Restore the Voting Rights Act!

This week is the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The VRA is under siege right now. GOP lawmakers in many key states are finding ways to restrict the right to vote. A key part of the VRA was invalidated by the Supreme Court in 2013. There is a petition being circulated by vratoday.org and the Leadership Conference at www.civilrights.org  Tell your congressman that you demand that action be taken in Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act 

""If we fail or cannot repair the damage done to this act ... we will be less a democratic country, a democratic society" Congressman John Lewis

Advocate for Sandy Victims in the Rockaways & Hamilton Beach - 3 Quick Phone Calls

DFNYC and more than 45 other organizations have signed on to a letter calling on the Governor and Mayor to acknowledge the problems facing the disadvantaged areas of Far Rockaway and Hamilton Beach after Hurricane Sandy.  There have been deaths from hypothermia, lack of hot food and nutrient supplements, and risk of asphyxiation from using gas stoves to heat apartments.

We are very happy to see that Gov. Cuomo has requested $30 billion from FEMA and we want to make sure that it is spent effectively.  There is concern that the Rockaways, which can be difficult to access and include some of the City's poorest residents, are not getting fair treatment. Click here to read Joe Nocera's op-ed in The New York Times. Also, volunteers on the ground are noticing far more needs and problems then the official reports that elected officials are receiving.

Please take just a moment to call the elected officials below, and ask that they insure that the Rockaways and Hamilton Beach receive the resources they need, for now and to rebuild their futures.

Governor Andrew Cuomo
-Albany Office Phone: 518-474-8390

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn
-District Office- Phone: 212-564-7757; Fax: 212-564-7347
-Legislative Office- Phone: 212-788-7210; Fax: 212-788-7207

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall
-Office Phone: 718-286-3000; Fax: 1-718-286-2876

Click here for the full letter to Gov. Cuomo & Mayor Bloomberg.

Maps:

Map showing of Far Rockaway. (Scroll down - NYT article from 2008.)

Basic map of NYC highlighting Rockaway Penninsula (Article about letter from artists)

DFNYC Opposes Spectra Pipeline

The Board of Democracy for NYC has sent a letter, joining Sane Energy, NYH20, Three Parks Independent Democrats, and other progressive organizations, in speaking out against the proposed Spectra pipeline, also known as the New Jersey-New York Expansion Project.

The letter was sent on April 12, 2012 to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President; Madelyn Wils, President & CEO, Hudson River Park Trust; Brad Hoylman, Chair, CB2; Jason Mansfield, Chair, Environment, Public Safety & Public Health Committee of CB2; and Arthur Z. Schwartz, Chair, Waterfront Committee, CB2.

DFNYC supports holding NY primaries on June 26th

Democracy for NYC is committed to the principles of both a true democratic process and fiscal responsbility. For these reasons, the board of directors of DFNYC strongly supports state bill A9271, which was introduced and sponsored on Friday, February 10th, by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. This bill would require that the state of New York hold its legislative primaries on June 26th, which is the same date on which a federal judge has already ordered that congressional elections must take place.

As this legislation makes clear, each primary and general election that the state of New York holds costs taxpayers in excess of $50 million. In these dire economic times, when the state is cutting back programs and services for people in need and closing schools, for our lawmakers to even consider paying for separate primaries each year is fiscally irresponsible.
 
It is hypocritical for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his fellow Republican legislators to support spending tens of millions of dollars for a separate state primary in September, given their stated desires to cut taxes and reduce the size of government.  
 
The board of DFNYC urges its members to contact their legislators in Albany and ask them to support state assembly bill A9271. We should demand that the state hold all of this year's primary elections on June 26th.