the operation of the shelter at the site of a shuttered nursing home in Midland beach.

According to Malliotakis, who obtained the document via a state Freedom of Information Law request, includes a provision that the nonprofit will act in accordance with the NYC charter, which states that they “shall provide and distribute voter registration forms to all persons,” which are to be made available in Spanish and Chinese. In another portion, the nonprofit “shall not inquire about a client or potential client’s immigration status” unless it pertains to the services in question.

It is unclear if the language is standard in city contracts for shelter and housing services.

Under city law, Big Apple voters must be US citizens, have been a New York City resident for at least 30 days and be at least 18 years of age before Election Day.

A measure passed overwhelmingly by the City Council in December 2021, opened the door for green card holders and other legal non-residents to qualify to vote in local elections — although not in state or national races — but was struck down by a Staten Island judge.

Supreme Court Judge Ralph Porzio issued a permanent injunction blocking the law in June 2022, but that ruling is being appealed by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. –NY Post

While it’s unclear if the language is standard in city contracts for shelter and housing services, the city’s Department of Social Services hit back on Sunday, saying in a statement “These allegations are false and baseless. DHS is legally required to include language around voter registration in shelter contracts and this guidance applies only to eligible clients who are citizens, and would clearly not apply to asylum seekers in shelter.”

What?

“They are bringing to you voter registration of people who are here illegally, and as soon as they’re here for 30 days, how is it they’re entitled to vote?” said State Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo in comments to reporters. “What’s the first thing they’re going to vote for? Better hotel rooms?” he quipped.

“How do they even understand the American system of government?“

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New York Lawmakers Send Governor Bill To Allow Hemp Seeds In Food For Pets, Horses And Llamas

The New York legislature has sent a pair of bills to the governor that would allow hemp seeds to be included in animal feed for pets, horses and camelids such as llamas and alpacas.

About five months after the Assembly and Senate passed the legislation from Assemblymember Donna Lupardo (D) and Sen. Michelle Hinchey (D), the identical versions from each chamber were transmitted to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Wednesday.

The measures specify that industrial hemp seed that could be added to certain animal feed includes seed hulls and seed meal. Supporters say that the cannabis products could be a nutritious additive that’s high in protein and fiber.

“Industrial hemp produces a wide range of useful materials, including building materials, fibers that can be woven into clothing, chaff for animal bedding, and seeds that are available on grocery store shelves in items [like] granola, snack bars, and cookies,” a justification memo attached to the legislation says. “Industrial hemp is federally approved for each of these uses.”

“Only the seeds of the industrial hemp plant, including shell casings and seed meal resulting from processing hemp hearts for human consumption, would be authorized for use in animal feed,” it continues. “Studies indicate that industrial hemp seed provides a high protein, high fiber ingredient for animal consumption.”

The legislation, which is similar to measures that have been enacted in Montana and Pennsylvania, is backed by the National Hemp Association.

“Protecting industrial hemp production in New York will encourage greater production and research into the myriad uses of this plant, including as a renewable building material,” the text says. “It will also open the door for small, New York-based animal food processors to establish this marketplace before hemp seeds are authorized far use in commercial feed nationally.”

A fiscal note says that the legislation could ultimately increase tax revenue for the state because of “increased sales of New York hemp seed product and commercial feed.”

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New York Marijuana Lawsuit Settlement Could Let Hundreds Of Dispensaries Open Soon, But Some Operators Are Wary

Hundreds of people impacted by cannabis-related criminal charges will finally be allowed to move forward with the pot-shops they had already been granted licenses for—if the terms of a settlement agreement filed Tuesday are approved.

With marijuana legalization in 2021, the state created a special class of license called the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses (CAURD). The aim was to reward those most harmed by decades of harsh drugs laws with the first opportunity to enter the legal market.

That goal stalled in August, when a group of veterans sued the state, arguing that the CAURD program violated the law by not offering licenses to other social equity groups like women and veterans at the same time. An injunction preventing any new stores from opening has been in place since then.

