WCBS Radio

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A bill to ban the use of toxic pesticides in New York City parks is up for a vote in the City Council on Wednesday.

The bill, which was proposed in 2019, has generated a slew of support from across the five boroughs.

As WCBS 880’s Rich Lamb reported, supporters stood on the steps of City Hall chanting, “No Roundup. No glyphosates. Stop spraying in our parks.”

Councilman Ben Kallos, who proposed the legislation, says the pesticides are harmful to the environment and humans.

“We’ve been working for five years since 2015. When we were ready to introduce the legislation in 2016, the World Health Organization had just announced that glyphosate, a neuro-disruptor and the active ingredient in Monsanto Roundup was a likely carcinogen,” he said.

The weed killer has been linked to leukemia and lymphoma and the manufacturer has settled multiple lawsuits from those who had used the herbicide.  

“Our goal is to ban this from our parks straight and simple,” he said

The measure has 34 co-sponsors, a veto-proof supermajority and the de Blasio administration now says it supports it.

Nearly 2 million New Yorkers would be automatically enrolled in a retirement savings plan under a new proposal before the City Council.

As WCBS 880’s Rich Lamb reports, about 1.5 million private sector employees do not have access to a retirement savings program through their workplace.

The Universal Retirement Security bill, which has the support of Mayor Bill de Blasio would change that.

“Over a million New Yorkers work their whole lives and have nothing to show for it,” Mayor de Blasio said in a statement. “Rather than work until the day they die, Universal Retirement Security will allow more New Yorkers to breathe a sigh of relief later in life and truly enjoy the years they’ve earned.”

Co-sponsor of the legislation, Councilman Ben Kallos, explained that companies would not contribute to the Universal Retirement Savings Program and stressed that it would cost employers nothing.

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — There’s a new initiative at City Hall to make kids’ meals in New York City healthier.

As WCBS 880’s Mike Sugerman reports, many children push their parents for kids’ meals because of the sugary sodas that automatically come with the deal.

“We left pre-kindergarten students in special education on a bus for ten hours, without a bathroom, without food, without their parents," Kallos said.

He explained he was horrified and immediately called Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office.

“They reached out to the police. We got the kid rescued. We got the kid in the hands of his mother by midnight," Kallos said.

The weather was one thing, but Kallos said the bus route was also so convoluted that it would have taken three hours to get this student home on a good day.