“Tener una licencia nos ha cambiado”, afirma Luis Jiménez, presidente de la organización de base Alianza Agrícola. “A mí, en lo personal, me ha permitido llevar a mis hijos a la escuela, y a sus citas médicas, sin el temor de que la policía me pare, y me pida la licencia”.
“Having a license has changed us,” said Luis Jiménez, president of the farmworker-led, grassroots organization Alianza Agrícola. “For me personally, it allowed me to take my children to school, and their medical appointments, without the fear of being stopped by the police and asked for a license.”
First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, who oversees the city’s housing and economic development work, announced plans to resign alongside three other top City Hall officials. The tumult comes after the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors to drop their corruption case against the mayor, citing the need for his cooperation on immigration enforcement.
“There is no comprehensive network of treatment courts in New York, and those that do exist are woefully underutilized. Far more people should be getting the genuine care and treatment that I got.”
"It has become increasingly clear that the Adams administration has committed to expand a policy of mass incarceration over community services and other less expensive, more effective alternatives. The current administration would have you believe that this is the only option. It is not."
Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office Mayor Eric Adams at Rikers Island in…
Manhattan City Councilmember Carlina Rivera introduced legislation Wednesday that would expand eligibility criteria for city-funded supportive housing to include people with justice system involvement in the last year—a change long sought by advocates, who say it would increase options for New Yorkers cycling between jail and shelter.
“While from time to time, our system does hold people of wealth, power, and/or influence accountable for their violations of the law, these kinds of cases do not represent the bulk, or even close to it, of the criminal prosecutions that take place here.”
Voter education is one hurdle. But a bigger one, advocates say, is the cumbersome voting process itself for people behind bars. “There are impediments and obstacles that create real and serious concerns about the viability of an absentee ballot,” said Cesar Ruiz, associate counsel at LatinoJustice.
“When the state takes away a person’s liberty, it bears a serious obligation to provide them proper care, and the built environment is a big part of that. Cutting our jail population significantly and overhauling the material conditions that people live in will be a massive victory.”
Funding sought in this year’s budget, alongside updated eligibility criteria, could increase housing options for New Yorkers cycling between jail and shelter.