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August 11, 2022

Several years ago, in my early months as Chair of the Judiciary Committee in the Assembly, I met with Jacqueline Franchetti about shortcomings in our family court system. Jacqueline had recently lost her two year old daughter, Kyra, to a murder-suicide committed by her ex-husband who had won visitation rights after a court-ordered forensic child custody evaluator determined that he was suitable for unsupervised visits. This determination flew in the face of a multitude of evidence to the contrary, including reports that the ex-husband was violent, angry, had recently purchased a second firearm, and was not in a condition to be a father.

The tragic death of Kyra Franchetti is unfortunately all too common. Julissia was a seven-year-old Bronxite who had been living with her grandmother since she was five days old, before custody was restored to her mother over objections from others — Julissia died in a hospital, with numerous bruises to her head and torso, as well as signs of sodomy. Her mother and half-brother were charged with murder in June of this year. Autumn, a three-year-old from Queens, was burned alive by an ex-fiancé during an unsupervised visit — despite pleas in family court from the mother that he was stalking them. Thomas, an eight-year-old from Long Island, froze to death after being forced to sleep in his father's unheated garage during January — despite years of abuse allegations from his mother in family court.

I have been working alongside colleagues for several years on legislation to reform our broken family court system and to ensure that the health and safety of children are prioritized during custody and visitation proceedings. I authored and successfully passed this year legislation which would newly establish statewide standards for forensic child custody evaluators, whose decisions often have a significant impact on custody and visitation decisions. The legislation has passed both houses of the Legislature with broad, bipartisan support: 141-1 in the Assembly and 63-0 in the State Senate. I am optimistic that it will be signed into law by the Governor, and I hope it is done so without delay.

My colleagues have also been working on many other bills to reform our family court system. One key bill, known as Kyra's Law, would change the mandate in family court from focusing on the best interest of the child to focusing on the health and safety of the child. Over the years, courts have increasingly interpreted the best interest mandate to mean that they should keep both parents in the child's life as much as possible. I believe that this is not always a good thing, although in an ideal world it would be, and by changing the directive to protecting health and safety — we will see better outcomes for children who are going through custody proceedings.

This week, I traveled to Nassau County so that I could rally together with advocates and colleagues in support of Kyra's Law as well as my own legislation. We were joined by Kyra's Champions, a student advocacy group that has done excellent work pushing for important changes to our family courts, as well as State Senator Anna Kaplan (D - Nassau County), State Senator Anthony Palumbo (R - Suffolk County), a representative for Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi (D - Queens), and advocates from Sanctuary for Families as well as The Safe Center LI.

Don't forget to vote!

Early voting for the August 23 primary will begin on Saturday, August 13 and will last until Sunday, August 21. To find your assigned early voting site (or your assigned election day poll site), please visit: findmypollsite.vote.nyc.

Please note that there will be four early voting locations serving the 81st Assembly District.

• Voters in Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, and Riverdale can vote early at In Tech Academy (Tibbett Avenue and West 230th Street)

• Voters in Kingsbridge Heights can vote early at Monroe College (Jerome Avenue and West 190th Street)

• Voters in Norwood and Van Cortlandt Village can vote early at the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (Dekalb Avenue and East Gun Hill Road)

• Voters in Wakefield can vote early at Our Lady of Grace School (Bronxwood Avenue and East 226th Street)

• Voters in Woodlawn do not have any contested primaries and so will not have an election on August 23.

Here are the districts which have contested primaries and where eligible voters will be able to cast a ballot:

STATE SENATE

• District 31 (covering Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, and Van Cortlandt Village, among other parts of the Bronx and Manhattan)

» The incumbent in this race is State Senator Robert Jackson.

» State Senator Jackson is being challenged by Ruben Dario Vargas, Francesca M. Castellanos, and Angel I. Vasquez. All but Ruben Dario Vargas live in this district.

• District 33 (covering Norwood and Riverdale, among other parts of the Bronx)

» There is no incumbent in this race.

» The candidates are State Senator Gustavo Rivera, who does not live in this district, and Miguelina Camilo, who does live in this district.

US HOUSE

• District 13 (covering Kingsbridge, Kingsbridge Heights, Marble Hill, and Van Cortlandt Village, among other parts of the Bronx and Manhattan)

» The incumbent in this race is Congressman Adriano Espaillat.

» Congressman Espaillat is being challenged by Francisco A. Spies and Michael Hano.

• District 16 (covering Wakefield, among other parts of the Bronx and Westchester County)

» The incumbent in this race is Congressman Jamaal Bowman.

» Congressman Bowman is being challenged by Vedat Gashi, Catherine F. Parker, and Mark Jaffe.

