New York (Washington Insider Magazine) – The first Hispanic to hold that executive position in New York political history, values his plan to reduce pregnancy-related deaths of women of color.
One year ago, Antonio Reynoso marked a major milestone in New York City by being elected and sworn in as Brooklyn Borough’s first president of Hispanic origin. The political feat also defined that for the first time a Dominican was in charge of the highest office of popular election in a county of the Big Apple. An executive position in the New York City Administration, previously held by the current mayor, Eric Adams.
Last Thursday, January 12, in his first “State of the State” address in New York’s most populous county and one of the largest in the country, Reynoso summed up his first twelve months as a time of “bold actions on behalf of the people”.
In his address, at the headquarters of the New York City College of Technology, he announced that in his second year he will not stop, until he surpasses the advances of 2022: “I am not here to do a thousand things by halves. I’m here to do five, six, or seven things that will make a real difference in people’s lives.”
The challenge that the president of the Borough of Brooklyn is drawing is gigantic, since he proposes the daunting task of flattening the broad curves of social inequalities, imbalances in access to health and employment. And give accurate blows to poverty.
In Brooklyn, almost one in five residents crosses the poverty line, ranking first in the entire city with the largest number of children living in vulnerable conditions, according to the balances of the Brooklyn Community Foundation. Another important fact that defines this county is that more than 1/3 of the residents were born in another country.
Specific:
In the midst of this socioeconomic context, Reynoso boasts of having faced a reality revealed in other statistical information: Black women are 9.4 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts. And a third of all pregnancy-related deaths in New York City occur in Brooklyn.
“This is one of the biggest injustices we are witnessing. I promised that I would change that. And I don’t make promises that I can’t keep. We did something that no county president had done, ”she reinforced in her speech.
In effect, the entire $45 million was allocated to three public hospitals for improvements in maternal health care.
In April 2022, a Maternal Health Task Force was formed that brought together a group of experts to guide efforts to reduce fatalities before, during, and after pregnancy for Black and Hispanic people.
She also launched a $250,000 public education campaign connecting Brooklynites with a guide to healthy pregnancy resources.
Beyond Maternal Health
Parallel to the maternal health agenda, Reynoso pondered various alliances and investments in social programs aimed at defeating two systemic crises in that county: the lack of affordable housing and crime.
“I can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he joked, referring to the fact that in his investment plan he directed $2.3 million to community organizations and $98,000 for housing assistance to organizations like Churches United for Fair Housing.
On his list of accomplishments he listed that he had directed $225,000 to bolster youth violence prevention programs.
Fighting With Historical Trends
The Brooklyn Borough President envisions the future, putting more resources into community organizations that “work with people,” promoting more programs to reduce the poverty gap, and outlining structural plans for the health of the general population.
Based on what Reynoso referred to, 2020 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that overall life expectancy across all racial and ethnic groups was 77.3 years. Black life expectancy was only 71.8 years. But in that county, the life expectancy for people of color was 68 years.
These disparities have existed for far too many decades and generations. The good news is that we want the future to be based on lessons learned from the past”, he concluded.
To that end, he endorsed a comprehensive plan that would help change these historic trends in public health, as well as work to ensure that every neighborhood can “prosper equitably.”
Plans For Brooklyn:
These disparities have existed for far too many decades and generations. The good news is that we want the future to be based on lessons learned from the past”, he concluded.
To that end, he endorsed a comprehensive plan that would help change these historic trends in public health, as well as work to ensure that every neighborhood can “prosper equitably.”
Plans For Brooklyn:
For the next fiscal budget, Brooklyn County will allocate a portion of its budget to help nonprofit organizations purchase permanent space so they can spend less time negotiating with landlords and more time serving neighbors.
This initiative will ensure that organizations that are “lifeguards” can focus on service delivery.
A large-scale solarization project will be undertaken to alleviate monthly utility costs for low-income renters and encourage Brooklyn’s transition to renewable energy.
According to a 2019 report from the Mayor’s Office, 32% of Brooklyn families in 2017 were “burdened with utilities,” spending more than 6% of their income on bills, and this was before costs spiked between 11 and 12% per year in the last 3 years.
An alliance with the Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation and Jobs First is announced to create businesses owned by communities of color in Brownsville, the neighborhood with one of the highest black unemployment rates in the city at 11.2 percent.
This article is authored by Fernando Martínez.