Daily News Summary
City Doles Out Historic Sum Of Taxpayer-Funded Campaign Cash
Gothamist
Feb. 16, 2021
The New York City Campaign Finance Board released more than $37 million in matching funds to candidates in the races for mayor, comptroller, borough president, and New York City Council to date, representing the largest amount ever doled out in CFB history. Much of that was driven by the sheer number of candidates in these races, with more than 400 people opening campaigns, but also by the CFB's 8-to-1 matching funds program that stretches funds from small-time donors, weakening the might of political action committees (a.k.a. dark money).
On Tuesday, the CFB met to announce its disbursement of funds at a public meeting after staffers audited financial records they obtained by campaign treasurers for the months of July 2020 to January 2021. While campaigns typically claim to have reached the threshold needed to qualify for the funds, they still must be vetted by CFB auditors to ensure candidates meet the criteria needed to qualify for taxpayer-funded help.
Social conservative Democrat out-raises opponents in Bronx BP contest
Councilmember Fernado Cabrera received the highest disbursement of funds in the race for Bronx Borough President, suggesting broad support for the longtime legislator who pegs himself a conservative Democrat. The CFB announced Cabrera received $520,047, out-raising fellow colleague and rival Councilmember Vanessa Gibson, who now has $249,113. Other contenders in the race to succeed term-limited Ruben Diaz Jr. include Assemblymember Nathalia Fernandez, state Senator Luis Sepulveda, and Samuel Ravelo, who did not qualify for matching funds.
In securing the funds, Cabrera remains the top fundraiser in the race, making him frontrunner while also adding to the campaign kitty that he so far hasn't touched.
11th & 15th Special Elections Are Surely Competitive
The CFB disbursement of funds confirmed that the winner of the 11th and 15th Council Districts special election seat, representing different portions of the Bronx, is anyone's guess given the roughly same amount of funds the top candidates have received.
In the 11th Council District race sparked by the prior seat-holder, Andy Cohen, stepping down for a judgeship, Eric Dinowitz pulled in $135,327, followed by Mino Lora with $116,987, and Daniel Padernacht with $117,217.
The race for the 15th Council District—left vacant by Ritchie Torres after becoming a member of the House of Representatives—arguably more competitive than the 11th Council District special election, with Ischia Bravo awarded $135,375 in matching funds, Elisa Crespo with $135,351, Oswald Feliz bringing in $135,375, Lakshmi Gopla with $69,274, and John Sanchez with $135,375.
The special election winners may want to hold off on celebrating a March 23rd victory, as they will have to face their rivals again for the June 23rd primary.
New COVID Vaccine Data Shows Which Parts Of NYC Are Being Left Behind
Feb. 16, 2021
The New York City Campaign Finance Board released more than $37 million in matching funds to candidates in the races for mayor, comptroller, borough president, and New York City Council to date, representing the largest amount ever doled out in CFB history. Much of that was driven by the sheer number of candidates in these races, with more than 400 people opening campaigns, but also by the CFB's 8-to-1 matching funds program that stretches funds from small-time donors, weakening the might of political action committees (a.k.a. dark money).
On Tuesday, the CFB met to announce its disbursement of funds at a public meeting after staffers audited financial records they obtained by campaign treasurers for the months of July 2020 to January 2021. While campaigns typically claim to have reached the threshold needed to qualify for the funds, they still must be vetted by CFB auditors to ensure candidates meet the criteria needed to qualify for taxpayer-funded help.
Social conservative Democrat out-raises opponents in Bronx BP contest
Councilmember Fernado Cabrera received the highest disbursement of funds in the race for Bronx Borough President, suggesting broad support for the longtime legislator who pegs himself a conservative Democrat. The CFB announced Cabrera received $520,047, out-raising fellow colleague and rival Councilmember Vanessa Gibson, who now has $249,113. Other contenders in the race to succeed term-limited Ruben Diaz Jr. include Assemblymember Nathalia Fernandez, state Senator Luis Sepulveda, and Samuel Ravelo, who did not qualify for matching funds.
In securing the funds, Cabrera remains the top fundraiser in the race, making him frontrunner while also adding to the campaign kitty that he so far hasn't touched.
11th & 15th Special Elections Are Surely Competitive
The CFB disbursement of funds confirmed that the winner of the 11th and 15th Council Districts special election seat, representing different portions of the Bronx, is anyone's guess given the roughly same amount of funds the top candidates have received.
In the 11th Council District race sparked by the prior seat-holder, Andy Cohen, stepping down for a judgeship, Eric Dinowitz pulled in $135,327, followed by Mino Lora with $116,987, and Daniel Padernacht with $117,217.
The race for the 15th Council District—left vacant by Ritchie Torres after becoming a member of the House of Representatives—arguably more competitive than the 11th Council District special election, with Ischia Bravo awarded $135,375 in matching funds, Elisa Crespo with $135,351, Oswald Feliz bringing in $135,375, Lakshmi Gopla with $69,274, and John Sanchez with $135,375.
The special election winners may want to hold off on celebrating a March 23rd victory, as they will have to face their rivals again for the June 23rd primary.
New COVID Vaccine Data Shows Which Parts Of NYC Are Being Left Behind
Gothamist
Feb. 16, 2021
Sections of Queens, Hunts Point in the Bronx, and East New York and Brownsville in Brooklyn had among the lowest percent of residents who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to new data the city Health Department released on Tuesday. Manhattan had the highest rate of vaccination. The South Bronx, Central Brooklyn, and parts of Queens lagged behind.
Corona, Queens—once a part of the epicenter of the city's coronavirus surge—had the lowest partial vaccination rate in the city at 2.7%. Just 1.9% of the neighborhood's adult residents had been fully inoculated with two doses.
