On the heels of new polling showing New Yorkers overwhelmingly support legislation to reduce single-use plastic packaging, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins is still not advancing a bill that would reduce plastic to save taxpayers money while protecting our health, the climate, and environment

On Thursday May 23rd dozens of Westchester county residents and environmental leaders held a news conference at Van Der Donck Park, located at 1 Larkin Plaza in Yonkers, urging Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins’ to not weaken the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (A5322B Glick / S4246B Harckham) and bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. 

Environmental leaders who spoke out at the presser including Raya Salter, Founder & Executive Director, Energy Justice Law & Policy Center; Keiko Niccolini, NAACP-Peekskill Branch and Mothers Out Front; Jess Galen, Trustee, Dobbs Ferry; Bill Seratorre, Chief Sustainability Officer, Yonkers; Courtney Williams, Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions; Rand Manassee, Federated Conservationists of Westchester County; Nyah Estevez, Beyond Plastics, Grassroots Environmental Education; Food & Water Watch; Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions; Indivisible NYCD16. (You see press conference in its entirety in video below.)

LIVE: Supporters gather for a news conference in Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins' district, urging her to support, not weaken, and pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S4246b). https://t.co/JMC6LwAPE0

— Beyond Plastics (@PlasticsBeyond) May 23, 2024

Chants of “People Over Plastics,” “New York Is Not Disposable.” and “Bring It To The Floor Now” could be heard clearly as several birds chirped loudly as if in agreement when the crowd.

Broad public support from New Yorkers for the Packing Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act! A new Siena Research polls finds that a strong majority of voters support Senator Pete Harckham who represents New York’s 40th Senate District and is the Chair of the Senate Committee on Environmental Conservation and Pro-Choice Lesbian feminist State Legislator for New York Assembly District 66 Deborah Glick’s commonsense bill.

“The disposal costs of the excessive amounts of plastic waste in our communities are hurting taxpayers,” Senator Pete Harckham tweeted on Tuesday, May 21st;

Beyond Plastics replied, “We couldn’t agree more. That’s why we hope people will call @AndreaSCousins and @carlheastie to urge them to bring this bill up for a vote ASAP. We’re down to 9 session days and there’s no time to waste in reducing single-use plastic packaging waste in NYS. #peopleoverplastic“

Following the news conference, the group went go to the nearby district office of Senator Stewart-Cousins on Wells Ave to present a petition with over 30,000 signatures in support of the legislation.

Westchester taxpayers spend millions every year to send their waste to the polluting Peekskill garbage incinerator. But the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act will reduce the quantity of waste being burned and reduce the toxicity of the waste.  The bill will also reduce plastic packaging and dangerous microplastics, save tax dollars, and bring more enormous benefits — especially to environmental justice communities.

Because the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act would provide new money to fund recycling programs to local governments, over 30 localities across the state have passed resolutions urging Albany leaders to pass the bill, including Westchester County. The New York City Council recently passed a resolution in support, and Mayor Adams released a memorandum of support in favor of the legislation. 

“Even though New Yorkers overwhelmingly support reducing single-use plastic packaging, Senate Leader Stewart-Cousins is not advancing the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act,” said Nyah Estevez, a community organizer with Beyond Plastics. “Meanwhile, plastic polluters are harming our health with dangerous microplastics, accelerating climate change, and hurting our environment, and everyday New Yorkers are stuck paying the tab. Leader Stewart-Cousins needs to keep up her environmental leadership and put people over plastic by bringing the bill to a floor vote, without making amendments to weaken it.”

BACKGROUND

The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act has gained serious momentum, with 79 cosponsors in the assembly and 35 in the senate — a majority in both houses. Two weeks ago, the Assembly Codes and Ways and Means Committees passed the bill and the bill is now in the Assembly Rules Committee. In the Senate, the legislation sits in the Finance Committee. 

