City&State_031616_Estado_Latino

March 18, 2016

The New York-Puerto Rico partnership: A progress report

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A year after Cuomo’s trip to Cuba, where's all the business?

Op-eds from: Andrew Cuomo, Carl Heastie, Thomas DiNapoli and Marcos Crespo

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City & State

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More Value for NY More than 90% of CUNY baccalaureate graduates are employed or pursuing advanced higher education three years after graduation.

More than 80% of all CUNY graduates live or work in New York State 10 years after graduation.

More Student Award Winners than ever: Since 2011, 86 Student

Fulbright Award Winners, 81 NSF Fellowships, 12 Goldwater, 5 Soros, 3 Truman Scholarships – and a Pulitzer Prize for poetry.

More Faculty Award Winners than ever: Since 2011, 51 faculty

Fulbrights, Guggenheims, National Book Awards and Pulitzer Prizes.

More than 8 out of 10 CUNY college students graduate free of federal loan debt.

W

ith its high-quality academic programs, affordable tuition and student support, including financial aid and privately funded scholarships, The City University of New York plays a vital role in educating more than 500,000 degree-seeking and continuing-education students annually and in contributing to the state’s economic health.

This is the CUNY Value. That value translates into respected, affordable academic and professional credentials for CUNY graduates, an overwhelming majority of whom

remain in New York after college, contributing their knowledge, skills and increased earning power to the state, the city, their neighborhoods and society. To continue CUNY’s historic mission to provide the quality, affordability and access that are the hallmarks of the CUNY Value, it needs the support of the communities it serves. We look forward to working with Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature to Support the CUNY Value.

James B. Milliken CHANCELLOR

Support the CUNY Value

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CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK-1847 HUNTER COLLEGE-1870 BROOKLYN COLLEGE-1930 QUEENS COLLEGE-1937 NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY-1946 COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND-1956 BRONX COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1957 QUEENSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1959 CUNY GRADUATE CENTER-1961 BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1963 KINGSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1963 JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE-1964 YORK COLLEGE-1966 BARUCH COLLEGE-1968 LAGUARDIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1968 LEHMAN COLLEGE-1968 HOSTOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1970 MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE-1970 CUNY SCHOOL OF LAW-1983 MACAULAY HONORS COLLEGE AT CUNY-2001 CUNY SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES-2003 CUNY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM-2006 CUNY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH POLICY-2011 GUTTMAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE-2011 CUNY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE-FALL 2016

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EDITOR’S NOTE / Contents

Gerson Borrero Editor-at-Large

New York is an “Estado Latino.”

Since we launched our “Road to Somos” series in 2014, City & State’s interest in covering the fall Somos el Futuro conference has by no means been drive-by in nature. We weren’t looking to attend the event in Puerto Rico for the weekend fun.

There wasn’t an agenda to catch New York politicians gambling at the casino, drunk at the bar or lounging at the beach instead of developing a legislative agenda to improve the lives of more than 3.5 million Latinos in the Empire State.

Don’t misinterpret what you’re reading, though. A story is a story. There’s always “bochinche and buzz” at these types of events. And when they occur, we’ll definitely report on them.

But what we have found is that the issues and policies impacting the Latino community have staying power. These aren’t seasonal concerns.

Thus, we’re introducing a new series, “Estado Latino,” as a permanent, year-round part of our coverage.

Estado Latino is about reporting on the state of Latinos in all aspects of city and state life. It’s our recognition of this increasingly influential, growing community – and our belief in the potential of this Estado Latino.

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OP-EDS

YOUR GUIDE TO THE SOMOS SPRING CONFERENCE

A PROGRESS REPORT ON THE NEW YORK-PUERTO RICO PARTNERSHIP

By José E. Maldonado

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DID CUOMO’S TRADE MISSION TO CUBA AMOUNT TO ANYTHING MORE THAN A PHOTO-OP?

By Jon Lentz

CRESPO WORKS TO REVIVE HISPANIC TASK FORCE’S LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

By Ashley Hupfl

DAMASO SEDA: THE UNSUNG HERO OF SOMOS EL FUTURO

By Gerson Borrero

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NEW YORK SLANT: ETHNIC LABELS AND THE POLITICAL POWER OF PUERTO RICANS

By Eddie Borges

A Q&A WITH CARIBBEAN CULTURAL CENTER AFRICAN DIASPORA INSTITUTE PRESIDENT MARTA MORENO VEGA

Gov. Andrew Cuomo ... 7 Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie ... 12 Assembly Puerto Rican/ Hispanic Task Force Chairman Marcos Crespo ... 18 State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli ... 22

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MAGAZINE

City & State is the premier multimedia news organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy. Our in-depth, non-partisan coverage serves New York’s leaders every day as a trusted guide to the issues impacting New York. We offer round-the-clock coverage through our weekly publications, daily e-briefs, events, oncamera interviews, weekly podcast and more.

Editorial Director Michael Johnson mjohnson@cityandstateny.com Senior Editor Jon Lentz jlentz@cityandstateny.com Managing Editor Ryan Somers rsomers@cityandstateny.com Associate Copy Editor Sam Edsill sedsill@cityandstateny.com Staff Reporters

CITY & STATE MAGAZINE Our award-winning print magazine delivers long-form cover stories, investigative exposés, indepth industry analysis and entertaining features on a weekly basis.

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On the Cover

March 18, 2016

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The New York-Puerto Rico partnership: A progress report

CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

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A year after Cuomo’s trip to Cuba, where's all the business?

Op-eds from: Andrew Cuomo, Carl Heastie, Thomas DiNapoli and Marcos Crespo

CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

Cover by GUILLAUME FEDERIGHI

CITY AND STATE, LLC - Leadership

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New York’s reckless disregard for the needs of people with mental illness

by Danny Donohue The recent tragic and deadly incident of a severely mentally ill individual in Queens randomly attacking individuals highlights the failed mental health policies of New York State. It could happen in any community.

This is a public health and public safety issue. Instead of investing in services for the mentally ill the state wants to reduce by 400 the number of beds in our state run psychiatric hospitals. The state has essentially closed the front doors of our psychiatric hospitals making it harder for those with mental illness and their families to get access to care.

Many of these individuals wouldn’t be incarcerated if they could get the help and care they need in their community.

In New York, the cost to keep one person in prison is $60,000 a year. These cost burdens fall on local government taxpayers while the State walks away from its commitments to ensure appropriate and needed AND services are available.

FAILURE OF POLICY LEADERSHIP IT IS A

According to Newsweek, “While the overall jail population in WHEN THE LARGEST New York City has decreased INSTITUTIONS HOUSING PEOPLE from 13,049 in fiscal year 2010 WITH MENTAL ILLNESS ARE to 11,408 in fiscal year 2014, OUR JAILS AND PRISONS. the percentage of individuals with mental health issues has increased from 29 percent to 38 More and more people struggling percent during the same period, with 7 percent of the with mental illness are winding up in our jails, prisons, overall jail population suffering from serious mental illness homeless shelters, and on our streets. It is time for the such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.” (12/4/14). state of New York to come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with our mental health crisis. It is a matter of life and death.