Areas predominantly populated by people of color—Hunts Point, Ocean Hill, Brownsville, East New York, Cypress Hills, South Jamaica, Springfield Gardens, St. Albans, Rosedale, and Laurelton—showed between 3.1% and 3.4% residents with at least one dose. Census data looking at demographics by ZIP code shows these neighborhoods are overwhelmingly filled with Black or Latino residents. A section of Midtown that's predominately white reported similar vaccine coverage, but was an outlier relative to most white neighborhoods across the five boroughs.
N.Y. schools can't force students to get COVID tests for in-person classes: state officials
Feb. 16, 2021
Sections of Queens, Hunts Point in the Bronx, and East New York and Brownsville in Brooklyn had among the lowest percent of residents who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to new data the city Health Department released on Tuesday. Manhattan had the highest rate of vaccination. The South Bronx, Central Brooklyn, and parts of Queens lagged behind.
Corona, Queens—once a part of the epicenter of the city's coronavirus surge—had the lowest partial vaccination rate in the city at 2.7%. Just 1.9% of the neighborhood's adult residents had been fully inoculated with two doses.
Areas predominantly populated by people of color—Hunts Point, Ocean Hill, Brownsville, East New York, Cypress Hills, South Jamaica, Springfield Gardens, St. Albans, Rosedale, and Laurelton—showed between 3.1% and 3.4% residents with at least one dose. Census data looking at demographics by ZIP code shows these neighborhoods are overwhelmingly filled with Black or Latino residents. A section of Midtown that's predominately white reported similar vaccine coverage, but was an outlier relative to most white neighborhoods across the five boroughs.
N.Y. schools can't force students to get COVID tests for in-person classes: state officials
NY Daily News
Feb. 16, 2021
New York school districts can't force students to get COVID tests in order to attend in-person classes, state education officials said Tuesday.
Kathleen DeCataldo, an assistant commissioner at the state Education Department, wrote in a new directive that "parent/guardian consent for COVID-19 testing of students may not be a condition of in-person learning or other school activities."
Even if schools are required to test a certain percentage of students and staff each week under state rules, they "cannot impose remote instruction on students whose parents/guardians do not consent to surveillance tests for COVID-19," DeCataldo wrote.
The new state guidance seems to directly contradict the city Education Department's policy that requires all students in first grade and above to get tested for in-person learning, unless they have a valid medical exemption.
Despite Deep Rent Cuts, Essential Workers Are Mostly Left Out
Feb. 16, 2021
New York school districts can't force students to get COVID tests in order to attend in-person classes, state education officials said Tuesday.
Kathleen DeCataldo, an assistant commissioner at the state Education Department, wrote in a new directive that "parent/guardian consent for COVID-19 testing of students may not be a condition of in-person learning or other school activities."
Even if schools are required to test a certain percentage of students and staff each week under state rules, they "cannot impose remote instruction on students whose parents/guardians do not consent to surveillance tests for COVID-19," DeCataldo wrote.
The new state guidance seems to directly contradict the city Education Department's policy that requires all students in first grade and above to get tested for in-person learning, unless they have a valid medical exemption.
Despite Deep Rent Cuts, Essential Workers Are Mostly Left Out
NY Times
Feb. 17, 2021
Two things have been true since the pandemic flattened New York's rental market last March: prices have fallen sharply, but not for the people who need relief most.
Now a new report shows how little those price cuts have helped the more than 1 million New Yorkers the city calls essential workers.
From mid-March to the end of 2020, there were 11,690 apartments citywide that were considered affordable to essential workers, a more than 40 percent increase from the same period the year prior, according to the listing website StreetEasy. But even after a year of record rent cuts, that share represented just 4 percent of the total market-rate inventory in the city.
"It sounds like a really compelling stat," said Nancy Wu, an economist with StreetEasy. "But at the end of the day, about 96 percent of apartments on StreetEasy are still unaffordable to them."
Essential workers — a broad category that includes teachers, bus drivers and grocery clerks, among others — make an average of about $56,000 a year, and can comfortably pay $1,400 a month on rent, or about 30 percent of their gross income, a common calculation to measure affordability.
Record rent cuts have not bridged the gap. In January, the median monthly asking rent in Manhattan was $2,750, a 15.5 percent drop from the year prior and the largest year-over-year drop since 2010, according to StreetEasy. Brooklyn and Queens also had record cuts of 8.6 percent, dropping to $2,395 and $2,000. (Other data brokers reported different numbers, but the trend was the same.) Despite the decreases, these median rents are still out of reach for many essential workers.
"It highlights a tale of two cities," Ms. Wu said, noting that the biggest price cuts have tended to occur in pricey neighborhoods in Manhattan, where only 12 percent of essential workers live. Neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens, where roughly half of that work force reside, often had smaller discounts, or lost affordable inventory, because of high demand.
But deep discounts in Manhattan could expand options for workers, many of whom have long commutes from the other boroughs. On the Upper East Side, in 2019, there were only six apartments listed for $1,400 a month or less; in 2020, there were 422, the biggest increase in affordable units of any neighborhood.
Even so, those price cuts remain an exception to the rule, said Melissa Leifer, an agent with Keller Williams NYC.
"Yes, prices are going down, but they're not going from $3,000 to $1,400," she said. Prices were softer in the luxury market, such as an Upper West Side one-bedroom apartment she leased in October for $4,350, including landlord concessions, down from $6,000.
There is also a mismatch in inventory. Most of Manhattan's affordable apartments were studios, Ms. Wu said, while nearly half of essential workers have at least one child.
Coronavirus Update New York City: 92% of NYC restaurants could not afford December rent, survey reveals
Feb. 17, 2021
Two things have been true since the pandemic flattened New York's rental market last March: prices have fallen sharply, but not for the people who need relief most.
Now a new report shows how little those price cuts have helped the more than 1 million New Yorkers the city calls essential workers.
