Latest news with #Vernikov
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NYC Council passes bills to crack down on helicopter tours, add new gender option to city documents
The City Council passed a slew of bills Thursday — including one that would ban noisy non-essential helicopter flights from city heliports following the horrific crash in the Hudson that killed a family of tourists and another to add a new gender ID to city documents. The two bills easily passed the Democratic-majority council but still need Mayor Eric Adams' signature to become laws. A proposal aimed at cracking down on tour and commuter helicopters passed near unanimously — just two weeks after a couple and their three young kids visiting from Spain and a Navy veteran pilot all died when their chopper broke apart and plunged into the Hudson River. Intro 26-A would prohibit such 'non-essential' choppers that fail to meet FAA noise standards from using two city heliports at East 34th Street and Wall Street, beginning in late 2029. The bill passed 46-1-1 with Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov voting against and Democratic Councilman Simcha Felder abstaining. 'Intro 26 is a bold step toward a healthier, quieter, and more equitable city,' said Majority Leader Amanda Farias, who sponsored the bill. 'For far too long, non-essential helicopter flights have disrupted daily life and endangered the well-being of New Yorkers. This bill uses the City's authority over our heliports to phase out the noisiest, most outdated aircraft, while making space for safer, cleaner, electric aviation.' Meanwhile, Intro 246-A, which would add the gender 'X' to city documents, where such information is requested, passed despite conservative backlash. The bill, sponsored by Democratic councilmember Crystal Hudson, would require any agency that provides social services to add the new gender identifier as an option to applicable documents. The legislation — which was introduced in a group of bills to protect the rights of trans and gender non-conforming New Yorkers — passed 41-5-2, with Republicans Vernikov, Joann Ariola, Vickie Paladino, Kristy Marmorato and Democrat Bob Holden voting 'no,' and Felder and Democrat Darlene Mealy abstaining. 'Let me be clear, I am not here to judge how consenting adults choose to live their lives, but don't bring that agenda into our public schools, our libraries and public spaces, and don't force it onto our children,' Vernikov said about the bill. Lefty council members hit back at her comments on LGBTQ folk, including openly gay councilman Erik Bottcher. 'They're not … going out, trying to recruit other people. It's a vicious, vicious stereotype,' the Democrat shot back. The package of LGBTQ bills was introduced as the Trump administration 'threatens trans and gender non-confirming New Yorkers,' council members said. Adams did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his view of the bills.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Homeless shelter replaces affordable housing site in Brooklyn: councilwoman
SHEEPSHEAD BAY, Brooklyn (PIX11) – A Brooklyn lot approved for affordable housing units is instead being used to build a homeless shelter, according to New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov. A large crowd protested outside the Coyle Street site on Tuesday, arguing that it's too close to nearby schools and day care centers. More Local News Vernikov wrote on X that the City Council voted for housing to be built at the site, not a shelter. 'This is an UNACCEPTABLE bait and switch!' she said. 'The plans were changed with NO input from the community or representatives. Is the New York City government just going to ignore and undermine the wants and needs of the community?' Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse, whose district neighbors Vernikov's, urged neighbors on Facebook to call the mayor's office and the Department of Social Services to demand only affordable housing be built in the lot. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Community Board 15 is scheduled to host a presentation about the Coyle Street shelter next week. The presenters are Westhab – a nonprofit that offers affordable housing and wraparound services. A similar protest was held in Borough Park last week, where a homeless shelter that will house 82 families will open up this year. Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NYC councilwoman quits women's caucus to protest anti-Israel agenda
NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov said that she quit the NYC Council's Women's Caucus over its anti-Israel agenda in an interview with Fox Friends First on Monday. "We all watched the release of these female hostages, these young girls who are only 20 years old, came out of captivity, surrounded by Jihadi terrorists with masks on, weapons drawn, only 20 years old. Could you imagine your daughter, or yourself at 20 years old as a woman, being held in tunnel? God knows what they did to them." Vernikov announced in a video shared on social media on Sunday that she would be leaving her position on the Women's Caucus immediately due to the group's refusal to release a statement condemning the Hamas terrorists and in support of female hostages who were released from captivity. Trump Remains Committed To Us Owning Gaza, Says Middle East States Could Help Rebuild War-torn Area "I simply asked the Women's Caucus, which I was a part of in the New York City Council, to make a simple statement condemning the terrorists, supporting these women and calling on the release of the hostages that are still remaining in captivity," Vernikov explained. "Unfortunately, it is the height of hypocrisy that a Women's Caucus, in New York City Council, made up of 30-plus women, who is supposed to stand up for women and women's rights, cannot simply condemn terrorists and stand up for women that are Jewish," she said. "I'm out of that caucus." Read On The Fox News App Vernikov responded to criticism that her departure from the council was an act of political grandstanding. Israeli President Praises Trump's Leadership, Challenges Neighboring Leaders To Present Better Ideas For Gaza "The Democrats are unfortunately pandering to the hard left," she said. "We need to stand up, we cannot be cowards, and we cannot continue having elected officials who are spineless to stand up, and we cannot stand up for women only when it is politically expedient for us." Vernikov said that she was "very grateful" to President Donald Trump for his strong stance on the Israel-Hamas war, which she said makes it possible for the release of the remaining surviving Israeli article source: NYC councilwoman quits women's caucus to protest anti-Israel agenda
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov quits Women's Caucus over woke, anti-Israel agenda: ‘I'm out!'
