Speaker Menin highlights council initiatives: homeowner expo, 2K, EMS, SCRI/DRI

There are other ways that we in the council are bringing our commitments to fruition as well.

So switching gears, on Saturday, I joined our deputy speaker, Dr.

Nantasha Williams.

We went to York College for our first installment of our homeowner expo.

Residents Access 101 consulting on how to protect their homes from threats such as predatory loans, deed theft, storm damage, foreclosure.

The event was a part of our $5.5 million commitment to our new homeowner stabilization services.

which will help residents preserve their homes.

And we'll be going to every single borough on this tour.

On Monday, I was proud to join the mayor and the governor to announce that free 2K will be available to every school district in the Bronx and Staten Island by the fall of 2027.

That expansion means an additional 10,000 children will have a shot at a brighter future, and thousands more parents won't have to empty their pockets to pay for child care.

And on that note, this city council has passed so many bills and will continue to do so to make it easier to operate child care facilities, to cut down on the bureaucracy necessary to open them.

We have passed an enormous amount of bills in that regard and more to come.

And we're also very proud of the fact that in 2022, this city council passed the Universal Child Act, becoming the first city across the country to set universal child care as a goal.

On Tuesday, we held a hearing on the response times of our EMS services.

The department is severely underfunded, leading to inadequate staffing that poses deadly consequences.

Currently, a New Yorker must wait, on average, 13 minutes and 9 seconds for EMS to arrive.

13 minutes and 9 seconds.

We know that after four months,

minutes is when brain cells start to die if someone is deprived of oxygen.

This is completely and wholly unacceptable.

So every single minute alone matters.

We must pay those who provide a life-saving service a living wage and ensure that New Yorkers in crisis can access the care that they need.

On a lighter note, ahead of the opening night for the Knicks, we unveiled a street co-naming, Champions Plaza, in honor of these...

Yes, applause over there.

Okay.

In honor of the seven championships won between our home teams, the Knicks and the Rangers.

Obviously, it didn't go New York's way on Tuesday, but today is a different day.

And the City Council certainly has plenty of victories to celebrate on behalf of New Yorkers.

So on that note, today we'll be voting on raising the income eligibility limit to $75,000 for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase, SCRI.

And the Disability Rent Increase Exemption Program, DRE.

This is a truly meaningful difference from the current cap of $50,000, which it has been since 2019.

So thank you to Councilmember Lewis for her important work on this very important legislation.

This program, which freezes rent for eligible senior citizens and disabled New Yorkers while still giving landlords a tax credit, will provide major relief to those

residents, assuring that they can stay in their homes.

It's just one of the many initiatives the council has proposed to make New York City affordable and livable for everyone.