From mid-March to the end of 2020, there were 11,690 apartments citywide that were considered affordable to essential workers, a more than 40 percent increase from the same period the year prior, according to the listing website StreetEasy. But even after a year of record rent cuts, that share represented just 4 percent of the total market-rate inventory in the city.
"It sounds like a really compelling stat," said Nancy Wu, an economist with StreetEasy. "But at the end of the day, about 96 percent of apartments on StreetEasy are still unaffordable to them."
Essential workers — a broad category that includes teachers, bus drivers and grocery clerks, among others — make an average of about $56,000 a year, and can comfortably pay $1,400 a month on rent, or about 30 percent of their gross income, a common calculation to measure affordability.
Record rent cuts have not bridged the gap. In January, the median monthly asking rent in Manhattan was $2,750, a 15.5 percent drop from the year prior and the largest year-over-year drop since 2010, according to StreetEasy. Brooklyn and Queens also had record cuts of 8.6 percent, dropping to $2,395 and $2,000. (Other data brokers reported different numbers, but the trend was the same.) Despite the decreases, these median rents are still out of reach for many essential workers.
"It highlights a tale of two cities," Ms. Wu said, noting that the biggest price cuts have tended to occur in pricey neighborhoods in Manhattan, where only 12 percent of essential workers live. Neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens, where roughly half of that work force reside, often had smaller discounts, or lost affordable inventory, because of high demand.
But deep discounts in Manhattan could expand options for workers, many of whom have long commutes from the other boroughs. On the Upper East Side, in 2019, there were only six apartments listed for $1,400 a month or less; in 2020, there were 422, the biggest increase in affordable units of any neighborhood.
Even so, those price cuts remain an exception to the rule, said Melissa Leifer, an agent with Keller Williams NYC.
"Yes, prices are going down, but they're not going from $3,000 to $1,400," she said. Prices were softer in the luxury market, such as an Upper West Side one-bedroom apartment she leased in October for $4,350, including landlord concessions, down from $6,000.
There is also a mismatch in inventory. Most of Manhattan's affordable apartments were studios, Ms. Wu said, while nearly half of essential workers have at least one child.
Coronavirus Update New York City: 92% of NYC restaurants could not afford December rent, survey reveals
ABC 7
Feb. 16, 2021
The return of indoor dining in New York City couldn't come soon enough for struggling Big Apple restaurants, as a new survey by the New York City Hospitality Alliance reveals 92% of more than 400 respondents couldn't afford to pay December rent, a number that has steadily increased since the start of the pandemic.
In June, the survey revealed 80% of restaurants could not afford to pay rent; July 83%; August 87%; and October 88%.
Feb. 16, 2021
The return of indoor dining in New York City couldn't come soon enough for struggling Big Apple restaurants, as a new survey by the New York City Hospitality Alliance reveals 92% of more than 400 respondents couldn't afford to pay December rent, a number that has steadily increased since the start of the pandemic.
In June, the survey revealed 80% of restaurants could not afford to pay rent; July 83%; August 87%; and October 88%.
Gothamist
Feb. 16, 2021
Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration will not support an effort by the City Council to remove the police commissioner's final authority over disciplinary matters, breaking with progressive lawmakers and reform advocates who are working to roll back the longstanding power.
The revelation came during a City Council hearing on Tuesday concerning a portion of the sweeping police reform package introduced by the body late last month. Bills to end qualified immunity for officers in certain cases and to give the council a role in selecting the police commissioner will also be opposed by the administration, according to the mayor's representative at the hearing, Chelsea Davis.
The mayor's swift rejection of the proposals comes as New York City faces a state-imposed deadline to adopt a set of reform practices by the end of March. Adrienne Adams, the chair of the Public Safety Committee, said the council was forced to introduce their own measures because of the mayor's ongoing refusal to release a draft of his reform plan.
In response, representatives for the mayor and the NYPD touted a newly adopted disciplinary matrix, and a memo of understanding stating that the police department would more closely follow the recommendations issued by the Civilian Complaint Review Board going forward. That matrix is not legally-binding nor particularly detailed, and does little to address the NYPD's years-long pattern of ignoring discipline recommendations issued by the CCRB, according to police accountability advocates.
"Past is prologue," said Councilmember Stephen Levin, pointing to an analysis that found that penalties issued by NYPD leadership diverged from the watchdog's recommendations in 71% of cases. "If the administration believes everything it's saying about the disciplinary matrix then why wouldn't they get behind a push to remove the police commissioner's final disciplinary authority? Frankly it's not really a defensible position."
Secret NYPD Misconduct Records Jump Closer to Release Under Court Ruling. But de Blasio's Not Making Them Public Just Yet
Feb. 16, 2021
Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration will not support an effort by the City Council to remove the police commissioner's final authority over disciplinary matters, breaking with progressive lawmakers and reform advocates who are working to roll back the longstanding power.
The revelation came during a City Council hearing on Tuesday concerning a portion of the sweeping police reform package introduced by the body late last month. Bills to end qualified immunity for officers in certain cases and to give the council a role in selecting the police commissioner will also be opposed by the administration, according to the mayor's representative at the hearing, Chelsea Davis.
The mayor's swift rejection of the proposals comes as New York City faces a state-imposed deadline to adopt a set of reform practices by the end of March. Adrienne Adams, the chair of the Public Safety Committee, said the council was forced to introduce their own measures because of the mayor's ongoing refusal to release a draft of his reform plan.
In response, representatives for the mayor and the NYPD touted a newly adopted disciplinary matrix, and a memo of understanding stating that the police department would more closely follow the recommendations issued by the Civilian Complaint Review Board going forward. That matrix is not legally-binding nor particularly detailed, and does little to address the NYPD's years-long pattern of ignoring discipline recommendations issued by the CCRB, according to police accountability advocates.
