Council Member Mark Weprin provides an update on his work in the 23rd Council District of Queens, including passing legislation to improve traffic safety as part of Vision Zero, funding additional sanitation services to clean up trash-prone streets, holding an essay contest for a local student to serve as Council Member for a day, passing Avonte's Law to improve safety for developmentally disabled students, and participating in pride and Israel parades.

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23RD
COUNCILDISTRICT,QUEENSWINTER2015
MARK S. WEPRIN
NEWS UPDATE • WINTER 2015
FROM COUNCIL MEMBER
In May the City Council
approved an 11-bill
legislative package that
will put several traffic
and pedestrian safety
measures in place in
an effort to end all
pedestrian, bicyclist and
motorcycle deaths in
New York City.
Among the set of bills
are crackdowns on careless drivers, the redesigning of dangerous intersections and
speed reductions near schools. One of the bills in the legislative packet similarly gives
pedestrians new legal protection by punishing drivers who endanger their lives.
VISION ZERO
Council Member Mark
Weprin announced
that, as part of the
City Council’s New
York City Cleanup
Initiative, he has
allocated funding to
provide additional
sanitation services
at several locations
in Eastern Queens.
The Council Member
designated two nonprofit organizations to assist with the cleanup work – the Doe Fund
and the Horticultural Society. The Doe Fund provides sweeping, bagging and the removal
of litter, and the Horticultural Society of New York, working in conjunction with the
Association of Community Employment (ACE), offers weed clearing, mulching of tree
pits, litter removal, and weed maintenance. In addition, the New York City Department of
Sanitation has increased the servicing of litter baskets along major commercial strips in
District 23. The targeted locations for The Doe Fund include four commercial intersections,
one commercial strip, and two sites along the Grand Central Parkway.
CLEANING UP TRASH-PRONE STREETS IN EASTERN QUEENS
Every year, Council Member Mark Weprin, chair of the
Queens Delegation, holds an essay contest in district
schools to give one lucky student an opportunity to be
a Council Member for a day. This year’s winner, Sean
Kaplan of Queens Village, wrote an essay in which
he highlighted what he loves most about his home
borough. His winning essay emphasized the beauty of
Queens’ diversity. On June 11, Kaplan, a fifth grader
at P.S. 135Q, attended meetings, participated in press
conferences and interacted with elected officials. For
the first time in City Council history, Council Member
Weprin’s tradition was embraced by multiple members
of the Queens Delegation. Council Members Jimmy
Van Bramer, Costa Constantinides, Elizabeth S.
Crowley, Julissa Ferraras, Rory I. Lancman, I. Daneek
Miller, Eric Ulrich and Paul A. Vallone also held essay
contests, each selecting one student from his or her
district to sit in as Council Member for the day.
COUNCIL MEMBER FOR A DAY
AVONTE'S LAW
Since he was first elected to office, Council Member Mark Weprin has been committed
to improving the quality of life for developmentally disabled New Yorkers. In addition to
spreading awareness and allocating funds, the City Council has been working diligently to
enhance safety for the developmentally disabled. This is especially true after tragedy struck
in October of 2013, when 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo, an autistic student, disappeared from
his Long Island City school. His disappearance sparked a citywide search for months, until his
remains were found along the East River in January of this year. To ensure that Avonte did not
die in vain, earlier this year the City Council unanimously passed a bill, dubbed Avonte’s Law,
that requires the Department of Education (DOE) and the New York City Police Department
to determine which City schools should have exterior door alarms. Avonte’s Law also requires
the DOE to give the Council a list of schools that need alarms and a timeline for installing
them. Additionally, the DOE must submit annual reports on its training for educators.
Council Member Mark Weprin has
always been a proud supporter
of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender (LGBT) rights. To
demonstrate his support, this year,
Council Member Weprin marched
at both the Queens Pride Parade in
Jackson Heights and the Heritage of
Pride Parade in Manhattan.
At this year’s Salute to Israel
Parade in New York City, Council
Member Weprin marched
alongside his City Council
colleagues, including City Council
Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito
and Council Member Brad Lander.
Council Member Weprin joined
thousands of New Yorkers to
declare his support for Israel.
Council Member for a Day Sean
Kaplan takes his seat in the
Council chamber at City Hall as
Council Member Mark S. Weprin
stands behind him.

2. Council Member Mark Weprin joined the New York Junior Tennis League (NYJTL) at P.S. 205Q,
the Alexander Graham Bell School, to celebrate another successful season funded by the Council
Member. The NYJTL offers free lessons to children ages 6-18 at select locations throughout the
City, and is the largest tennis and education-themed organization in the United States. This year,
141 local children participated in the 14-week summer program at P.S. 205Q.
