Protecting Our Environment

Dear Neighbor, 

Yesterday, our Pitch in For Parks' team made up of 20 members of my Youth Advisory Council (YAC) worked to clean up Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers in celebration of Earth Week. Thank you to Westchester Parks Foundation and Westchester County Parks for leading the effort to keep our parks beautiful green spaces.

Senator Stewart-Cousins' Pitch in For Parks team

We must remember Earth Day is everyday, if we want to protect and preserve our environment for future generations. In 2019, the Senate Majority passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, putting New York on a path to the most aggressive clean energy target in the nation. That means an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, transitioning 70% of our energy to renewable energy by 2030, and zero emission-free electricity by 2040. The Act includes several environmental justice components, including a requirement to direct at least 35-40% of the program’s benefits to historically disadvantaged communities. To achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions, the law creates a Climate Action Council, to which I appointed three members.  The Climate Action Council will be a crucial player in New York's environmental protection and conservation efforts.

Building on our work, in this year’s budget, we passed the Environmental Bond Act, which will appear on the ballot in the 2022 general election. It provides record funding to improve water quality, reduce flood risk, and protect parks by reducing the impacts of climate change.

Further this session, the Senate Majority passed landmark legislation to protect low-income communities and communities of color from bearing unfair and unsafe pollution burdens. To read more about our comprehensive work, click here. 

As always, you can email (scousins@nysenate.gov) or call (914-423-4031) my office with questions or concerns.

Until next time,

Andrea Stewart-Cousins
New York State Senator, 35th District
President Pro Tem, Majority Leader
 

While I’m heartened by the verdict in this trial and believe it’s an important step towards accountability, we must remember this verdict is not true justice. True justice would mean George Floyd would have walked away from that encounter alive. True justice, the kind that lives up to our ideals, would mean countless other Black men and women wouldn’t see the same fate as George Floyd. While we cannot change the past, we can change what happens next. We can commit to real reform, to real justice, and to a better system of policing that truly keeps all of our communities safe.

In 2020, the Senate Majority passed historic police reform bills including the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act, the repeal of 50(A), ending race based 911 calls, allowing a special prosecutor for police involved shootings, and establishing the Independent State Inspector General to ensure police accountability. For more on the Senate Majority’s comprehensive work,  click here. 
 

Today, New Yorkers 60 and over will be able to walk up and get the vaccine, no appointment necessary at the Yonkers Armory. For New Yorkers without a computer, Internet, access to transportation or who have had trouble with technology or the Vaccine Hotline, this is a critical change that I called for since March to expand equitable vaccine distribution, especially in communities of color hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Please do not wait to get the vaccine, and when it’s your turn, get vaccinated like me. This is about saving lives. I have gone to far too many wakes and funerals. Vaccines are free, safe and effective. To learn more about the 16 vaccination sites where no appointment is necessary, click here.  

Eligible New Yorkers can still make an appointment online at ny.gov/GetVaccinated or by calling the NYS COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline at 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829). The State has added many more pharmacies, doctors offices and health clinics to our vaccine list. Be sure to click here, and call them. 
 

The federal government is offering assistance to those who have sadly lost loved ones due to COVID-19. Up to $9,000 may be available to individuals for funeral expenses incurred after January 20, 2020 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). You can apply by phone at (844) 684-6333 or online here for additional information. Thank you to the members of our Congressional Delegation who fought to make funding for this program available through the American Rescue Plan Act.

This week, Hip-Hop legend DMX was recognized by the New York State Senate. I introduced and passed a resolution, honoring DMX’s life and legacy. DMX was born in Mount Vernon and raised in Yonkers. To many in our area, he was someone who overcame great obstacles and never forgot where he came from. To hear my full remarks, listen here. 
 

The New York State Senate Majority invested more than ever before for infrastructure in the budget to grow New York's competitiveness and build back better. This investment ensures that NYSDOT can perform more road resurfacing projects like:

• State Route 9 (Broadway) from State Route 119 in the Village of Tarrytown to College Avenue in the Village of Sleepy Hollow

This project is underway, and hopefully in six weeks time, residents of both villages will be able to enjoy a safer and more comfortable commute. We are also supporting Tarrytown’s request to have NYSDOT review the safety of the crosswalk on Broadway as it’s prepared to be repaved. Projects like this are important to our local economies and quality of life.

Thank you to the residents who organized a vigil last week in Hastings-on-Hudson to denounce anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate. 

Also thank you to Westchester County students and community members who rallied in Pleasantville last weekend to denounce hate and stand in solidarity with our AAPI neighbors. I have heard many young Asian Americans describe acts of hate targeting them and their families. We cannot ever become complacent when hate happens in our own backyard. Please stand with our neighbors in always denouncing hate in all its forms.