Newsletters

Regards,

Ben Kallos
Council Member

P.S. First Friday is canceled this month in observance of Passover.

Special Events

4/7 - 4/15
Participatory Budgeting

4/12, 6:30pm – 8pm
Homelessness Forum, CB 8

4/19, 6pm – 8pm
Earth Day Forum, Free Reusable Bags

4/21, 10am – 2pm
Shred-A-Thon


Monthly Events

First Friday  
Canceled Due to Religious Observance

4/10, 5pm – 6pm
Brainstorm with Ben
By Appointment Only

For those who celebrate, Happy Purim, as the weather gets warmer and you may be preparing for the celebrations of Passover and Easter we wish you the best.

My wife and I were blessed this month with a baby girl. Thank you to everybody who has sent congratulations. Your support has meant a lot to me and my new family. I believe every New Yorker should have access to paid family leave, and I hope more men who often don't will start to take full advantage of their leave, which is why I joined with Brooklyn Council Member Antonio Reynoso, who is also on paternity leave, to publish an op-ed in City and State and lead by example. I look forward to returning from the first half of my family leave on March 12 and will complete my leave over the summer. Please remember our city’s conflicts of interest rules prohibit any gifts.
 
Even while on paternity leave you might be surprised with the work my office has gotten done during the month of February. We reintroduced legislation to get scaffoldings down and protect tenants from reporting companies that create blacklists of people exercising their right to take a landlord to Housing Court. And we cut the ribbon on 21 units of 100% permanently affordable middle-income housing right here on the Upper East Side.

As our nation struggles with the scourge of gun violence in our schools, I continue to fight alongside our Congress Member Carolyn Maloney who has been fighting for common sense gun control for decades. I also encourage residents to join victims of gun violence and activists at the March for Our Lives scheduled for March 24th in Washington D.C. 

Please join me for our annual Sotheby’s Student Art Show or compete in the Ben Kallos Chess Challenge.

Regards,

Ben Kallos
Council Member

Special Events

3/6, 5:30PM
Sotheby's Student Art Show

3/8, 6:30PM
New John Jay Park Senior Space Scoping

3/17, 8:15AM
Ben Kallos Chess Challenge

3/26, 1PM-2PM
Himan Brown Senior Program at the 92Y

Monthly Events

First Friday  
Canceled for Paternity Leave

3/13, 5PM
Brainstorm with Ben
By Appointment

It is with great joy that I am able to share that my wife and I are expecting a child this week. As I fight to ensure every New Yorker have access to paid family leave, we must ensure those who can take leave particularly men who don't take their full leave, actually do take it. The best way to do so is for each of us to seek to erase the stigma, lead by example and take paternity leave. I look forward to seeing you in March.

Ben Kallos
Council Member

P. S. First Friday and Brain Storm with Ben are canceled due to my paternity leave in February and March, my office remains open Monday – Friday 9 a.m to 5 p.m except on Federal holidays.

2/8, 6:30PM
John Jay Park Senior Space

2/17, 10 AM-4:30PM
NO COST Mammogram Van

Monthly Events

First Friday & Brainstorm with Ben
Canceled for Paternity Leave

SPECIAL EVENTS

12/7, 8PM - 10PM
Mayoral Town Hall

1/7, 1PM-3PM
State of the District

DISTRICT OFFICE EVENTS

12/1, 8AM-10AM
First Friday

12/5, 5PM – 7PM
Holiday Party

12/12, 6PM-7PM
Brainstorming with Ben

Dear Neighbor,

The newsletter is back! We send the newsletter once a month so we don't clutter your mailbox and keep you up to date on everything going on in the community, as well as opportunities to influence government decisions by making your voice heard.

Thank you to all the residents who came out to the polls in the Primary and General Elections, where we won with 7,847 votes at 75% and 22,514 votes at 81% respectively. This is a testament to our partnership and shows that empowering residents helps to govern honestly and inclusively—and it's the best way to get things done.

During the blackout period when we could not send government newsletters because of our pending elections, we won Universal School Lunch, launched ferry service and opened Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island, rolled out bus countdown clocks, broke ground on $35 million in improvements to the East River Esplanade, signed tenant safety legislation I authored into law, and I was even recognized as one of the best Council Members by City and State.

Last month we broke ground on $1 million in renovations to the East River Esplanade in partnership with the Hospital for Special Surgery, cut the ribbon on a new laboratory building with Memorial Sloan Kettering, made progress on rezoning Sutton to stop supertall skyscrapers, passed two bills so that schools ensure no child goes hungry and train teachers to support GSAs, passed legislation to open the city's $85 billion budget and welcomed the Technion Israel Institute of Technology world tour.

As November starts I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and take this opportunity to invite everyone to my annual holiday party on Tuesday, December 5th, 5-7pm. RSVP

Regards,

Ben Kallos
Council Member

SPECIAL EVENTS

November 27
9:45AM - 11PM
Medicare Open Enrollment Event

November 27
6:30PM-8:30PM
Community Town Hall, Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island

November 30
6:30PM
College Affordability Excelsior Scholarship Forum

December 7
7:30PM
Mayor's Town Hall

January 7
1PM-3PM
State of the District 

November 14
6PM – 7PM
Brainstorming with Ben

November 30
6:30PM-7PM
CitiBike Street Skills Class

December  5
5PM – 7PM
Holiday Party

As we welcome the autumn temperatures of October for those of you who celebrate Shannah Tova as I reflect during these days of awe, if I or my team have disappointed you, please let me know so that we may seek your forgiveness as we try to do better in the coming year.

It is deeply sad that October started out with the tragic and horrifically violent events in Las Vegas that took the lives of at least 59 people. I hope that this nation can finally adopt gun control and that this coming year be a blessed one filled with peace, health and joy.

September was a month with many timely hearings surrounding several pieces of legislation my office is trying to turn into law. Whether it is taking on construction noise, making Zero Waste by 2030 a law, banning toxic pesticides in our City’s parks or even supporting students with Gender-Sexuality Alliances in our schools, I have been working to improve our great City. 

Now that flu season is just around the corner I want to invite residents to our October Annual Senior Health Fair on Thursday, October 19 from 11am to 2pm at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House where No-Cost flu shots will be available to residents who RSVP.

If you are interested in the Participatory Budgeting process and being a key part of deciding how the community spends $1 million, now is the time to get involved and submit your ideas.  On Tuesday, October 17 at 6pm join us for a Participatory Budgeting Assembly at my District Office at 244 East 93rd Street RSVP.  If you can’t make it that day make sure to submit your ideas online.

Sincerely,

Ben Kallos

P.S. If you’d like to meet with me this month keep in mind that  First Friday is canceled in observance of Sukkot but you can still meet with me on specific policy ideas during Brain Storming with Ben on Tuesday, October 10, at 6pm RSVP.

SPECIAL EVENTS

October 19, 11am-2pm
Senior Health Fair

October 14, 11am-2:30pm
Free- Helmets and Fitting

October 17, 6pm-7pm
Participatory Budgeting Assembly

October 19, 11am-2pm
Senior Health Fair: FREE Flu Shots

DISTRICT OFFICE EVENTS

October 7, 8am-10am
First Friday

October 5, 12, 19 & 26
3:30pm-6:30pm
Fresh Food Box
(Outside District Office)

October 17, 6pm
Brainstorming With Ben

No First Friday in Observance Due to Religious Observance