"Past is prologue," said Councilmember Stephen Levin, pointing to an analysis that found that penalties issued by NYPD leadership diverged from the watchdog's recommendations in 71% of cases. "If the administration believes everything it's saying about the disciplinary matrix then why wouldn't they get behind a push to remove the police commissioner's final disciplinary authority? Frankly it's not really a defensible position."
Secret NYPD Misconduct Records Jump Closer to Release Under Court Ruling. But de Blasio's Not Making Them Public Just Yet
The City
Feb. 16, 2021
A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected an effort by unions representing cops and other first responders to keep misconduct records secret — but it's not clear when the city will make the documents public.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) and other unions that had argued releasing unsubstantiated and non-final findings on misconduct allegations would endanger uniformed personnel and ruin their future job prospects.
Citing the practices of other states that routinely release misconduct histories, the appeals court found the unions had provided no evidence of irreparable harm to officers and backed a lower court's order to issue the records.
"Despite evidence that numerous other states make similar records available to the public, the unions have pointed to no evidence from any jurisdiction that the availability of such records resulted in harm to employment opportunities," the three-judge appeals panel wrote.
NYPD Disciplinary Records Are Now Public, As Federal Court Rejects Unions' Lawsuit
Feb. 16, 2021
A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected an effort by unions representing cops and other first responders to keep misconduct records secret — but it's not clear when the city will make the documents public.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) and other unions that had argued releasing unsubstantiated and non-final findings on misconduct allegations would endanger uniformed personnel and ruin their future job prospects.
Citing the practices of other states that routinely release misconduct histories, the appeals court found the unions had provided no evidence of irreparable harm to officers and backed a lower court's order to issue the records.
"Despite evidence that numerous other states make similar records available to the public, the unions have pointed to no evidence from any jurisdiction that the availability of such records resulted in harm to employment opportunities," the three-judge appeals panel wrote.
NYPD Disciplinary Records Are Now Public, As Federal Court Rejects Unions' Lawsuit
Gothamist
Feb. 16, 2021
Since New York's "50-a" law shielding police disciplinary records from the public was repealed last June, police unions have stopped the City from releasing the documents through a series of appeals. On Tuesday morning, a federal appellate court rejected the unions' arguments, effectively making the documents available to all New Yorkers.
Attorneys for the unions had made a raft of arguments to stop the release of the disciplinary records, particularly those that had not been substantiated or finalized: that they constituted an invasion of privacy, endangered the lives of the police and hurt their employment prospects, and that they violated the officers' collective bargaining rights.
The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed all these arguments, and cited the decisions of the lower courts, who were also unpersuaded by the unions.
"We note again that many other States make similar misconduct records at least partially available to the public without any evidence of a resulting increase of danger to police officers," the Second Circuit wrote in their 18-page ruling. "Moreover, to the extent that this claim implicates records that must be disclosed under [New York's] Freedom of Information Law, the NYPD cannot bargain away its disclosure obligations."
Molly Biklen, the deputy legal director for The New York Civil Liberties Union, which had been litigating for the release of the records alongside the City's Law Department, called the court's opinion "a complete rejection of the union's claims."
The unions are not taking immediate steps to appeal the ruling, according to a statement from their spokesperson, Hank Sheinkopf, who added that they are "reviewing options."
"Today's ruling does not end our fight to protect our members' safety and due process rights," Sheinkopf said. "The FOIL law provides exemptions that allow public employers to protect employees' safety and privacy. We will continue to fight to ensure that New York City applies those exemptions to our members fairly and consistently, as they do for other public employees. Politics must not be allowed to relegate firefighters, police officers and corrections officers to second-class status."
Over the summer, the NYCLU published their own tranche of Civilian Complaint Review Board documents obtained in the narrow window before the unions filed their appeals. But the repeal of the law, known as 50-a, means that internal NYPD disciplinary records, minus any personal information like home addresses, are also public. (The repeal of 50-a does not apply to "technical infractions" for a strictly defined set of administrative departmental rules that do not involve the public.)
"What I think that this ruling shows is that it is now incumbent on the city to make good on their word and release the documents in accord with the repeal of 50-a," Biklen said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio promised New Yorkers in June that his administration would publish all the applicable NYPD disciplinary records in a public database.
"We're going to start a massive effort to make public information regarding to police discipline. And this information will move very quickly and ultimately all of it will be available online," de Blasio said on June 17th.
Cuomo Changes His Marijuana Legalization Plan Following Widespread Criticism
Feb. 16, 2021
Since New York's "50-a" law shielding police disciplinary records from the public was repealed last June, police unions have stopped the City from releasing the documents through a series of appeals. On Tuesday morning, a federal appellate court rejected the unions' arguments, effectively making the documents available to all New Yorkers.
Attorneys for the unions had made a raft of arguments to stop the release of the disciplinary records, particularly those that had not been substantiated or finalized: that they constituted an invasion of privacy, endangered the lives of the police and hurt their employment prospects, and that they violated the officers' collective bargaining rights.
The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed all these arguments, and cited the decisions of the lower courts, who were also unpersuaded by the unions.
"We note again that many other States make similar misconduct records at least partially available to the public without any evidence of a resulting increase of danger to police officers," the Second Circuit wrote in their 18-page ruling. "Moreover, to the extent that this claim implicates records that must be disclosed under [New York's] Freedom of Information Law, the NYPD cannot bargain away its disclosure obligations."
Molly Biklen, the deputy legal director for The New York Civil Liberties Union, which had been litigating for the release of the records alongside the City's Law Department, called the court's opinion "a complete rejection of the union's claims."
The unions are not taking immediate steps to appeal the ruling, according to a statement from their spokesperson, Hank Sheinkopf, who added that they are "reviewing options."
