Results tagged “assemblymanfelixortiz”

When we decided to check in on the status of the proposed bill to regulate New York’s exotic dancers, it was partially in the interest of pleasuring ourselves with some droll double entendres. But it seems you’ve got to get up pretty early in the morning to beat Daily News Bronx Borough Chief Bob Kappstatter to the pun:

A bill that would license exotic dancers has been bumping and grinding its way ever so slowly through the legislative hopper in Albany - but the "sin-tax" in the measure may leave legislators poles apart.

Brooklyn Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D, 51st District) wants to ban alcohol ads on buses and subways. The ads provide just $3 to $5 million of the $100 million in revenue the Metropolitan Transportation Authority gets from ad sales and the MTA has not taken a position on the proposed legislation. The state’s Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services did express support for the legislation calling it "consistent with our strategy of preventing alcoholism across the state."

State Senator Carl Marcellino of Oyster Bay and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz of Brooklyn are co-sponsoring a bill to stop drivers from text messaging while driving. Last month, an SUV driven by a 17-year-old girl crashed into a tractor trailer upstate in Ontario County. The SUV's driver, Bailey Goodman, and the four friends in the car all died on impact (the tractor trailer's driver was uninjured).

Next for T&A: Albany style pork? We have to give Assemblyman Felix Ortiz props for thinking of creative ways to increase revenue, even if it's hilarious. The Post reports that the Brooklyn politician is proposing that strippers need to be licensed and have permits, or else they'll be fined as will any establishment that employees unlicensed strippers. The Post has details:

In his bill sponsor memo, Ortiz said his proposal is meant to protect human-trafficking victims, many of whom "are often found in the streets or working in establishments that offer commercial sex acts, such as strip clubs and pornography production companies.

Continue reading "Pol Wants to Regulate Strippers"

There's a good look at how cellphone triangulation works in the Daily News today, in relation to how police were able to determine that the Imette St. Guillen murder's "prime suspect" Darryl Littlejohn was in the vicinity of where her body was eventually found. We'd been curious about how the technology works (sure, we'd seen it "used" in TV shows or mentioned and got the basic idea), but we didn't realize locations can be determined even without phone calls being made. And that seems to be the difference with Littlejohn's cellphone information - the NYPD hasn't outright said he made calls in that area because they may have pulled his whereabouts by overalls pings to cell towers. We wonder if the police used that technology in the murder of Catherine Woods, the Upper East dancer-stripper, in which her boyfriend was arrested (he had made multiple cellphone calls to her before her death and, then, suddenly nothing).

Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, best known to Gothamist as the Assemblyman who wants school kids' weights to be graded, is looking to ban smoking from NYC housing projects. Okay, it's really just a measure to make 50% of housing projects smoke-free, but the goal would be to make housing projects completely smoke-free by 2010. Ortiz's argument is that hotels have smoking and non-smoking rooms, and "housing complexes are not so much different than hotels." Gothamist understands the issues of smoke smells coming from neighboring apartments, and, yes, secondhand smoke is a health issue, but we worry that this would start a trend towards banning, oh, pungent cooking from apartments or slightly loud but not that loud music or the occasional dog barks and arguments. It seems more feasible for smokers to pay a deposit for a filter or deionizer, but how would a smoking ban in a residence even be enforced? The Post interviewed some housing complex tenants, who hate the idea of this bill, saying, "If you don't want people to smoke, then make cigarette sales against the law" (watch what you wish for!) and classic "Stop the drugs out here before you stop the smoking."

It's all the rage for state lawmakers to ask for things to be graded. First, it was Assemblyman Felix Ortiz asking that kids get graded on their weight. Now, State Senator Jeff Klein wants NYC restaurants to be graded on their cleanliness - and that the grades should be posted at the establishments. Klein's main complaint is that the Department of Health's website that allows diners to check on restaurants' health inspection is too cumbersome and not very easy to navigate; he wants something quick and easy for consumers to understand. Klein compiled a list of the state's ten "dirtiest restaurants," and the NYC joints on the list were Kitchenette on West Broadway, Trattoria Alba in Midtown and Salaam Bombay on Greenwich. The owner of Trattoria Alba claims that her restaurant shouldn't be on the list, as her problems with restaurant inspectors have been more about paperwork. And it's true: When Gothamist looked at the listing for Trattoria Alba, all it said was "Current valid permit, registration or other authorization to operate establishment not available," which is a problem, but nothing like having mice, as Salaam Bombay's latest inspection claims it does. (Kitchenette's inspection had the same "no current permit/registration" notation, as well as the presence of expired milk.) Gothamist is all for restaurants being cleaner, but perhaps instead of the letter grading system Klein wants there should just be a prominent sign that lists that this restaurant has been inspected and passed without MAJOR violations. Also, we'd like to suggest that the Department of Health also inspect restaurant bathrooms, as some are truly gnarly.

And Gothamist feels bad when we think about kids coming home with report cards that say, "Plays well with others...but has the worst case of the munchies!" It'll just set up kids for a lifetime of body image issues...perfect for working in certain sectors of the media.