NY1: Man Faces Charges Following Scuffle With Queens Lawmaker

From NY1:

A man is facing several charges including harassment after allegedly attacking and robbing a Queens councilman Wednesday.

Daniel Dromm says it all began when he used his phone to photograph the man who was in a truck blocking traffic outside his Jackson Heights office just after 12 p.m.

"When he got to this corner, he lost it and he went berserk and he started screaming and yelling and charged across the street and he said, 'No photographs, no photographs, no effin photographs.' And he's coming over and he pushes me. He tries to grab the camera out of my hands and when he's trying to grab it, he either comes down and hits me in the face or punches me, and then hits me again in the chest, and pushes me back and he has my phone now in his hands," Dromm said.

John Muriel, 43, is charged with robbery, criminal possession of stolen property, and harassment.

El Diario: Luchan por servicios para inmigrantes

From El Diario: By Rosa Margarita Murphy

Activistas comunitarios y funcionarios electos anunciaron ayer que seguirán luchando, con el fin de garantizar los programas esenciales que ayudan a los inmigrantes a seguir adelante en este país.

Un grupo de directores de organizaciones enfocadas a la educación para adultos, acompañados por los concejales Daniel Dromm y Ruben Wills, se reunieron frente a la sede de la organización South Queens Boys and Girls Club, en Queens, donde hicieron un llamado para que se restauren los fondos de la Iniciativa de Oportunidades para el Inmigrante (IOI), para continuar con programas tales como clases de inglés, de ciudadanía y asesoría legal.

"Queremos asegurarnos que las personas de bajos recursos de nuestras comunidades se beneficien de estos programas", expresó el concejal Dromm.

El concejal Dromm hizo énfasis en que en el año fiscal 2008, el presupuesto fue de $11.25 millones, para el año pasado fue de $4 millones. Sin embargo este año, en el presupuesto ejecutivo 2013 no se incluyeron esos $4 millones.

KC Williams, directora de Educación para Adultos de la organización Queens Community House, en Jackson Heights, donde acuden cientos de inmigrantes que no dominan el inglés en busca de ayuda para aprenderlo, manifestó que muchos usuarios se verán afectados y que en el último año el centro han dejado de prestar los servicios de asesoría legal para asistencia con los documentos de residencia y naturalización.

Joel Ponter, de origen panameño, quien llegó hace cuatro años a Nueva York, dijo que en ese entonces tenía poco conocimiento del idioma inglés.

"Las clases de Inglés como Segundo Idioma (ESL) me abrieron las puertas, no solamente para comunicarme con otras personas, sino también para hacer nuevas amistades, también en el plano laboral y sobre todo puedo ayudar a mi comunidad", aseguró el joven, de 22 años, quien trabajó en el área de limpieza y actualmente labora para Queens Community House.

No se pudo contactar a la oficina de Asuntos del Inmigrante de la alcaldía.

Queens Latino: Protesta contra recortes a programas para después de la escuela

From Queens Latino: By Javier Castaño

Si el alcalde Bloomberg se sale con la suya, recortará el 50% del dinero de los programas para después de las clases en las escuelas pública de Nueva York. “Como ex profesor debo admitir que estos recortes son una tragedia para miles de estudiantes y sus comunidades”, dijo el concejal Daniel Dromm, quien organizó la protesta frente a la oficina de correo de Jackson Heights, Queens.

Dromm dijo que la administración del alcalde Bloomberg debe darse cuenta que los recortes son devastadores para las familias pobres y trabajadoras de esta zona. “Una vez más, la ciudad está atacando a los más vulnerables y perjudicando su futuro”, dijo Dromm.

Decenas de estudiantes marcharon con letreros en señal de protesta y algunos hablaron de los beneficios de tener programas para después de la escuela. “No podemos tolerar estos recortes al presupuesto sobre los hombros de los estudiantes de las escuelas públicas”, dijo el congresista Joseph Crowley.

José Peralta añadió: “No aceptaremos estos recortes porque los programas para después de la escuela son necesarios para mejorar la educación de nuestros estudiantes y para apoyar a las familias”. El senado Peralta también escribió una carta que envió al alcalde para que no haga efectivo estos recortes al presupuesto.

“Soy el resultado de estos programas y sé que funcionan. Además, la comunidad los necesita”, dijo el asambleísta Francisco Moya.

“Estos programas ayudan a reducir el crimen, el ausentismo escolar, además de mermar la depresión y el abuso de drogas en los estudiantes:, dijo el asambleísta Michael DenDekker.

En un comunicado de prensa, los políticos dijeron que los programas para después de la escuela ayudan a mejorar la actitud de los estudiantes, la asistencia escolar, las ejecución de las tareas, la autoestima e incrementa el conocimiento de nutrición y otras prácticas de salud.

Además, los padres tienen en donde dejar a sus hijos en lugar de pagar por una niñera en las horas de la tarde.
“Hay dos puertas para llegar al éxito: termine sus tareas y siéntase bien, como un ganador”, dijo Ronald Tompkins, director ejecutivo de la Academia de la Calle 82. Tompkins recolectó más de 1,300 firmas en oposición a los recortes y le entregó a cada uno de los políticos una copia.