"Today's ruling does not end our fight to protect our members' safety and due process rights," Sheinkopf said. "The FOIL law provides exemptions that allow public employers to protect employees' safety and privacy. We will continue to fight to ensure that New York City applies those exemptions to our members fairly and consistently, as they do for other public employees. Politics must not be allowed to relegate firefighters, police officers and corrections officers to second-class status."
Over the summer, the NYCLU published their own tranche of Civilian Complaint Review Board documents obtained in the narrow window before the unions filed their appeals. But the repeal of the law, known as 50-a, means that internal NYPD disciplinary records, minus any personal information like home addresses, are also public. (The repeal of 50-a does not apply to "technical infractions" for a strictly defined set of administrative departmental rules that do not involve the public.)
"What I think that this ruling shows is that it is now incumbent on the city to make good on their word and release the documents in accord with the repeal of 50-a," Biklen said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio promised New Yorkers in June that his administration would publish all the applicable NYPD disciplinary records in a public database.
"We're going to start a massive effort to make public information regarding to police discipline. And this information will move very quickly and ultimately all of it will be available online," de Blasio said on June 17th.
Cuomo Changes His Marijuana Legalization Plan Following Widespread Criticism
Gothamist
Feb. 16, 2021
Governor Andrew Cuomo is making changes to his marijuana legalization proposal after it was slammed by state lawmakers and legalization advocates for not doing enough to address New Yorkers who have been disproportionately harmed by the drug's prohibition.
Cuomo has not yet released a new version of the bill but said Tuesday that it will include more specific information about how the funds generated through marijuana taxes will be used, and changes to how criminal charges will be enforced with regard to the improper sale of cannabis.
"Our comprehensive approach to legalizing and regulating the adult-use cannabis market provides the opportunity to generate much-needed revenue, but it also enables us to directly support the communities most impacted by the war on drugs by creating equity and jobs at every level, in every community in our great state," Cuomo said in a statement.
The governor has pledged to put $100 million of the revenue generated in the first four years marijuana is legal into a social equity fund and to continue to add $50 million annually to the fund after that.
Critics previously said that they prefer the state legislature's Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act to the governor's legalization proposal, in part because the MRTA includes more specific and binding language indicating how social equity funds will be used.
Under the governor's legalization plan, local governments and nonprofit organizations would be able to apply for money from his social equity fund to invest in a wide range of community revitalization efforts. Cuomo said these could include employment programs, adult education, mental health care, and legal assistance to help people facing barriers to entry to the legal cannabis market, among other services.
"This is definitely a shift from [Cuomo] that was prompted by the powerful organizing the Start SMART NY Coalition is doing and he felt he had to respond to that," said Melissa Moore, director of the New York state chapter of the Drug Policy Alliance. "But what he's laid out in the press release still falls short of what's in MRTA."
Moore noted that the MRTA would set aside 50% of any cannabis revenue for social equity funds, rather than capping it at a fixed dollar amount. She said that's especially important given that a new independent economic analysis projects that legal marijuana could eventually generate billions of dollars a year in New York—far more than the $300 million a year the governor included in his funding breakdown.
One of the biggest critiques of Cuomo's original proposal was that it would still criminalize certain cannabis offenses in a way that would continue to leave people of color vulnerable to uneven enforcement of the law. Cuomo is now amending his bill to reduce the penalties for certain offenses. For instance, he is making the sale of marijuana to someone under 21 a misdemeanor, rather than a felony.
Eli Northrup, an attorney with the Bronx Defenders who raised concerns about Cuomo's initial proposal, said these changes look promising, although he hasn't seen the new version of the bill. But he added that more remains to be done.
Wiley Misses Cutoff As Stringer and Adams Score Public Funds In Record-Setting Payout
Feb. 16, 2021
Governor Andrew Cuomo is making changes to his marijuana legalization proposal after it was slammed by state lawmakers and legalization advocates for not doing enough to address New Yorkers who have been disproportionately harmed by the drug's prohibition.
Cuomo has not yet released a new version of the bill but said Tuesday that it will include more specific information about how the funds generated through marijuana taxes will be used, and changes to how criminal charges will be enforced with regard to the improper sale of cannabis.
"Our comprehensive approach to legalizing and regulating the adult-use cannabis market provides the opportunity to generate much-needed revenue, but it also enables us to directly support the communities most impacted by the war on drugs by creating equity and jobs at every level, in every community in our great state," Cuomo said in a statement.
The governor has pledged to put $100 million of the revenue generated in the first four years marijuana is legal into a social equity fund and to continue to add $50 million annually to the fund after that.
Critics previously said that they prefer the state legislature's Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act to the governor's legalization proposal, in part because the MRTA includes more specific and binding language indicating how social equity funds will be used.
Under the governor's legalization plan, local governments and nonprofit organizations would be able to apply for money from his social equity fund to invest in a wide range of community revitalization efforts. Cuomo said these could include employment programs, adult education, mental health care, and legal assistance to help people facing barriers to entry to the legal cannabis market, among other services.
"This is definitely a shift from [Cuomo] that was prompted by the powerful organizing the Start SMART NY Coalition is doing and he felt he had to respond to that," said Melissa Moore, director of the New York state chapter of the Drug Policy Alliance. "But what he's laid out in the press release still falls short of what's in MRTA."
Moore noted that the MRTA would set aside 50% of any cannabis revenue for social equity funds, rather than capping it at a fixed dollar amount. She said that's especially important given that a new independent economic analysis projects that legal marijuana could eventually generate billions of dollars a year in New York—far more than the $300 million a year the governor included in his funding breakdown.
One of the biggest critiques of Cuomo's original proposal was that it would still criminalize certain cannabis offenses in a way that would continue to leave people of color vulnerable to uneven enforcement of the law. Cuomo is now amending his bill to reduce the penalties for certain offenses. For instance, he is making the sale of marijuana to someone under 21 a misdemeanor, rather than a felony.
