A Message from Council Member James

Dear Friends:

What a great year of change it has been thus far. More change is definitely coming to Brooklyn and our country this fall. I was fortunate enough to witness this building of change and hope first-hand while attending the Democratic National Convention during August in Denver. I also want to congratulate participants of the West Indian Labor Day Parade on a successful event, which I marched in upon my return from the DNC.

Change is coming to urban communities like ours around the nation. For example, in Crown Heights, public officials and community members came together to request protection for senior citizens and placement of more security cameras in Brooklyn. An assailant of an 85-year-old woman was apprehended within days after the NYPD and the community united for this cause.

Change through City Council legislation to protect our neighborhoods is now happening within Brooklyn. I, along with Council Members Albert Vann and Bill de Blasio, introduced a resolution calling on the Mayor to halt the plan by the Department of Homeless Service to close the Manhattan central intake center for homeless men, and transfer its functions to the Brooklyn Bedford-Atlantic Armory. By moving the central intake center to Crown Heights, DHS would decrease access to shelter for homeless men throughout the City.

Change will come through continued protests of gun violence in our communities. The surge of crime and gun violence in Brooklyn is unacceptable, and sadly, our youth are being shot by each other. Once again, the community came together this summer to support a 9-year-old boy now recovering from a bullet wound. The issue ultimately is tied to quality education and more employment opportunities. And, please turn in guns to honor the sanctity of life.

Many Brooklynites (including myself) share similar goals as Barack Obama - improving our schools, affordable universal health care, ending the Iraq War as well as honoring our commitment to veterans, energy independence, and ending the genocide in Darfur. Barack Obama gives us hope for an improved America and a better world for all.

The Democratic national convention was filled with inspiring moments such as Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton passing the mantle to a new generation, and Michelle Obama moving thousands to screams and tears. Joe Biden and Barack Obama concluded the DNC with historic speeches, and a dialogue about a real plan to deliver change for this country. The time has come for everyone to get involved with moving the borough of Brooklyn, New York, and America forward.

Sincerely,
Letitia James

Ebbets Field Middle School receives funding for a new Mac Lab

Tish accepting the plaque.

On Friday, September 26th the student council of Ebbets Field Middle School, along with teachers, parents, and Principal Marge Baker hosted a wonderful plaque unveiling/ breakfast to celebrate the new Mac lab. The ceremony brought tears to Tish's eyes with a video produced and edited by a lovely young 7th grader. If you would like to learn more about the school please check out: http://print.nycenet.edu/SchoolPortals/17/K352/default.htm. Once we get the clearance, we hope to be able to share the video with you all!

A student took the time to give Tish a little tutorial.

Oppose Unjust Rent Increase!

We are writing to inform you of the Real Rent Reform Campaign’s (RRRC) rally on the steps of City Hall to take place on October 1, 2008 at 12:00 noon.

The RRRC strongly opposes the rent increases approved by the Rent Guidelines Board that will take effect on October 1, 2008. These new guidelines will grant "landlords who don’t charge their tenants for heating" the right to "hike the rents 4.5 percent on a one-year leave and 8.5 percent on a two-year lease" for stabilized apartment dwellers. [1]

For tenants that do pay for heat, rent increases would fall between 4-8%. "New Yorkers with smaller rents, like $450 a month, would pay a flat increase of $45 a month."[1]

The rent increases that are to become effective on October 1st will be the largest rent increases since 1989. The City approved rent increases of 3% on one-year leases and 5.75% on two-year leases, and 4.25% on one-year leases and 7.25% on two-year leases, in 2007 and 2006, respectively. [2]

As New York’s renters continue to struggle to pay rents that absorb the bulk of their salaries, it seems unfair to place the highest rent increases in almost two decades on the backs of stabilized rent dwellers.

Please join us in opposing this unjust rent increase.

Thanks,
teamtish
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1 WNBC. Rent Stabilized Apartments Get Rent Hikes. 20 June 2008. http://www.wnbc.com/news/16658708/detail.html
2 Seifman, David. New York Post. Rent Boost Adds to ‘Hike" Cost of Living. 27 June 2007. http://www.nypost.com/seven/06272007/news/regionalnews/rent_boost_adds_to__hike_cost_of_living_regionalnews_david_seifman.htm

Council District 35 Elementary Schools

Download these images to get information about every public elementary and charter school in the district.

