De Blasio admits 'no plan' in place to handle illegal NYC apartments that led to 11 deaths

Source: New York Daily News

[div class=“excerpt’]New York City has no plan to address the type of illegal basement apartments that played a key factor in most of the deaths caused by Tropical Storm Ida, Mayor de Blasio conceded Tuesday.

“We don’t have an immediate solution for this one,” he said.

There are at least 50,000 basements that have been illegally converted to tenant dwellings throughout the five boroughs, according to city estimates, and at least 10 of the 13 people who died due to Ida were trapped in such units. About 100,000 New Yorkers live in them.

For years, it’s been a thorny issue the city has dragged its feet addressing, and it came into stark relief last week after basement tenants in Queens were found drowned due to record rains and flash floods that quickly overwhelmed parts of the city.

Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-nyc-de-blasio-illegal-basement-apartments-flood-20210907-f4cikm6m2vef3mipx3mf3zoci4-story.html

Alphonso David, Who Advised Cuomo, Fired as Human Rights Campaign President

Source: New York Times

Alphonso David, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy organization, was ousted by the group’s board on Monday night over a report revealing that he had advised former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on how to handle sex harassment allegations.

Mr. David, the group’s first Black president, was terminated “for cause” in separate votes by the boards of the Human Rights Campaign and its affiliated foundation after the two boards held a joint meeting. Beyond two abstentions from the foundation board, the votes were unanimous.

Mr. David’s removal is the latest fallout from the report by Letitia James, the New York State attorney general, describing allegations of sexual harassment by Mr. Cuomo, and efforts by his aides to retaliate against the former governor’s accusers. Mr. Cuomo resigned in August after the report outlined 11 allegations and described a toxic work environment.

Mr. David, who had worked as a lawyer in Mr. Cuomo’s office, was identified in the James report as involved in efforts to undermine Mr. Cuomo’s first accuser, Lindsey Boylan. Despite no longer working there, Mr. David had a memo in his possession containing confidential information about Ms. Boylan’s employment history. He shared the memo with Mr. Cuomo’s advisers who were hoping to release details to reporters. Mr. David has maintained that he had an obligation as a lawyer to do so.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/06/us/politics/alphonso-david-human-rights-campaign-cuomo.html

"Any day now....."

Plans for $400-billion new city in the American desert unveiled

TS Ida: My mother's power is still out in Westchester.

Commuter rail service along the Hudson River is still suspended.

Governor Hochul’s first crisis.

Biden mulls 'lite' version of Trump's 'Remain in Mexico' policy

Source: Politico

The Biden administration is debating restarting what it describes as a more humane version of a controversial Trump-era program for asylum seekers.

The new proposal — what some have dubbed “Remain in Mexico lite” — would require a small number of asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their cases to be processed but give them better living conditions and access to attorneys, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

The administration is starting talks with Mexico in a bid to strike a balance between abiding by a federal court order and making good on the president’s campaign promises. A federal judge ruled last month that President Joe Biden’s attempt to end the program — a pledge he made on the campaign trail — violated the law.

The possibility of resuming Migrant Protection Protocols or MPP — one of former President Donald Trump’s most contentious immigration policies — even while trying to soften it, has angered advocates who expected Biden to offer a more welcoming system for migrants.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/06/biden-remain-in-mexico-policy-509436

Lyft; Defending drivers and women's access to healthcare (email)

Dear Lyft Riders and Drivers,

A new Texas law, SB8, threatens to punish drivers for getting people where they need to go — specifically, women exercising their right to choose and to access the healthcare they need.

We want to be clear: Drivers are never responsible for monitoring where their riders go or why. Imagine being a driver and not knowing if you are breaking the law by giving someone a ride. Similarly, riders never have to justify, or even share, where they are going and why. Imagine being a pregnant woman trying to get to a healthcare appointment and not knowing if your driver will cancel on you for fear of breaking a law. Both are completely unacceptable.

This law is incompatible with people's basic rights to privacy, our community guidelines, the spirit of rideshare, and our values as a company. We are taking action on two fronts:
Lyft has created a Driver Legal Defense Fund to cover 100% of legal fees for drivers sued under SB8 while driving on our platform. Riders and Drivers: Nothing about how you drive, ride or interact with each other should change.
Texas SB8 is an attack on women's right to choose. Lyft is donating $1 million to Planned Parenthood to help ensure that transportation is never a bar.

ABBA is back! 'Dancing Queen' band announces first new music in 4 decades, virtual concert.

NYC Unveils Dramatic New Severe Weather Plan as Ida Deaths Top 40

Source: WNBC

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a new approach Friday to managing severe weather that he says will "bluntly be a jolt to people" but one he says is necessary to address increasingly frequent major flooding events -- as the scope of devastation from this latest one continues to expand.

His NYC Climate-Driven Rain Response plan involves three main components: more severe warnings, basement apartment evacuations and a 30-day extreme weather response task force to devise solutions quickly and expedite implementation.

"We can say now that extreme weather has become the norm, we need to respond to it differently. It's even different than just a few years ago," de Blasio said. "We've got to acknowledge it. New reality requires a new paradigm."

"We're going to in particular focus on a different warning, a much more severe kind of warning and a much more severe set of actions, very physical actions, that bluntly will be a jolt to people, a shock to people," the mayor said of new phone alerts. "But we've learned that we have to introduce these things into the equation."


Read more: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/weather/we-need-to-act-biden-approves-ny-nj-emergency-declaration-as-cleanup-continues/3255021/

How the Storm Turned Basement Apartments Into Death Traps