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All right, welcome back to ask the borough president right here on News 12, Brooklyn BP, Antonio Reinoso with us here once again, last ask the BP of 2023. So get those calls in now and we're gonna head to the phones because we've got Dominique joining us tonight from Bed Stuy. Dominique. Thanks for calling in. Here's your chance to ask the BP. What's your question? Good evening. So I wanted to know what are we gonna do about the homelessness that we had before the migrants came over to New York because there was a lot of people that was in the process of becoming homeless before COVID. A lot of attention was given to people who said that they was gonna get money to pay back that back money and then the migrants came. So I'm just wondering like, how are, how is, are the people that needed the help before the migrants came? Gonna get that help. Dominique. Thank you for the question there. And this is something not just yourself, but also public advocate Janie Williams has been talking a lot about what the homeless situation the shelter situation was like before had this influx of migrants. So how would you, how would you answer her question? Yes. So yeah, exactly the way the controller, the public advocate said it, this was a crisis before it was a crisis. Uh We already had uh a significant amount of people in the homeless shelters. But I would say the first thing again, I just like to clarify. Uh no migrants is getting an affordable housing apartment before someone that was in the shelter system. So just know that no resources are being taken away from one group and not given to another. And that's another misconception and a rumor that runs around. And I just wanna be clear with Brooklyn that that's not the case. Um So uh the migrants are being put in shelters in hotels and in, you know, Floyd Bennett field. But what they are not is getting uh permanent housing that is going first to the homeless population of which we have a lot of folks uh that that are there, the crisis comes down to uh supply and demand. We don't have enough apartments to put people in or that people can afford. Um So, so we don't start building more units. We're gonna continue to have this crisis. We talked about accessory dwelling units. That's 1000 300 potential units there, 4300 people um that are, that could be from homeless uh uh shelters or uh could prevent them from being homeless. Uh Because it exists. We need more policies like that so we could start building faster is the only way to solve for it. But no resources. Then the mayor has made it very clear several times. No resources that would have gone to a New Yorker or resident that's been here a long time or someone in the shelter system um would be taken away from them and given to someone in the migrant system. This is a separate and parallel path of funding. So just know that um the ho homeless system was a crisis and it's still a crisis and it comes down to the fact that we don't have any apartments to put people in that are affordable. And uh we need a bigger plan, not only from the city but also from the state to address that issue. That was gonna be my point there. So what can we do here to kind of help those homeless people who are experiencing homelessness right now who are not connected to the? I think that's what Dominique is looking for. Like, how do they help them? Are, they're gonna stay on this, they're gonna stay in the shelter system until we build more units. Um I know that the state government in Kathy Hoco right now, uh the governor is looking to start, uh, was looking to incentivize uh localities to build more housing and being able to give them some funding is like we'll give you a million dollars for every 100 units you build. And that's, I'm making up the numbers there, but it's an incentive so that folks can get, get housing. She's pulling back away from that because she doesn't think it's going to pass. Uh So if the state doesn't relax the rules and development in the city of New York, we're gonna continue to have a housing crisis. So I just wanna say solving for it. Uh, no one should be looking for the housing crisis to be solved or the homelessness crisis to be solved in the next decade at the rate we're going with development of apartments. All right. Well, Dominique, thank you for calling in with that question tonight and uh great question there. We're gonna uh go back to the phone lines in just a little bit. Uh As we sit here tonight, I wanted to bring up something with you. New York magazine had an article today in relation to maternal health uh, here in Brooklyn, which I know is a cause near and dear to your heart is something you talked about, not just since you took office, but even dating back prior to that, uh in that article, mentions is you gave every cent of your $45 million budget to pregnancy care at Brooklyn's three public hospitals a major effort from your office. Of course, I wanna know tonight. Where do we stand now? Versus when you took office? Are things better? Is there is there more equity when we talk about maternal care here in the borough and are things better? So we can't say yet. Uh because it's the city of New York. So I gave that money my first year, they probably won't see the first ribbon cutting for the New Spaces uh until year six of my time. So the physical spaces haven't changed. But the advocacy has, for example, in Kings County, there was only one midwife and now they're training to have over seven or eight midwives and midwives save lives like that's uh um uh uh apples to apples. Like it's just you have a midwife, black women's lives are saved. So we know that that's a, a tangible thing that didn't exist before we put this initiative in those hospitals that will exist. Moving forward, both in Coney Island and Kings County, all we have already had midwives. So that one already was showing numbers of progress in a positive way. Uh But we, you know, we wouldn't be doing this work if there wasn't a problem. So, uh again, we won't be able to definitively say that we've, we've been able to save lives until the data comes down and until these physical spaces get reconstructed or redesigned. Um But we're making progress, we're, we're making progress, I guess in the advocacy of it. Um And the $45 million goes a long way. And like I said, in the, in the magazine, we could have, I could have given 5 $5 million Kurt and sat here and had the same conversation, but it would have just been me affecting change at the margins versus actually affecting meaningful change and saving people's lives, which is what the $45 million is gonna do. And that increase in advocacy is a big deal. I mean, just simply the fact that so many people are talking about it and have been, and have been holding events have been raising awareness, raising money and funds. I mean, that's the kind of thing that needs to happen here to, to make a change. Absolutely. And now you're now any time, uh, a woman of color dies in a public hospital, it's a big deal and, you know, the news is out there and people are paying attention to it before you would have thought that no one cared about black women. Uh, the way we, we held the topic up, you know, it wasn't something that was, uh, news. Uh, it was just common practice and it is not the case anymore. People are outraged and they're being out, they're, they're outraged when bad things happen to black women. And if, if only that we were able to accomplish, we've done a lot. So, so, yes, I agree. All right. Well, we're gonna wrap things up here on E borough president in just a couple of minutes. In fact, we're gonna talk a little bit about the upcoming holiday season and what you wanna be on the lookout for here in the borough. So hang tight as the VP continues in just a couple of minutes.