Eli Northrup, an attorney with the Bronx Defenders who raised concerns about Cuomo's initial proposal, said these changes look promising, although he hasn't seen the new version of the bill. But he added that more remains to be done.
News 12 Bronx
Feb. 16, 2021
It's been two years in the making, but about 4,300 tenants at three NYCHA complexes say waiting for the renovations to their homes was worth the wait.
"I feel great, my residents feel great," says Sandra Gross, president of the Tenants Association at the Baychester Houses. "We love that we have this transformation going on here."
The improvements are part of the NYCHA Permanent Affordability Commitment Together Program, which uses public-private partnerships to transform public housing developments.
"These residents are getting these comprehensively repaired developments," says Jonathan Gouveia, EVP of Real Estate for NYCHA. "They're getting enhanced property management services and they still have the same protections that they had as residents under NYCHA."
More than 1,800 apartments at the Baychester Houses, Murphy Houses and Betances Houses were renovated over the last two years as part of the most recent projects. The effort is a way to improve the quality of life for the residents.
The exterior of the building received new lighting, cameras and landscaping. Major renovations were made inside as well, including the installation of new appliances, flooring and lighting. Doors, elevators and trash systems were also replaced.
"We used to have garbage all over the place, people didn't respect where they lived," says Gross. "It's much, much safer, it's much brighter you know you're able to walk through at night and be able to see where you're going."
New playgrounds and community spaces were also added for residents to enjoy.
Video: https://bronx.news12.com/i-feel-great-my-residents-feel-great-transformation-complete-at-3-nycha-complexes
Opinion: Protect NYC's Small Businesses By Supporting Street Vendors and Brick-and-Mortars Together
Feb. 16, 2021
It's been two years in the making, but about 4,300 tenants at three NYCHA complexes say waiting for the renovations to their homes was worth the wait.
"I feel great, my residents feel great," says Sandra Gross, president of the Tenants Association at the Baychester Houses. "We love that we have this transformation going on here."
The improvements are part of the NYCHA Permanent Affordability Commitment Together Program, which uses public-private partnerships to transform public housing developments.
"These residents are getting these comprehensively repaired developments," says Jonathan Gouveia, EVP of Real Estate for NYCHA. "They're getting enhanced property management services and they still have the same protections that they had as residents under NYCHA."
More than 1,800 apartments at the Baychester Houses, Murphy Houses and Betances Houses were renovated over the last two years as part of the most recent projects. The effort is a way to improve the quality of life for the residents.
The exterior of the building received new lighting, cameras and landscaping. Major renovations were made inside as well, including the installation of new appliances, flooring and lighting. Doors, elevators and trash systems were also replaced.
"We used to have garbage all over the place, people didn't respect where they lived," says Gross. "It's much, much safer, it's much brighter you know you're able to walk through at night and be able to see where you're going."
New playgrounds and community spaces were also added for residents to enjoy.
Video: https://bronx.news12.com/i-feel-great-my-residents-feel-great-transformation-complete-at-3-nycha-complexes
Opinion: Protect NYC's Small Businesses By Supporting Street Vendors and Brick-and-Mortars Together
City Limits
Feb. 16, 2021
The very heart and soul of New York City is at stake. Small businesses are the backbone of our neighborhoods. Our communities rely on them for information as well as places to connect with neighbors. But right now, brick-and-mortar stores and street vendors alike are seeing a catastrophic drop in income, from 50 to 100 percent in some instances.
In January, the New York City Council took a major step towards creating an equitable system for all small businesses. Intro 1116-B was passed, issuing new mobile food vending permits for the first time since they were capped in 1983, and putting an end to the exploitative underground market, offering meaningful relief during a time when our small businesses need government support to recover from the COVID-19 recession.
There are a lot of myths being circulated about this bill, and today we're setting them straight while highlighting the critical needs of the city's small business ecosystem.
A Diverse Small Business Ecosystem
The recent success of the outdoor dining and open streets initiatives reveals that pedestrians have a preference for city streets activated with people and business offerings. Vibrant commercial corridors in Corona, Queens, consist of a variety of ethnic stores, restaurants, and street vendors that all contribute to the commercial landscape, as evidenced by a survey of over 500 small businesses. Vendors draw people to the streets and sidewalks and encourage customers to spend more time there, which translates into more business for all.
The Jackson Heights Commercial District Needs Assessment (CDNA), released in January 2020, is another study that captures brick-and-mortar and street vendor economic activity in a single corridor. The study revealed that the top three challenges faced by vendors are lack of licenses and permits, fines and tickets, and sanitation— issues that are finally on their way to resolution thanks to Intro 1116-B. Among the surveyed brick-and-mortar merchants, their top three challenges were commercial rent and lease, lack of parking, and property taxes, while 22 percent identified lease support as a need. These pre-pandemic concerns have been exacerbated and need immediate attention.
In fact, there is no evidence that street vendors harm or meaningfully compete with other small businesses. "I think that in a variety of areas, businesses see visible targets, and they focus their policy efforts on their visible targets," said Nicholas Freudenberg, director of CUNY's Urban Food Policy Institute in a recent interview with Gothamist. Vendors are not only integral to the local economy, but that they even help to bring more business to brick-and-mortar stores.
Historically, Vendors Help Foot Traffic
As historian Suzanne Wasserman documented, merchants in the Lower East Side banded together in 1929 to lobby against street vendors. By 1940, however, "the East Side business community, which had fought for ten years to remove the pushcarts, now complained that their removal irreparably damaged their trade." The stores "had severely miscalculated the extent to which their business depended upon that of the pushcarts outside their doors," wrote Wasserman.
