NYC Library Crisis Cuts Beyond Books

School board meetings and libraries have been transformed into battlefields, with books as the casualties. What was once an occasional challenge here and there has since turned into an organized…

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The Social Housing Authority We Deserve

Senate Bill S8494 was recently introduced to the New York State Senate. It proposes the creation of a new New York State Social Housing Development Authority to facilitate the building…

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Want to Save the Environment? Do Less Environmental Review.

The recent flooding from torrential rain exposed two uncomfortable facts to New Yorkers: the consequences of climate change are already here, and New York’s infrastructure is critically unprepared to handle…

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ICE Raids Compromise the Court System and Threaten Public Safety

A young man and his mother had just left Brooklyn Criminal Court. A mere block from the courthouse, two plain-clothed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the man, and dragged him to an unmarked vehicle. The mother thought that her son was being kidnapped. Neither officer would answer her simple question: “Who are you?” As the mother cried for help, a third officer appeared, shoved her against a wall, and repeatedly told her to “shut up.” The vehicle drove off and the mother was left sobbing on the street. She didn’t know what had happened until her son called from an ICE processing facility the following day.

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We Need to Discuss Bail Reform

Photo courtesy of the New York Post The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a ‘budget’ as “a plan for the coordination of resources and expenditures.” Unfortunately, New York State is either illiterate…

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NY State Legislature Moves Toward Congestion Pricing

Traffic near Grand Central Station. Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Update: As of April 1, the State Legislature and Gov. Cuomo passed the 2020 budget, congestion pricing included. Although the…

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The Fight For Universal Rent Control is Heating Up in New York State

The First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn Heights opened their doors this past Saturday, March 23 for a tenant town hall meeting discussing universal rent control. The meeting, organized by the Housing Justice For All coalition, outlined nine points they want state legislators to pay attention to come June 15 when the state’s current rent laws are set to expire.

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