Nurses End Strike + City & State Austerity Budgets
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Local News
A nurses' strike at two New York City hospitals, one in Harlem and one in the Bronx, ended after three days this week, after staffing shortages forced the hospitals back to the negotiating table. The nurses won enforceable staffing ratios and more in the tentative agreements.
Mayor Adams released his preliminary City budget, which is filled with austerity measures like more cuts to schools, libraries, and social services.
The fight in Albany over the nomination of Hector LaSalle for Chief Judge of the Court Appeals continues, with Governor Hochul standing by her embattled nominee, who faces increasing opposition for his conservative, anti-labor track record. One former Chief Judge insists that LaSalle is legally entitled to a Senate floor vote, while Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has floated changes to the entire selection process. Meanwhile, political consulting firms, including at least one from out of state, are spending money in support of LaSalle.
In newly released footage from last April, an NYPD van drove through a red light and sped on a median for several blocks in rainy conditions before fatally hitting Ronald Anthony Smith and dragging him for 35 feet. Neither officer involved rendered proper medical aid.
City retirees and PSC-CUNY members rallied against a proposal being considered by the City Council to amend the administrative code to push all public sector retirees onto privatized Medicare Advantage healthcare plans.
In her State of the State address, Governor Hochul announced a proposal for 800,000 new homes. She also pitched a 3% annual tuition increase for in-state SUNY and CUNY students and hikes of up to 6% at the state’s flagship universities in Albany, Buffalo, Binghamton, and Stony Brook.
The City’s new “right to counsel” for tenants facing eviction is not keeping up with the increased rate of eviction filing, forcing more than 10,000 people to go to housing court without representation. Meanwhile, tenants are struggling against widespread neglect and forced to find unsafe housing solutions.
The MTA’s East Side Access project faces another delay.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are up statewide with the XBB.1.5 variant responsible for much of the surge.
Elections
Amid calls for an ethics investigation into Representative George Santos (R-Nassau County), who won his election last year on the back of a series of egregious lies about his biography, Nassau County Republicans have called for him to resign. So far Santos has resisted those calls.
Three different candidates have already entered the Democratic primary for the new, majority–Asian American City Council district created in last year’s redistricting process.
Jacobin published a piece celebrating the recent DSA electoral victories in New York’s state races and describes the agenda of the growing group of socialist legislators.
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Members of the NYC-DSA Electoral Working Group formed the NYC Thorn in early 2017 to create an easy way for members to keep up with local political news. In the six (!) years since, thousands of New Yorkers—some of whom are not DSA members—have received, read, and (we hope) enjoyed this newsletter. If you are one of them, please consider taking the next step to join our mass political organization and become a DSA member today!
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THE LOCAL
A publication of the Legislative Committee of the NYC-DSA Labor Branch.
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