Guest op-eds, City Limits bloggers and reaction from readers
“In New York, poverty wages and lack of healthcare access reduce the availability of child care for families and lead to high turnover, destabilizing the lives of young children when they need continuity the most to thrive.”
“For many asylum seekers like me, the United States is a beacon of hope, providing refuge and safety from the violence many of us experience at home. Yet the sense of relief and security we find here quickly evaporates as we navigate an expensive and confusing court system by ourselves.”
“If Mayor Adams wants to make a positive impact on the city and take his ‘working people’s agenda’ beyond rhetoric, he needs to embrace a trifecta of change that establishes a culture in City Hall centered on the needs of everyday New Yorkers. This means establishing a re-imagined social contract, ending the austerity mindset that has dominated the city’s budget and policymaking, and managing for consequential change.”
“This policy, while likely formed with good intent, is short-sighted and places more strain on a system that is close to breaking. It also shifts focus and continues to villainize individuals who need help, rather than providing the resources that they desperately need. This is a band-aid, meant to make the problem less visible, ignoring the real issues.”
It is time for New York to meet its public housing needs. It has the land. The technical ability to restore and replace NYCHA’s housing stock to meet tenant needs and low-carbon performance is there.
“The high rates of health issues mentioned in carceral settings are a health equity issue likely resulting, at least in part, from the low accessibility of fresh produce and poor access to quality and trusted medical care in NYS correctional facilities.”
“We witness firsthand the challenges that our older participants face when they come to us, usually because they no longer have family to turn to after such long periods of incarceration: physical health issues that might be less severe if treated properly sooner; unaddressed trauma, greatly exacerbated by incarceration; lack of financial resources; and homelessness.”
“It’s important that we raise attention to the issue of statelessness. That’s why women like me are going public with our stories. We need more people to understand that this is an urgent issue. It keeps us from moving on and living productive lives in the U.S. and we’re always anxious about what might happen.”
“Attorneys are being forced to resign not because they want to leave, but because they cannot provide for their own families if they stay. Offices that were once inundated with job applicants for a small number of vacant positions a decade ago have vacancies that are now taking months to fill—if they can be filled at all.”
“The answer is clear. We need to stop burning fossil fuels in buildings. It’s not too late for New York’s gas utilities to help us do that.”
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
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Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
