Senator Bernie Sanders is scheduled to speak at Brooklyn College’s Graduation Ceremony this month. The commencement will be held at Barclays Center on Tuesday May, 29th. This is the first year the college will hold a graduation at Barclays Center.
Students are especially excited as many express they supported Sanders’ bid for president. “I reluctantly threw my support behind Hillary when Bernie lost the democratic ticket, it was because he supported her… and because her headquarters were in Brooklyn,” Lynette, a 2017 graduating student of Brooklyn College said.
“My sister graduated from [Brooklyn College] years ago, and I remember being so hot and bored,” she laughed. “I’m most looking forward to him and the air conditioning!”
Bernie Sanders was born and raised in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn, and attended elementary and Hebrew school here as well. He graduated from James Madison High School.
While he graduated from the University of Chicago, he started his college career at Brooklyn College, and told Time “his education in socialism and outlook on life was shaped in Brooklyn.”
Former President Barack Obama’s deportation numbers weren’t nearly as famous, but during his terms, they were among the highest rates of any president in US history. However, since President Trump has taken office, arrests of immigrants have climbed 40 percent higher within his first 100 days, and are far more controversial, in that many are of those with no criminal background, and are unpopular throughout the majority of Americans, as they include individuals who are merely suspected of being immigrants.
Under the Trump administration, ICE “has arrested more than 41,000 individuals… an increase of 37.6 percent over the same period in 2016,” according to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement government website.
Stories have surfaced of legal immigrants, even Trump supporters, being arrested and separated from their families, despite Trump’s promise to focus on criminals throughout his hostile campaign.
For the majority of immigrants, however, this reality was the very circumstance they faced in the event that Trump be elected.
Many organizations have stepped up their support for immigrants and their rights, and all have seen the very real trepidation of their clients intensify upon the unanticipated and highly feared victory of the 2016 presidential victory of Donald Trump.
Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow, based in New York, a proud sanctuary city, offers affordable legal immigration services to the members of the community who consider New York their home.
OBT’s immigration offices are in Williamsburg, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Brooklyn, that serves New Yorkers of all backgrounds. Mary Cosme, the site’s program director, noticed back in August, a “dramatic increase” in people requesting services to naturalize their citizenship. Many were anxious to complete the process just so they could vote for “or against” America’s new president.
By November 2016 our office had a waitlist of over 400 people!
The day after Election Day, there was tension everywhere. ESOL (english speakers of a second language) students expressing fear because they had experienced discriminatory attacks on their way to class.
Some clients were afraid that they would be targeted, so they requested to retrieve all documents from our office.
Some who were in the process of requesting Deferred Action completely vanished.
Director Cosme wrote in an email.
DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act, are two programs heavily favored by illegal immigrants, established under former administrations (both democratic and republican), that protect and offer educational opportunities to immigrants. Beneficiaries of the program could now face Trump’s opposition to the legislations that could result in possible bill reform, or ultimately removal, under the current political climate.
Many immigrants feel targeted but New York is committed to maintaining the security and rights of immigrants and their children as the fight escalates to continue to receive federal funds to keep in place the programs that service these communities, despite their opposition to his policies.
“We are an opportunity center for the office of new Americans,” according to Case Specialist, Arlene Ortiz, who considers herself a success story of one of the other programs offered by the organization. Arlene started her career with OBT as an intern and after graduating the program, she successfully secured her position and now specializes in the naturalization of immigrants as well as other services.
They see their clients throughout the entire process of gaining citizenship, the arduous, and often invasive and overwhelming paperwork that needs to be completed by people who, frequently, can’t read English. And offer language services, job readiness programs within the agency, and housing resources to set their clients up for success here in America.
In lieu of all that’s happening in the very early days of Trump’s presidency, the consensus is that the majority of immigrants are arming themselves with what they need to combat discrimination and protect themselves as much as possible from the threat of deportation by securing legal roots to the land they already consider their home.
Councilman Daniel Garodnick urged Mayor de Blasio to help small businesses grow and thrive by supporting his bill that would reform Commercial Rent Tax, a double tax that is placed on businesses below 96th St., in a press conference he held Thursday, in the Flatiron area.
“Mr. Mayor, you cannot forget our small businesses!”, Garodnick yelled to the crowd.
The tax is only imposed on businesses that exist below 96th St. through Chambers Street, who pay at least $250 thousand annually in rent. Councilman Garodnick’s bill would double the minimum rent to $500 thousand, to “throw a lifeline” to small businesses currently subjected to the tax, which is 15 percent of their annual rent, he said. He claims the legislation would “bring relief to over 3,400 businesses that pay the tax, while only impacting six percent of the revenue it brings in.”
The tax that was originally imposed in 1963 hasn’t been adjusted since 2001, and with rents steadily rising, Manhattan Borough President, Gale Brewer wants “to do away with the Commercial Rent Tax altogether…”, but says the reform is a start, as the double tax on small businesses only exists in this area of New York City, and in the state of Florida.
Natasha Amott, owner of Whisk, a culinary store on Broadway and 23rd St., where the press conference was held, called the tax “antiquated and discriminatory,” and claimed the supporters of the bill “need to educate the mayor”, as he wasn’t fully aware of its chokehold on small businesses when asked about them at his budget hearing. She is requesting that the reform be included in the final budget.
Other small business owners from the neighborhood were in attendance, as well as several of the 35 councilmembers who support the bill, including Margaret Chin, and co-sponsor of the bill, Helen Rosenthal, who added that the “majority of the money that comes from the CRT is not that of Small Business Owners,” and is a “serious burden” for businesses who employ New Yorkers from all boroughs with quality jobs.