City Limits documented a similar experience on Brooklyn's Fulton Street after the vendors there were removed in 2001. Brick-and-mortar businesses claimed that, without the vendors, their sales declined by 20 percent. In addition to drawing customers, and contributing to a vibrant street life, the vendors served a public safety function. "If somebody was in trouble, they'd be the first ones there—even before the cops," said one merchant.
Out of the Shadows
Street vending has been a platform for New Yorkers to survive and thrive in our city for centuries. Vendors are essential workers who ensure our hard-hit neighborhoods have access to fresh, affordable food, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Annually, street vendors generate an estimated $71.2 million in local, state, and federal taxes, and contribute nearly $293 million to the city's economy.
The 1983 cap of 3,000 citywide street vendor permits manufactured a shortage that gave rise to an underground market whereby permits were illegally leased for upwards of $25,000 per permit cycle. Those who were unable to pay the steep price were forced to vend without a permit, risking heavy fines, property confiscation, and the threat of arrest.
A total of 34 City Council members voted in favor of Intro 1116-B, which rolls out structured reform to New York City's street vending system while prioritizing centralized oversight. The first step begins 90 days after Intro 1116-B becomes law with a Street Vendor Advisory Board including vendors, grocery store owners, property owners, and others in the small business community. Together they will review all current vending laws, which has never been done before.
Intro 1116-B consolidates the many vending laws scattered in the administrative code into a dedicated civilian Street Vendor Enforcement Unit which will have authority to enforce vending regulations, and must be instituted before Sept. 1, 2021. In addition to regulating compliance, the unit will focus on creating educational programs for vendors. The Department of Health will continue to enforce Health Code regulations, since food vendors are required to follow the same food safety regulations as restaurants.
Within 10 years, the underground market that steals tens of thousands of dollars from hard-working New Yorkers will be entirely phased out. Intro 1116-B creates a new system of "supervisory licenses" which are connected to an individual, rather than the cart or truck. The supervisory license holder must be present at all times the cart or truck is in operation.
Beginning July 2022, nearly 10 months after the enforcement unit has been instituted, the city will issue the first 400 new "supervisory licenses" per year, and will do so each year for a total of 4,000 over the course of 10 years. Each year, 100 supervisory licenses will be available citywide, serving all boroughs including Manhattan, while 300 supervisory licenses will be for Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Queens only, though they are not designated for specific outer boroughs. All existing and new food vendors will continue to follow the same food safety regulations as restaurants, plus the myriad placement restrictions that ensure proper street vendor-siting.
The new licenses will be distributed to vendors via a priority system based on the Health Department's waiting list (which was closed in 2007). First are currently licensed vendors on the waiting list, followed by individuals on the list regardless of their current status as licensed food vendors. Finally, the Health Department will open the waiting list to all vendors who have been licensed (and therefore most likely working) since 2017. This process will ensure these new opportunities prioritize those who have been waiting for more than a decade, as well as those who have been vending under this unjust system.
Another important component of Intro 1116-B is the opportunities it creates for Military Veterans and Disabled Individuals to become vendors. The bill designates 45 citywide supervisory licenses released per year specifically for veterans and disabled persons starting July 2022.
Intro 1116-B recognizes the important part vendors play in the vibrancy and cultural diversity in our streets by legalizing many vendors that are already operating.
Brick-and-Mortars Need Relief Now
A successful small business ecosystem and a healthy commercial corridor has both thriving vendors and brick-and-mortar stores. For this to be a reality, in addition to Intro 1116-B, brick-and-mortar small businesses need comprehensive relief, without incurring further debt.
Brick-and-mortars have been devastated by having to continue to pay rent during state-mandated closures. Federal and city loan and grant programs have struggled to reach these businesses. Even efforts to remedy this have not accounted for immigrant small business owners who may have limited comfort with English language or technology. Additionally, programs supporting brick-and-mortars to make revenue have been piecemeal. The personal care industry, car repair shops, and laundromats have not benefited from outdoor dining, indoor dining, open retail or open culture.
The economic injustices of 2020 will be felt for years to come. This extraordinary time calls for New Yorkers to unite and fight for our city's survival and repair long broken systems. The following efforts can bring us one step closer preserving our neighborhoods:
Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez is deputy director of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center. Shrima Pandey is the small business program manager at Chhaya Community Development Corporation.
Feb. 16, 2021
The very heart and soul of New York City is at stake. Small businesses are the backbone of our neighborhoods. Our communities rely on them for information as well as places to connect with neighbors. But right now, brick-and-mortar stores and street vendors alike are seeing a catastrophic drop in income, from 50 to 100 percent in some instances.
In January, the New York City Council took a major step towards creating an equitable system for all small businesses. Intro 1116-B was passed, issuing new mobile food vending permits for the first time since they were capped in 1983, and putting an end to the exploitative underground market, offering meaningful relief during a time when our small businesses need government support to recover from the COVID-19 recession.
There are a lot of myths being circulated about this bill, and today we're setting them straight while highlighting the critical needs of the city's small business ecosystem.
A Diverse Small Business Ecosystem
The recent success of the outdoor dining and open streets initiatives reveals that pedestrians have a preference for city streets activated with people and business offerings. Vibrant commercial corridors in Corona, Queens, consist of a variety of ethnic stores, restaurants, and street vendors that all contribute to the commercial landscape, as evidenced by a survey of over 500 small businesses. Vendors draw people to the streets and sidewalks and encourage customers to spend more time there, which translates into more business for all.
The Jackson Heights Commercial District Needs Assessment (CDNA), released in January 2020, is another study that captures brick-and-mortar and street vendor economic activity in a single corridor. The study revealed that the top three challenges faced by vendors are lack of licenses and permits, fines and tickets, and sanitation— issues that are finally on their way to resolution thanks to Intro 1116-B. Among the surveyed brick-and-mortar merchants, their top three challenges were commercial rent and lease, lack of parking, and property taxes, while 22 percent identified lease support as a need. These pre-pandemic concerns have been exacerbated and need immediate attention.
