The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe social and economic impacts globally. In St. Lucia, the impacts have been devastating, given the island's heavy reliance on the tourism industry, which is the main revenue earner. The effects of COVID have fallen disproportionately on the most vulnerable sectors of the population. And by most vulnerable, I refer to people living in poverty, the working poor, women and children, persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups. Since the start of the pandemic, the government has employed several measures to manage the spread of the virus. Numerous response, recovery and resilience strategies have been implemented to provide immediate relief to citizens adversely affected by the pandemic, strengthening the country's economic recovery and enhance resilience to shocks in the medium to long term. Today, we are here to witness the inaugural handover of a check that will symbolize the start of another measure to buttress the social assistance system. Cabinet has granted approval to establish a social assistance fund within the SSDF to assist persons who have unfortunately been excluded from the other social assistance programs due to limited resources. The general expectation is that this fund will create a new line of funding and interventions that will also benefit vulnerable persons in our society. In a few minutes from now, you will witness a donation by the St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited. It is our hope that this generous contribution will serve as an impetus for other private sector partners in considering a similar type of decision towards supporting the national effort in responding effectively to the pandemic and other shocks. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Mrs. Veldor Octav Joseph, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Equity to deliver the opening remarks. I also have the distinct honor of warmly welcoming all of you to this special gathering occasioned by the formalization of a public-private partnership between the government of St. Lucia and the St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited, Lucille. An arrangement which is in the interest of vulnerable individuals and households and is in support of the ministry's comprehensive agenda on social protection. I am particularly pleased to extend a special welcome to the Honourable Prime Minister and other members of Cabinet who have joined us here today. Thank you for being here despite your very busy schedules which I am sure your portfolio commands. We do appreciate your presence. From the outset, let me indicate that the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment is extremely pleased with this initiative, the purpose of which aligns perfectly with the vision and mandate of the ministry and which supports our efforts at improving our social protection system with short adequate access, but also to ensure that we are providing assistance to those who need it most. And I am sure you keep on hearing that a lot from the ministry we are about providing assistance to those who need it most. We believe that the establishment of a social assistance fund capitalized with the assistance of the private sector, and of course in this case Lucille, will allow for the extended reach of the ministry given the growing number of vulnerable households in dire need of assistance as a result of the prolonged impact of COVID-19. And at the ministry we see it on a daily basis, the demands, the requests that keeps on increasing and we can tell you we leave it firsthand the increasing demand for assistance from the Government of St. Wusha.  And this is extremely important to us at the ministry as the lead government institution with responsibility for matters relevant to social protection or social issues in general. Certainly we do not want to leave anyone behind as we advance in our social development and arrangements such as this one helps to promote and to facilitate inclusion. I will therefore take the opportunity now to express our thanks and appreciation to Lucille for joining with us again and supporting the social sector. I am saying again because Lucille currently is sponsoring the Our Boys Matter program which is a program that is being implemented through the SSDF. We look forward to your continued support Mr. Lucille as well as other partnerships in support of a sustainable social assistance fund which will be administered by the SSDF to the benefit of our vulnerable brothers and sisters. We also anticipate greater synergistic relationships with other private sector entities as we develop and implement programs and projects towards improvement and advancement of our social protection system. Thank you and God bless all of you. There is no question that government cannot do it on its own. Government will never have the resources to be able to provide all of the assistance that is needed because I can tell you offhand that notwithstanding the fact that you assist about 3,000 people with educational resources every year is still not enough, we still miss people and housing assistance, you name it, there are needs for these sorts of interventions. I think it's apropos that Lucille is the first contributor to this fund and whether or not it was the catalyst for this initiative was the COVID-19 pandemic, the reality is that it is long overdue. The SSDF began a relationship with Lucille coming out of this very need because about 3 years ago, the SSDF recognized that government funding over the years had been decreasing in terms of our subvention and the number of people coming to the SSDF was increasing significantly and so we sought to tap into the private sector and one of the first major initiatives we had was your boys matter program that Lucille joined with Massey stores to co-sponsor and they are still the co-sponsors today. I think this is very significant now that this fund is going to be at the SSDF, house at the SSDF because we have the wherewithal to be able to do it. That is the nature of our business. The SSDF is really a social investment fund in and of itself, so this is the nature of our work. Our relationship with Lucille and other private sector partners highlight the need for what is going on now. I want to also make the point that what will really drive this of course is the success of this new intervention and we need to make the business community aware of the fact that no longer can we look at corporate social responsibility and from the business perspective as merely an ethical responsibility to give back. There is more to it than that or even for that matter an opportunity for PR because business has a vested and must have a vested interest in the development of people especially as we sit there in St. Lucille and I think the Our Boys Matter program is an excellent example of that. In terms of the profitability of organizations or growing their customer base and I want to just speak a little bit about just mention a graduation in July 2021 a care graduation 12 of the boys that graduated from care with part of the Our Boys Matter program and one of the boys gave a testimonial that really spoke volumes and he said he didn't know what would have happened to him without the Our Boys Matter program well of course he didn't know what would have happened to him without the sponsorship of Lucille and the massive stores and the government of St. Lucille also the reality is that we see every day well most nights on TV we see some killing and invariably it is young males and that's one of the reasons why the Our Boys Matter program targets just boys because it was seen, recognized at the time that the young males were the most vulnerable group in St. Lucille and so we sought to bring resources to bed to be able to to enable poor children from poor homes boys, vulnerable boys to be able to have access to resources that the average student may have access to and with psychosocial support and that sort of support to see whether we could save these boys but in terms of Lucille and the private sector when I look at these 12 boys that graduated and by the time they graduated they are already secured jobs these are persons that will be gainfully employed it means that these are young men who would patronize the businesses a number of businesses the supermarkets utilities, you name it they will patronize that and I'm saying the reason I use that example there are a number of other boys that the SSDF helped on their Our Boys Matter program but the point I wanted to make here is that if we look at saving young children by first of all sending them to the proper education institution because there are a number of them sitting in traditional secondary schools that have other interests and so they do not perform very well and then first to be able to bring together resources that they need for them to succeed now the reason I say that the private sector has a critical role to play because we know that government cannot do it on its own we also know that private sector organizations make a lot of contributions in terms of their corporate social responsibility but it is not really targeted a lot of it is not and so through a PPP with government through the SSDF we could have more targeted interventions that could really bear meaningful fruit and so it helps these businesses to create a widened customer base which invariably will assist them in terms of their profitability and of course it also helps to decrease the criminality and these sorts of things that can make Saint Lucia unattractive to investors or to tourists coming into Saint Lucia having said that I know that the ministry has a number of very important programs perhaps the after school program is a very good example of that perhaps one of the best that we make funding for and this program is very important because what I am so a lot of these kids after school what I am so them when the parents looking at hotels or wherever and there is nobody at home so through the after school programs they can go on and get involved in assistance with school sports and these types of things but where they meaningfully engage and so that it leads to boys invariably it leads to things that are not good so these are the sorts of things now at DSSDF we have programs like the micro enterprise program which seeks to assist families or persons with micro enterprise establishments so they can take care of themselves again these are programs with some funding