Most residents of New York probably don’t know that there are state operated mental hospitals with trained staff that can care for those individuals with serious mental illness. Instead, the state continues to run them down rather than properly utilize them to help more people.

It is long past time for responsible elected leaders to implement a comprehensive mental health plan for the New York that includes state services to care for those persons with the most severe cases of mental illness. This plan must make better use of existing state resources.

For the past 20 years, the State of New York has promised reinvestment in community mental health services upon the closure of state services. Unfortunately, the state never fulfilled its promises.

It is a failure of policy and leadership when the largest institutions housing people with mental illness are our jails and prisons. At Rikers, 40% of the population has a mental health diagnosis. Those with severe mental illness need treatment in a hospital setting. By some estimates, more than half of the inmates in county jails and correctional facilities have some form of mental illness.

DA N N Y D O N O H U E , P R E S I D E N T

Danny Donohue is president of the nearly 300,000 member CSEA – New York’s Leading Union – representing workers doing every kind of job, in every part of New York.

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14 PUERTO RICANS Carmen Arroyo (A) Marcos Crespo (A) Maritza Davila (A) Rubén Díaz, Sr. (S) Erik Dilán (A) Martin Malavé Dilan (S) Peter Lopez (A) 4 DOMINICANS Adriano Espaillat (S) Guillermo Linares (A) Jose Peralta (S) Victor Pichardo (A)

Félix Ortiz (A) Philip Ramos (A) Gustavo Rivera (S) José Rivera (A) Robert Rodriguez (A) Luis Sepúlveda (A) José M. Serrano (S)

2 CUBANS Nicole Malliotakis (A)

1 Argentinean

David Weprin (A)

Nily Rozic (A)

1 ECUADORIAN Francisco Moya (A)

“¡Somos el Futuro! We are the future!” It’s a call you’ll hear countless times at the annual Somos el Futuro Albany spring conference, but who is the “we” behind it all?

New York’s Latino population is growing, and Mexican immigration spiked in the last decade.

While Latino representation in the state Legislature is still lacking compared with the Latino population in the state as a whole, the number of Latino legislators has grown to a respected and diverse group today, with 16 Latinos in the Assembly and six in the state Senate.

Here’s a quick look at New York’s Latino lawmakers and where they have their roots.

LATINOS IN THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE

10.6%

89.4%

Latino Legislators Non-Latino Legislators

LATINOS IN THE TOTAL NEW YORK POPULATION

18.6%

81.4% Hispanic/Latino Not Hispanic/Latino

SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Las raíces de los legisladores

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KEEPING THE PROMISE OF NEW YORK

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

By ANDREW CUOMO

I BELIEVE THAT inclusion and collective action are the best ways to build a brighter future. It is the New York way – it is the Somos way – to ensure equality of opportunity.

And at a time when some insist on building walls in other parts of the country, we are building bridges and creating opportunities in New York.

As an example, New York state has greatly expanded opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses. Our MWBE program is a national model that ensures that women and minority entrepreneurs have a seat at the table when it comes to competing for state contracts.

In the 2014-15 fiscal year alone, $1.69 billion in state contracts was allocated to minority-owned and women-owned businesses. And we are continuing to raise the bar. We

have exceeded our 20 percent goal for the past three years and are now gaining momentum in the effort to reach a new 30 percent goal – which is the highest in the nation.

But there is still more we should do. The state currently awards approximately $65 billion each fiscal year for local government contracts – but under current law, those contracts are not held to our MWBE goal. We are fighting to change that so MWBEs have the opportunity to compete whenever and wherever state contract dollars are offered – whether it is the state Department of Transportation, or a project with our local communities.

When it comes to immigration, we have also led the fight to promote and protect those who come to our state seeking a better future for themselves and their families.

This is not a new battle for me. As attorney general, I successfully fought to protect immigrants from unscrupulous immigration services and secured judgments and settlements in excess of $23 million.

As governor, I am continuing to stand up for the tens of thousands of immigrant workers who come to New York in pursuit of the American dream.

My administration also rescinded the Secure Communities program, which unfairly harmed immigrants and their families in virtually every region of the state. Further, I have required all state agencies that provide services to the public to provide free interpretation and translation services. And we made national history by establishing the Office for New Americans, the first

statutorily created immigrant office, to further help those who come to America to pursue new opportunities and a brighter future.

We advanced these proposals because I believe that immigration status and language barriers should never condemn someone to poverty and hardship. And that is why we took smart, bold actions to protect workers – from introducing regulations and signing legislation to reform the nail salon industry, to cracking down on wage theft and encouraging workers in all sectors to come forward and report abuse.

It is also why the New York State Police and the Division of Human Rights will receive and process U visa certifications requests for claimants, victims and witnesses.

Despite our accomplishments, we must do more to achieve genuine social and economic justice, including raising the minimum wage to $15 to benefit 2.3 million New Yorkers, and enacting paid family leave to support low-wage workers and their families.

And we must build and protect affordable housing – by enacting a $20 billion proposal to create 100,000 affordable housing units, as well as 20,000 new supportive and emergency shelter beds over the next 15 years. And we must finally pass the Dream Act – because the young people who would benefit from it are as American as anyone born here.

The enduring promise of New York is that all are welcome, especially the tired, the poor and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. That is the promise that this administration lives by, and it is what we are continuing to build on this year – in order to achieve a stronger, fairer and more inclusive state for all.

Andrew Cuomo is the governor of New York.

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SOMOS Last year’s City & State reception was hands-down the most fun you could have during the spring Somos conference (without flying yourself to Puerto Rico). The kickoff party featured remarks from then-brand-new Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force Chairman Marcos Crespo, as well as live interviews with state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. For this year’s Somos coverage – and information about more can’t-miss events from City & State – visit cityandstateny.com.

Then-brand-spanking-new Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie gets his boogie on.

Heastie and Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. pose with New York City Councilwomen Vanessa Gibson and Elizabeth Crowley, and Public Advocate Letitia James.

SHANNON DECILLE

Rubén Díaz Jr. spends some quality time with his dad, state Sen. Rubén Díaz Sr.

Assemblyman Marcos Crespo brings together dueling Comptrollers Thomas DiNapoli and Scott Stringer ... who find themselves photobombed by Assemblyman Francisco Moya.

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SOMOS EL FUTURO - 2016 ALBANY SPRING CONFERENCE SCHEDULE FRIDAY, MARCH 18 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Conference Registration/Check In - South Concourse, Empire State Plaza

10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Exhibit Booths & Job Fair - South Concourse, Empire State Plaza

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Job Fair - Meeting Rooms 3-4, Empire State Plaza

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Senior Summit & Luncheon - Convention Hall, Empire State Plaza

12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Collegiate Summit - Meeting Room 6, Empire State Plaza

2:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Opening Plenary - Meeting Room 6, Empire State Plaza

6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Bienvenida/Welcome Reception - Ballroom, Renaissance Hotel

8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

City & State Estado Latino Reception - Ballroom, Sixty State Place

SATURDAY, MARCH 19 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Conference Registration/Check In - South Concourse, Empire State Plaza

8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Labor Breakfast - Hart Lounge, Empire State Plaza

10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Exhibit Booths & Job Fair - South Concourse, Empire State Plaza

10:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

1st Session Of Legislative Forums - Meeting Rooms 1-7, Empire State Plaza

11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Speaker Heastie’s Open House - Speaker’s Conference Room 93, LOB

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

“Entre Nosotras” Luncheon (Ticketed) - Hart Lounge, Empire State Plaza

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

CUNY/SUNY Luncheon (Ticketed) - Albany Room, Empire State Plaza

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

2nd Session of Legislative Forums - Meeting Rooms 1-7, Empire State Plaza

2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

CUNY/SUNY Model Senate Session - Senate Chamber, Capitol Building

3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Dominican Reception - Albany Room, Empire State Plaza

5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

El Batey (performance by Mundo Nuevo) - Base of the Egg, Empire State Plaza

5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Task Force Chairman’s VIP Reception (Ticketed) - Hart Lounge Egg, Empire State Plaza

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Dinner Gala - Convential Hall - Empire State Plaza

10:30 p.m. - 2:30 a.m.

