Guest op-eds, City Limits bloggers and reaction from readers
‘For every supportive housing slot there are six applications. Nearly 45,000 New Yorkers, including 14,000 children, fill the shelter system. What we need now is the political will to invest in this long-term goal while offering shorter-term pathways to housing.’
‘I want our children to be good ancestors and citizens of the world, to see the beauty in all voices and stories. But to do that, they need to see diverse representation not just in their neighborhood, but in their school curriculum as well.’
The need for new housing, especially affordable, in these high-opportunity neighborhoods is much more acute than the need for more commercial space.
‘Will there really be 9,000 daily riders? Does a cost benefit analysis justify investing $2.05 billion for this project, long-championed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who will no longer be in office come next month?’
‘On Aug. 14, the New York Child Victims Act’s two-year civil sexual abuse statute of limitations “window” will close, and older victims whose claims had previously been time-barred will be foreclosed from seeking justice.’
‘New York City officials claim people in “alternatives to solitary” will have at least 10 hours of daily out-of-cell time, with counseling and programming. But their actual plan involves people being locked alone in a cell twenty-three hours a day, everyday, for indefinite periods of time.’
‘Jail separates people from work and family, jeopardizes stable housing, and subjects them to violence, especially in inhumane environments like Rikers. Incarceration must be the option of last resort, used only when it is essential for public safety.’
‘In the past eight years, Puerto Rico residents have repeatedly voted against continuing under the current territory status.’
‘We need to have the audacity to be bold, because our students need us now more than ever. Normal wasn’t working, not just for marginalized communities, but for most.’
‘Broad use of PBL/PBA in the city’s schools could jumpstart New York’s post-pandemic educational era away from the drill-and-kill, standardized test-based techniques of the last 20 years, invigorating teachers and students when motivation and a sense of success are so needed.’