additional funding we could increase the numbers and these are persons that could go on as buyers, purchasers, sellers in our economy so I want to say to Lucilleck thank you very much I am very happy that Lucilleck is a company that is making that first contribution and I certainly hope that we can get other organizations to come on board and join Lucilleck together we can do it government cannot do it on its own together we can do it to the private sector and they have a vested interest or they should have a vested interest in assisting in social interventions of that nature thank you very much it is indeed a pleasure to be here and to thank you wish to thank you for the opportunity to speak briefly on this occasion which is of immense significance to me as minister for equity, social justice and empowerment but permit me before diving into these brief remarks to convey my sincere condolences and prayers to the people of Cooley Town only this morning I visited the horrible crime scene and as the families given account of what transpired at the party last night where three persons died I dare say that they were my friends some of them I knew very well DJ Yellow Tamara from Massey supermarket as well as Princess from Marigold and quite a few others are nursing gunshot wounds it is with this back to this backdrop I permit me to share a quote from a professor from Singapore he said it is difficult to separate the work of government civil society and the private sector these days but that may be less important than the need for them to create complementarities among their activities to achieve a given outcome today ladies and gentlemen we are here because this need for complementarity which professor Asha referred to has been realized between the government of St. Lucia and Lucillec for the purpose of achieving an important objective of assisting the most vulnerable among us I therefore not only welcome this partnership but fully embrace it given the potential for providing relief to households in need thus allowing them in many cases to meet the most basic needs ladies and gentlemen on Fridays I sit in the constituency of Castry South West and while I see many individuals there are some stories that will remain with me for a lifetime I think of the grandmother who visited me to Fridays ago and said that she has nine grandchildren because she also has two daughters who are mentally challenged and as a result she in 76 years need to care for nine grandchildren a number of them are young men and the house is not adequate in terms of its structure to accommodate them I recall on Friday of this two teenagers one is a single mother just 19 who said to me that she needs to fix the house and when I asked her where is her mom she said she doesn't know because the mom is mentally challenged and she said she is not too worried that because she only got to know him as that just a few weeks ago every story like this that I encounter on a Friday gives me strength vigor and courage to wake up and to walk through the corridors of this government and to advocate and to beg and to ask my colleagues to support initiatives that will reach out to those who are most vulnerable so I take this opportunity to encourage others other stakeholders or the business partners to come on board and to engage in initiatives that will support each other as now perhaps more than ever we look to building back after this terrible COVID-19 crisis we see the need for strong partnerships an enduring relationship that will support public purpose in meaningful and impactful ways Ladies and gentlemen as you know Saint Lucia faces a myriad of issues which needs urgent attention I just spoke of crime and violence climate change and exposure to hazards, poverty and inequalities food insecurity etc and whilst we recognize the important role of government in addressing these critical issues we are also cognizant that true partnerships and purposeful coordination with a diversity of stakeholders is necessary if we are to make significant progress towards tackling them it is my belief that only through strategic alliance and cooperation can we ensure a healthy and prosperous future for all Ladies and gentlemen this government is one with an agenda that puts people first and in this regard since assuming office the government has been working to provide relief to citizens to build resilience to future shocks we understand fully that the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 and other shocks and porn vulnerable households we are aware of the growing number of households who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic and now seeking assistance as highlighted previously by P.S. and we are also aware of the range of needs to which urgent responses are required consequently ladies and gentlemen the government will continue to work to those realities in a manner that supports and protects its citizens today following discussion with Lusek the companies donating a sum of $450,000 towards a social assistance funds which will be administered through the Sandrusha social development fund and of course Mr. Matri can attest only on Friday when I met members of the board of the staff in fact the discussions about how we strengthen the operations for transparency accountability to ensure that the proper procedures for access of the funds are put in place and are communicated to the general public it is my humble expectation from the department of directors and management of the staff of the SSDF that systems and procedures for access and management of this fund will be shared as soon as possible for guidance to the public also the issue of ensuring that we are efficient is something that we need to continue to look at while we are happy that there are many programs within the SSDF we need to ensure that the cost of intervention matches the size of the management of the organization we cannot have a very expensive management but with very little interventions to support its existence and therefore we are looking at strengthening our organizations with a view of being more efficient we want for Sandrusha to benefit tremendously from the programs but also that the cost of doing so is and therefore we will be looking at to streamline the management of the SSDF so that when donor agencies look at the SSDF they can recognize an organization that is very let's say small in head forward for one of a better word or low management cost but with high impact in terms of delivery of services to our people again I want to extend my gratitude to Lucille for being the forerunner in this regard as we work collaboratively towards creating and sustaining a brighter future for everyone thank you ladies and gentlemen I want to thank you this morning welcome you this morning rather and just thank you for the opportunity which you've given me to be part of this ceremony one may ask what is the connection between Lucille infrastructure and equity and social development and for me I somewhat classified as a kind of cross-fertilization of sectors and that in itself Madam Chair will give you an idea as to how this whole idea was born Lucille can the ministry or department of infrastructure under the energy rubric which we are responsible for have had an institutionalized arrangement of meeting regularly most times on a quarterly basis more or less to plan, plot guide and drive the energy sector in Central Asia to see how best we can lower the rate of energy through sustainable means and Lucille I think while it is known to be the main and single most producer, generator and distributor of electricity in this country has been working with us in an endeavor to achieve some of the goals set out in our national energy transition strategy which we have committed to at one of our meetings sometime I believe it was in October to raise the idea of Lucille take given consideration to the law of of electricity to particularly our vulnerable people vulnerable households and after much discussion on the matter trying to find a strategy and to circumvent the potential conflict that this initiative may have with the regulators that probably more detail should be brought to bear on the initiative and that I should write Lucille and to convince them of the intention Lucille later requested a meeting with the Prime Minister and ourselves to discuss among other things some of their own initiatives and the effort that they are putting towards renewable energy it was at that meeting that the idea was further discussed and Lucille committed to giving it some thought and maybe redirecting the idea in a form that would allow the government based on its own intentions and mandate to determine how best to utilize the value of a reduction in electricity in this country so therefore it was Lucille's brainchild to come up with the proposal to establish a social assistance fund I'm very pleased to welcome the initiative and I must indicate that Cabinet itself has welcomed the initiative of establishing the fund so today this morning's Seren Money is a game-changing exercise one in which this government is taking some targeted action to combat the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on the very fabric of our society the COVID-19 pandemic placed tremendous strain on many persons in the society particularly the vulnerable households and persons this in Lucille Electricity Services Limited, Lucille was approached to lead the charge in providing some much needed assistance in the community by way of some donation to a fund aimed at assisting the members of our community who are reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic Lucille was very responsive and took this material matter to its board of directors who responded by approving an amount of $450,000 E.C. dollars as a donation to a social assistant fund this matter was well received by the government and of course upon presenting the initiative to Cabinet Cabinet approved the establishment of the social assistant fund within the structure of the St. Lucia Social Development Fund which will receive today's donation from Lucille as well as other future donations from not only Lucille but from other private sector donors to this end the minister responsible for commerce and myself having been the pioneer of this initiative have been mandated by the responsibility of developing an approach to the business community in this regard so very soon the minister for commerce and myself will set to develop this strategy