REMARKS
Council Member Julie Won celebrates bill to recognize Losar on alternate side parking calendar
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Council Member Julie Won celebrates Intro 100, a bill to recognize Losar (Tibetan Lunar New Year) by adding it to New York City's alternate side parking calendar. She emphasizes the significance of this recognition for the Tibetan and Himalayan communities in New York City, highlighting their contributions and the importance of preserving their culture.
- The bill will take effect on February 28, 2025, allowing community members to celebrate Losar without worrying about parking tickets.
- Won acknowledges the community advocacy and grassroots organizing that led to this bill, including a hearing where nearly 1000 Himalayan New Yorkers provided testimony.
- She thanks her colleagues, staff, and community organizers for their support and invites everyone to join in the celebration.
Julie Won
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Tasha Delek.
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Good afternoon, everyone.
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Thank you so much, majority leader, madam speaker.
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On this auspicious day On this auspicious day, we are voting on intro 100, my bill to recognize Losar, also known as Tibetan Lunar New Year, by adding it to the New York City's alternative side parking calendar.
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It's an honor to celebrate this historic day with our 61,000 Tibetan Buddhist neighbors from Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, India, and across the Himalayas, as well as the 100 Tibetans who have joined us today in this celebration.
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By recognizing Losar, we're giving visibility to a community whose political and civic engagement made today is possible.
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And as we heard compassionately from our speaker's heart, as we have a new elected president who is shutting down and suspending refugee resettlement.
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This is a clear step and sign and evidence of our recognition and our values of our refugee community members.
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These Tibetan refugee members have shared their heartaches, their fight to preserve the Tibetan language, their culture, and their dream for a free Tibet.
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So this bill was a result of a tireless community advocacy of grassroots organizing.
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In September, at a hearing chaired by council member Brooks Powers.
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Nearly a 1000 Himalayan New Yorkers sent in their written testimony and attended the hearing.
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And we have had lines of residents to, wait 5 hours for the hearing, and the passing of intro 100 will take effect next month on Losar, which is February 28, 2025, just in time so that our neighbors will be able to enjoy the holidays without having to worry about getting a ticket.
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So I wanna thank all of the 36 council member colleagues, the 3 borough presidents for cosponsoring this, this bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote yes.
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And I would be remiss if I did not thank my chief of staff, Nicole Lothar, as well as our all star Tibetan, community liaison and budget coordinator, Kaesong Yamso.
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Thank you so much to all the organizers who are here.
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Please join us for the celebration afterwards.