Dromm and 82nd Street Academics Rally for After-school Programs

NY1: Queens Residents Claim Harassment By Building Super

From NY1:

Some residents in a rent-controlled Queens building say the superintendent has been harassing them in an attempt to force them to move out.

Times Ledger: Rivera family, senior center to lead Pride Parade

From Times Ledger: By Rebecca Henely

City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), who announced the marshals of the 2012 Queens Pride Parade Monday, looked back on how far the parade and the state had come since its inception 20 years ago.

“I was a young man when I started it,” Dromm said, “and I can’t believe 20 years have passed and so much has changed.”

The Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival in Jackson Heights — an extravaganza that includes floats, elaborate costumes and LGBT groups from the borough and beyond — will be held Sunday, June 3, at noon.

The parade runs along 37th Avenue beginning at 84th Street and ending at 75th Street, the site of a festival which will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Some 40,000 to 60,000 people attend every year.

Dromm, who is openly gay, is one of the co-founders of the parade.

Marshals this year include the newly named Queens Center for Gay Seniors, at 74-09 37th Ave., Suite 409, in Jackson Heights, formerly known as Senior Action in a Gay Environment, and the family of Julio Rivera, whose 1990 murder in Jackson Heights inspired the parade.

Chris Calvert, who co-chairs the parade committee with Hank Krumholz, said this year’s theme is “Generations of Pride” and will feature both the senior LGBT community as well as student organizations, bringing together the past fighting discrimination and the present day. The 2012 parade will be the first held since New York legalized same-sex marriage last year.

“There’s been a lot of accomplishment, but very easily things can go backward,” Calvert cautioned.

John Nagel, president of the senior center, said the organization has been in operation as part of the Queens Community House since 1986. He described it as a place for LGBT seniors to feel safe and supported by members of their community.

“We’re really happy we’re going to be part of the Queens Pride Parade to promote LGBT seniors not only in Jackson Heights but in all of Queens,” Nagel said.

Rita Barakos, Rivera’s stepsister, came to the Monday announcement as a representative for the family.

“I’m very proud and I’m very happy about the parade because it keeps Julio’s memory alive,” she said.

Dromm and U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) both spoke about how Rivera’s tragic death inspired a movement for equality in the neighborhood.

“Even from those dark, ugly moments, rays of sunlight have come through,” Crowley said.

More information about the parade and festival can be found at queenspride.org.

Queens Gazette: Community Forces Trade Fair To Cease Unsafe Practices

From Queens Gazette:

The Jackson Heights community proved that you cannot break the law and get away with it. On April 28, the Trade Fair Supermarket demolished the illegal sidewalk enclosure that was blocking pedestrian access on 75th Street. Many residents had feared that the enclosure was a fire hazard.

“I am glad that Trade Fair has finally complied with the law. I know that many in the community will be relieved that their calls, letters, and emails have been successful in forcing Trade Fair to be a responsible neighbor,” said Councilmember Daniel Dromm. “Sidewalks are public property, and no one person or business can take advantage and just take for their own use what is owned by the people of our community. Let this be a warning to other businesses in the neighborhood who might think they can break the law and get away with it. A new day has come.”

In August of 2011 a partial vacate order was issued by the Department of Buildings (DOB) to Trade Fair for the illegal extension citing dangerous conditions and improper construction. When Trade Fair management failed to comply with DOB order, the Environment Control Board issued a violation.

After scores of complaints from community members, Dromm held a rally with neighborhood residents in January of this year to highlight Trade Fair’s outrageous behavior. The rally was widely covered by the press.

“We have a process for getting a sidewalk enclosure. We have a system of rules and regulations that everyone must follow – including business,” Dromm continued. “I hope that Trade Fair will take this opportunity to start a new relationship with the community – one that is based on respect and cooperation.”

The councilmember said that he will work closely with the DOB to correct other violations in the community.

LIC/Astoria Journal: MLK III joins debate over Stop and Frisk

From LIC/Astoria Journal: 

New York City elected officials joined Martin Luther King III to speak out against the NYPD policy known as "Stop and Frisk" on the steps of City Hall last week.

King spoke of his support for members of the NYPD and the need for better community policing, but said that police need more sensitivity training about issues affecting communities of color. He said his father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would hope for the same.

One of the elected officials at the event was Councilman Daniel Dromm. More than 18,000 people were stopped and frisked during the last year in the 115th Precinct in the Queens district that Dromm represents.

"It's hard to believe that there was enough suspicion to stop 18,000 people in my district," Dromm said. "While I am not advocating for the complete removal of the stop and frisk policy, I am saying that we need to be sure peoples' rights are respected."

The event was coordinated by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who asked Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to keep their minds open and to allow for a discussion of the issue.

"We are targeting people based on race and based on a certain profile, that quite frankly is not constitutional and creating a divide in this city," he said.

There were more than 680,000 stop and frisks in NYC last year. Eighty-seven percent of the stop and frisks were of black and Latino men. Nearly nine out of 10 stopped-and-frisked New Yorkers have been completely innocent, according to the NYPD's own reports.