Community Magazine October 2019

92 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Mayor Bill de Blasio and Speaker Carl Heastie announced last month that the City will no longer issue violations to homeowners for sidewalk damage caused by City trees. The City will also ramp up sidewalk repairs under the Trees & Sidewalks program to address 5,500 priority sites over the next three years. “We’re not just fixing broken sidewalks – we’re fixing a broken system,” said Mayor de Blasio. “We tripled funding for tree related sidewalk repair, but homeowners were still on the hook for problems they didn’t create. As a homeowner, I know how frustrating that is. Now, if a street tree causes damage, we’re taking care of it.” “This has been a huge quality of life concern for my constituents who have invested their savings in purchasing a home, only to be hit with this liability through no fault of their own. The problems associated with these trees became very apparent as I have been knocking on doors and visiting with constituents,” said Carl E. Heastie, Speaker of the New York State Assembly. “I am glad that Mayor de Blasio has recognized this issue and together we have developed a solution to take the burden off these homeowners.” The City will stop imposing liens on one-, two-, and three- family properties that have sidewalk damage caused solely by City trees. DOT and the Parks Department will still inspect for dangerous sidewalk conditions, but the City, not the homeowner, will be responsible for fixing them if they are exclusively tree related. DOT will review the 50,000 existing notices of violation to determine which were caused exclusively by street trees and cancel the lien for any that meets the criteria. If the homeowner of the qualifying property is selling or refinancing their home, the City will expedite this re-evaluation. “DOT works with property owners to make our sidewalks safe, but when City-owned tree roots are the culprit, homeowners should not be liable,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “We will review our records for violations and liens that can be cancelled as we work closely with Parks on this common sense initiative.” “As yeshiva graduates with advanced training in diverse areas of educational theory and practice, we can state with confidence that yeshivas provide students across all levels of ability with enriching educational experiences that stimulate their cognitive, intellectual, practical, social, and moral development.” This sentence, included in a letter sent last month to the New York State Board of Regents, belies the notion that yeshiva education requires government intrusion and control. Signed by nearly 600 education professionals, all yeshiva graduates, whose qualifications include master’s and doctoral degrees in education or related fields from accredited colleges and universities, and state teacher’s licenses or comparable credentials. The letter urged the Board of Regents to reject the proposed regulations, arguing that they do not suitably address the needs of yeshivas that need improvement, or measure the success of those that do not. From both a personal and a professional level, the educators reject the “trope of yeshivas’ educational inferiority,” which is contradicted by their own achievements, and conclude by saying, “In its refusal to employ objective assessment of actual student achievement and its insistence on dictating the design of instruction, the present proposal is both deeply flawed on its own terms and antagonistic to traditional Jewish schools in particular.” If you have not yet submitted your comment, please do so today at YeshivosByChoice.org or via text 646.766.1110. With the dramatic rise in violent anti-Semitic hate crimes across the United States, but particularly in New York City (where it has almost doubled since last year), and the lack of adequate response from leaders across the political spectrum, Dov Hikind decided to join the March Against Anti-Semitism in NYC.  Together with Women Fighting Anti-Semitism, Combat Anti-Semitism, Yad Yamin-NY, Campaign 4 Truth, and Eye on Anti-Semitism (who will be organizing a solidarity march in London), Hikind gathered at the mayor’s office in City Hall to send a loud and clear message that Jews are sick of being targeted and left to fend for ourselves by our missing leadership. co mm unity HIGHL IGHTS Yeshiva-Educated Education Professionals Reject Proposed NYSED Regulations  Dov Hikind Joins Forces with Jewish Groups to March Against Anti-Semitism in NYC New York City Will Stop Issuing Violations to Homeowners for Damage Caused by Street Trees Dov Hikind