The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S4246B Harckham/A5322AB Glick)will do just that by transforming the way our goods are packaged. It will dramatically reduce waste and ease the burden on taxpayers by making companies, not consumers, cover the cost of managing packaging. The bill will:

• Reduce plastic packaging by 50% incrementally over 12 years;
• After 12 years, all packaging — including plastic, glass, cardboard, paper, and metal — must meet a recycling rate of 70%;
• Prohibit packaging’s worst toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, PFAS, and heavy metals;
• Not allow the harmful process known as chemical recycling to be considered real recycling;
• Establish a modest fee on packaging paid by product producers, with new revenue going to local taxpayers; and 
• Establish a new Office of Inspector General to ensure proper compliance.

Because the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act would save tax dollars, over 30 localities across the state have passed resolutions urging Albany leaders to pass the bill. The New York City Council recently passed a resolution in support, and Mayor Adams released a memorandum of support in favor of the legislation. Recently, 285 organizations and businesses — including Beyond Plastics, Environmental Advocates, NYPIRG, Earthjustice, Blueland, and DeliverZero — issued a memo of support stating “This bill would save tax dollars and position New York as a global leader in reducing plastic pollution.” 

Plastics and Climate 

Plastic production is already out of control and is expected to double in the next 20 years. As more of our energy comes from renewable sources, fossil fuel companies like Shell and Exxon are seeking to recoup falling profits by increasing plastics production and canceling out greenhouse gas reductions. In fact, half of all plastic in Earth’s history was produced in the last 20 years — the plastic we’re seeing now in our air, water, food, and bodies didn’t even exist before 2000. Plastic is made from fossil fuels and toxic chemicals. Most plastics are made out of ethane, a byproduct of fracking. In 2020, plastic’s climate impacts amounted to the equivalent of nearly 49 million cars on the road, according to a conservative estimate by Material Research L3C. And that’s not including the carbon footprint associated with disposing of plastic.

Plastics and Health

Only about 6% of plastic in the United States actually gets recycled, and only 9% of all the plastic waste ever generated, globally, has been recycled! The rest ends up burned at incinerators, buried in landfills, or polluting rivers and the ocean — an estimated 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the ocean every year. Plastic is being measured everywhere, and microplastics are entering our soil, food, water, and air. Scientists estimate people consume, on average, hundreds of thousands of microplastics per year, and these particles have been found in human placenta, breast milk, stool, blood, and lungs. In fact, new research continues to find that the microplastics problem is worse than previously thought: New research in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that microplastics are linked to increased heart attacks, strokes and premature deaths. Another new study from Columbia University found that bottled water can contain hundreds of thousands of plastic fragments. 

Why Chemical Recycling Isn’t a Solution

Because plastics recycling is a failure, the plastics and petrochemical industries are now pushing a pseudo solution: chemical recycling, or “advanced recycling.” This is a polluting process that uses high heat or chemicals to turn plastic waste into fossil fuels or feedstocks to produce new plastic products. It’s a dangerous distraction that’s allowing companies to exponentially increase the amount of plastic — and greenhouse gasses — they put into the world. Learn more from Beyond Plastics’s recent report, “Chemical Recycling: A Dangerous Deception.” These bills do not ban chemical recycling, but simply do not allow chemical recycling to count as real recycling.

Sgt. Michael Bourhill, a corrections officer from Westchester County is under investigation after making an what some are calling a racist social media post making fun of Georgia prison guards. The veteran Westchester County corrections sergeant is under investigation for a “racist and offensive” social media post ridiculing Georgia jail guards.

Bourhill is accused of posting a group photo of Georgia corrections officers that had a caption above it saying, “They must serve some good biscuits and gravy at the Georgia Department of Corrections.” Above that he wrote “Damn!!”

The post eventually ended up getting the attention of Westchester County officials.

“Last week, the Department of Corrections became aware of an inappropriate social media post and launched a formal investigation. Posting or reposting inappropriate images is a violation of Westchester County Employee policy. Employees who violate this policy will be subject to formal disciplinary charges,” county communications director Catherine Cioffi said in a statement.