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All right, welcome back to ask the borough president right here on News 12 Brooklyn as BP Antonio Reynoso here with us once again tonight and we've got time for one more caller and we're gonna bring in Travis right now calling us from East New York. Travis. Thanks for calling. We're a little short on time. So if you can keep your question quick, that'd be great. Yes, sir. Good evening. How are you all doing? Good, good. Uh, my question is based on, um, uh, I'm a homeowner, disabled veteran and I have a problem, I've had problem tenants who are receiving public benefits. So my question is, is there any way that the city has a program that they can let homeowners know, um, in order to help us evict these tenants out even faster because the process goes, there's a 90 day window that we have to serve these individuals and then we go to the courts and then the courts give them an extra three months, which is a six month burden on the homeowners when the, when the tenants aren't paying already? Is there any way that we can? Is there a program where where the city has, where we can uh recommend these uh 10, these terrible tenants go to nature your housing opposed to being a burden on your uh on your everyday citizen. All Travis, thanks for the question there. Well, so one where the city of New York is not in the business of evicting tenants no matter, no matter the cause the city of New York is not going to be uh you know, pushing, um, uh the eviction of tenants and there are no resources that are available to homeowners to evict tenants. Now, services that might exist for those tenants to be able to cover the cost of the debt that they may owe because of back rent and so forth. Absolutely exists. So if anything, I would encourage, uh the homeowner uh to have, have the tenant reach out to almost any elected official's office, there's something called a one shot deal that allows for the, the city of New York or the federal government would pay for up to a year's worth of back rent one time, um, in one shot so they can so they can pay it. Um There's also rental assistance programs that exist. So we try to do is make it as easy as possible for that tenant to make sure they're covering their rent. What we can't do, especially in the crisis we have now is uh move forward with any type of evictions. Uh because uh the homeless are the homelessness crisis is so bad, we don't want it to increase. So the unfortunately, the only thing I could recommend to this homeowner is to reach out to your local elected official. And there are programs and resources that the tenant can receive to help them cover the cost of paying their rent. So many different sides when we talk about the housing crisis and we talk about what's gotta be dealt there and there so many problems that you don't even know about when you talk about each side of things. Travis, thank you for the calling in tonight with the question and I appreciate it as we set here to wrap things up here tonight. Uh Borough President. It is the holiday season. There's a lot going on right now. We can show everybody that you just lit the tree over at uh Borough Hall. Not that long ago. There you go. A Butte, I have to say looks very nice right there. Um I just wanna know, you know, what's your message to Brooklynites here as we spent through the holiday season here for so many. Um, it's a holiday season for us all. Uh, and if there was ever a time that we all need to come together, uh, show love to each other, the Brooklyn way, the way biggie taught us all, uh, it's now and, and I'm hoping that the, the Holiday Spirit uh falls upon us. Um We think about helping others not helping ourselves, uh, giving, uh, and just enjoying family and friends and just read recommitting to, to what it is, uh, to be human. Um, and, and care for us all. So I just hope that everyone enjoys their holiday season. Uh, has a great time with their family and again, happy holidays and don't forget to support your local businesses and shop local right now. That is a big help too. I helped you out. I got you. That's my gift to you. Happy holidays to you and to everybody out there. Thanks so much for watching. As always, we'll join you in 2024 here in the BP. Good night.

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News 12's Kurt Semder sits down with Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso for this month's edition of Ask the Borough President. 

Ask the Brooklyn Borough President: December 2023

News 12's Kurt Semder sits down with Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso for this month's edition of Ask the Borough President.

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