as to how to approach the wider business community in St. Lucia in responding and participating in the social assistant fund we are seeking a positive response from such corporate partners as the government establishes the enabling legislation to ensure that we have a successful and impactful program with the SSDF I must indicate at this juncture that only this weekend a business man consulted with me and indicated how excited he is and how excited many others are already getting in as far as their participation in the social assistant fund and therefore Mr. Mathre I see a great horizon for those in need in this country by a government who has taken the decision and who has made it the mantra of putting people first and so the government of St. Lucia will determine the nature and programs to be funded via this proposed fund however the general expectation is such that this fund will create a new line of funding for various social protection programs and interventions that will benefit the most vulnerable in our society today and beyond it is expected that the SSDF as we term it will benefit from the existing administrative structure of the social development fund that is the SSDF and will also benefit from synergies that emanate from existing and future types of programs at the SSDF and I believe you Mr. Mathre when you spoke about the various programs which you are conducting I think within the SSDF within the architecture of the SSDF the social assistant fund if that is the official name that we shall give it will benefit from your administration and the structures which exist within your organization let me therefore in closing thank Lucia for the quick response to the request and the appeal and for being the trailblazer not only in this regard but as a public utility agency in this country I thank you this morning we are participating in the official launch of a program that will benefit some of the indigent members of our society as we do so I encourage everyone to broaden your perception of who that is it's not just the people we all traditionally think of no, COVID-19 has given rise to the new needy COVID-19's immediate and protracted impact has stressed many into a position where they need social assistance that is one of the reasons Lucilleck is pleased to respond to a call from the government of St Lucia to establish this social assistance fund for the provision of food and basic necessities for those who need it most Lucilleck will contribute $450,000 in total towards this social safety net program and it is our hope that this fund will grow quickly as other corporate entities join us to contribute to yet another effort to help families through the extended impact of this pandemic I see another effort because the private sector has been supporting the government and the people of St Lucia in responding to the impact of COVID-19 in various ways since this pandemic hit our shores in early 2020 as a collective the private sector Lucilleck included has provided cash contributions spearheaded food or grocery donations and feeding drives contributed to providing laptops tablets and other digital devices to allow students to participate in remote learning contributed to providing personal protective equipment to emergency first responders and contributed to providing testing equipment and supplies to our hospitals to enable quick turnaround of COVID-19 test results and care for COVID-19 patients among other initiatives for Lucilleck between April 2020 and August 2021 we've contributed more than three-quarter of a million dollars to the local COVID-19 pandemic response of which just under 650,000 was direct assistance to the government of St Lucia and its agencies and for more than a year we did not disconnect customers for arrest and we continue to work with customers to manage payment on their accounts I see all of this to point out that we all understand that we all are going through a challenging period with this pandemic and we are doing what is within our power to assist those affected and the country through this pandemic obviously some have been more impacted than others but none of us has been unskilled by this pandemic it is our understanding that contributions to this social assistance fund will not get lost in the consolidated fund but will be managed directly but will be managed directly by the social by St Lucia's social development fund or the SSDF as it is more commonly referred to we also advise that the fund will seek to target those persons who are not already receiving support from the Ministry of Equity's public assistance program but those whom the pandemic has pushed below the poverty line we are very pleased that the fund will be managed by SSDF as we have a long standing relationship with the SSDF over the years and we continue to be satisfied with the level of reporting and accountability on the contributions we make to them our contribution to this program is very monthly instalments of $150,000 each we look forward to hearing how people will qualify for assistance under the fund and how the money will be disbursed by the SSDF it is our distinct privilege to be part of this most important and worthy initiative and we thank you for the opportunity to continue to demonstrate our power of caring thank you I want to join the speakers before me who have stated we all are painfully aware of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic the pandemic has further exposed the poor living conditions of the vulnerable persons in our country and the need to provide tangible support in cash and in kind to those persons have become even more critical now more than ever now we require a moral a moral and social response from those of us who can bring some measure of relief to the dire situation or some of our citizens in this regard the Sinusha Achilles Services Sinusha Achilles Company Ltd. Lucille has responded to the call from the government to assist and as my cabinet colleagues can tell you and I want the people in the private sector and even the some public servants to understand the pressures that elected representatives go through it's a pressure that you will not understand he who feels it most knows it we don't understand the pressure that we go through that demands that are made on us and I know sometimes our actions are misread I know sometimes public servants believe that we are pushy in this phrase we are political it's not most of us or all of us feel the pain of the persons who come to us there is no need to be political I'm pretty good at it so there is no need to to be political it is the pain that we feel from the people who come to us on a daily basis the minister of equity gave you some examples and I can give you I mean I can give you a library I can give you a library of I can give you a library of experiences that we go through as elected parliamentarians so sometimes public servants and members of the public and the private sector it's not a matter of we wanting to extract or wanting not to follow processes it's a matter when we go to the constituencies or when we walk the streets that demands that sometimes these demands even get on the bring of being violent because people I need and they believe that must give it to them further being the prime minister is a belief that the government treasury belongs to you so you find constituency to you bossman you are the prime minister which means I can go in the government's treasury and just take it so we are witnessing today an act of generosity from a company who clearly believes that charity should start at home that Lucilleck has decided to make this contribution through the social assistance fund is a reflection of the importance it attributes to social responsibility as a corporate citizen and the executive of Lucilleck I know they understand they are sensitive to the needs of the people of San Lucia because the Lucilleck High Command they are from San Lucia they lived among San Lucia they understand the difference between the have and the have not is that sensitivity I'm sure that has caused the management of Lucilleck to impress upon the board that they should get involved in such a venture and I want to thank them publicly for that the government of the challenges arising from the COVID pandemic requires a collective response from all sectors of the society including the private sector NGOs, churches, trade unions financial institutions, charities and the government working together to combat the effects of the virus and to rebuild our economy I'm in the process of preparing the budget or the estimates of expenditure for the next fiscal year and the constraints that are put on us even by people who want to appear to be the constraints that are put on us for little money real little money money that is spent in some countries basically on an hourly basis little money the constraints the way the minister of finance the way his hands are tied behind his back and his legs are tied also for little money so the constraints of the budget are something that the people of St. Lucia need to understand and I know you said to me that we've borrowed over 300 million dollars for COVID response that is true we did borrow over 300 million dollars for COVID response but most of that money was spent in recurrent expenditure and for some capital projects most of it I think nearly over 75% of that 300 million dollars was spent for recurrent expenditure and for some capital projects mainly the construction of roads so the impact of that heavy borrowing was not felt directly by many people even if the government had to pay for quarantine facilities which took a heavy chunk of that money but the impact because of the economy which had declined by 26% the sixth highest decline in the world the solution economy experience 26% so that is the situation that we came into government with on the 26th of July a heavily borrowed economy but the effects of COVID was still there live and live in color as was displayed by the absence of devices in schools and it's only now that the governments with the minister and the ministry of education we are trying to make an impact in that hopefully by the end of next month we probably will have 10,000 devices in the hands of the people of the children of St. Lucia so when we speak we speak glibly about certain things we have to understand the reality of governance the reality of the fiscal situation that we have to deal with the reality every month the government of St. Lucia's