At the time of the injunction, the state had already awarded 463 CAURD licenses, but just 23 dispensaries had opened. Thirty other licensees were close to opening dispensaries when the injunction halted their plans. Meanwhile, more and more illegal storefronts were popping up to fill the demand, as many as 8,000 by some estimates.

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Indian man charged with assassination plot aimed at Sikh activist in NYC

The Justice Department announced charges against an Indian man who’s accused of directing an assassination plot.

Nikhil “Nick” Gupta was charged on Wednesday after an Indian government employee who works on security and intelligence encouraged him to take out a Sikh activist who supports a sovereign state in northern India, the Department of Justice said.

The defendant conspired from India to assassinate, right here in New York City, a U.S. citizen of Indian origin who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state for Sikhs,” said Manhattan prosecutor Damian Williams in a statement.

It’s the second such incident announced in the past week. According to President Joe Biden’s administration, investigators foiled another plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States.

Among the most startling details in the Justice Department’s statement is an alleged revelation from Gupta to an undercover DEA agent that another Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, “was also the target.”

In fact, he revealed, “We have so many targets.”

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NYPD PAID OUT $30 MILLION IN MISCONDUCT CASES BEFORE LITIGATION IN FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2023

THE NEW YORK Police Department has been making headlines for the huge settlements paid out by the city in misconduct cases. In the first half of 2023, New York City paid more than $50 million in lawsuits alleging misconduct by members of the NYPD. 

That figure is on track to exceed $100 million by the end of the year — but even that total doesn’t capture how much the city has to spend in cases where its cops are accused of everything from causing car accidents to beating innocent people.

The $100 million figure does not include lawsuits settled by the city prior to litigation, which reached $30 million in the first nine months of this year, according to data obtained from the office of the New York City Comptroller through a public records request. Pre-litigation settlements from July 2022 through September of this year totaled $50 million — meaning the city’s payouts in such suits since July 2022, including those settled after litigation, rose to a total of around $280 million.

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NY Governor’s Veto of Life-Saving Substance Treatment Bill is Shameful and Misguided

American Atheists rebuked New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s decision to again veto a life-saving bill that has twice passed in the New York Assembly and Senate with bipartisan support. The Recovery Options Bill (A.5074) would have required that New Yorkers ordered to enter a substance abuse treatment program be informed of their right to not be forced into religious programming against their will. For example, many atheists choose nonreligious, evidence-based recovery options, such as SMART Recovery or LifeRing.

Time and again, courts across the nation have found that 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous are pervasively and overtly religious and cannot, therefore, be imposed on people by the government. The “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous includes a chapter that tells atheists and agnostics they are “doomed to an alcohol death” unless they “seek Him.” The chapter goes on to deride the nonreligious as “handicapped by obstinacy, sensitiveness, and unreasoning prejudice.” According to the American Atheists-commissioned U.S. Secular Survey, 15.2% of respondents reported experiencing stigma and discrimination while undergoing religious substance recovery treatment.

Earlier this month, American Atheists officially announced the release of Andrew Miller, an atheist and Secular Humanist who was represented by the civil rights organization after he was repeatedly denied parole for his conscientious refusal to complete a religious substance treatment program that included the compulsory recitation of Christian prayers at meetings. In July of this year, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph R. Goodwin issued a sweeping 60-page decision, denying West Virginia’s motion to dismiss the case and finding Mr. Miller’s claims to be “likely—if not inevitable” to succeed. West Virginia has since agreed to remove religious requirements as a condition for parole and pay $80,000 in legal fees.

In New York, the legislation that Governor Hochul vetoed would have simply required courts to inform New Yorkers of their constitutional right to object to mandatory religious substance abuse programs. Subsequently, anyone who objected to these religious programs, including nonreligious people and religious minorities, could instead access evidence-based treatment programs free of religious coercion.

“Recovering from addiction is difficult enough without suffering through unwanted indoctrination and religious abuse,” said Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy at American Atheists.

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AOC Ripped for Calling NYC Unaffordable for Working-Class

The New York Post editorial board ripped Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., after she complained that New York City was too expensive for “working-class people.”

