City, State Officials Urge Work Permits for Migrants + Adams Fundraisers Indicted
No. 338 | Monday, September 4, 2023
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Local News
City and state officials urge President Biden to authorize work permits for the tens of thousands of migrants who now reside in NYC. This is in the midst of fights surrounding the location of migrant shelters.
New York's $25 million Migrant Relocation Assistance Program has so far failed to resettle a single migrant family due to logistical and bureaucratic hurdles in the program.
At least three hosts of a 2021 fundraiser for Eric Adams are due to be indicted on bribery and other charges related to organized crime. Adams is currently not the subject of the investigation.
NYC's Independent Budget Office (IBO) reviewed recent housing data and found that 13,000 rent-stabilized apartments have been sitting empty for years. While state officials attribute recent numbers to naturally higher Manhattan rents, renters and housing advocates point to landlords purposely keeping units off the market.
The city will begin to enforce a rule that bans short term rentals (like AirBnB) on September 5, after it took thousands of units in neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy off the housing market for lucrative de facto hotel rentals.
Over 2,000 apartments at the Edenwald Houses, the largest NYCHA development in the Bronx, are being converted to PACT, where they will be placed under private management in exchange for the promise of repairs and upgrades.
The City Council shortened Madison Square Garden’s permit for the arena above Penn Station from ten years to five, potentially giving government tighter reins over the Dolan family, which controls MSG.
The MTA has completed accessibility upgrades mandated by a lawsuit last year and the Americans with Disabilities Act at only 2 stations, putting it far behind pace for 95% accessibility by 2055.
MTA riders can be tracked by their credit card number if they use the OMNY payment system.
Public sector union membership has fallen steeply in NYC, from 70% in 2020 to 56% in 2022-23.
Afrilingual, NYC's first African worker owned cooperative, opened in Harlem to serve the tens of thousands of migrants coming from West African countries by helping them access key health and legal services.
There is a standoff at P.S. 398 in Jackson Heights between principal and faculty as the latter accuses the former of anti-union actions which has led to multiple well-known teachers and staff quitting as the new school year begins.
Elections
Claire Valdez, a NYC-DSA member based in Ridgewood, has announced a 2024 campaign for Assembly District 37 (Western Queens) to challenge scandal-ridden incumbent Juan Ardila.
State Senator Jessica Ramos (District 13, Queens) is being considered by some onlookers as a potential progressive challenger to Mayor Adams in the 2025 election.
Corporations are skirting New York's limits on campaign contributions by offering loans to candidate committees that are never paid back. Technically these are supposed to count as donations, but the rule is rarely enforced, according to New York Focus.
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