Dear Neighbor,

Thank you for joining us for another week in review.

Last week, I joined with my colleagues in government to fight for tenants to receive adequate support in housing court. When I was in the NYC Council, then-Council Member Mark Levine and I fought for the Right-to-Counsel (RTC) legislation that gives tenants the right to an attorney if they are being sued for eviction or if they are income eligible. Since being enacted in 2017, we've seen that Local Law 53 works. The numbers don’t lie: evictions have plummeted, landlords are suing tenants less and almost 85% of tenants who had Right-to-Counsel, stayed in their homes. However, due to lack of funding many qualifying tenants have not been able to receive rightful representation.

That is why I joined with Borough President Levine and Council Member Shaun Abreu at City Hall to support Intro 921 which will require the City’s Office of Civil Justice to prepare an estimate of funding necessary to implement RTC; and Reso 499 that will call on the state legislature to pass a law requiring courts to adjourn eviction proceedings until they have adequate opportunity to secure counsel as required by city law.

Thank you Council Member Abreu for carrying the baton and continuing the fight for Right-to-Counsel. Thank you also to my fellow Borough President Mark Levine for his partnership. To learn about RTC, click here.

Lastly, we celebrated the return of our Bronx Bombers to the Yankee Stadium for Opening Day! We are so excited to see what this new season has in store for our New York Yankees. This is Aaron Judge's first season as captain, and Anthony Volpe's MLB debut. This season is gearing up to be one for the books and we are ready for our 28th ring!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 718-590-3500 or email us at webmail@bronxbp.nyc.gov.

In partnership,

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson

IN THE COMMUNITY

🌳Corporal Irwin Fischer Park

This is a win for the West Bronx! Last week, we celebrated the ribbon cutting of a brand-new park in our Borough.

As the former Council Member for the 16th District, the transformation of this empty lot into a greenspace for our community was a top priority of mine as part of the Jerome Neighborhood Plan, and I am excited to see this project come to fruition.

Bronxites deserve the best and will now get to enjoy a new playground, a toddler play area, and space to safely recreate.

Thank you to NYC Parks, Bronx Community Board 4, the Mayor`s Office, parks advocates, Highbridge residents, and everyone else involved in bringing this vision to life.

📷: NYC Parks

I joined with civil rights leaders and health advocates to fight for legislation banning menthol cigarettes.

Menthol cigarettes have disproportionately affected our Black and brown communities for far too long. 86% of Black smokers and 72% of Hispanic smokers smoke menthol; and half of young people who had ever tried smoking, started with menthol cigarettes.

While we are working to eradicate the sale of menthol in our communities, those who smoke menthol will not be criminalized. Instead, we will hold sellers accountable.

It is time to ban these products and protect Black and brown people from Big Tobacco companies hoping to profit at their expense.

I was proud to allocate $500,000 to go towards the completion of Claremont House!

This 8-story, 100-percent residential building will offer affordable homeownership opportunities and include a mix of 20 one-bedroom, 16 two-bedroom, and four three-bedroom apartments.

This was a commitment from the Jerome Rezoning Plan and I am proud to see it come to fruition. Thank you to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Community Land Trust, Habitat NYC, Camber Property, and Almat Urban for their work on this vital project that will give land ownership back to our community.

ICYMI

Thank you to PIX 11 for having me on to discuss important issues in our community:

☑️Support for tenants in housing court

☑️The need for more bookstores and movie theaters in the Bronx

☑️Mental health and public safety

Thank you to our incredible hosts Dan Mannarino and Hazel Sanchez for a wonderful conversation. It is always a pleasure.

For the full interview, click here.

Community Events & Opportunities