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SEASON WITH
NEW YORK JUNIOR TENNIS LEAGUE
PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING
COUNCIL MEMBER WEPRIN WANTS YOUR VOICE TO BE HEARD!
UPGRADES FOR THE BELLEROSE LIBRARY
Making good on his
promise to allocate funds
for upgrades, Council
Member Mark Weprin
joined Queens Library
staff, members of the
Bellerose Commonwealth
Civic Association (BCCA)
and local residents to
celebrate the reopening of
Bellerose Library.
The milestone ribbon-
cutting ceremony comes
after members of the
Bellerose Commonwealth
Civic Association
requested that Council
Member Weprin help upgrade the facility, which had not seen any improvements since it first
opened in 1978. Having secured funding for the project, Council Member Weprin was delighted to
join local residents for the reopening event. The nearly $1.7 million in renovations include newly
updated Adult and Children’s areas, a teen area with computers, fast self-service check-in and
check-out machines, a fully automated 24/7 self-check-out machine to allow customers to return
materials at any hour of the day, and bright new décor throughout the entire facility.
Mark Weprin and the New York City Council are proud to fund the Sports and the Arts in Schools
Foundation (SASF) -- a free summer program that aims to fill the summer learning and fitness gap
among the City’s youth. Every year, Council Member Weprin visits the SASF program at PS 46Q,
the Alley Pond School, to recognize students who have completed the program.
Want to join Council Member Mark S. Weprin’s email list to receive important community
messages? Just send a request to MWeprin@Council.NYC.gov or call (718) 468-0137. For
all your latest news, you can also ‘like’ Council Member Weprin’s Facebook page at www.
facebook.com/pages/Mark-S-Weprin/101847606496.
COUNCIL MEMBER MARK WEPRIN SPONSORS
NO-COST DIGITAL MAMMOGRAMS
In partnership with the American-Italian Cancer Foundation,
Council Member Mark Weprin sponsored two no-cost digital
mammogram events for New York City women, with and
without health insurance. In total, 42 women were screened
for breast cancer at Council Member Weprin’s events this
year. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer
death among women in the United States. This year more
than 230,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be
diagnosed in women.
In 2011, four New York City Council Members launched a participatory
budgeting (PB) process to give local residents the chance to decide
on how they would like to see capital discretionary funds spent in their
communities. Participatory budgeting has since expanded to include
22 districts that will designate more than $25 million toward locally-
developed projects in the current budgetary cycle. The expansion more
than doubles the number of participating districts and represents
a nearly 80 percent increase in funding allocated for participatory
budgeting from the 2013-2014 fiscal year.
In 2012, Council Member Weprin brought participatory budgeting to the
residents of Eastern Queens, who have embraced the process. More than
1,100 constituents participated when it was first launched in District
23. The winning projects funded from the 2012-2013 cycle included
emergency equipment for the Glen Oaks Volunteer Ambulance Corps, a
roof repair for the Queens County Farm Museum, a technology upgrade
at Martin Van Buren High School, portable NYPD security cameras, the
enhancement of a picnic area in Cunningham Park, and a music stage in
Cunningham Park.
Participatory budgeting continued to grow, and last year nearly 2,000
votes were cast – more than an 80 percent increase. Ultimately, five
projects, which totaled $1,105,785, were chosen by residents. The
winning projects for the 2013-2014 cycle included smart boards for five
schools in the district, a fitness walk and exercise loop at Cunningham
Park, portable security cameras, technology upgrades at P.S. 135Q and
P.S. 18Q, as well as security upgrades for the Fresh Meadows, Hollis and
Windsor Park Libraries.
This year, with the third participatory budgeting cycle in District 23,
Council Member Weprin hopes to expand the increasingly popular
initiative by getting even more residents involved in the process. To keep
up to date with all your PB news, you can ‘like’ Council Member Weprin’s
PB Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PBNYCDistrict 23, or
contact Jamie Cho at JCho@council.nyc.gov or at (718) 468-0137.
Joined by Assemblymember Mike Miller,
Council Member Weprin attended the sixth
annual Independence Residences, Inc. (IRI) and
Queens Parents Resource Center Walkabout
and Picnic, which took place at Cunningham
Park. Independence Residences is a not-for-
profit human service agency, committed to
supporting the highest quality of life for people
with developmental disabilities, visual and other
impairments, by providing innovative residential
and community support services.
Council Member Mark S. Weprin joins Gerald I. Wind, President,
Bellerose Hillside Civic Association, and library staff to cut the ribbon
on the renovated Bellerose Library.