Upstate & Suburban Latino Networking Event - 90 State Events, 90 State St.

SUNDAY, MARCH 20 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Noon Despedida “Farewell” Brunch - Ballroom, Renaissance Hotel

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Youth Luncheon (Ticketed) - Albany Room, Empire State Plaza

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Youth Leadership Mock Session - Assembly Chamber, Capitol Building PR/HYLI Scholarship Presentation Dinner - Location TBD, Troy

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PROGRESS IN PUERTO RICO Island officials optimistic about collaboration with New York

Gov. Andrew Cuomo walks through San Juan with Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Javier García Padilla.

THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN the governments of New York and Puerto Rico that began late last year with a visit by Gov. Andrew Cuomo is beginning to yield positive results in the areas of health care, tourism and commerce, according to officials involved in these initiatives.

In October, a “dream team” of New York health officials announced in Puerto Rico that they would assist local officials in submitting a request to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for a waiver that would

allow the island territory to implement changes in its public health care program that could alleviate its dire financial situation.

Ricardo A. Rivera, executive director of the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration, said the New York team submitted the waiver late last year and is waiting for the agency to approve or deny the request, which would offer incentives to health care services providers who comply with pre-established quality metrics that would help reduce patient hospitalizations.

New York health officials also examined Puerto Rico’s insurance claims data to find areas in which costs can be reduced by finding efficiencies in the system. This is crucial because more than twothirds of the island’s population relies on Medicaid, Medicare or Medicare Advantage.

“We’ve had some conference calls with CMS to answer their questions regarding the waiver, but they haven’t taken a final decision yet,” Rivera told City & State. “We’ve been in constant communications with the

officials from New York and the collaboration from their part has been excellent. We hope we can get this plan approved, which would be a great thing for Puerto Rico.”

The waiver would essentially allow the island to implement the same program that New York used to address its own Medicare crisis two years ago. If approved, Puerto Rico would adapt a regulatory and technological infrastructure for its health care system similar to what was used in New York.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Rivera explained. “We can use the information systems already in place to measure how the providers are progressing and ensure that they are doing things the right way. We would even use the same auditing system being used in New York to avoid having to spend money on creating a new one.”

If CMS approves the waiver soon, the incentives program would be up and running by early fall, Rivera said. If the federal agency denies the request, “there’s always a Plan B, and what we’ve discussed is that New York would continue to work with us and offering technical help, but not on the same level as if the waiver is approved,” he added.

Apart from health care, New York officials have promised to take steps to boost tourism and trade with Puerto Rico.

Betty Enriquez, director of the New York Office of Trade and Tourism in San Juan, which opened in November, said her team has been able to meet and is working with local officials to create partnerships in the areas of tourism, agriculture and commercial exchange that can help improve the island’s economy.

Since its opening, the Taste New

PHILIP KAMRASS / OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

By JOSÉ E. MALDONADO

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Injured Workers Must Be Protected

By Mario Cilento, President, New York State AFL-CIO

JOSÉ E. MALDONADO

José Valerio was earning a decent wage in New York City working as a welder for 10 years before an accident in 2014 left him with severe third-degree burns to his hand. The injury later developed into Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), causing constant severe pain. The father of four is still under a doctor’s care, relying on workers’ compensation benefits as he looks for ways to get back into the job market.

Betty Enriquez, director of the New York Office of Trade and Tourism in San Juan. The office sells food and other goods made in New York.

York Market in Old San Juan has been visited by locals and tourists who have been exposed to dozens of products from New York state, such as specialty foods, beverages and agricultural products.

“We’ve also promoted all of the tourist attractions the state of New York has to offer beyond New York City,” Enriquez said. “There is a strong connection between New York and Puerto Rico in other areas outside NYC, in places such as Buffalo, Westchester and other areas, and there’s a lot of interest from local residents to visit our state.”

The office is working with a local distributor, Del Caribe Distributors, which has signed agreements to sell Fork North potato chips, Empire Mayonnaise and Brad’s Organic chips on the island. La Hacienda Meat Market, a popular specialty food chain, has already agreed to create a Taste New York display in its stores.

New York beers and wines are among the product categories in

which distributors in Puerto Rico have shown interest, but the store in Old San Juan can’t display these products yet because its liquor license was activated for Cuomo’s visit in November and taken away a day later, and has yet to be reactivated, in the typical bureaucratic tradition of the Puerto Rican government.

“The important thing is that we’re working on efforts that go both ways, so we’re working with companies in New York that have shown interest in distributing products from Puerto Rico,” Enriquez said. “We’re also working on agricultural initiatives that I can’t discuss at this time, but that will lead to great things in the future. The important thing is that we’ve been working on plans that will be executed. We’re not only talking, we’re putting them into action.”

José E. Maldonado is editor of Mi Puerto Rico Verde, which covers green and sustainable issues in Puerto Rico.

Today, while José struggles to recover, there are efforts underway to change the workers’ compensation system in ways that would not only create additional barriers for workers like him, but make it even less likely for injured workers to maintain a decent standard of living.

José Valerio Changes being touted by the business community would cut benefits and limit access to care.

Other proposals would change how benefits are calculated at the expense of injured workers. For some injured workers, the change could result in a reduction of benefits by nearly 10 percent. Another proposed change would eliminate deposits to a trust meant to ensure injured workers are paid. Yet another would reduce oversight and transparency at the Workers’ Compensation Board. Combined, all of these changes would jeopardize the ability of the system to provide adequate benefits for injured workers.

The 2.5 million members of the NYS AFL-CIO in the public sector, private sector and building trades strongly oppose part G of S. 6405/A. 9005 because diminishing injured workers’ rights is simply not acceptable. It is important to note that there is widespread opposition to these proposals. Both houses of the legislature rejected the proposals in their one-house budget bills.

The workers’ compensation system was created to provide injured workers, like José, prompt access to high-quality medical care and wage replacement while protecting businesses from lawsuits when a worker is injured.

It is that very basic premise that must be protected which is why we are urging that this proposal be defeated. Workers have a right to be protected from injury on the job and they have a right to be compensated and cared for should an injury occur.

For more information on the New York State AFL-CIO, visit www.nysaflcio.org

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THE ASSEMBLY’S COMMITMENT TO THE LATINO COMMUNITY

By CARL HEASTIE

THE NEW YORK State Assembly majority is committed to advancing public policies and programs that will serve the needs of all communities in our great state.

