Councilmembers Say to Cuomo and de Blasio: Marijuana Tax Money Should Go to Our Constituents, Not the MTA!

By Austin Santiago

On Thursday, Donovan Richards, chair of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, was joined on the steps of City Hall by Progressive Caucus members. The rally was a call for the state to ensure that legalized marijuana revenue is directed to communities harmed from its prohibition.

Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed a 10-point plan to fix the city’s subway system. As part of the plan, legal marijuana tax was listed as tax revenue. The message being sent by Richards and his constituents was simple: No funds from  marijuana tax revenue should be put into the MTA before it is put back into the communities most affected by its prohibition.

“We’re talking about giving money to an agency off the backs of black and brown communities that have been incarcerated, summonsed, and thrown into the justice system,” said Richards, who represents parts of Queens.

“To make matters worse, they want to take tax revenue and put it into an MTA that many of these young black and brown people can’t even get on now, because they can’t get a job, because they have a record.”

Standing with Richards was newly elected city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who was officially serving his first day in the new position.

“It’s a terrible plan,” Williams said of the idea of giving marijuana tax money to MTA. “It’s based on the type of ignorance we have seen over and over again.”

Also at the rally was Progressive Caucus and City Council member Antonio Reynoso, who did not mince words when speaking about Governor Cuomo. “When it’s black and brown people using marijuana to take care of their home we demonize them, but when it’s Governor Cuomo using marijuana to fix his house, to fix his MTA, we say it’s ok.”

Reynoso cited what he maintained was a disconnect between those in power and the common New Yorker. “The people who made this decision have never experienced what the young black and brown young men in our districts have faced,” he said.