South Queens, NY - On Tuesday, Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar (D-AD 38) and Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Commissioner Asim Rehman toured her district to assist small businesses. OATH is the City office that adjudicates various issues, including agencies’ summonses for code violations that incur fines. The Assemblywoman and Commissioner went door-to-door visiting small businesses in Glendale, checking if they had outstanding summonses and explaining what to do if they receive one. They visited various businesses, ranging from food establishments to a florist.

Small businesses can face fines from numerous city agencies. Many business owners, particularly immigrants for whom English is not their first language, are not aware that they are entitled to dispute the summons. They may not even be aware if they have an outstanding fine.

Joining the Assemblywoman and Commissioner were the Commissioner’s Senior Advisor Rachel Amar, Deputy Commissioner John Castelli, Myrtle Avenue BID Executive Director Ted Renz, Glendale Kiwanis Secretary Kerrie Hansen, Liberty Park Homeowners’ Association Vice President Catherine Murawski, Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano, and community leader Connie Altamirano.

Assemblywoman Rajkumar said, “Small businesses are the lifeblood of my district and are fueled by the entrepreneurial spirit of their owners. I will not rest until the small business owners in my district know their due process rights and how to cut through bureaucratic red tape. Every fine small business owners can avoid is more money to invest in their businesses and fuel our recovery. I frequently go door-to-door to our small businesses to help them navigate the system. I always appreciate the help of OATH in this effort.”

Commissioner Rehman said, “Our mission at OATH is to ensure that everyone who appears before us receives a fair and impartial hearing and a timely decision. For the great borough of Queens, that includes making sure that we are accessible to individuals and small business and that we provide multi-lingual services. One way we are doing this is by having hearings for summonses held over the phone with free, instantaneous over the phone interpretation when needed. Phone hearings allow residents and business owners the ability to fight City-issued summonses without using their valuable time traveling across the borough.”

Kerrie Hansen said, “Our Assemblywoman has done a fantastic job this year and her work with the administration, connecting us with agencies that are going to help Glendale…Often Glendale seems to get forgotten. We’re the best [kept] secret I think in the world. We have the best bubble and neighborhood that really comes together.”

Catherine Murawski said, “It is such a pleasure that Jenifer is on our block today and she has brought the Commissioner of OATH to join us. We sat down at the Glendale Diner and I told him about a couple of our community problems. We did a personal ticket problem that I had with my own house and they are so helpful for the community. The Assemblywoman’s always helpful to the community.”

Connie Altamirano said, “I’d like to say, ‘Thank you’ to Assemblywoman Rajkumar for the outstanding work that she does for the community and I’m happy to be able to call her. I can just directly call her any time. She picks up the phone and you can’t say that much about many people. And also thank you for having [the Commissioner] here…I know that [Assemblywoman Rajkumar is] going to be continuing on, for many, many, many years, and we’re very, very blessed to have her here.”

Ted Renz said, “I want to thank Jenifer Rajkumar for bringing the Commissioner and his entire team out here to discuss the issues that are important to small business…I think it’s important that OATH is here to hear what businesses have to say.”