5-5-5-5 FIREFIGHTER STEVEN POLLARD BENEFITA benefit will be held in honor of Firefighter Steven Pollard on Saturday, June 22, from 4:00 – 8:00 PM at The Sugar Bowl, 15 Bedford Ave, Breezy Point, NY 11697. There will be a $30 special that includes a food voucher and plastic mug for all the beer you can drink. There will be a DJ and live music by Jahstix, along with a 50/50, raffles and t-shirts. PLAQUE DEDICATIONOn Monday, June 24, at 1100 hours, a Plaque Dedication will be held honoring the memory of Assistant Chief Ronald R. Spadafora, Bureau of Fire Prevention, who died on June 23, 2018. The dedication will take place at FDNY Headquarters, Auditorium, 9 Metro Tech Center, Brooklyn, NY. All off-duty members and their families are invited to attend. Members are requested to attend in dress uniform. NEW YORK RACING ASSOCIATION STARS & STRIPES FESTIVALThe New York Racing Association will host their annual Stars & Stripes Racing Festival on Saturday, July 6, at Belmont Park. Throughout the day, they will be honoring first responders around the track with activities for all ages, including: Belmont Cooling Towel Giveaway, Little Responders Family Friendly Activities, Touch a Truck Learning Experiences, Craft Beer Tasting, New York’s Finest vs. New York’s Bravest On Track Tug of War Competition, Craft Fair, Food Trucks, an After Racing Party at the Park with Performance by Paris-New York (7:00 – 8:30 PM), and more. For tickets and more information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/calendar/2019-07-06. PUTNAM COUNTY BLOOD DRIVEThe New York Blood Center has declared a blood shortage at the start of the critical summer season. Please come join Putnam County members at the Daniel O’Brien VFW Hall, 32 Gleneida Ave (Rt.52) Carmel, NY, on Friday, June 28, from 2:00 – 8:00 PM. For information, please call Paul DeLeo at 347-408-6052 or Denis Hanrahan at 845-225-3048. SPLISH SPLASH WATER PARK DISCOUNT TICKETS AVAILABLETickets are now available for Splish Splash (www.splishsplashlongisland.com). Located at Exit 72 West, Long Island Expressway, Riverhead, NY, the waterpark features 20 water slides, 2 wave pools, a lazy river, a kiddie area and more! Through the UFA discounted tickets, general admission price is $37 for adults and children over 48” and $30 for children under 48″ and seniors. Children 3 and under are free. For further info, please contact reception at 212-683-4832. Tickets must be purchased at UFA offices. Any unused tickets that are purchased through the UFA can be refunded if tickets are returned by September 5th.
BY DAN HAVERTY. Monday, June 17, 2019 | General news The U.S. premiere of Pulitzer Center grantee Callum Macrae’s The Ballymurphy Precedent screened at the E Street Cinema in Washington, D.C., on Monday, June 10, 2019. The film covers the Ballymurphy massacre, an event that occurred early in Northern Ireland’s “Troubles.” In August 1971, members of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment killed 11 unarmed Catholic civilians in Belfast’s predominantly Catholic Ballymurphy neighborhood. The Parachute Regiment gained worldwide notoriety six months later on “Bloody Sunday,” for the murders of an additional 13 unarmed civilians in Derry, an event that sparked international outrage and is now seen as one of the key events leading to the emergence of the Provisional IRA. The British government recently apologized for its role in the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry, but Macrae notes that the government effectively absolved itself of full responsibility by claiming it could not have known or planned the attack. Macrae suggests that the fact the same unit was involved in another massacre in Belfast just six months earlier–at best–shows a pattern, and–at worst–something far more sinister. History is one the central components of the film, and a substantial portion is devoted to explaining the events that occurred across Ireland from the 1920s until the 1960s that led to the massacre. “Unless people understand what led to Ballymurphy, I don’t think you could make sense of what happened,” Macrae said after the film screening, during the Q&A session with Pulitzer Center Contributing Editor Kem Sawyer. He further explained that history not only provides necessary context, but also gives invaluable insight into the actions taken by all sides during the fighting. The film is part of a broader campaign by the families seeking answers to what happened to their loved ones in August 1971, and Macrae hopes that it will help publicize their struggle and put pressure on the British government to reveal the truth about the massacre. The film resonated with the audience. Father Sean McManus was resident in County Fermanagh in the western part of Northern Ireland when the massacre happened. He thanked Macrae sincerely for his efforts publicizing what he called “a declaration of war on the non-unionist, non-loyalist Catholic community” of Northern Ireland. “It is an extraordinary film,” Fr. McManus later wrote. “Powerful, moving and beautiful—agonizingly beautiful. Not only beautifully filmed and narrated, but beautifully revealing the dignity, courage, and grace of the innocent victims’ families: their heroic determination to find and reveal the truth, without hatred or vengeance.” The push for truth continues, but it is only the first step towards the ultimate objective, Macrae told the audience. “The truth is difficult for all sides,” he said. But “you need to have truth before you can have justice.”