We know all too well that there are still barriers to opportunities in education, housing and

employment that continue to limit the growth of economic achievement in lower-income and predominantly minority communities.

Our Families First agenda addresses several issues that many New Yorkers are facing with the

flexibility to target the problems that minority communities are enduring. Access to quality education, affordable and accessible health care, better wages and employment opportunities, safer communities and affordable housing are concerns that many New Yorkers face. However, when we look at communities of color, the difficulties are more profound and more pervasive.

The annual gathering of lawmakers, community organizers and civic leaders for the New York State Assembly and Senate Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force’s “Somos El Futuro” Spring Conference in Albany, now in its 26th year, is a great event to strengthen and unify our efforts to uplift all of New York’s families and communities. The theme of this year’s conference, “Alianza de Culturas, Avanzando Juntos, Porque Somos Latinoamericanos” – Alliance of Cultures, Forging Ahead, We Are (Somos) Latin Americans – is a reminder of the struggle Latinos have faced and are still facing to achieve fairness and equality. If we are to succeed in our mission to move our state upward and forward, we must continue working together to look past our differences and focus on the shared dream of a brighter future for every community, every family and every child in this state.

With that in mind, the Assembly majority has proposed a series of measures that will benefit all New Yorkers, and, in particular, the Puerto Rican and Hispanic community in our state.

As we have introduced in previous years, a stronger minimum wage is essential for the progress of every worker in our state. Therefore, increasing the

minimum wage to $15 an hour is necessary to thousands of working families who struggle to put food on the table.

In addition to an increase in the minimum wage, it is imperative that workers are not forced to choose between caring for a new family member or a sick relative and losing their income.

Unlike most industrialized nations, with the exception of a few states and cities, the United States does not guarantee its citizens paid family leave. A recent study

by President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, “The Economics of Paid and Unpaid Leave,” found substantial disparities in access to paid leave benefits across various employee groups. The greatest disparity was found in access to paid leave benefits for Latino/Hispanic workers employed in low-wage sectors.

When hardworking individuals are able to take care of their family without fear of potential financial ruin, everybody wins. Even businesses will benefit through employee retention, productivity and competitiveness.

The Assembly works hard to provide students with more resources to help them to achieve a brighter future. Because the Assembly believes that education is not a luxury but rather a basic right for all individuals, the Assembly’s SFY 2016-17 budget includes $10 million in funding to support children that are English language learners and $1 million for bilingual education. For many children who were brought to this country by their parents, their dreams of higher education and productive careers are crushed by legal obstacles and limited financial support. As

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in past sessions, the Assembly is committed to passing the Dream Act and helping “Dreamers” like Cesar Vargas – a CUNY School of Law graduate that became the first undocumented person to become licensed to practice law in New York – to fulfill their dreams. This year, the Assembly demonstrates that continued commitment by including $27 million in the SFY 2016-17 budget proposals to support the Dream Act. In addition to the barriers many immigrant groups must overcome to obtain higher education, access to health care also remains a significant hurdle many immigrants face. The Assembly majority believes that just as immigrants that came to this country as children should be able to realize their dreams, they should also have access to quality health care. To address this injustice, the Assembly’s SFY 2016-17 budget proposal includes

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$10.3 million in additional funding to help provide health coverage through the Essential Plan for certain immigrant groups that are ineligible for federal health care

working environment for all women – free of discrimination and unfair pay practices. We are also strengthening the protections for victims of domestic violence

IN MOMENTS WHEN THE NATIONAL POLITICAL RHETORIC OF SOME CANDIDATES IS FOCUSED ON DIVIDING OUR COMMUNITIES, WE AS NEW YORKERS NEED TO STAND TOGETHER. subsidies. The Assembly has also allocated $600,000 for immigrant legal services to help them navigate the complex legal system and determine if they are eligible for deferred action.

Additionally, the Assembly continues to work diligently to ensure a safe and equitable

and human trafficking.

The Assembly is committed to investing in the creation and preservation of affordable housing developments, providing more opportunities for economic development, and establishing a fairer tax structure and criminal justice system. To address the

many challenges we face and help the 1.4 million New Yorkers living in poverty, I recently created a work group dedicated to finding solutions to help this growing vulnerable population With our commitment to raising the bar and ensuring pathways to the middle class for our families, we have made significant progress to combat inequality and make this state a better place for future generations. In moments when the national political rhetoric of some candidates is focused on dividing our communities, we as New Yorkers need to stand together against bigotry, selfishness and injustice. We need to send a clear message that every family and every life is a celebrated and an important part of what makes our state great. ¡Muchas Gracias!

Carl Heastie is the speaker of the state Assembly.

The Must-Read Morning Roundup of New York Politics and Government As an advertiser, an advocacy campaign including City & State First Read provides a targeted way to reach New York State’s most influential leaders and political professionals.

For more information of advertising opportunities and availabilities, please contact Jasmin Freeman at jfreeman@cityandstateny.com or call 646-442-1662

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Cuomo Cuba to

Story and photos

by JON LENTZ

Did Cuomo’s trip amount to anything more than a photo-op?

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Editor’s note: City & State Senior Editor Jon Lentz was one of the journalists who accompanied Gov. Andrew Cuomo on his trade mission to Cuba.

ON HIS RETURN flight from Cuba last spring, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was surprised he was departing the island nation with two business deals already in the works.

“Frankly, I did not believe we would make that much progress in that short a period of time,” Cuomo told reporters. “I was shocked that they made as much progress as they did in two days.”

But nearly 11 months later, there is little sign that the governor has actually generated much new business, raising questions about whether expanding trade between New York and Cuba is a top priority for his administration and spurring criticism that his visit was little more than a taxpayer-funded photo op.

“If you evaluate the trip based upon the return on investment, the amount of money that was spent – almost $200,000 – and what was achieved, it is a substantial negative rate of return for the taxpayers of New York state,” said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

“For the ego of the governor, it’s a triple-digit return on the investment.”

Skeptics say the concerns were there ever since the details of the trade mission came out. One common complaint was that the trip, which spanned only a day and half, was far too short to develop any real business ties.

“If you noticed, the governor of Virginia went to Cuba and spent three days in Cuba, and not only that, he hosted the Cuban ambassador and the Cuban foreign trade minister in Virginia,” said Antonio Martinez, a lawyer who heads the Cuba & Latin America Trade Group at Gotham Government Relations. “The end result of that, Virginia is the state in first place as a top exporter to Cuba for agricultural products.”

Joining the governor on his whirlwind visit were at least 14 staffers and another 18 journalists, compared with representatives of just seven New York-based companies – despite the dozens of empty seats on the JetBlue charter flight. Even though the export of food and agricultural products has long been the single biggest source of U.S. trade with Cuba, thanks to a humanitarian exception to the trade embargo, the Cuomo administration did not bring anyone from the state’s agriculture department. The administration also paid $25,000 for a Washington, D.C.-based consultant to plan the trip, sources said, and has not made that state contract public.

“It was a lot of overkill and he wanted to present this presidentialtype aroma to what he was doing,” Kavulich said. “But it was all about him. There were more journalists than there were businesspeople.

