Nothing shows someone you care more than making sure your voter registration information is up to date (maybe that’s just me!).
Valentine’s Day is the last day to update your voter registration information for citywide elections. To make sure the Board of Election receives your request, it’s best to check your information TODAY. Click here to check your voter registration information!
If you plan to vote by mail, it is especially important that you check that your address is current. Additionally, only voters registered as Democrats in Manhattan can vote in the Democratic Primaries, including for Manhattan DA (June 22!), so make sure to confirm your party affiliation.
Now, will you spread the love and ensure your friends will be eligible to vote for a better, more fair Manhattan, too? Forward this email along!
(Thank you to Tali Farhadian-Weinstein for this timely PSA)
Latest (Pre-COVID) Data
One of the depressing things about looking at the data from the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) is that it repeatedly tells the same story – for decades, OASAS has packed substance abuse programs into Harlem and East Harlem; programs that wealthier and often whiter communities have successfully rebuffed.
OASAS has exploited the weak political resistance of Harlem elected officials, and the generosity of spirit in Harlem, both of which permitted OASAS to successfully lie to the community by repeatedly stating that programs in Harlem were for our neighbors, our family members, or our colleagues.
The data, however, shows unequivocally that opioid treatment programs in East Harlem are not used by East Harlem residents. They are used by men and women who have to commute into our community because our political representatives do not have the spine to demand local, small-scale treatment programs in all New York City neighborhoods.
Only 18% of the men and women you see lined up to get methadone in our community, live in East Harlem. The rest commute here.
This big lie, told by OASAS and repeated by our elected officials, can also be seen in the graph, below, which shows how the capacity of opioid treatment programs in East Harlem far, far exceeds even our community’s addiction rate.
This tremendous gap between the size of the programs in East Harlem and our addiction rate shows how programs in East Harlem were not built for East Harlem residents, they were built to serve people who live in other communities.
The data presented here is from March 1st, 2019 to February 28th, 2020 (just before the COVID pandemic took hold).
New York State Senator Brian Benjamin Sponsors a Harlem COVID-19 Vaccine Town Hall
 |
| Dear Neighbor, This pandemic has been hard on the country and has been disproportionately deadly to Black and Latino populations. Additionally, people of color in America have historically been subjected to severe medical mistreatment. So, it is only natural that some of our neighbors may have fears and reservations about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. I am committed to ensuring that our community knows that the COVID-19 vaccine is: Here, Safe, Effective, and Free! It is essential and life-saving for those in our community to be sufficiently informed about the vaccine, especially the most vulnerable among us, and for those in our community to have equal and equitable access to the vaccine. To inform you and to answer your questions about the vaccine, please join me and a panel of medical experts, government leaders, and a few of our Harlem neighbors who have taken the vaccine for a “Harlem COVID-19 Vaccine Town Hall.” The event sponsors and I are doing this to ensure that our community is not left behind or left in the dark regarding this vital, life-saving tool to counter COVID-19. Join us to receive accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccine, so we can all play our part to help our community to be healthy and safe. |
| WHEN:Friday, February 195:30PM WHERE:ZOOMTo RSVP, register athttps://bit.ly/vaccinetownhall1 |
 Brian A. BenjaminNew York State Senator |