Events for Thursday, February 7, 2008

9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. NYC Department of Consumer Affairs holds hearing on used car dealer practices; Department of Health and Mental Hygiene building, 125 Worth St., 2nd floor auditorium. 10 a.m. Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi is recognized by the EPA for air quality improvement initiatives; 1 West St., front Steps, Mineola. 11 a.m. NYPIRG releases report examining privacy policies of Valentine's Day online sellers; Mineola Press Room, 100 Supreme Court Drive, Mineola. 11 a.m. World Health Organization releases report on global tobacco use and control efforts; New York Marriott East Side, O'Keefe Room, 525 Lexington Ave., at East 49th Street. 11 a.m. Transportation Committee hearing on future taxi plans; 250 Broadway, 16th Floor. 11 a.m. Immigrant advocates and hospital officials announce initiative to improve access to health care for non-English speakers; Beth Israel Hospital Board Room, 2nd floor administration suite, Emergency Room entrance ramp on East 16th Street between First Avenue and Stuyvesant Park. 12:45 p.m. Queens workers and ACORN members protest redevelopment project that will displace businesses in Willets Point; EDC headquarters, 110 William St. 2 p.m. Swearing-in ceremony and first meeting of the Suffolk County Charter Review Commission; Rose Caracappa Auditorium, William H. Rogers Legislature Building, 725 Veterans Memorial Highway, Smithtown. 3 p.m. Ribbon cutting for the new Brooklyn Hispanic Chamber of Commerce headquarters; 2359 86th St., 2nd floor, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. 5:30 p.m. Persecuted scholars from the Middle East and Africa join panel discussion on global challenges to academic and intellectual freedom; Tishman Auditorium, The New School, 66 West 12th St., near Sixth Avenue, First Floor. 6:30 p.m. Symposium on access to health care in New York State; NYC Bar Association, 42 West 44th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues.