“The mayor of this city owes the women of this city an apology,” said Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization for Women — New York. “Substandard police responses to sex crimes has happened on his watch.”

“I am so appalled and so angry at even the possibility,” said Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas, a Democrat who represents a neighboring district in Queens and who sponsored a package of anti-sexual harassment laws last year. “We elected so many young progressive women to fight for us. The last thing we need is to take a huge step backward.”

NOW NY President, Sonia Ossorio, said “Every single night of the week there are women who will be targeted for rape because they are highly inebriated and vulnerable to sexual assault. Drinking to excess is not an invitation to be raped. But the way some of our laws are written, you’d think it was. That is going to change.”

Melanie D’Arrigo is a health care advocate from L.I. who briefly lived in Long Island City and she is running a progressive grassroots campaign to unseat incumbent politician U.S Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-L.I., Little Neck) from New York’s 3rd District.

“Compounded over the years of employment at City Hall, it’s a significant loss of income for those women,” said Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization for Women New York City and New York State. “When you consider that many women experience a pay gap at many points throughout their career, the loss is staggering and impacts families’ standard of living and women’s quality of life in retirement.”