A Brooklyn lawmaker is quitting the City Council's Women's Caucus to protest its 'anti-Israel' agenda and 'woke' ways. GOP Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, 40, slammed the 30-member caucus in a nearly 90-second video, first obtained by The Post, for its refusal to condemn Hamas terrorists after the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in Israel and for catering to far-left gender idealogues. 'How can I condemn and call out all these women organizations who've stayed completely silent [after the massacre] but continue sitting in a body that's supposed to stand up for women's rights, that's supposed to stand against the abuse and rape and captivity of women, but cannot do that when it comes to Jewish women?' Vernikov says in the clip. The video includes footage of young, terrified Jewish women as they're released from Hamas captivity by masked men with weapons. In the clip, Vernikov calls the Hamas captors 'Jihadis.' She also pointed to the caucus' bylaws allowing council members to join who 'identify as women' — leaving the door open to transgender biological men joining the group. The bylaws also say the caucus 'seeks to advance' both 'women and women-identifying people's rights.' 'This is a Women's Caucus that obviously cannot agree on what a woman is,' she says in the video. 'I will not remain on a body that refuses to acknowledge objective truths and that will only stand up for women when it is politically expedient for them. I'm out!' she concludes. Vernikov formally notified the caucus' leadership on Friday she's leaving the group. The caucus' co-chair, Julie Menin (D-Manhattan), and another member, Lynn Schulman (D-Queens), all but accused Vernikov of political grandstanding on Saturday. 'As was explained to Councilmember Vernikov, members decided to put out their own personal statements, given that some of us had actually visited with hostage families in Israel, which we felt was more personal and powerful,' both Jewish pols said in a joint statement. 'It is unfortunate that the council member is seeking to politicize the lives of the hostages.' Menin, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and Schulman visited with families of hostages during a trip to Israel in 2024 and have issued numerous statements in support of the hostages. The Council's Jewish Caucus has also left it up to individual members to release statements on the Israeli hostages rather than issue a joint statement, said its chairperson Eric Dinowitz (D-Bronx). This is not the first time Vernikov has left the Women's Caucus. Vernikov and fellow Republicans Joann Ariola and Vickie Paladino of Queens stepped down in 2022 over a variety of issues, including that they believed their opinions were being ignored, but they later returned, officials said. Vernikov's resignation leaves the caucus with 26 Democrats and just three Republicans. It's membership topped out at 31 following an historic 2021 election when women — for the first time — won majority control of the City Council's 51 seats. The councilwoman – a longtime fervent defender of Israel — made headlines in October 2023 when she was caught on camera toting a firearm while observing an anti-Israel rally at Brooklyn College following Hamas' attack. Vernikov was later arrested on felony gun charges but prosecutors dropped the case when they couldn't prove the weapon was capable of firing bullets. The incident sparked her re-election a month later, some pundits claim, by galvanizing die-hard Israel supporters in her heavily Jewish district, which includes Sheepshead Bay and other parts of southern Brooklyn.
