Council Member Shahana Hanif

I am heartbroken by the death of Happy, a gentle and inquisitive being who touched the hearts of so many. For nearly 50 years, Happy called New York City home. She was also the first elephant documented recognizing herself in a mirror, a powerful reminder of the intelligence, emotional depth, and self-awareness elephants possess.

For more than 25 years, Happy lived at the Bronx Zoo in isolation—an immense cruelty for elephants, who are deeply social animals that thrive in large, interconnected herds with familial bonds.

While I commend the Bronx Zoo for committing to no longer acquire elephants, Patty, the last remaining elephant at the Bronx Zoo, deserves the opportunity to live out the rest of her life with dignity, space, and companionship in a sanctuary environment.

To truly honor Happy’s legacy, we must ensure that no elephant in New York City is denied the conditions they need to thrive. I urge the Council to pass my bill, Intro 590.

Thank you to Voters For Animal Rights, the Nonhuman Rights Project, elephant experts, and animal rights advocates for your leadership and tireless advocacy on this issue.

Happy, Bronx Zoo Elephant at Center of Animal Rights Case, Is Dead at 55 Activists had sued in a bid to secure her the fundamental human right to bodily liberty. Zoo officials said she was well cared for and called the lawsuit frivolous.

The NYC Parks 2025 Tree Count is back!

Every decade, NYC Parks inventories every public tree across the five boroughs to help care for the urban forest that keeps our city livable, resilient, and beautiful.

Join an upcoming Trees Count event to receive the tools and training needed to help inventory trees in your neighborhood. Once trained, you’ll gain access to the official Trees Count app and can continue counting trees throughout the summer and fall.

Sign up to volunteer and meet your neighbors — human and arboreal! 🌿

Go to nycgovparks.org/trees

Join our office, Big Reuse, the D39 Tree Care Team, and the Fifth Avenue BID to help care for trees in Park Slope! 🌳

🗓 Sunday, June 7
⏰ 2 PM – 4 PM
📍 Meet at 52 5th Ave

We’ll freshen up tree beds by picking up litter, weeding, cultivating soil, and applying mulch. All supplies will be provided.

Please sign up:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/street-tree-care-with-d39-tree-team-park-slope-5th-avenue-bid-tickets-1989119456841

The Department of City Planning wants your input on the future of McDonald and Coney Island Avenues. If you live, work, or go to school nearby, take the survey help shape the future of your neighborhood.

Take the survey: https://www.nyc.gov/content/planning/pages/our-work/plans/brooklyn/south-of-prospect

Constituent Services Win:

A homeowner in Kensington reached out to us after an abandoned car sat in front of her house for weeks, preventing street cleaning — and she was then issued a sanitation fine because trash accumulated at the curb.

Our office worked with DSNY and NYPD to get the car towed and the fine revoked.

Reach out to us if you need support!

Park Slope & Windsor Terrace: Iqra Shafiq, [email protected]

Gowanus, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, & the Columbia Waterfront: Jacqueline Nieschmidt, [email protected]

Kensington & Borough Park: Tazkira Sattar, [email protected]

Public Housing: Sabine Aronowsky, [email protected]

Or call our office at (718) 499-1090

Eid ul Adha Mubarak! Wishing you and your loved ones peace, joy, and time together in community ❤️🌙

The Gowanus Rezoning is a blueprint for what a successful housing plan can look like. I was grateful to welcome Mayor Mamdani to the neighborhood and tour sites that will become 100% affordable housing, buildings with affordable artist studios to help keep artists rooted in the community, expanded open space, rain gardens and bioswales, and cultural anchors like Powerhouse Arts. We also visited public housing undergoing long-overdue renovations made possible through rezoning investments. I am grateful to Brad Lander, Michelle de la Uz, Tenant Association leaders, Cea Weaver, and our Deputy Mayor Leila Bozorg!

The Mayor’s housing plan is about building affordable housing, preserving affordability, and modernizing existing affordable housing stock. Thousands of new homes for working-class New Yorkers? That’s a legacy I’m proud to support.