“There are employers who are going to take away outside work when there’s risk, and they’re going to provide you with the appropriate mask,” said Hildalyn Colon Hernández of the New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE), a nonprofit that trains immigrants for jobs in construction. “But there’s also employers that are going to disregard all of these notices and keep people working outside.”
The city pilot program called Promise NYC, which covered up to $700 a week in child care to undocumented children with low-income parents during the second half of 2023, will be continued and expanded in the city’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year, City Limits has learned.
“421-a or any alternative’s inclusion in our toolbox to tackle the housing crisis is by no means a silver bullet, but its absence has already and will continue to hamstring our ability to respond. We cannot accept this if we want to solve our housing crisis.”
“You think about a $106 billion budget—we’re asking for $400 million with an M,” Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa said at Thursday’s rally. “NYCHA tenants deserve more and we’re going to continue to stand with you until we see a budget that reflects the dignity that you have long deserved.”
In an unusual twist, the two tenant-aligned members of the Rent Guidelines Board, tenant lawyer Adán Soltren and organizer Genesis Aquino, voted in favor of Wednesday’s increases—3 percent for a one-year lease and a split two-year lease of 2.75 percent in year one and a further 3.2 percent in year two.
If the RGB is meant to protect tenants, its record is mixed at best. But the alternative, a city of free market rentals, would be much worse. How can this be explained? And what can it teach the tenants movement nationwide?
Unmentioned at Friday’s press conference and ceremonial signing is a new work requirement to qualify for a voucher—10 hours per week for adult-only households. Previously, adult households only had to demonstrate they had worked any number of hours per week for the last 30 days in order to qualify for a City Family Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement, or CityFHEPS, voucher.
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has embarked on a decompression strategy to free up space in the city’s local shelters by sending immigrants to other New York State localities. In Albany, where more than 230 migrants were relocated in recent weeks, community-based organizations say they are already stretched thin.
“The mayor needs to look somewhere else to cut funding. Successful higher education programs should not be on the chopping block.”
Advocates hoped Adams would kick off his first term by appointing a deputy mayor for housing and homelessness—ensuring that previously siloed agencies would report to the same person. He didn’t, but departing administration member Jessica Katz was the next best thing, they say.
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