Yevgenia Albats, a Russian investigative reporter who is currently the Distinguished Journalist in Residence at the NYU Jordan Center, recently spoke to City Limits’ youth reporting interns about what it’s like to be a journalist in a country that does not have a free press.
More than 73,000 NYCHA households are behind on rent, what officials say will force the public housing authority to draw from operating reserves and make other cuts in the year ahead—and could potentially hamper its repair plans. Meanwhile, the state’s already-exhausted Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) to aid New Yorkers in rent arrears is unlikely to reach NYCHA.
The Human Resources Administration (HRA) is promptly processing just 46.3 percent of applications for SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps, the agency told councilmembers at a committee hearing on the impact and cause of the bureaucratic delays.
El pasado 29 de noviembre, Lawyers for Civil Rights presentó una enmienda a la demanda que añade como demandados a la compañía de aviones que transportó a los inmigrantes (Vertol Systems Company, Inc.) a su director general, al “zar de la seguridad pública” de Florida Larry Keefe, al jefe de gabinete del gobernador DeSantis, y a Perla Huerta, la principal reclutadora de inmigrantes en el terreno.
“The Youth Justice & Opportunities Act would expand existing protections and limit the lifelong negative consequences that stem from prosecution for actions young people take before they reach full maturity.”
A newly formed committee of NYCHA residents is advising Comptroller Brad Lander as he prepares to audit the public housing authority, with the task force first targeting the most common complaints made by peers. Sanitation and repair orders being closed without repairs topped the list.
Mayor Eric Adams has proposed neighborhood-level rezonings near future Metro-North stations in the East Bronx and along an Atlantic Avenue light manufacturing corridor in Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant. The local councilmembers say they support both plans.
The New York City Council held a hearing Thursday to discuss the Fair Chance for Housing Act, which would make it illegal for landlords and realtors to factor in criminal backgrounds when considering a tenant. Supporters say stable housing is key to preventing recidivism, but critics have slammed the bill, citing safety concerns.
“We learned decades ago that institutionalizing people, or locking them away in state mental hospitals, was not the solution. This practice demonized people with mental health challenges, disappearing them, and led to facilities that were dirty, dangerous, and inhumane.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul late last month vetoed a bill that would have required the state to collect and publicly report on the number of New Yorkers struggling to pay for utilities, including those behind on their water bills—which supporters say is essential to planning government relief programs to address those debts.
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