There were more of his staff than there were businesspeople. That’s not the correct equation.”

Jason Conwall, a spokesman for Empire State Development, the state economic development agency that funded the governor’s trade mission, blamed the Cuban government for keeping the delegation small despite “tremendous interest” among New York companies in joining the trip. According to Conwall, the companies and other entities that participated were a diverse group, both geographically and in terms of company size.

“MINREX, Cuba’s Foreign Ministry, asked us to keep our delegation small because of limited capacity to host a large group, and we appealed on several occasions to expand it, to which MINREX graciously complied,” said Conwall.

“In the end, we worked together to reach an agreement on the number of New York state participants and press that met our requests and was within their capacity to host.”

By comparison, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson took representatives of 13 companies and just two executive staff members and four state agency staffers on his

trip to Cuba this past September, according to data compiled by Kavulich. In January, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe was accompanied by seven companies as well as eight executive or agency staffers on his Cuba visit.

The Cuomo administration, for its part, has touted several deals involving New York companies following its April 20-21 trade mission, although the announcements glossed over the largely incremental nature of the agreements.

Infor Global Solutions Inc., a Manhattan business software company, signed an agreement during the April trip to distribute health care software on the island.

Infor secured an export license from the U.S. Department of Commerce last year, and is continuing to work with its counterparts in Cuba, according to ESD. But it’s unclear whether the deal has resulted in any actual sales, and the company did not respond to a request for comment.

At the end of the April visit Cuomo also announced a collaboration between Buffalo’s Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Cuba’s Center for Molecular

Gov. Andrew Cuomo admires a strategically placed 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air during his tour of Old Havana last year.

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CityAndStateNY.com

Cuomo squeezes into the classic Chevy in Old Havana while members of the press crowd around.

Immunology to develop a vaccine for lung cancer. But Roswell Park had already been pursuing the partnership, and it could be years before its CimaVax vaccine translates into new business – if it ever does at all.

Dr. Kelvin Lee, who runs the immunology department at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, said in a statement that the institute’s “innovative” work with the Center for Molecular Immunology in Havana began in 2011, but that joining Cuomo’s trade mission had “absolutely moved our research forward” and put the partnership

State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins was among the lawmakers who accompanied Cuomo on his trade mission to Cuba last year.

“into fast gear.”

“Since then we’ve been working with the CIM team to design an early-phase trial,” Lee told City & State this month. “We’re just finishing up that work now and expect to be submitting our application to the FDA soon, and could possibly be offering CimaVax in a U.S. clinical trial as early as late this year.”

In May 2015, shortly after the trip, JetBlue announced an additional charter flight to Cuba, which Cuomo cited as “proof that our approach is delivering results for New York businesses.” JetBlue’s CEO also applauded the governor for “helping position JetBlue as the leading carrier to Cuba.” But JetBlue had been operating charter flights to Cuba since 2011, long before it joined the governor’s trade mission, casting doubt on whether the governor played any significant role in adding the new flight.

Similarly, a MasterCard executive accompanied the governor on the trip, even though the credit card company had already announced that its cards would be accepted on the island. According to ESD, the company held its first meetings in Cuba while on Cuomo’s trade mission.

“MasterCard had already released the block on the cards to be used,” Kavulich noted. “But the issues that remained weren’t on the Cuban side as much as they were on the U.S. side. There just needed to be more

regulations to basically lessen and hopefully remove the transactional liability that is now going to be happening. It might be released actually before the president goes.

There’s no one-plus-one-equalstwo with respect to their being on that trip with the governor.”

Among the remaining companies who joined Cuomo’s trade mission, no deals were announced. A spokesman for Pfizer said the trip was “an educational experience and we were not pursuing commercial business opportunities.” Regeneron Pharmaceuticals CEO Leonard Schleifer also joined the governor, but a company representative said it was in his capacity as co-chairman of the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council.

Plattsburgh International Airport officials viewed the trade mission as

Musicians on the streets of Havana.

a “fact-finding trip,” according to Garry Douglas, the president and CEO of the North Country Chamber of Commerce, which represents the airport. The airport is preparing to handle international flights in 2017, Douglas said in an email, and it already serves as a secondary airport for Montreal, a city with many locals traveling to Cuba for vacation.

“The trip allowed us to more fully understand the Cuban market as it begins to open up; to establish contacts with Cuban aviation and tourism officials; and to establish a dialogue with JetBlue Airlines, which will not bring immediate results but hopefully can lead to a relationship in the future,” Douglas said.

Chobani, a yogurt company that is one of Cuomo’s favorite local economic success stories, did not respond to a request for comment.

Another agricultural company, Cayuga Milk Ingredients, also has yet to make any sales in Cuba.

“Nothing really came out of it, and the main reason nothing came out of it is the embargo is still in place with Cuba,” said Cayuga Milk Ingredients CEO Kevin Ellis.

“As part of that embargo, buyers of agricultural products have to pay cash in advance in Cuba. So that’s a big deterrent for anybody doing business in Cuba, because they really like extended payment terms and we’re not able to offer it.

Although we had good discussions in Cuba, they really didn’t evolve into any business.”

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CityAndStateNY.com

A Good Investment: Supporting New York’s Immigrant Communities By: Steven Choi, executive director, New York Immigration Coalition New York State prides itself on being a gateway of opportunity, a place where people from across the world come to build their businesses, send their children to school, and provide for their families. With more than four million immigrants in New York State, these newcomers make tremendous, vital economic, social, and cultural contributions to the Empire State.

There is an enormous amount that our State can do to support our newest New Yorkers move up the economic ladder. That’s why the New York Immigration Coalition has put forward a 2016 “Immigrant Blueprint for New York” – a comprehensive framework and long-term plan for the State to improve outcomes for immigrant communities and become a national leader in immigrant integration. From Buffalo to Brentwood, taking these strategic steps will uplift our State as a whole.

Our “Blueprint” includes five major pillars for how to achieve immigrant prosperity: 1) Strengthening integration efforts for New Americans by providing adult education programming for those that need them, and ensuring that limited-English-proficient speakers are able to access government services; 2) Addressing the persistent achievement gap for immigrant students and English Language Learners by ensuring tuition equity on the college level, creating multiple pathways to a high school diploma, and investing in Career and Technical Education; 3) Providing access to health care for immigrants who are excluded from coverage by federal law, and improving coverage, and care for immigrants who are eligible to participate in New York’s health exchange; 4) Advancing immigrant justice through ensuring access to affordable and reliable legal services, as well as limiting intrusive and unlawful collaboration between local and state law enforcement and immigration officials to improve trust with communities; 5) Protecting worker rights for New York’s most vulnerable workers, including farmworkers and other low wage-workers exploited by unscrupulous employers, and by meeting basic needs such as including access to driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants who play critical roles in our economy yet lack tremendous barriers around transportation access.

These strategic steps are not pie-in-the-sky. They are achievable, and will do wonders for New York’s economic growth. Our message is simple: By supporting immigrant communities, we are investing in New York State and we call on our elected officials to use this Blueprint as a template to make sure we secure New York’s present and future as the greatest state in the Union.

