Legislative Concerns On The City Council
Avella's historic "Demolition by Neglect" bill was signed into law by the mayor in February 2005. This legislation enables the Landmarks Preservation Commission to prevent the destruction of New York City's landmarks by property owners. Avella's legislation was supported by 46 preservation and civic groups, including the Landmarks Conservancy, the Historic Districts Council, and the National Historic Trust.
In 2005 Avella also forwarded a bill proposing that the Department of Transportation increase the operational duration of four public bus companies operating in his area. The bill would allow for the smooth integration of the private lines with the MTA, and was signed into law in May 2005.
An attack occurred in 2007 in his district (Douglaston), on four Asian males by two white males (one with a pending criminal case on charges of assaulting an elderly man with a claw hammer), in which racial slurs were used by the white males. In a news conference Avella convened with religious and community leaders, he referred to the two perpetrators as "neanderthals". "I don't think I've ever used that word before," he said. "But it fits them." Avella blamed developers for increasing the tension in his district.
On December 10, 2008, Avella received the “New York City Human Rights Award” for obtaining the third highest score of elected officials in New York City on the Human Rights Project’s report cards. The Human Rights Project is the lead organization of the New York City Human Rights Initiative, a city-wide human rights coalition with over 100 groups from the City.
Read more about this topic: Tony Avella
Famous quotes containing the words legislative, concerns, city and/or council:
“I find it profoundly symbolic that I am appearing before a committee of fifteen men who will report to a legislative body of one hundred men because of a decision handed down by a court comprised of nine men—on an issue that affects millions of women.... I have the feeling that if men could get pregnant, we wouldn’t be struggling for this legislation. If men could get pregnant, maternity benefits would be as sacrosanct as the G.I. Bill.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)
“History in the making is a very uncertain thing. It might be better to wait till the South American republic has got through with its twenty-fifth revolution before reading much about it. When it is over, some one whose business it is, will be sure to give you in a digested form all that it concerns you to know, and save you trouble, confusion, and time. If you will follow this plan, you will be surprised to find how new and fresh your interest in what you read will become.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)
““Why visit the playhouse to see the famous Parisian models, ... when one can see the French damsels, Norma and Diana? Their names have been known on both continents, because everything goes as it will, and those that cannot be satisfied with these must surely be of a queer nature.””
—For the City of New Orleans, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Daughter to that good Earl, once President
Of England’s Council and her Treasury,
Who lived in both, unstain’d with gold or fee,
And left them both, more in himself content.
Till the sad breaking of that Parliament
Broke him, as that dishonest victory
At Chaeronea, fatal to liberty,
Kill’d with report that old man eloquent;—”
—John Milton (1608–1674)