“New Yorkers are losing jobs when these businesses are forced to close down,” said Chin, who claims she knows of owners who closed their business directly due to the imposition the CRT placed on them.
“New York City is stepping on the neck of our small businesses,” and Manhattan is now “overwhelmed by banks, chain drug stores, and vacant store fronts because small businesses can’t keep up with the financial burden.”, said Garodnick. With reform 40 percent of businesses “will have more money to expand, hire, and keep their doors open.”
The Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc. announced on Thursday that they would provide legal representation to New York City immigrants who fear deportation under President Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
The Manhattan based organization held a press conference at their headquarters in Chinatown, to announce the expansion of their legal services to all immigrants throughout Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.
“The CPC will deepen our commitment to promoting a safe space for New Yorkers of all immigrant, racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and religious backgrounds.”, Wayne Ho, president and CEO of the CPC, told reporters.
The addition of legal representation is the result of the CPC’s newest partnership with Advocates for Justice, an activist organization that provides lawyers for low income families often facing racial injustice and inequality. The organization will provide legal counsel for both English, and Chinese speaking immigrants and low income communities.
Arthur Schwartz, the president of Advocates for Justice, partnered with the CPC in the past, when he successfully fought to extend services of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund to Chinatown residents after the terrorist attacks.
The CPC, since 2014, has provided free consultation and legal services to communities through partnerships with MFY Legal Services Inc., the New York Legal Assistance Group, and Immigrant Justice Corps. However, with the criminalizing tone towards immigrants under the new administration.
“There is increased fear among immigrants to protect themselves… and the need to offer trusted lawyers and reputable legal services to people has increased,” said Victoria Nielson, legal director of Justice Corps. She added that “the silver lining is that more immigrants are eager to become naturalized, whereas the urgency to go through the naturalizing process wasn’t there before.”
First Lady McCray held an event at the Brooklyn Historical Society to announce low interest loans for low income women and minority business owners in NYC.
New York City First Lady McCray and Women Entrepreneurs announced Thursday that they now offer low income loans up to $500,000 for minority and female entrepreneurs and small business owners, at the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives, Richard Buery, told a room of predominantly female entrepreneurs that “women are building the businesses that make this city grow,” and reiterated the goals set forth by the mayor’s office to expand the Minority/Woman Business Owners program (M/WBE) and “double the number business certifications by 2019.” “The loan interest rates are capped at 3 percent and are available now,” Buery said.
This news comes in the wake of President Trump’s budget proposal to pull federal funds from programs that promote small businesses and minority entrepreneurs like; the Minority Business Development Agency.
“If you don’t have the access to capital, it’s very difficult to grow your business to the next level,” said Rodneyse Bichotte, Chair of the Oversight of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises. “90 percent of sole proprietors are women owned businesses.”
The audience included enthusiastic owners of various types of businesses throughout the city. Jen Portland, founder of Excel RainMan, who said she “really needs to attend more events like this,” to continue to network and learn of the opportunities available because she expects to move her business out of her home by next year and is looking to invest in an independent workspace.
New York City is the “best place in the world to be a female entrepreneur,” said moderator and panelist, Valentina Zarya, Associate Editor for the Most Powerful Women channel at Fortune Magazine, who is from a “family of immigrants.”
Gregg Bishop, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services expressed that the event was held in honor of Women’s History month, and pledged that because these businesses are strengthening the economy and the impact of women entrepreneurs in New York City brings in $50 billion annually, “we aim to help small businesses start, thrive and grow here.”
The meeting served as a networking tool to connect business owners with other resources like Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses, Excelsior Growth Fund, and Kauffman FastTrac, that support businesses in their infancy and provide start-up funds. “A business needs to have operated for at least a year to be eligible for the new M/MBE loan,” McCray said.
The event featured a panel of heavy hitter female business owners who shared their journeys to success and spread awareness of the services offered by W/MBE. They held open sessions for certification and contracting as well as connecting business owners with mentors from the program.
Former Port Authority Chairman, David Samson, was sentenced to serve no jail time for his attempted bribery of United Airways to coordinate a direct flight that would land near his South Carolina getaway home for his vacationing and traveling convenience.
Instead, his lawyer, US Attorney Paul Fishman, worked to avoid Samson from serving any jail time, and US District Judge Jose Lanares sentenced the 77-year-old former New Jersey Attorney General to $100,000 fine, 4 years probation, 3600 hours of community service and a year under house arrest at his South Carolina estate, with the condition of wearing a location monitoring device.
A Brooklyn College based resistance group calling themselves BCAT (Brooklyn College against Trump) held protests on the college’s lawn this afternoon in honor of International Women’s Day.
The group chanted “2, 4, 6, 8, Brooklyn College Resists Hate!”, and vowed to fight for the freedom of press, pay equality, and even Governor Cuomo’s budget, as well as other issues that plague the country’s unity since Trump has taken office.
“We stand in support of our students”, a faculty member yelled out to the crowd, and asked for watchers to join the demonstration.
The group holds meetings every Thursday at 12:30 at their headquarters in Brooklyn College’s Ingersoll hall, free to the Brooklyn College community.
Councilman Daniel Garodnick urged Mayor de Blasio to help small businesses grow and thrive by supporting his bill that would reform Commercial Rent Tax, a double tax that is placed on businesses below 96th St., in a press conference he held Thursday, in the Flatiron area.
The Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc. announced on Thursday that they would provide legal representation to New York City immigrants who fear deportation under President Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
BROOKLYN NOUVEAU 