To read NYIC’s 2016 Immigrant Blueprint, go to: www.nyic.org/ immigrantblueprint2016

Steven Choi is the executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.

GUN VIOLENCE IS KILLING OUR CHILDREN

By MARCOS CRESPO A PROMINENT OBSERVER of today’s society recently noted, “There is nothing worse than unemployable, frustrated youth.”

While he was referring to a comparison of demographic factors shaping Asia and the Middle East, that inescapable truth also applies to the 70 percent of all gun violence deaths in the United States that is perpetrated by indigent young black and Hispanic males on young black and Hispanic males. In urban centers in America, gun violence is linked not only to race but to the socioeconomic status of our youth.

Now is the time for our gun control measures to be focused on addressing the overwhelming gun violence in our cities. All across our nation, the proliferation of guns is a growing problem, and policymakers must bring to an end the killing fields many of our communities have become.

To highlight the devastation of this violence, a review of data compiled by the Children’s Defense Fund is necessary. It documented that between 1979 and 2009, 116,385 children died due to gun violence. Extrapolated to 2015 numbers, Americans have stood by and allowed over 134,000 children to die from gun violence; 47 percent of these children were African American.

More recent data tells us that over 28,000 children and teens were killed by guns between 2003 and 2014. In the two-year period from 2008 to 2009, 34,000 children and teens were injured by guns. This translates into one child injured by a gun every 31 minutes of those two years, equal to filling 1,375 classrooms of 25 students each. Today, one teen per hour is hospitalized due to gun violence in the United States.

There are solutions within our reach, and our society has the bureaucratic infrastructure in place to dramatically reduce gun violence. To achieve

this goal, a sincere effort to help the communities most impacted by such violence is needed. For example, we already know that increased levels of education and income combined with functional after-school and youth programs are key factors in reducing violence and breaking down the astonishing sense of hopelessness that permeates the lives of youth in inner cities and urban centers.

Besides the loss of life, gun violence has other associated costs to our society and is traumatizing entire communities.

For our health care system the costs are also very tangible: In New York between 2010 and 2013, almost $13 million was spent by our Medicaid program to cover public hospital costs for the treatment of over 1,840 gunshot victims. The impact on the mental health of families and communities impacted by gun violence is exponentially larger.

There is a tremendous need for successful youth programs and mental health services in African American and Latino communities where youth unemployment rates are as high as 50 percent; where schools fail to provide a nurturing educational setting; and where violence at home is as common as it is on the streets. We have in place an existing web of government-funded programs to address these ills. To stop gun violence, we must now expand and improve on these mechanisms that are focused on building minds and building communities.

This might be our best and last option to combat gun violence in a society where every year 4 million new handguns enter the market legally, with over 270 million firearms already in homes and on our streets.

Marcos Crespo is the chairman of the state Assembly’s Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force.

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SETTING PRIORITIES

Crespo works to revive Hispanic task force’s legislative agenda

SHANNON DECELLE

By ASHLEY HUPFL

APART FROM A single newsletter in 2013, the Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force has not published a comprehensive legislative agenda since 2009.

Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, who took over the task force a year ago, aims to change that.

Crespo was appointed chairman of the Assembly Puerto Rican/ Hispanic Task Force by Speaker Carl Heastie in February 2015 after the previous task force leader, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, was named assistant speaker of the Assembly.

Crespo’s appointment came only about five weeks ahead of the Albany spring conference of Somos el Futuro, a partner organization, and a spokesman from his office said that was not enough time to publish a legislative agenda before the conference.

State-level legislative caucuses and interest groups regularly develop annual lists of their priorities with the aim of promoting or blocking certain bills in Albany.

Guillermo Martinez, Crespo’s legislative and communications director, said in an email that there will be “some form of a legislative agenda” for this year’s spring conference.

The conference is scheduled for March 18-20, just a little over a week before the state budget is due.

With that timeline in mind, the task force has introduced nine bills dealing with issues brought up at last year’s conference to address this session.

“A legislative agenda is in place via the current lot of letters to the speaker on issues that need to be addressed in the budget,” he said.

“With regards to legislation, the

Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force Chairman Marcos Crespo speaks at City & State’s 2015 Somos spring conference kickoff reception.

Task Force membership will be setting their priority bills after our conference. Setting a priority of key bills to push prior to end of session is in the works.”

When Assemblyman Peter Rivera was chairman of the task force from 2003 to 2008, he released 18 reports on issues impacting Hispanic or Latino New Yorkers.

Although no legislative agenda was published last year, Crespo issued several reports addressing poverty and diversity.

Since he began leading the task force, Crespo has been particularly focused on the lack of diversity in

SUNY schools and the government workforce. A new policy has been adopted at SUNY that requires each of its 64 campuses to have a chief diversity officer. The chief diversity officers have direct access and reporting requirements to campus presidents.

The Assembly Puerto Rican/ Hispanic Task Force is also focusing on the lack of Hispanics in state government. The task force released a four-page report last fall detailing the need for legislative action on the issue of representation.

Last year, Crespo’s office also released two reports on poverty

rates among children and the elderly in the state. After the reports were released, three hearings and roundtable discussions were held statewide.

Crespo is also a member of the Anti-Poverty Work Group, which Heastie formed in January.

“In terms of moving the ball forward, it’s a great thing. There was no discussion on some of these issues prior to the assemblyman releasing those reports,” Martinez said. “To have hearings across the state on it, to have working groups focused on these issues, is tremendous.”

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NYSlant.com

A fresh perspective on opinions Edited by NICK POWELL

Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Damaso Seda with then-New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.

By GERSON BORRERO

TWU LOCAL 100

THE UNSUNG HERO OF SOMOS EL FUTURO

NYSlant.com

WHEN LATINO LAWMAKERS gather in Albany for this year’s Somos el Futuro spring conference, they will be standing on a foundation built by a man whose name they might not even remember: Damaso Seda.

Seda was born in Manhattan on April 17, 1938, to Puerto Rican parents. In the New York City of the 1930s, Puerto Ricans were openly discriminated against in all spheres of the societal structure just as much as “negroes” – as blacks were referred to at the time.

The city was a different place during that epoch. There was no reference to “Latinos” back then.

It was Puerto Ricans who had to open the doors and in some cases tear down the walls for the Latinos of today. The Puerto Rican community in New York had no formal political power. Only one Puerto Rican had been elected to public office in the Empire State.

As a matter of fact, when Óscar García Rivera Sr. was elected in 1937, a year before Seda was born, he became the first puertorriqueño to be elected to any office in the entire United States.

García Rivera’s candidacy for the state Assembly as East Harlem’s representative garnered the support of Independent Democrats, labor unions and the American Labor Party, as well as the backing of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. A resident of Spanish Harlem, he served in the state Legislature as a Republican.

García Rivera, like Seda, was also a labor leader.

But there weren’t many role models for Seda back then. While he was proud of his ancestry, many Puerto Ricans, despite already being U.S. citizens when they arrived stateside, were focused on trying to assimilate almost as much as newcomers from faraway lands like Europe. For the Puerto Ricans who arrived here in the early part of the 20th century, their firstgeneration U.S.-born children faced a lot of prejudice.