disposable income is less than 20% of what we have to spend so as soon as we pay our salaries and we pay our debts what we have left is basically about 20% of the budget that is a situation that we have to manage every day and then comes the demands I know that you are concerned about the crime situation the crime situation is worrisome it is very worrisome what makes it worse is the callousness in which these crimes seem to be committed the response to crime has to be enforcement but also there has got to be a social response as Dr. Marches stated it's surprising that some of us believe that we can stigmatize the crime and speak about these areas and believe that if you stigmatize it and you say you avoid these areas and you call these people the people that we call these people we call them all kinds of names we ostracize them we believe that that will solve the situation it will not it has not and it will not we need to have and I know it's cliche it has got to be jointly private sector government churches getting together where we have to make the people understand that we care for them and the slogan putting people first must not only be seen as a political slogan it's got to be a way of life a feeling, a mentality that we have to put people and all the people some of us have escaped some of us have escaped and we tend to have forgotten where some of us came from or where the people that we left behind where they are we have escaped so we've gone we have to help these people we have to assist these people so on behalf of the government people of St. Lucia I would like to thank Lucille for their quick response and for the contribution of $450,000 to the social assistance fund I believe that the company has set the right tone for other corporate entities to follow I also want to assure you that a tremendous relief which Lucille has given has provided to households and businesses during this pandemic by way of not disconnecting has not gone unnoticed by the government I hope that the people of St. Lucia understand that Lucille also is a corporate entity and they have to report to the shareholders I want to use this opportunity to underscore the importance and necessity for giving, caring and contributing to the welfare of the less 40 citizens of our country we should resist the temptation to be unconcerned and even oblivious to the plight of the needy persons among us as we become a more developed and our personal situation changes My administration's guiding principles of putting people first is rooted in the belief that true and lasting development has to be people-centered and that in the process of development no one should be left behind therefore we must, as a matter of necessity address the needs and concerns of the unemployed the at-risk youth and the different disabled persons the single parents and the isolated elderly persons who are an integral part of our communities and I speak particularly about the elderly persons who are lonely and there is some level of support through the health aids and the community workers but most of these people are left alone on weekends and again something you have to feel but I don't think when some of us go to our homes on weekends and we indulge in the finer things of life that there are people out there who have been left from Friday and they will see no one until Monday when the caregivers come reality how we can hide it is the government's hope that we can extend the caregivers program so these people can get some support on weekends when they are left alone as a government and this safety net and this safety net is coming from a social assistant fund which will be administered by the SSDF to provide for the variable persons in our country and it's not by coincidence and I note Mr. Luis's admonishment the money should not disappear in a consolidated fund it will not although the Minister of Finance is tempted sometimes when he is being strangled by international financial institutions to pay up sometimes he is tempted but I can assure you this cabinet and this Minister of Finance will ensure that people come first and the social assistance fund will be used for the people of solution while they are given and receiving I want also to tell the citizens that we have to get some of our priorities right we have what we receive we have to give understand what our priorities are and there's I don't know if I'm right the sociology among us will tell us there's a hierarchy of needs a long time ago and this hierarchy of needs I want to say to the people of solution priority rise sometimes you cannot get everything you want at the same time we have to understand what's important and we have to get our priorities right as a government our priorities will be right that is why in our first six months we have put our priorities right by ensuring that we do things at the level where people will feel it and where people will get the benefits and this is why we have our housing program this is why we paid CXC fees this is why we helped in facility fees and I want to just take a moment to talk about facility fees because some of us have tend to just think about a single parent, just think about it a single parent with three children and most of the time there are more the minister of education tells me five children think about a single parent with five children both of these parents worked in a hotel they were out of work doing covid and school starts and they have to pay facility fees let us say the average facility fees $1.50 that is $750 that household had to extract to pay facility fees and again some of us will say all this government is just paying politics but you know as Bob Marley says he will feel it most knows it that single parent the savings of that $750 you will not understand that did to them and to the household and we are very proud that the government took that position and will continue to do it every year we will continue to pay these facility fees so in Sanking Lucille I want to say to the people of Saint Lucia let's get together let us stop the ranker let us stop the unnecessary criticisms let us understand that the people of Saint Lucia have changed the government the people of Saint Lucia will get an opportunity to do that again in the next 5 years let us stop the ranker and the lies and the deliberate efforts to cause Saint Lucia to go in a direction that it should not go covid let us do our share I call again on all the people of this country let us get together to help the vulnerable to help the poor to help the dispossessed and I thank Lucille profoundly for that contribution and hope that other members of our social and our economic infrastructure will assist


Hi, I'm Megan. Hi, I'm Izzy. And today we're going to be going around asking people what their favourite Christmas cracker jokes are. Yeah, we are. What's your favourite Christmas cracker joke? I don't know. Haven't been very successful. Yeah, people, people don't really like getting past. Yeah, they don't really like Izzy shouting in their faces. It's really sad.


A division of the German IRIS-T anti-aircraft missile system has shot down over 60 Russian targets since October 2022. Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk, commander of the Air Force of Ukraine, wrote it on Telegram. German-made IRIS-T anti-aircraft missile systems have been protecting Ukraine's skies from Russian terrorism since October 2022. Over the course of that time, the IRIS-T anti-aircraft missile systems division has shot down over 60 enemy targets, he said. Oleschuk added that another IRIS-T division, the second one, entered combat duty in Ukraine in late April 2023. On the day of the first use of the system, everyone was shocked because all the targets were shot down. He said the deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile unit under the pseudonym Dweller. Ukraine now owns one of the world's most advanced air defense systems to protect it from Russian cruise missiles. The system is manufactured by Dial Defense based in Uberliner, southern Germany, and is meant to provide medium-range, high-altitude cover for small cities and armies. According to Dial, the system is most effective as part of a layered air defense. In combination, for example, with the US-made Patriot PAK-3 missile defense system, which has a higher maximum altitude.


Full house. Good morning everyone great to you back. I can hear the mayor's voice. Good morning the mayor Indeed it is a good morning First of all, I do want to acknowledge the mayor of the city of New York Eric Adams I'll be introducing him in a couple moments, but thank you for Your partnership and that is a word that may be over utilized in some parts of the world But I don't think it's ever been overused when it comes to relationships between a governor and the mayor of New York So that troop that that partnership is genuine. So thank you for being here. Also We are fortunate to have speaker Adams here as well And I want to thank her for her commitment to public service and the leadership She has to display in her awesome responsibilities. So the speaker Adams great to see as well also joined by the commission of the NYPD Commissioner Sewell and we've been together often and I want to thank her for what she does to just give people that sense of Security that you bring to the professionalism and the team of individuals that you work with so I just always want to give Recognition to you for your great work commissioner Steve Nagrally our first deputy superintendent of state police Representing our state police. They've been very involved in what we're talking about here today And also superintendent Bruin who could not be here today whose name actually graces The Supreme Court decision that we're talking about I know that the senator my real be joining us and Chantel Jackson may or may not be here. Not sure if they made it in yet Okay, Chantel great to see you have a seat got the baby here. It's gonna be a good day And also Rosanna Rosado our commissioner of the New York State Division of criminal justice services Thank you for being at our side as we navigated these turbulent waters And we also have advocates who were very helpful in the whole process of writing Legislation that we believe is responsive to the Supreme Court decision and I want to thank Samuel levy senior counseled every town for gun safety and joined at the hip with every town since our many other initiatives on gun safety Dave Puccino a deputy chief counsel from the Gifford Law Center as well. So Here we are They were here to provide an update on what our administration working with the Adams administration has been doing to ensure Responsible going on ownership as well as protecting New Yorkers from gun violence, and I wish this wasn't a topic We needed to talk about today Had there not been a decision by the Supreme Court at the end of June We would not be having this conversation But the reality is that we're in the middle of a national gun violence crisis It's claimed the lives of too many Americans too many New Yorkers and has inflicted trauma on communities all across our state And I'm not just talking about New York City I've been to our upstate cities and visiting them and also dealing with the you know the specter of what's going on In our smaller communities as well. So the pain has touched everyone There's no one immune from the pain of gun violence Whether it's the day-to-day gun violence that plagues cities plagues individuals families from here to Rochester Syracuse Buffalo or or the Mass shooting that occurred in Buffalo on May 14th When an 18 year old 18 year old with with nothing but pure hate in his heart took the lives of 10 black New Yorkers Who are doing nothing more than shopping in a grocery store? 