The Westchester Correction Association (WCA)-who advocates for equality, effective training, well-being and uplifting the culture of Black/African American Law Enforcement Officers-strongly condemned the racist and offensive social media post

The Westchester Correction Association took issue with the post, issuing the following statement, “The Westchester Correction Association strongly condemns the racist and offensive social media post shared by a Westchester Correction Sergeant. In the post, the sergeant shared an image of a group of predominantly Black Correction Officers from the state of Georgia. Sharing this post is not only unprofessional and inappropriate for any law enforcement supervisor as well as deeply racist and demeaning. To merely share such a post is offensive to this supervisor’s colleagues and co workers. Furthermore, this post is a clear violation of the department’s social media policy. However, it appears the department only holds Black officers and organizations accountable to this policy, while white officers’ actions go unchecked and without consequences. Regardless if the post implies that Black people eat a lot of biscuits or references the weight of some of the officers in the photo, such posts have no place in our society, let alone within the ranks of law enforcement. As a supervisor, it is important to exercise judgment and sensitivity in order to maintain a respectful and inclusive work environment. While some may perceive certain actions as light-hearted jests, others may find them offensive. As an organization, we have consistently addressed the issue of the double standard in disciplining white officers compared to Black officers within the Westchester County Department of Corrections. The fact that a sergeant feels emboldened to share such a post raises serious concerns about his attitudes towards the Black officers under his command. It is the responsibility of Commissioner Joe Spano, Correction Management, and the County of Westchester to take decisive action and set a clear example that racism, bigotry, and discrimination will not be tolerated within the county government. This includes the sharing of offensive social media posts. Westchester County prides itself on being one of the most progressive counties in the state of New York. However, failing to address blatant bigotry within its departments undermines this claim and erodes public trust. We call upon the leadership of Westchester County to take immediate steps to address this incident, hold the sergeant accountable for his actions, and implement comprehensive measures to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. It is crucial that the county demonstrates its commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion through concrete actions rather than mere words. Moreover, the department must enforce its social media policy consistently and fairly, regardless of an officer’s race. The double standard in the application of this policy must end, and all officers should be held to the same standards of professionalism and respect.”

The Westchester County Department of Corrections has

The original picture used in Sgt. Bourhill’s post is from a 2019 Sergeants Academy graduation that the Georgia Department of Corrections has put on Facebook.

Sources tell Black Westchester this is not the first time. Just three weeks ago there was a complaint of a white officiers making remarks on Facebook.

Black Westchester also reached out to the Georgia Department of Corrections and has not received a response by press time.

On May 4th, for the Tenth Annual Yonkers Arts Weekend, Sarah Lawrence College Theatre & Civic Engagement presented A Tribute to Langston Hughes, conceived and directed by Sarah Lawrence Alum Paul Kwame Johnson. 

A Tribute to Langston Hughes occurred at the Sarah Lawrence College Classroom on the Urban River at Beczak (CURB). CURB is located at 35 Alexader Street in Yonkers on the shore of the Hudson River. CURB aims to advance research, environmental knowledge, and education for the local community. It is also a welcoming community space for civic and artistic activities—ideal for an intimate Saturday afternoon performance.

Stepping into CURB for this homage to one of America’s literary goliaths, Langston Hughes, was like stepping through a portal where time, poetry, and performance aligned the past with the present, the old with the new.

Paul Kwame Johnson’s celebrated career spans over fifty years. He is a distinguished teacher, actor, director, playwright, and mentor in Yonkers, Westchester County, and beyond. Numerous awards from the City of Yonkers, New York State, and elsewhere acknowledge his many accomplishments that fill the walls of his lovely country home. 

With a Tribute to Langston Hughes, Johnson draws from his unique lineage with Langston Hughes – Hughes and Johnson’s father were contemporaries who corresponded. Johnson shared, “My father met Langston Hughes when he vacationed at Greenwood Forest Farms in 1952 where we have our family home in Warwick, New York. My father took a wonderful photo of him here. I am proud to have notes on a postcard Langston sent to my father in our family’s possession.”

Johnson’s devotion to community work began as an undergraduate student at Sarah Lawrence, studying with visionary faculty Emeriti,  Shirley Kaplan, whose Theatre Outreach Program is one of the first theatre education programs of its kind in the country and has reached thousands of people over the years.  Soon after, Johnson joined his friend, musician James Hill, at the Yonkers Community Action Program’s ‘School 12’, which led to the founding of Youth Theatre Interactions. This performing arts cultural institution still exists today. 