Unlike García Rivera, Seda wasn’t a Republican. Seda served

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in the U.S. Navy from 1955-59, then returned to New York.

He started working for the transit system, fueling buses and providing maintenance to subway cars. He joined the Transport Workers Union, which Mike Quill founded in 1934, and was an active member of TWU Local 100.

Seda’s devotion to the union and labor activities didn’t prevent him from becoming a part of the growing political class of Puerto Ricans, however. As a labor activist, he found ways to get involved with fellow Puerto Ricans seeking elected office in the state.

It’s not clear when Seda began his relationship with those legislators. The current Somos el Futuro conference website lacks historical information about the struggles and battles that paved the way for the organization’s present-day significance in the body politic in New York.

As a response to muddied boundaries separating the New York State Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force from the independent board of Somos el Futuro, papers were filed in the summer of 1991 with New York’s secretary of state. Seda’s name was the first.

The other six signatures belonged to the following individuals: • Roberto Rodríguez, who served on the New York City Council representing El Barrio. He is also the father of Assemblyman Robert J. Rodriguez.

• Luis Miranda, founder of the Hispanic Federation and current co-owner of MirRam Group.

• Saúl Nieves, a lifelong community activist and retired labor organizer from Brooklyn.

• Ramón Vélez, the legendary South Bronx leader.

• Amalia Betanzos, an influential Latina.

• Dennis Rivera, the longtime labor leader.

Of the seven individuals, only

THE CIT Y WAS A DIFFERENT PLACE DURING THAT EPOCH. THERE WAS NO REFERENCE TO “LATINOS” BACK THEN. IT WAS PUERTO RICANS WHO HAD TO OPEN THE DOORS AND IN SOME CASES TEAR DOWN THE WALLS FOR THE LATINOS OF TODAY. three – Miranda, Rivera and Nieves – are still alive.

In its state certificate of incorporation, Somos El Futuro Inc.’s founding purposes are defined as follows: 1. To act as a co-sponsor of conferences sponsored by the New York State Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force a.) to receive contributions from sponsors, b.) to receive funds from the sale of banquet tickets or booth space at the conference sponsored by the New York State Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force.

2. To award scholarships to students with any available monies not needed to meet expenses of conferences sponsored by the New York State Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force.

Seda’s is the only signature that appears on the official certified document dated Aug. 8, 1991, as the founding chairman of this newly incorporated group.

This specific part of the incorporation is under review again. While writing this piece, two sources said that due to the current concerns about appearances of impropriety, there will be updates to the specificity of boundaries and separation between the two entities.

Seda constantly promoted Somos el Futuro among organized

labor groups, which in turn contributed to making the annual conference part of its calendar.

In 1993, he became president of TWU Local 100, representing 32,000 workers out of a transit workforce of 41,000. He was the first Puerto Rican/Latino transit worker to lead the men and women charged with keeping New York City’s buses and subways up and running. The trailblazer died on April 25, 2000, at the age of 62.

Today, Seda’s numerous contributions to Somos are mostly unknown or ignored. The present was built on the past. This is often forgotten by those who don’t know or acknowledge their own history.

“Somos el Futuro and Somos Uno owe a debt of gratitude to Damaso Seda,” said Mike Nieves, the founding secretary of the Somos board and its longestserving member. “At a crucial time for the organization, he stepped up and provided leadership that allowed for this organization to be alive today.”

Gerson Borrero is editor-at-large at City & State and a New York Slant contributor.

For more, visit nyslant.com.

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NEW YORK OWES ITS SUCCESS TO IMMIGRANTS

SHANNON DECELLE

By THOMAS DINAPOLI

NEW YORK IS widely known as a cultural mosaic because of the variety of immigrants that have chosen to call it home. There is no other place in the country where you will find such a wide array of backgrounds.

And this much-needed variety is what helps to make New York the great state that it is.

My office recently issued a report focused on the growing Hispanic population in New York state. My office routinely produces reports that examine the contributions of New Yorkers across the state. These reports help shine a light on how state and local policies impact New Yorkers and serve as a resource as decisions are made that will help shape the future of our state for generations to come.

HISPANIC AMERICANS HAVE BEEN VITAL TO THIS NATION’S PROGRESS – DEFENDING OUR COUNTRY IN WAR, RUNNING SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES AND PIONEERING BREAK THROUGHS. Our report, “The Hispanic Community in New York State,” shows that the contributions of Hispanics have played a key role in shaping the state as we know it today.

According to our report, nearly 3.7 million New York residents are Hispanic – about 20 percent of our total population.

Nearly half of Hispanic New Yorkers were born in New York.

While there are Hispanic New Yorkers living in every city and county across the state, 87 percent

of Hispanics reside in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County.

While a number of Hispanics have relocated to New York from many different places, our report shows that more than 30 percent of Hispanic New Yorkers are of Puerto Rican heritage and nearly a quarter have roots in the Dominican Republic.

Our report also examined other factors that impact our state’s economy such as education, employment and business

ownership in the Hispanic community.

As of 2013, more than 75 percent of Hispanic New Yorkers ages 18 to 24 had earned a high school diploma (or its equivalent), up sharply from 57 percent in 2000. And Hispanics accounted for 17 percent of New York’s labor force.

Entrepreneurship and business ownership are on the rise in the Hispanic community. The report found that between 1997 and 2012, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses more than doubled, from 104,000 to nearly 268,000.

This means that 13 percent of all businesses in New York are owned

by Hispanics.

Sales and receipts of Hispanicowned businesses in New York totaled more than $24 billion in 2012.

The growth and impact of the contributions of Hispanics are visible across the country.

From the United States’ earliest days, Hispanic Americans have been vital to this nation’s progress – defending our country in war, running successful businesses and pioneering scientific and technological breakthroughs.

The contributions of the Hispanic community are an important reminder that much of our success is due to the hard work and talent of immigrants. If not for immigrants, we simply would not be where we are today.

In order to continue building a stronger New York, I encourage everyone to remember that individually we are unique, but together we can move our state forward.

Thomas DiNapoli comptroller.

is

the

state

Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc. Congratulates the NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY & SENATE PUERTO RICAN & HISPANIC TASK FORCE AND SOMOS NEW YORK ON THEIR 29TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE Hon. Marcos A. Crespo Task Force Chair

Paloma Izquierdo-Hernandez SOMOS NY Chair

www.HITN.org

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NYSlant.com

A fresh perspective on opinions Edited by NICK POWELL

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has named former El Diario Publisher Rossana Rosado, right, secretary of state. She will be the fourth straight person of Puerto Rican descent to hold the post after Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, Ruth Noemí Colón and Cesar Perales.

ETHNIC LABELS AND THE POLITICAL POWER OF PUERTO RICANS

By EDDIE BORGES

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO seems to be one of the few people in U.S. politics and the media who understands the vital political difference between Puerto Ricans, Hispanics and Latinos. After all, Italians and our Spanish ancestors have been working in partnership since Queen Isabella named Christopher Columbus to lead her navy in search of a new trade route to India.

And Cuomo has drawn on this significant expertise to name as secretary of state Rossana Rosado, who was formerly publisher of El Diario/La Prensa and most recently a distinguished lecturer in

Latin American studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Cuomo’s decision to name a Puerto Rican – the second under his administration and the state’s fourth straight – to the top administrative position in New York has not drawn much scrutiny.