10 minutes from where I live in the city of Buffalo So that tragedy it was still raw not a heartbreak a lot of anger a lot of uncertainty and What is so shocking just weeks after that traumatic event to? Supreme Court decided At a time when people are still mourning They decided to strip away the rights of a governor to protect her citizens from gun violence By striking down a 100 year of law 100 year old law that limits who can carry concealed weapons So at a time we're having a national reckoning on gun safety what we can do to protect our citizens That decision wasn't just negligent. It was reprehensible reprehensible and They remove long-standing limitations that we used here in New York Wanted challenge before we live with it and it took away limitations on who can carry them taking away the ability to say Maybe not you because of a propensity that you've demonstrated or a record or You know what rational people would agree someone should not be able to be licensed to carry a weapon not just carry up and concealed weapon And they took away that right, but we don't need more guns on our streets We definitely do not we've been working very very hard removing Thousands of guns that have been coming into our streets illegally from other states We don't need guns on our streets. We don't need people carrying guns in our subways We don't need people carrying guns in our schools. We don't need people carrying guns in our places of worship We don't need them carrying them into guns into bars or restaurants Because that only make people less safe and here's the proof because everyone's has this theory about The good guy with a gun in his hand and how that's going to prevent violence and I'm here to just dispel that right now once and for all We've had our sensible gun safety laws and concealed carry laws and found the books for over 100 years With that law, we are the fifth lowest in the nation in terms of firearm related deaths Not some more proof. Let's look at the numbers of other states where people can have weapons Can't conceal them carry them where they like? Mississippi has 28 deaths per hundred thousand by firearm Louisiana 26 per hundred thousand deaths by firearm annually 25 per hundred thousand in Wyoming, Missouri 24 per hundred thousand Alabama 23 You know what New York State is? Five point three deaths per hundred thousand So this whole concept that a good guy with a gun will stop the bad guys with a gun It doesn't hold up it doesn't hold up and the data bears this up So that theory is over Yet the Supreme Court With all this data with all this knowledge with the law that was working just fine in our state Decide to take us backwards possibly opening the door to more tragedies when people can Carry guns concealed makes it harder for law enforcement I'm sure you'll hear about the challenges that this is created now for our law enforcement community But we're not deterred we didn't back down. We stood up and fought back As governor my number one responsibility is keeping New Yorkers safe. That's why when it came down the Supreme Court decision We were ready for it. We knew this case Was on the docket since last fall. We work with legal experts from all over the country. I mentioned the Gifford Center every town New Yorkers against gun violence we went to academic institutions We went to thought leaders and we prepared for this moment and what I had to do in the aftermath of that decision Even though the legislature was done for the session this year do back in January said Got to call you back You've got to come back. We need you your state needs you right here right now So we called an extraordinary session. That's what it's called and it was an extraordinary session Because the legislature and I want to thank our leaders Majority leader Andre Stewart cousins and speaker Carl Histe for bringing everyone back with that sense of urgency Which was genuinely real and what we had to do is come back within days and say it's the Supreme Court justices Those in the majority want to take us backwards. We're not going there with you. We're gonna stand up Passed smart legislation and that's what I signed immediately. So what do we do in the aftermath? That's what we're here to talk about today We needed some time to have regulations that were thoughtful We know a lot of people are watching what we're doing here across the nation So I directed our team here in the governor's office the state police division of criminal justice services to work with every single Stakeholder who'd be affected by this Yes, the county clerks county executives sheriffs local law enforcement firearms dealers and instructors to let them know we would have a thoughtful Legally sustainable plan to address this So our team spent literally hundreds of hours We devoted more time to this than almost anything else because we had to get this right Hours and hours and hours of work Constantly meeting and I want to thank my extraordinary team They persevered they pushed we had Regular meetings when we had benchmark and sheets and I'm saying this is due on this date But let's get it done earlier so it was an intense process, but it was necessary because again We had to get this right we had to get this right So I'm proud to announce that the changes to the law will go in effect this week Most of them taking effect tomorrow, which is why we're meeting today And these will strengthen the background checks and the gun safety training requirements prohibit concealed carry in secure sensitive locations and Require permit renewals every three years instead of five years and on September 4th a Law to raise the age to purchase a semi-automatic weapon We raised to 21 that goes into effect. We passed that in the aftermath of the Buffalo massacre Because none of us think that a teenager should be able to purchase an AR 15 Actually, most of us think that no one should be able to purchase an AR 15 But we have to be we are constrained by federal laws. So let's get in the details of what these laws will do Under the Supreme Court's ruling they would say anyone Who wants a concealed carry permit could easily get one? We had a standard in place that the out of a proper cause you have to have a rationale for it So we have to deal with the fact that we believe that people who now will be able to secure these under the ruling Should go have a more comprehensive background check in an in-person interview Household members contact information as well as reviewing social media. They also will undergo a 16 hour Classroom training and a two-hour live firearm training safety course and we'll be the first state to require Training for firearm permits, but it makes sense Under the old laws some counties required but many did not so it's time to standardize this across the state of New York We developed new standards Well, it'll include it'll include training make sure that gun owners have the skills the knowledge necessary to carry to store their guns Because we're not stripping the right away. We're just saying you have to do it in a very responsible way And we believe that the training is going to be significant And educate them about other topics how to keep people safe Conflict de-escalation because when people are in conflict and they happen to be Legally carried killing concealed weapons now There's a high risk that'll escalate into something that is going to be fatal Talk about suicide prevention use of deadly force and all this is going to occur because of our response They were now going to raise the bar and make sure that people are truly responsible gun owners once they receive a permit And what else did the Supreme Court do? To jeopardize safety in our streets, which is the only way you can What the only conclusion you could draw from what they did? They said that those who have concealed carry permits can pretty much take them anywhere they want In Response we had a call with a list of sensitive locations where guns are prohibited These sensitive locations will include schools Colleges daycares libraries restaurants that serve alcohol other places parks Places people visit work. We have a whole list. We have a long website. I encourage you to look at that and Also, we added time square Supreme Court said you cannot carve out the entire borough of Manhattan. For example, we did not We were rational and we asked the city to partner with us the legis the city council And I thank you you'll hear more about what they have done to make sure that people coming to a place as Iconic and heavily trafficked it as Times Square will feel safe and that was important to all of us So that is going to be in effect as of tomorrow as well We also bolstered our safe storage requirements Our law created the presumption that if someone Doesn't want to carry a weapon doesn't someone in a store doesn't want them to someone to carry a weapon And they won't be able to do so we left firearms firearms and vehicles had to be locked a lot of firearms are stolen out of vehicles they have to be locked and Also, if you live in a household with children under 18 their house the gun has to be stored legally So other changes are coming as I mentioned You know 18 year olds not being able to purchase assault weapons. That's