Undocumented persons in New York can now be issued with drivers licenses.Getty
New York undocumented, including thousands of Irish, will be eligible for driver’s licenses after a bill passed the New York State legislature
Thousands of undocumented Irish will be among the 250,000 undocumented in New York State who can now legally get a driver’s license.
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law after receiving assurances that immigration authorities could not access the license information. It takes effect in six months.
“We are glad to see that Gov. Cuomo ultimately did the right thing by quickly signing the Green Light NY bill into law,” said Steve Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“Our New York State elects have sent a message — that while Donald Trump and his cronies look to scapegoat immigrants, the Empire State will protect them. We’ve done that with by restoring driver’s licenses to 250,000 New Yorkers, and we’re just getting started.”
The number of Irish undocumented who will avail of the new law is unknown. “This is very good news for those Irish who have to drive without insurance and indeed, for all drivers,” said Ciaran Staunton, Chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, which has long lobbied for licenses and is part of the Immigrant Coalition. He estimated about 5,000 Irish could benefit.AdChoicesADVERTISING
”For waitress and nannies for construction workers and bar employees this is very good news,” he said.
“You can’t register a car you can’t get insurance when you are undocumented. You take your life into your hands and the lives of fellow drivers when you drive without insurance.”
Ciaran Staunton, Chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform.
The Daily News reported that “Cuomo has repeatedly expressed support for the bill — but raised last-minute concerns Monday about whether the information about undocumented immigrants gathered by the state DMV could be obtained by federal officials and used for immigration enforcement.
“You create a driver’s license for undocumented people, you just have to make sure you do it in a way that the feds don’t come in the next day and access that database with the exact opposite intention,” Cuomo told WAMC, an Albany radio station.
Twelve states, in addition to Washington DC, already have driver license laws that allow undocumented to apply.
In New Mexico, uninsured drivers fell from 24 percent to nine percent. In Colorado, increased numbers of cars registered brought significant extra revenue to the state. Oregon also pronounced the scheme a major success.
New York signs into law the “Green Law” which will allow undocumented to apply for driver’s licences.
Supporters say the so-called ‘Green Light’ bill will make more than 265,000 people eligible for licenses and improve road safety by making non-citizens who drive take road tests and get insurance and annual vehicle inspections.
“Today’s vote shows that we as New Yorkers are committed to the dignity and safety of all our community members, especially the most marginalized among us,” said bill sponsor Senator Luis Sepulveda (D-Bronx).
“We are taking a stand for the rights of immigrants in the time when their livelihoods are being threatened and degraded to extreme degrees.”
The Daily News reported that a Siena College poll last week found that 53% of New Yorkers oppose the bill and about 41% support it. That’s a drop in opposition from a March poll that found 61% of voters were against the measure.
