Mayor de Blasio. Photo: ABC screenshot
When New Yorkers went to the polls in November, they voted for real Democrats in the State Senate and a new day in Albany. As we tally up the score card for the end of session, one thing is clear: New Yorkers have won big on a host of progressive legislation that will help make our state fairer.
The legislature wasted no time passing key reforms we have spent years fighting for. With Mayoral Accountability, our students and parents can rest assured that we’ll continue to build upon our progress and that responsibility for the quality of our school system is centralized and rests in my hands. In addition, congestion pricing will finally establish a dedicated revenue stream to fix our crumbling subways and election reforms will make it easier for New Yorkers to participate in our democracy and strengthen their voices.
We advocated for, and the legislature passed, historic rent reforms that put hardworking tenants first by securing sweeping protections for renters; common-sense legislation that decriminalizes cannabis by applying many of our current practices to the entire state; and expanded economic opportunity for minority and women entrepreneurs in New York City to create an even more inclusive and vibrant economy.
The progress doesn’t end there. After this session, comprehensive criminal justice reforms will reduce the unnecessary incarceration of New Yorkers and help drive our jail population down further; our children will be safer when crossing the streets near their schools with our expanded speed camera program; more of our military veterans will be able to join the ranks of our city’s bravest public servants; and construction projects that are vital to our parks, schools and overall infrastructure will be done faster and more efficiently with Design Build.
Statewide, the lives of countless New Yorkers will be transformed with the Jose Peralta Dream Act and Drivers Licenses for All by providing our immigrant communities access to tuition assistance and giving them an opportunity to escape the shadows by reinforcing the irrefutable truth that they are New Yorkers. Finally, in the face of federal inaction, our State legislature is taking the lead and protecting future generations by combatting climate change head-on.
We haven’t seen a session this daring, productive and progressive in decades, and while we have much more work to do for New Yorkers, I want to thank Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and the rest of the legislature for passing these sweeping reforms. I also would like to thank Governor Andrew Cuomo for taking swift action on many of these pieces of legislation. I look forward to continue working with the legislature to take this progress further by tackling issues such as specialized high school admission tests and the legalization of cannabis to increase fairness in our city.
De Blasio is Mayor of New York City