good We're making sure that Information is out there and I want to make sure that there's a public education campaign So that people who do legally possess this now under the Supreme Court ruling will understand that there are rules of the road That you must follow and law enforcement will be making sure that you do follow these That is what we're doing here in the state of New York to make sure that people are safe So I want to thank everyone who is involved in this and I'm going to play a video in a couple minutes that shows All the rules that we had to be thoughtful about we had to make sure that there's frequently asked questions section So you can reference them and we're going to continue making sure that as a result of the Supreme Court decision That we will fight back. We'll make sure that New Yorkers are safe But it's not just enough to have the strongest gun laws in the nation We also had a double down on other solutions that we know make sense. That's why we in our budget. We have an historic $227 million investment in gun violence prevention It is far better to prevent the crimes giving alternatives to young people trying to have safe streets Investing in our law enforcement so they have the tools they need Which we believe is an important priority So we've tripled the amount of money that have been allocated in the past for these purposes We also expanded our red flag laws. We talked about this the red flag law common sense opposed by many which is shocking to me But all it does is say when you see the signs The dots are there waiting to be connected You have a right to connect them and say yes based on these signs This individual could do harm to themselves or to others and therefore should not have access to firearms So we expanded those laws the number of orders of protection Extremist orders protections filed by our own state police is up 94 percent. It's extraordinary We talked about what we're doing here in the city Suffolk County's number one in the state in terms of issuing these red flag orders They're saving lives, but also we want to make sure that We are thoughtful in our response. So We also have worked on Investing in communities that have high rates of crime We know where they are you can draw a map around them You know exactly where they are but those community have been under siege. There's a lot of trauma in those communities There's people who need mental health services and support services Let's help the people who live in those neighborhoods, so they don't have to flee let's stabilize those neighborhoods as well also We're reporting as a result of getting guns off the streets. There are Substantial decreases in the homicide rate in the state That is progress My concern is with the change the Supreme Court law We want to make sure that they continue to decline that's why these changes were so necessary So these real progress has been made will never stand here and say the job is done But I want New Yorkers to know That we'll always stand up Protect their lives their livelihoods their families their neighborhoods because that's our responsibility One I take very seriously one the mayor takes very seriously. So that's what we're laser focused on so All of us are tired of reading the headlines It has to stop We have to protect our citizens and I can guarantee you a full-on all The above approach working with partners where relationships did not exist before bringing in our federal partners state Local we're doing it all over the state of New York and making real progress So we're not just talking about wanting these changes to happen. We're making them happen right here So with that I want to thank again our extraordinary team just I'm so impressed with what you brought to this unbelievable effort here to try and undo the harm done by the Supreme Court of the United States to The people of state of New York and other states And we're not giving up the fight. This is too important So what I'd like to do is see our quick public service announcements. So people who are In search of concealed carry permit know that there are rules to follow and make sure that they do it responsibly so with that For more than 100 years New York's gun laws have kept our community safe This year the Supreme Court struck down those laws putting lives at risk But we fought back New York passed common-sense restrictions to keep guns out of our schools restaurants hospitals and entertainment venues Starting September 1st. It is a crime to bring a gun to these and other places where we pursue life liberty and happiness Learn more about New York's strengthened gun laws and how we are protecting New Yorkers at gun safety dot ny.gov in addition to our public safety campaign, you'll be seeing announcements everywhere, but also Identifying specific locations such as parks and others where the guns are not allowed and now an important part that was Times Square And again, I want to applaud the city for Working so closely with us, but also taking on the responsibility of identifying the parameters Getting the message out there. And again, that's what a real partner does. Yeah, we support each other And with that I'd like to bring up the mayor of the city of New York mayor Eric Adams. Thank you really you want to Thank the governor for taking a Serial moment with a real response I never thought From the days of watching cowboy movies as a child leave your gun at the door Will become a reality in the state of New York And it was a challenging time when we saw the brewing decision handed down Remember speaking with the governor and she immediately moved into action and Stated that we were not going to wait Until this terrible terrible Supreme Court decision Created a state of havoc in our city And I cannot thank you enough governor for the leadership that you showed Because as this decision was pending, I stated it over and over again. It was keeping me up at night I know the reality of having 475,000 people in Times Square in any given time and Any given time that decision stated to them that they can carry a fire on And to those with this insidious belief That you could have public safety with quick draw Who can draw their firearm? The fastest that is just not a reality And the commissioner and I we are committed Not only to continue the success of removing over 4,700 guns off our streets that were illegally carried But to pivot and shift as we face this new reality And we could not have brought together a better team of people who are committed To the prerequisite to our cities and state prosperity and that's public safety and justice And I want to thank our speaker speaker Adams For her role as we now move to the implementations on many parts of the law in the city area We need her more than ever now Her steady hand in leadership is going to allow us to continue to pivot here in the city of New York Where 8.8 million people are dependent on our response to this Decision that was handed down by the Supreme Court and the numbers are horrific that the governor just stated those states that have lived with the open-carried decision or mindset are Far above our state when it comes down to per 100,000 people or the victims of deaths around guns We've we've gotten it right the Supreme Court instead of overturning what we have been doing They should have duplicated what we have been doing and we would have saved lives in the process And the state lawmakers who immediately responded To this terrible decision we want to say thank you The brewing case already took gun violence that is already a threat to our safety and freedom and Aggravated how we respond to it every day the New York City Police Department the state police in the city superintendent Thank you for being here the response of these agencies. We will collaborate to make sure we continue to pursue our Combined goal of keeping our city safe The Supreme Court is taking dead aim At the safety at the safety of New Yorkers They've placed us in the line of fire and we must respond accordingly The radical decision that they made in dangerous us all But here in New York a place known for freedom Openness and diversity we will defend ourselves New eligibility requirements for concealed carry is going to play an important role in the restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons and sensitive locations Will go into effect tomorrow September 1st and Today, we're here to talk about the city's outreach campaign not only through PSA's But what we are going to do on the ground to educate the public We want them to know about the new laws and what they mean for New Yorkers The city is post this signage around Times Square and forming people that the area is a Gun-free zone Think about that. We have to actually say that In our city We have to actually say We're gun-free zone and then license gun carriers and others may not enter with a gun unless Otherwise specifically authorized by law You can see from this map here The dots Are indicators where the signs are going to be located Strategically place entry points So that people will know when they enter the area they're entering a gun-free zone And the circles are reflections of that The signs will also include posters Like this one you see here Times Square Gun-free zone you cannot tell me this is not a feeling of being surreal in our city We're posting these signs Gun-free zones Another messaging options including mobile electronic signs and entry at entry points to Times Square as a mayor and a former police officer That actually patrolled in some of those communities. I want every New Yorker And those visiting our city to be aware of these laws and to respect them the Supreme Court's decision Have opened an additional river Feeding the sea of gun violence But we're going to continue to use our laws to damn the rivers Over and over again We're fighting the floor of illegal weapons coming into the into New York City and Prosecuting those who sell them illegally Using the power of our legal system to challenge The online retailers who illegally sold and I'll continue to sell ghost guns in To customers in New York. We're going after them and working closely with state and federal authorities to prosecute gun crimes Close loopholes and shut down the iron pipeline We will not allow the men and women of the New York City Police Department to be subjected to further danger making their already difficult jobs even more Horroring and this is something the Commissioner and I are committed to and