City Seeks to Ban Mail from Jails + Early Voting Begins
No. 294 | Monday, October 31, 2022
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Local News
The city’s Commissioner of Corrections announced plans to ban physical mail from city jails, claiming that letters and books are being soaked in fentanyl, contributing to the rise in overdose deaths at Rikers.
Erick Tavira, a man detained in Rikers because he was unable to pay bail, died in the jail’s custody; he is the 17th person this year to die in custody.
City Councilmember Shahana Hanif intervened to reduce the size of buildings allowed in a Gowanus rezoning, cutting the number of affordable units included in the plan.
Although most tenants in New York City are guaranteed a Right to Counsel in Housing Court, a new survey found that less than 10% of tenants facing eviction actually got a lawyer.
A State Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of a group of former Department of Sanitation workers who were fired and sued the city after failing to comply with the vaccine mandate.
The City’s Department of Transportation released a report that found four Open Street corridors outperformed their pre-pandemic business in the first 18 months after the arrival of COVID-19.
In an effort likely gauged to slow down union progress, Medieval Times has sued the newly formed Medieval Times employee union for trademark infringement.
The State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is thinking of ending a 15-year relationship with JPay, a prison technology company that has been accused of price gouging for things like money transfers to prisoners, and “stamps” for emails.
Landlords in Hudson Valley have filed a lawsuit to stop Kingston’s historic new rent stabilization law, but were not granted a temporary restraining order.
Workers at the Trader Joe’s in Williamsburg voted against unionization, with 94 voting against and 66 voting in favor.
Elections
Governor Kathy Hochul and Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin faced off in their only debate on Tuesday. Hochul attacked Zeldin for his ties to Donald Trump, while Zeldin focused on crime.
Early voting began in New York on Saturday. In New York CIty, there are four ballot questions up for consideration: to enable the state to borrow money to fund environmental projects; to add a statement of values to the beginning on the city charter; “to bring three new requirements to the city charter mandating that all city agencies create ‘racial equity plans’ every two years, establishing a new Office of Racial Equity to coordinate racial equity planning across city government and creating a Commission on Racial Equity”; and to require the city to calculate a “true cost of living.”
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