As many of you may have heard, the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott — who is facing a strong electoral challenge from Beto O'Rourke — has decided to undertake a political stunt with human pawns. Governor Abbott is filling bus after bus with immigrants who cross the border into Texas and shipping them off on a 30+ hour trek to New York City. Media reports indicate that arriving immigrants have had their identification documents taken from them, and on at least one occasion someone required immediate medical assistance because they had their insulin taken away before getting put on the bus.

This inhumane, cruel stunt highlights the callousness at which some politicians seem to view the issue of immigration. Adding to the irony, Governor Abbott and many of his political boosters proclaim to be "pro-life" — a claim which seems dubious at best when taken in the context of these busloads of immigrants.

I am proud of New York's long history of welcoming immigrants into our city. For centuries, New York Harbor has hosted the Statue of Liberty, whose wise words ring as true today as they did when my grandparents arrived decades ago, and for generation after generation of new Americans. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

We have the ability to stand in sharp contrast to the dehumanizing attempts by Governor Abbott to foment xenophobia in New York City, but that doesn't mean we should let Texas off the hook. I believe President Biden should take whatever dollars the federal government has allocated to Texas for the purposes of immigration operations and reallocate them to the places that are actually doing the work to support immigrants going through the immigration process. With these funds, I strongly believe that New York could show the better path forward — one where we treat people with the respect and dignity that all human beings deserve, and one where we can welcome new members of our communities for many years to come.

Every summer, streets throughout New York City turn into babbling brooks (or spurting geysers, as the case may be) as fire hydrants get cracked open by some of our neighbors hoping to cool off.

The Fire Department of New York has a program to offer spray caps for hydrants so that this long-standing behavior does not do as much harm to our City's ability to fight fires. To request a cap, please visit your local firehouse (you must be at least 18 years old and show a valid ID, and you will have to fill out a form) so that they can schedule a time to turn the hydrant on and off. For more information, see here: portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-01035.

If you do see a hydrant that is gushing water, please report it to the NYC Department of Environmental Protection. They do come out to shut the hydrants off (even though oftentimes they get turned right back on). You can report a running fire hydrant online via 311 here: portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-01034.

The State University of New York has automatically waived application fees for every single student at the 500 high schools in New York with the highest percentages of students receiving free lunch.

Schools in our community which are specifically listed as automatically eligible are:

• Dewitt Clinton High School

• Walton High School Campus (all five mini-schools)

• In-Tech Academy

• John F. Kennedy Campus (all six specialty schools)

In addition, any student at any high school in the state who receives free lunch will also have their fees waived. Any high school student with a household income at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level ($33,874 for a household of 2 or $51,338 for a household of 4) is eligible for automatic economic hardship fee waivers.

Students can apply for up to seven SUNY schools for free.

This effort is funded in part by allocations that I am proud to have included in our state budget this year.

For more information about this excellent program, please visit the SUNY website here: www.suny.edu/attend/apply-to-suny/fee-waiver.

WHO: Council Member Eric Dinowitz, Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson, State Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Assemblymember Nathalia Fernandez, NYC Parks, Bronx Connect, Lehman College, and HELP USA

WHAT: Back to school Family Day with music, games, food, school supplies, and more

WHEN: Friday, August 26 from 2pm to 6pm

WHERE: Williamsbridge Oval Park (3225 Reservoir Oval East)

Last week, I discussed an ongoing lawsuit over the New York City education budget. Last week, a judge ruled that the budget did not follow proper procedure and was invalidated - reverting the schools budget back to 2022 funding levels. However, the City of New York has appealed that ruling and a judge ruled in their favor - restoring the initial 2023 approved budget. The next hearing date will be held on August 29, which in my opinion does not leave nearly enough time before the school year starts again.

As most of you ought to know by now, I am an ardent and vocal supporter of vaccines. I currently carry legislation to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required school immunizations once it receives full FDA approval (which at this time would only apply to students age 12 and older).

Last night, I noticed that all six candidates participating in the NY-10 Congressional debate (for the seat covering lower Manhattan and Western Brooklyn) voiced their support for required COVID-19 vaccinations to attend school. I am glad to hear political candidates voicing their support for such a mandate, and I look forward to continuing the fight for my legislation next session.

The NYPD 50th Precinct will be hosting another blood drive in conjunction with the New York Blood Center.

The information is below:

DATE: Wednesday, August 31

TIME: 10am to 4pm

LOCATION: Muster Room, 50th Precinct (3450 Kingsbridge Avenue)

Family court proceedings can be complicated and highly charged emotional proceedings. However, there has been a steady increase in voices advocating for family court reforms.

Last week, I asked about how safe do you feel as a pedestrian walking in our community. Here are the results:

I feel very safe. — 10%

I feel mostly safe. — 50%

I feel mostly unsafe. — 22%

I feel very unsafe. — 18%

Other — 1%

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz

3107 Kingsbridge Avenue

Bronx, New York 10463

Phone: 718-796-5345 | E-Mail: dinowitzj@nyassembly.gov