Paul Kwame Johnson is a recurring faculty guest at Sarah Lawrence in Theatre & Civic Engagement courses. He annually brings performances to campus to celebrate Black History Month, which, in recent years, has highlighted performers of all ages from the Theodore D. Young Community Center.

Paul Kwame Johnson is a socially engaged theatre artist who weaves his intrinsic community-building skills and passion for social justice with his love for creating and sharing theatre. As a mentor, Johnson has terrific instincts for awakening the inner resources of those who study with him. Johnson has been working with the Tribute to Langston Hughes cast for two years, and for some cast members, this performance marks the beginning of their performance careers. This outstanding cast brings their lived experience, vitality, and pleasure for performance to the stage. Regarding Johnson’s exceptional mentorship, cast member Sydney Collins shared, “We trust and rely on each other.  Kwame picks poems that fit our personalities, and we go from there. But we love each other as a family.” 

Under his accomplished direction, Johnson reimagines Hughes’ poetry into inventive imagery for the stage. When asked why this piece, Johnson responded, “My love for the work of Langston Hughes started as a child at six years of age when my mother used to read me his poems at bedtime. When I was old enough to know that my father knew him and that he had visited my home and written postcards to my father, I became enthralled. As a director whose work has been based on mime, it was my intention to give the poems a powerful visual effect in order to help impact the audience with the power of Langston Hughes’s beautiful and poetic words”. The poems covered in the program include Merry-Go-Round, Ballad of the Landlord, African-American Fragment, I Too Sing America, Dream Variation, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Cross, Let America Be America Again, Yesterday, Mother to Son, Hold Fast to Dreams, I Look to the World, My People, and Harlem Sweeties. 

The remarkable ensemble of women performers rehearse with Johnson at the Theodore D. Young Community Center in Greenburgh, New York.  The actors Debra Brooks, Brianna Coombs, Sydney Collins, Makeda Farley, and Denise Smith-Fraser underline the poetry of their lived experiences with the resonance of Hughes’ timelessness, deeply with a clarity and openness that drifts effortlessly from poem to poem. 

Intergenerational theatre is a form of theatre that brings together people of various ages to create and perform. It can involve players of all ages and aims to break down barriers between generations and foster understanding and connection, and has been a trademark of Johnson’s for years. A Tribute to Langston Hughes features three generations of women, ages twenty-nine to seventy-five. This collaborative ensemble shares the stage seamlessly, creating a beautiful collage of voice and movement, and the pleasure and joy emanating from this lovely quintet is palpable. The women speak the words of Langston Hughes from the heart, as they do here, and the poetic imagery lingers in space like sculpture. 

A Tribute to Langston Hughes was presented without fancy lights, sound cues, and elaborate costumes, just the actors’ voices and the gentle background murmur of the aquariums housing various species of turtles and fish, but with the undeniable power of strong interconnected women telling their truth and allowing Langston Hughes’  words to speak for themselves. About her involvement with this project, cast member Makeda Farley remarked, “I was looking for something to do, and God brought me to this great group of women who have become my theatre family. I thank God every day for bringing me to this group.”  

In the program’s final poem, ‘Harlem Sweeties,’ the cast members joyfully celebrate their confidence, style, grace, and beauty with the audience. However, this being a Kwame Johnson show, the end is not the end but an invitation for the community to share their reactions to this Yonkers Arts Weekend show. Here is a sampling of the responses shared by the audience members:

 LaShann DeArcy Hall, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of New York, opined, “As a black woman, I felt so empowered by this performance from five beautiful black women. As a resident of Sugar Hill, I loved the poem Harlem Sweeties, paying homage to the array of beautiful black women who inhabit Sugar Hill in Harlem.” 

A member of Pam’s Place Shelter in New York City spoke about the significance of this work by saying, “I came to this show to get out of the shelter, but it was God’s will that I see this beautiful production by these glorious women. Thank God I came here today.”  

Cast member Denise Smith-Fraser added, “I would like to thank Paul Kwame Johnson for his kindness, his patience, and his ability to motivate us to be the best that we can be.” 

Allen Lang is the Director of the Sarah Lawrence College Theatre & Civic Engagement Program and a Theatre Faculty Member