2 APRIL 13 - APRIL 19, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
NEW CAMPAIGN TO
ENCOURAGE REPORTING OF
SEXUAL ASSAULT
The NYPD has launched a new campaign aimed at
encouraging survivors of sex crime to report incidents
to the police.
Authorities hope that the campaign, dubbed “The Call
Is Yours,” will lead to better reporting of sex crimes and
ultimately, greater justice for victims. According to a
nationwide 2016 Department of Justice study, over 70
percent of sexual assaults are not reported. Furthermore,
a national Centers for Disease Control survey
found that over 18 percent of women reported having
been raped in their lifetimes.
Anyone who is a sexual assault survivor is encouraged
to call 911 or the NYPD Special Victims Division’s
24-hour hotline at 212-267-Rape (7273).
PUSH FOR PREZ, VP
PORTRAITS IN ALL POST
OFFICES
Congressmember Dan Donovan on Thursday, April
5 unveiled a new bill that would require the United
States Postal Service to display official portraits of the
president and vice president in all post offices, while at
the same time reversing a “little-known” Postal Service
regulation prohibiting such portraits from being hung.
Donovan was inspired by the pleas of a local constituent
and Trump supporter who brought the issue to the
pol’s attention, claiming that, while her Staten Island
post office had pictures of former Presidents Barack
Obama and George Bush on display during their administration,
pictures of President Donald Trump and Vice
President Michael Pence were never put up.
By making the portrait requirement uniform throughout
all post offices, Donovan contends, the legislation will
prevent any future allegations of political bias.
NEW “LINK” TO
PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING
Participatory budgeting just got easier for some.
The City Council, the city’s Department of Information
Technology and Telecommunications and LinkNYC
announced on Monday, April 9 the launch citywide of
participatory budgeting on Link kiosks – the first-ofits
kind communications network which replaced city
payphones and offered free Wi-Fi starting in early 2016.
Through participatory budgeting, New Yorkers in
participating City Council districts can now decide how
to spend $1 million of the public budget, proposing and
voting on projects like improvements to schools, parks,
libraries and more.
More than 1,700 Links are installed across the five
boroughs, with thousands more coming over the next
few years. Participatory budget voting is open through
Sunday, April 15.
To find a Link near you, visit https://bit.ly/2riPVnI.
—Meaghan McGoldrick
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Jaime DeJesus
Assemblymember Bill Colton organized a press conference to protest SBS
service coming to the B82 route.
Colton, business owners pan
select bus service in Bensonhurst
BY JAIME DEJESUS
JDEJESUS@BROOKLYNREPORTER.
COM
Assemblymember William
Colton joined a
small but passionate
group of residents, business
owners and others at Kings
Highway and West Sixth
Street on Monday, April 9
to discuss the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority’s
and city Department of Transportation’s
plan to bring select
bus service to the B82 route
that goes through Gravesend
and Bensonhurst on its way to
Coney Island.
Colton and other attendees
complained that adding SBS
would take away precious
parking spots, hurting local
businesses.
“This neighborhood does not
need SBS,” he said.
Despite the fact that Community
Board 11 opposed the
plan, the MTA is going ahead
with it anyway, Colton added.
“This is the type of arrogance
and lack of responsiveness that
DOT and MTA have shown to
neighborhoods like this," he
said. "We are tired of having
our neighborhoods, the outer
boroughs and small businesses
ignored.”
Colton contended that
adding SBS service along the
strip will eliminate much of
the available parking. “Kings
Highway is a business street,
mostly with small stores," he
explained. "We are going to
lose over 100 parking spots.
They are going to get hurt if
people can’t park and may end
up going out of business."
Colton also fears the city
might add parking meters in
residential areas. "When you
ask them the question, they say,
we could do it but don’t intend
to do it. Not today, but what
about two years from now?"
“This is one of the busiest
bus routes in Brooklyn and we
want to be partners with the
communities we operate in,"
said MTA spokesperson Shams
Tarek in response. "We’re committed
to addressing community
concerns while also serving
the area’s public transit needs.”
Nonetheless, residents fear
the addition of SBS service will
be a burden.
“This will destroy our neighborhood,
our businesses, our
parking,” longtime resident
Kathy T. said. “There is no
parking to begin with now.
Stores can’t get deliveries now. I
can’t take my car out because if I
take my car out, when I get back
to my block, there is no parking."
“This is directly affecting
us,” addedd Larry Greenberg,
a local dentist. “Patients are
often late because they can’t
find parking now. We can’t
work, make money or survive
here. And we can’t have our
older community walking five
blocks because they got off the
stop down there. This directly
affects business owners here.
Our voices need to be heard.”
However, transportation
advocates had a very different
view. "Bus riders suffer citywide
from increasingly slow
and unreliable service," said
Stephanie Burgos-Veras, senior
organizer with the Riders
Alliance. "Select Bus Service
is a matter of transportation
equity. Where SBS has been
implemented, hundreds of
thousand of bus riders have
experienced positive results.
Bus riders need more SBS
routes, bus lanes and other
improvements on local routes
to speed commuting times."
That’s exactly what will
occur, said DOT.
“Along Kings Highway, buses
now average five mph or slower
from McDonald Avenue
to Ocean Avenue (among the
slowest speeds in the entire
city), making the conversion
of the B82 to SBS a priority,”
said a DOT spokesperson. “SBS
will bring shorter travel times
and more reliable service for
28,000 daily riders.
“DOT has conducted extensive
outreach regarding the
B82 bus line, which includes
outreach to 7,500 shoppers,
235 businesses, and 1,500 bus
riders,” the spokesperson added,
noting that, “In regards to
parking, bus lanes on the narrow
section of Kings Highway
will only be in effect during
peak periods, or six hours per
day. DOT is also adding 44 new
parking spaces to the area.”
/2riPVnI