will stay focused on And we will not allow a city of tolerance and freedom to become an armed camp of fear and distrust Who would all do all that we can to keep New York the safest big city in America and it became a freedom for the world? And broken with the city council and the leadership there We will continue to make it a priority for New York City And it will continue to be our number one pursuit And again, I want to thank our partners here both in uniform and out of uniform Our lawmakers and lawyers and attorneys who looked over this law and looked over the decision from the Supreme Court to have a responsible and Expeditious response to meet this day of September 1st So that we could ensure that the city Will continue its pursuit to be a safe city in America I want to bring on our partner in this pursuit The speaker the city council speaker Adrian Adams Thank you very much mayor Adams. Good morning Thank you governor Huckle Thank you mayor Adams. Thank you police commissioner Sewell for your focus Your attention and partnership on this very important issue that impacts the safety of all New Yorkers The gun violence Facing our nation has worsened in recent years and New York City has not evaded the crisis So far this year our city has seen nearly 900 shooting incidents Resulting in over 1,000 victims of gun violence and we must never forget The victims of gun violence and the efforts to meet their needs But the most effective thing we can do is to prevent any more people from being victims of gun violence in the first place When the Supreme Court issued its misguided decision in Bruin versus New York State Rifle and Pistol Association Earlier this year to strike down New York's concealed carry law It presented a major challenge to keeping New Yorker safe I joined my council colleagues and calling on our partners at the state level Who possessed the authority to regulate our criminal and gun related laws to enact sensible legislation? Limiting the locations where a person can carry a weapon including in the Times Square area Leaders like Governor Kathy Huckle State Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins Assembly Speaker Carl Hasty They acted very swiftly and responsibly to directly address this issue within the parameters of the law They passed critical regulations to prioritize safety Including the designation of sensitive areas where carrying a concealed firearm would be restricted Times Square was one of those areas The state law authorized New York City to determine the details of this regulation at the local level Just yesterday the Council's Committee on Public Safety heard my proposed legislation To define the boundaries of Times Square for the purposes of enforcing this new state law This is critical to protecting Times Square a Central hub for our city and the crossroads of the world from becoming a dangerous environment With firearms being broadly carried The council has worked closely with the administration To develop this legislation and we will continue our collaboration to enact it into law With the state law set to take effect tomorrow We have also been working with the administration to implement emergency administrative rules by the NYPD To designate and implement the Times Square sensitive area as soon as the state law goes into effect As I said it yesterday's hearing Legal and illegal guns alike cause violence I'm hopeful that with these new regulations being announced today our city council legislation and other initiatives We can certainly stem the tide of gun violence Limit the overproliferation of deadly firearms and invest in solutions that keep our communities and our city safe with today's announcement Our city will begin the important work of informing residents and visitors About these new laws and designated areas where concealed guns are restricted This is a very important step and we will remain vigilant and tireless in our efforts to address the gun violence crisis I echo the sentiment of our governor and our mayor This is a surreal moment that we are in as New Yorkers the United States Supreme Court has indeed Taken us backwards But we as New Yorkers and leaders in this city and state will continue to the best of our Ability to keep our citizens safe and to keep any madness from proliferation Onto the boundaries streets homes lifestyles of our citizens of New York Thank you very much, and it is my esteemed pleasure to introduce our police commissioner commissioner key shot Sue Good morning Thank You governor Huckle Mayor Adams Speaker Adams the city council our local state and federal partners who we work with every step of the way I Want to assure all New Yorkers that your NYPD is prepared for this change Since the Supreme Court decision in June the department has been educating our officers about the decision The new state law and recent changes to our own licensing rules New York City has always had gun-free zones such as New York City parks This new law expands the number of gun-free zones The new laws and our rules properly balance the licensees rights With keeping the public safe, which is what we do The NYPD is the firearm licensor for New York City, and we take this responsibility very seriously As part of our new laws and rules eligibility Eligibility requirements must be met by alloc applicants who are seeking a permit as a licensor We have a responsibility to intake applications review those applications thoroughly and investigate the applicants Equally important, however, is that a police department as we are we ensure that all relevant gun laws and rules are complied with Including those that will now take effect Where there are suspected violations of the law the NYPD will respond Investigate and take the necessary action While the landscape may be changing when it comes to legal firearm possession in New York City Our goal is always to ensure public safety and responsible gun ownership as part of this public safety calculus Lastly, I want to be clear about the impact of the Supreme Court's decision Unlicensed firearm possession remains illegal in New York City The department's approach to detecting Interdicting and apprehending those who commit these crimes and possess firearms illegally remains unchanged and This administration and this department have been intensely focused on this issue as The mayor stated we have seized over 4,700 firearms so far this year and our firearm arrests are up We are seeing a 10% decline in shootings and homicides so far this year The administration and the department have committed substantial city resources to combat gun violence This decision does not impact our ability to affect arrests Assist communities and fight those who commit gun violence We remain focused on the safety of the citizens of New York City. This law does not change that focus Thank you. I would like to introduce our partner first deputy superintendent negrilly Thank You Commissioner Good morning I'd like to take the time to acknowledge Someone I've known for a long time someone I look up to and Thank Governor Kathy Hokel For your leadership throughout the years But your leadership on this topic governor your laser-like focus on eradicating guns The legal guns and gun crimes in our communities We appreciate that the state police You've also demonstrated your commitment By to provide any additional resources both personnel and analytical tools That help us do our jobs in making our community safe by removing illegal guns The hallmark of Governor Hokel is always partnerships in early on it was stated if we're gonna be successful We can't go alone. We need a partner and we found the greatest partner in the world NYPD Commissioner Sewell. Thank you for what you and your organization does With NYPD and our federal state and local partners We started looking at illegal guns guns coming into our state our great state And through this collaborative effort Historic numbers of legal guns have been taken off that street off the streets and Thus governor saving lives I Also like to take time to thank our partners in state government at various levels in state government who work so diligently To make insure that we're ready for the lobbying act of tomorrow We insured that the lawful responsible gun owners Have the tools now to remain compliant with the law But those who choose To violate this law to continue to funnel legal guns in this state Governor It's an easy message. I don't have to spell it out more than this We'll have zero tolerance if you violate this law You will be arrested Simple as that because the New York State troopers are standing ready To do our job to ensure all communities are safe and all laws are enforced Thank you once again governor. Thank you everyone this morning at this point We'll take some on-topic questions. I'd like to bring up the mayor, of course and members of my team and his team for Response our counsel Liz fine marco solar deputy secretary of public safety Joe Popkin executive deputy commissioner and Steve Nigarelli He just heard just if there's any questions on the specifics of what we're doing here today This is not the wow-wows Calling on people How are you going to enforce a sensitive locations part of all this is it's going to be more law enforcement in those areas or there's Police officers are going to be checking whether people have some steel weapons and if someone is carrying Legally, what's a penalty? What's what's a crime? Good questions, and of course we're going to be enforcing this We're not doing anything differently right now law enforcement enforces all the guns on the books They're going to continue doing the enforcement. It's going to be a challenge When you think about it because there will be a small population of people who can legally carry guns and The question will be for law enforcement to make a determination on whether or not that person has illegal concealed carry permit Outside the places we've identified and there are many that are identified But also for those who don't have legal guns, you know, how does someone know if they see someone in a location? You know is that gun in their pocket? Legal or illegal and this is the the havoc that the Supreme Court decision has created For our law enforcement community who are out there every day now there's going to be that question Does this person have a legal right to carry or is this a legal gun? So as there was a time in our state before the effective date of this Supreme Court decision where it was clear You weren't