William Alatriste/NYC Council
Public Advocate Letitia James has joined Democratic activist Bill Samuels in pressing for achieving "retirement security for all" by pooling workers' contributions into a single pension fund for private-sector workers.
City food programs are expanding to address food insecurity among older New Yorkers. But some advocates want a more fundamental fix: A new, public retirement savings program to give seniors more financial power.
Rents are rising for seniors as they are for everyone else. But a fixed income, vulnerability to harassment and age-related physical impairments raise the housing stakes for elder New Yorkers.
Amid the debates about how the minimum wage or better schools might reduce poverty are a million New Yorkers who are largely beyond the reach of those policies. And one in five of them are poor.
The trustees of the city’s library systems oversee more than 200 branches and the spending of hundreds of millions of city dollars. How representative of the city are they?
The proposed city budget includes more than $500 million in capital funds for the city’s library systems. But with dozens of aging buildings in the branch network, the needs go deeper.
The city’s library branches offer a dizzying array of services, from job-search help to literacy lessons to fiction writers’ circles. But limits on space and money could hamper the systems’ ability to reach potential.
Many of the city’s branch libraries feature half-empty shelves, reflecting budget constraints more than changing readership demands.
Free access to technology, help for immigrants, a safe space for kids. Branch libraries play an increasingly important role. But funding hasn’t kept up. Will the lack of support undermine a critical civic resource?
The neighborhood was a hotbed for defaults even before the superstorm’s devastating flood. Now, advocates fear a flood of housing emergencies.
Whether it takes the form of financial scams, emotional mistreatment or physical harm, advocates for New York’s aged say the extent of elder abuse in the city dwarfs the resources available to combat it.
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