The board agreed that the lawmaker was right but pointed the blame at her for pushing the very policies that have made the city too expensive.

The editorial, published Tuesday, began by stating, “For once, AOC is right: ‘They can’t afford to live here anymore,’ she said Monday of working-class Gothamites. The thing is, it’s the policies that she and her progressive allies want more of that have made the city so expensive.”

Ocasio-Cortez made her comments during a town hall meeting this week, arguing that it wasn’t the rich who were feeling the heat of the expense but working-class people.

“The people who are moving out of the city are not by and large the wealthiest people. They’re the working class. They can’t afford to live here anymore,” she said, while making a pitch to tax the city’s rich more.

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Jabar Walker Exonerated After 25 Years of Wrongful Conviction in Manhattan Double Homicide

Jabar Walker was exonerated today in Manhattan after more than a quarter century of wrongful conviction and incarceration for a double homicide he did not commit. The exoneration came after a joint reinvestigation by the Innocence Project and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit revealed new evidence of Mr. Walker’s innocence.

Mr. Walker was convicted in the 1995 murders of Ismael De La Cruz and William Santana Guzman on 148th Street in Manhattan, following an investigation by officers from New York Police Department’s 30th Precinct. The precinct was known at the time as the “Dirty 30” due to widespread corruption amongst its officers.  

Misconduct in the precinct was so rampant that an investigation by the Mollen Commission, formed by New York City to investigate allegations of NYPD corruption, resulted in the arrest of 33 officers  — a staggering one-sixth of the precinct — in the 1990s. The Mollen Commission found that officers in the “Dirty 30” routinely engaged in perjury, record falsification, thefts during searches and seizures, and distribution of narcotics.

The Innocence Project and Post-Conviction Justice Unit’s joint re-investigation revealed police from the precinct pressured a witness, John Mobley, to incriminate Mr. Walker by falsely saying that Mr. Walker had admitted to the crime. Police questioned Mr. Mobley, showing him photos of other crime scenes and implied that they would charge him with those homicides if he did not cooperate. On the day of Mr. Walker’s sentencing in 1998, Mr. Mobley went to Mr. Walker’s attorney’s office seeking to recant that testimony — and has recanted his testimony under oath a number of times since. 

Further new evidence of Mr. Walker’s innocence includes the fact that the prosecution’s sole eyewitness to identify Mr. Walker as the assailant, Vanessa Vigo, misidentified another innocent man in a different neighborhood shooting and received monetary benefits in connection with her testimony against Mr. Walker. Ms. Vigo’s account of the shooting was riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and key facts in her account changed from the time of her first conversation with police to the trial. Another eyewitness to the shooting who was familiar with Mr. Walker is adamant that he is not the person he saw committing the crime. 

“We thank DA Bragg’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit for a truly collaborative and transparent joint-reinvestigation, which stands as a model for how post-conviction innocence claims can and should be investigated in a non-adversarial process. The joint re-investigation, guided by a commitment to transparency and the ascertainment of truth, revealed a myriad of ways where the system failed Mr. Walker, and uncovered pervasive misconduct that led to his wrongful conviction and new evidence of what he has stated all along — he is innocent. He has now spent more than half of his life in prison for a crime he did not do,” said Vanessa Potkin, Innocence Project’s director of special litigation.

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NYC law banning discrimination based on height and weight goes into effect

A new city law that bans discriminating against someone because of their height or weight went into effect last week, six months after Mayor Eric Adams first signed the legislation.

The law adds those two categories to the list of characteristics that are protected from housing, job and public discrimination — alongside things like age, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation, according to the New York Times.

“All New Yorkers, regardless of their body shape or size, deserve to be protected from discrimination under the law,” NYC City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Councilman Shaun Abreu said in a joint statement Sunday.

“Body size discrimination affects millions of people every year, contributing to harmful disparities in medical treatment and outcomes, blocking people from access to opportunities in employment, housing and public accommodations, and deepening existing injustices that people face,” the statement added.

“New York City is leading the nation with this groundbreaking anti-discrimination law.”

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