Council District 35 schools (part 2)

Higher Education for Latinos

Today, our office attended the New York City Council’s Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus (NYCC-BLA) presentation on the City University of New York Graduate Center’s Center for Latin-American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies (CLACLS). Our office is particularly concerned with education rates within these communities. For example, the CLACLS reports that although roughly 30% of undergraduate students at CUNY are Latino, only 8% of graduate students studying at CUNY are Latino. The CLACLS seeks to establish a fellowship program specifically for Latin-American, Caribbean, and Latino students who seek graduate-level education. Council Member James supports the efforts of the CLACLS, and continues her commitment of education, as well as her ongoing work to restore adequate funding to CUNY for both undergraduate and graduate students. The CLACLS maintains a Latino Data Project which studies the population reports and patterns within the Latino community. The CLACLS website can be found here: http://web.gc.cuny.edu/lastudies/
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The office of Council Member James was represented last night (9/24) at the 79th Precinct’s Community Council Meeting. CM James would like to congratulate Deputy Inspector Donald V. Lyons on a crime decrease within the 79th Precinct, and extends her thanks to the hardworking police officers that serve the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. For further information on the 79th Precinct and its most recent COMPSTAT reports, see here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/precincts/precinct_079.shtml

Team Tish for Teachers!!

Please share this with event with the teachers in your life...

WINTER WARM UPS
A happy hour for teachers

OCTOBER through DECEMBER
Wednesdays from 5 to 7PM @ HABANA OUTPOST

This fall, Habana Works presents Winter Warm-Ups, a professional development series for teachers that's actually fun. Each Wednesday evening from October to December, a variety of Brooklyn institutions will present their tools for K-12 teachers during this cozy cocktail hour in the Lowpost at Habana Outpost. Teachers will receive a crash course on the best of what Brooklyn has to offer, while relaxing with their colleagues and a complimentary beverage.

Winter Warm-Ups begin October 1st with a presentation by the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Department of Education & Humanities

Series Presenters:
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Children's Museum
our host, Habana Outpost
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Prospect Park Alliance
...and more

For full info, directions and schedule, visit our website:
www.habanaworks.org
RSVP with Kate at 718 909 5580, kate@habanaoutpost.org

Relief for Haiti

Please continue to submit questions in the comments section below for "Ask Team Tish!"

Today was the Stated meeting, and CM James wants to remind those in the 35th District that the Republic of Haiti has suffered a number of hurricanes which have been devastating to those that live in the Caribbean nation.

The New York City Council Encourages New Yorkers to Help with Hurricane Relief for Haiti

The following items are in high demand:

• Bottled water (packed in cases) - No single bottles
• Rice (dried in bags)
• Beans (dried in bags)
• Sterno canisters
• Tarpaulin for roofing or flooring (preferably 10’x10’)
• Nylon cord (100’ rolls)
• Hygiene items limited to toothbrushes, toothpaste, mild soaps
• New underclothes (children sizes)
• New hand towels

Drop off Locations will be open from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm until September 26th

In Brooklyn- Bedford Armory
1579 Bedford Avenue at Union Street

In Harlem- Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building
163 West 125th at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.

For more information please contact (212) 681–4010 or relief@chamber.state.ny.us.

Bail Out Main Street, Not Just Wall Street!

Three of our favorite community-based organizations are the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), Pratt Area Community Council (PACC), and Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE). These organizations work hard from the grassroots level representing lower-income peoples in New York City in housing and other areas of economic and cultural inequality, and are especially active in the 35th District.

Today (September 23, 2008), ACORN held their rally “to protest the Bush administration’s failure to include lifelines for American homeowners facing foreclosures in its big Wall Street bailout proposal.”

ACORN called “on Congress to ‘Bail out Main Street, Not Just Wall Street’! ” Council Member James agrees with ACORN’s position that homeowners deserve same consideration that lending institutions do (…or more so). Please contact your Congressional Member to let him/her know your position on this issue, and continue to be informed on issues of economic inequality.

ACORN- http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=2716&no_cache=1
PACC- http://pacc.publishpath.com/
FUREE- http://furee.org/

Ask Team Tish

In our ongoing efforts to provide you with information on the 35th Councilmanic District and the ongoing work of "Team Tish," we invite you to submit your questions in the comments section, and we'll try our best to answer...