allowed to carry them anywhere. So I wanted I'll have a response Well, is it you want to address that Marcos want to address the the penalties? Penalties for violating the penalties for violating a the restrictive location and sensitive location Provisions in this law are class e felonies under the penal code Governor two questions for you first if someone accidentally who's a legal licensee carries a gun from a leave from a Unsensitive to a sensitive area will that person face a felony and to if someone's carrying a gun legally is there going to be Place to check them. What do they do with that gun when they go from an unsensitive to a sensitive place? That's why we're launching a massive public relations effort. You're encouraging everyone to follow the law The law be very clear to them. We've identified all the parameters of what's legal and what's not legal It's on our website frequently asked questions information getting out to local communities all over the state of New York So so everyone has a responsibility Independent of this to be aware of the laws to follow the laws and there's consequences if they don't anything else to add Legality of this Our expectation is that all New Yorkers will follow the laws. Yes Yes, good morning governor, so is there a plan to either prevent or Detect These guns coming into these gun free zone, but I'm thinking, you know, you have DWI checks at certain check points Or you have bag checks in the transit system Is there anything that will be set up in that regard to just check? Occasional locations or something like that. We're working on all the details of continuing monitoring again This is a law enforcement issue I don't know if the commissioner or the state police want to talk about, you know What extraordinary measures we would take to enforce on our subways for example commissioners or any you know what you're doing You do this every day So as the governor stated obviously our chief concern is education and compliance obviously I think the NYPD and obviously our partners as well have some of the best detectors of firearms there are and we're going to continue those efforts If we see a need for further checks, obviously we can explore that as an option But as it stands now We have the signage that'll be put in place and we'll have officers that'll be posted in these areas as well If there is a concern or report of someone in one of the sensitive areas or a restricted area with a firearm We will dispatch our officers to that location. They will conduct an investigation and then take the appropriate action Anybody will be doing or checkpoints at some of these, you know intersections or corners anything like that If there is reasonable suspicion to believe that someone is carrying a firearm our officers will take action Governor I wanted to zero in on the social media aspect of the application process As I understand it the Supreme Court basically said you cannot be subjective in any part of the application process What is it about this social media check? What will be looked at on these accounts and then how will this be an objective process? I'll get reinforcements on this as well, but yeah, this is a modern-day Opportunity to understand the character of an individual because right now the law and always has been that you can Ensure that people of good character Only people of good character are allowed to have a pistol permit I used to work in an office as the clerk that used to administer the background checks And you could go to someone's neighbors and ask them questions about what you saw Activities or what their reputation was so so this is just a way that those same kind of questions and analysis Can be conducted based on more information that's out there that was not there when they did this 10 20 years ago So that is simply a an extension of understanding the The the ability of an individual to be able to be authorized to carry a gun Is there any else any other analysis on this list? Excuse me so the Supreme Court made clear that States can continue to have licensing requirements the second amendment rights are rooted in a right of self-defense not in a right to hurt others or hurt oneself and The social media requirement to review social media is simply a way of ensuring that a License is issued only to somebody who's properly going to use a weapon and You know the as justice Kavanaugh said in his concurring opinion Licensing regimes to ensure that licenses and guns are only issued to law abiding citizens Is are still valid and this isn't furtherance of that Use the word proper there and that was part of the phrase that was struck down by the Supreme Court How do you define what is proper now if you're only allowed to be objective about it? the question that the licensing officials will have to review is Whether this individual is law abiding and whether they will use the the gun for a lawful purpose And that's what the social media requirement will be further in furtherance of Last question Governor and also yeah, I also for the mayor has there been an uptick in permit applications on both the state and The city level since the Supreme Court decision was struck down and the new law was voted on Albany and also for the commissioner is Is the plan not to add any new officers to the area of Times Square and other government buildings? I Let the commissioner answer that question, but I'm not sure she's going to telegraph to the people who want to break our law as Exactly where our police are going to be that's just an observation But yes, there has been an increase in pistol permits applied for but it is a lengthy process Because there's multiple levels involved with mental health background checks state police background checks FBI checks The neighbor analysis so this does so even all the rush that we're hearing in you know County clerk's office is upstate because in other parts of the state is not the law enforcement entity sometimes it's sheriff But many areas it's a lot the county clerk That won't make a difference Because it's who has a permit on the date Not that you've applied because it could take many months. I don't know how long it takes the city I know upstate it could be three months. It could be a year depending on how long the back long is So so there can be an increase in people applying That won't have much bearing on people who don't already succumbed that that that right today So so to your question time square as has been stated earlier is iconic it is complex it is dense There are over five I would say 50 million people that visit Times Square per year They it is covered by Manhattan North Manhattan South and the Times Square unit We always evaluate where we deploy our resources if there is a need to increase those resources We will do so but as it stands now We have a robust detail that is assigned to the Times Square area We do have an increase in the number of license applications about 54 percent since June


Shaber 1000 here today We're going to be doing some Corvette racing Hopefully Let's check this out. Hey, we're not going to set it up real elaborate. We're just going to kind of go in a circle here and We're gonna say if the same words this belonged to her dad. I know these these old taikos are Collectible not sure what what year this is from but I'll either Put it at the bottom of the screen or in the link below So let's get this opened up. It has been opened because someone's got it taped up. So If it was factory sealed, I would never open it, but It's not so let's go ahead So knife here's just it has nothing left It needs to be sharpened trying to be Careful with it. Don't want to cut the box. So it's all here How to put the tracks together Different cars hopefully Cars are in there. There's one car. There's the other car. I Don't know if this thing works But we're gonna find out. Let's get some of this track here Okay, so let's move this out the way for here, of course, like I said, these are the controllers. There's for one controller There's for another controller and here's the power pack. So Okay, so How these go together just clip in together here just like this and that's it. That's how they go together Okay, so that's good. So like I said, we're just gonna make They're just gonna make a circle. Well, I know it's like 1102 at night Hopefully this thing still works. We can get some exciting racing going on, right on these slot car tracks What happens is they'll get rusty and they don't want to work Stuff like that. I wish I had all the track sets I had when I was a kid that I got for Christmas the old HO scale train sets Stuff like that Look at one of the cars here. These brushes They look pretty clean fairly clean What we used to do is take a little an eraser off of the pencil and clean them up And they just they're also kind of like magnetic Right here because of the motor and stuff and that also keeps them on the track There's one quarter of it. I couldn't get anyone to race with me So I'm gonna have to race by myself So an extension cord over here and we're gonna we're gonna plug this in here. Okay Okay now Or you do you can't mess it up. There's only one way these will plug in because it's got that little Sorry Little deal right there. I'll plug in with share Oh and plug it in up here to make sure tracks Real good and tight on there Sounds like it needs a little oil Which I'll get some oil and clean it up. I'll clean these pads up here a little bit I'm gonna sound better than this one. All right. Let me get some oil and We'll put a drop of oil on these Okay, and then we'll see if we can't get them to race I may have to raise you up a little bit so I can get the whole track in but hang tight guys Okay, guys, I've got them oiled up. I got the pads cleaned off check the blue one. Let's try to race them Watching thanks for racing with me. I really appreciate it had a great time.  I'm gone for now Keep the rubber side down


How much money could someone pay you to walk around naked in the mall or just in the street? How much? A thousand? Five thousand? Ten thousand?   Well, the fact of the matter is you already do it for free. Hebrews 413 says that no creature, nothing is hidden from your sight. As a matter of fact, we are all naked and bare exposed before Him.  You need to remember that when we walk before people, how we act, how we talk, it is vitally important that the person who looks at us, who matters the most, sees everything about you. Remembering that might help us in our walk with the Lord.