But the political significance of this appointment should not be ignored in light of national politics and more local politics in New York City, especially as, despite a significant Hispanic population, we never gained equivalent elective power.

But for Puerto Ricans, this appointment to the state’s chief

administrative job is hard-earned political payback for 30 years of loyalty and service to the Cuomo family, who have long recognized Puerto Ricans as citizens who vote Democratic as loyally as New York’s Irish, Italians and Jews before them.

It started with Tonio Burgos. He came out of a powerful East Harlem Puerto Rican political machine to be an early supporter of Bobby Kennedy. Later, he threw in his lot with Mario Cuomo early in his political career and went on to become the new governor’s allpowerful appointments secretary.

Yet somehow, in recent years,

Puerto Rican power has been diminished because of the use, and misuse, of the more generic Hispanic and Latino ethnic labels of the last couple of decades. And, no, it’s not just semantics.

I cringe every time CNN – or even The New York Times – references “Hispanic-Americans.”

All Hispanics are American.

Hispaniola was the name the Spanish gave the Caribbean island that the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María, landed on in 1492.

The people that would populate most of this land conquered and ruled by Spain would be Hispanic.

So while all Americans may not

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be Hispanic, all Hispanics are American.

Then in recent decades was born “Latino.” I’m not even going to bother with the etymology of that dreadful label, which has done

Mayor Bill de Blasio could be surprised at his lack of Puerto Rican and Dominican support during his re-election campaign.

His appointment of Carmen Fariña, the daughter of Spanish

Washington Heights.

Even nationally, Republicans don’t seem to understand that merely having a Cuban-American or a Cuban-Canadian at the top of their ticket won’t get them the

I CRINGE EVERY TIME CNN – OR EVEN THE NEW YORK TIMES – REFERENCES “HISPANIC-AMERICANS.” ALL HISPANICS ARE AMERICAN.

nothing but sow confusion and is at the root of the diminishing of hardearned political power for Puerto Ricans in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago; Dominicans in New York; Cubans in New Jersey; and Mexicans in the Southwest.

This is why in New York City,

immigrants, as schools chancellor, and Herminia Palacio, a CubanAmerican, as deputy mayor for health and human services, won’t get him a plate of rice and beans in Puerto Rican strongholds like the South Bronx, or mangú in Dominican neighborhoods like

support among U.S. Hispanics that they have been pursuing for years.

But Andrew Cuomo understands the nuances of Hispanic heritage.

And while we remain severely underrepresented among state and city employees, putting Rossana Rosado, who has worked as a

reporter, editor and publisher at the city’s principal Spanishlanguage daily newspaper for more than 30 years, behind his father’s old desk in the secretary of state’s office will ensure that the concerns of the poorest and most vulnerable citizens of the state and city will be heard.

And New York’s Puerto Rican voters will likely reward that recognition in the voting booth, as they have for the Cuomos time and time again. That’s just good old-fashioned New York ethnic politics.

Eddie Borges is directing a documentary about Mexican and Puerto Rican childhood poverty in New York City.

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DOCUMENTING THE DIASPORA C&S: What’s the latest news at the institute?

MMV: We just are months away from moving into a renovated firehouse that we got from the city for a dollar.

It was a $9.3 million renovation, so in the next couple of months the staff will be moving in and the facility will be available to the public with exhibitions and programming starting in the fall.

Members of CCCADI’s Community Arts University Without Walls program tour work created for Santurce Es Ley, an annual arts festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Dr. Marta Moreno Vega is the president of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, which she founded in 1976.

Her East Harlem institution features works reflecting the experience of African descendants in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad and throughout the Caribbean and Latin America – while also offering educational programs and pursuing a broader mandate that spans community activism and social change.

City & State’s Jon Lentz recently spoke with Moreno Vega about the institute’s new home on 125th Street, the emergence of Latino artists in popular culture, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s push for affordable housing.

The following is an edited transcript.

C&S: What kind of support do cultural institutions such as yours get from government?

MMV: I think it’s inadequate compared to the amount that historically recognized institutions get. Given the demographics, I don’t think it’s a conversation of us against them or them against us, but I think the government has to understand that there is a demographic change in the population and there’s also historic racism and discrimination in terms of cultures and racial groups. So the need for institutions that reflect the new demographics and the historic demographics that have been excluded – Native, Asian, and African-American – have to be part of what the cultural life of what the city and the state is. I don’t think government has caught up with that.

C&S: With award-winning plays like “Hamilton,” whose creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, is of Puerto Rican descent, and popular authors like Junot Díaz, who is Dominican-American, have Latinos broken through in U.S. popular culture?

MMV: I think without question there’s room for progress. Probably the question you asked was there with Rita Moreno when she did “West Side Story.” I don’t think the question would have been very much different than the questions being asked of Lin-Manuel. The fact that these events happen 40 or 50 years apart and the conversation is a recurring conversation as to being the first, right, in 2016, speaks to the lack of parity, the lack of equity, the lack of access. Every time there is a small breakthrough, it’s seen as, that’s phenomenal, when it should be part of our lives to have equity, to have inclusion, to have diversity in the workplace – and maybe have equal access to resources.

C&S: You’ve raised concerns about gentrification in the past. What is your view on Mayor de Blasio’s efforts to build new affordable

housing?

MMV: I don’t think you can talk about housing without talking about the issue of wealth and how the gap between the haves and the havenots continues to increase, and how that then influences housing and the cost of housing. I mean, there is housing – the question is who can afford the housing and the rentals.

Of course that’s going to change the complexion and the demographics of the community because these rents are astronomical and do not fit the average person – and I would say the middle class is being decimated because it can’t afford to stay in the city. One has to talk about the disparity of wealth and income possibilities and also the shifting reality in housing, where housing is not affordable. It’s not affordable for the middle class, and that’s the backbone of the society, and of the state and the nation. So when your middle class can’t afford housing, what is one saying?

C&S: The Obama administration has taken steps to improve relations with Cuba. What impact has that had on cultural interchange between the two countries?

MMV: The center has been having cultural exchanges with Cuba since my first trip in 1979. I went when the Russians were still there. (Laughs.)

We’ve been having cultural exchanges, bringing musical groups, bringing scholars, writers, exhibitions, so it’s been an ongoing exchange with Cuba, because Cuba has been very influential in the Puerto Rican community, and the Puerto Rican community has been very influential in Cuba.

C&S: Puerto Rico has been in the news lately for its serious financial challenges.

MMV: I think you can’t talk about Puerto Rico without saying the colony of Puerto Rico and the colony of the United States.

What is the purpose of having a colony?

Historically, you own property or you own a colony because you exploit it.

That’s not a benevolent relationship and it has not been a benevolent relationship historically, so that the United States still owning a colony in 2016 is horrific.

The exploitation by the United States of Puerto Rico is horrific, and therefore the financial condition that Puerto Rico finds itself in is horrific. It’s a direct result of being a colony of the United States.

CARIBBEAN CULTURAL CENTER AFRICAN DIASPORA INSTITUTE,

A Q&A WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE CARIBBEAN CULTURAL CENTER

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