In fact, there is no evidence that street vendors harm or meaningfully compete with other small businesses. "I think that in a variety of areas, businesses see visible targets, and they focus their policy efforts on their visible targets," said Nicholas Freudenberg, director of CUNY's Urban Food Policy Institute in a recent interview with Gothamist. Vendors are not only integral to the local economy, but that they even help to bring more business to brick-and-mortar stores.
Historically, Vendors Help Foot Traffic
As historian Suzanne Wasserman documented, merchants in the Lower East Side banded together in 1929 to lobby against street vendors. By 1940, however, "the East Side business community, which had fought for ten years to remove the pushcarts, now complained that their removal irreparably damaged their trade." The stores "had severely miscalculated the extent to which their business depended upon that of the pushcarts outside their doors," wrote Wasserman.
City Limits documented a similar experience on Brooklyn's Fulton Street after the vendors there were removed in 2001. Brick-and-mortar businesses claimed that, without the vendors, their sales declined by 20 percent. In addition to drawing customers, and contributing to a vibrant street life, the vendors served a public safety function. "If somebody was in trouble, they'd be the first ones there—even before the cops," said one merchant.
Out of the Shadows
Street vending has been a platform for New Yorkers to survive and thrive in our city for centuries. Vendors are essential workers who ensure our hard-hit neighborhoods have access to fresh, affordable food, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Annually, street vendors generate an estimated $71.2 million in local, state, and federal taxes, and contribute nearly $293 million to the city's economy.
The 1983 cap of 3,000 citywide street vendor permits manufactured a shortage that gave rise to an underground market whereby permits were illegally leased for upwards of $25,000 per permit cycle. Those who were unable to pay the steep price were forced to vend without a permit, risking heavy fines, property confiscation, and the threat of arrest.
A total of 34 City Council members voted in favor of Intro 1116-B, which rolls out structured reform to New York City's street vending system while prioritizing centralized oversight. The first step begins 90 days after Intro 1116-B becomes law with a Street Vendor Advisory Board including vendors, grocery store owners, property owners, and others in the small business community. Together they will review all current vending laws, which has never been done before.
Intro 1116-B consolidates the many vending laws scattered in the administrative code into a dedicated civilian Street Vendor Enforcement Unit which will have authority to enforce vending regulations, and must be instituted before Sept. 1, 2021. In addition to regulating compliance, the unit will focus on creating educational programs for vendors. The Department of Health will continue to enforce Health Code regulations, since food vendors are required to follow the same food safety regulations as restaurants.
Within 10 years, the underground market that steals tens of thousands of dollars from hard-working New Yorkers will be entirely phased out. Intro 1116-B creates a new system of "supervisory licenses" which are connected to an individual, rather than the cart or truck. The supervisory license holder must be present at all times the cart or truck is in operation.
Beginning July 2022, nearly 10 months after the enforcement unit has been instituted, the city will issue the first 400 new "supervisory licenses" per year, and will do so each year for a total of 4,000 over the course of 10 years. Each year, 100 supervisory licenses will be available citywide, serving all boroughs including Manhattan, while 300 supervisory licenses will be for Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Queens only, though they are not designated for specific outer boroughs. All existing and new food vendors will continue to follow the same food safety regulations as restaurants, plus the myriad placement restrictions that ensure proper street vendor-siting.
The new licenses will be distributed to vendors via a priority system based on the Health Department's waiting list (which was closed in 2007). First are currently licensed vendors on the waiting list, followed by individuals on the list regardless of their current status as licensed food vendors. Finally, the Health Department will open the waiting list to all vendors who have been licensed (and therefore most likely working) since 2017. This process will ensure these new opportunities prioritize those who have been waiting for more than a decade, as well as those who have been vending under this unjust system.
Another important component of Intro 1116-B is the opportunities it creates for Military Veterans and Disabled Individuals to become vendors. The bill designates 45 citywide supervisory licenses released per year specifically for veterans and disabled persons starting July 2022.
Intro 1116-B recognizes the important part vendors play in the vibrancy and cultural diversity in our streets by legalizing many vendors that are already operating.
Brick-and-Mortars Need Relief Now
A successful small business ecosystem and a healthy commercial corridor has both thriving vendors and brick-and-mortar stores. For this to be a reality, in addition to Intro 1116-B, brick-and-mortar small businesses need comprehensive relief, without incurring further debt.
Brick-and-mortars have been devastated by having to continue to pay rent during state-mandated closures. Federal and city loan and grant programs have struggled to reach these businesses. Even efforts to remedy this have not accounted for immigrant small business owners who may have limited comfort with English language or technology. Additionally, programs supporting brick-and-mortars to make revenue have been piecemeal. The personal care industry, car repair shops, and laundromats have not benefited from outdoor dining, indoor dining, open retail or open culture.
The economic injustices of 2020 will be felt for years to come. This extraordinary time calls for New Yorkers to unite and fight for our city's survival and repair long broken systems. The following efforts can bring us one step closer preserving our neighborhoods:
- Ensure commercial rent relief is included in the State budget and pass A3190/S3349 because commercial tenants cannot be expected to pay the same rent at a time when there is no revenue—it must be a shared responsibility.
- Restore and expand funding for the Commercial Lease Assistance program. This small program has been carrying the weight of assisting with commercial rent negotiations for small businesses who are unable to afford an attorney.
- Pass Commercial Rent Stabilization in the city for a long-term solution to the rent crisis commercial tenants face.
- Pass S6817A in the state legislature to lift the cap on vendor permits and licenses, ending the forced cap on entrepreneurship.
Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez is deputy director of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center. Shrima Pandey is the small business program manager at Chhaya Community Development Corporation.
Wiley Misses Cutoff As Stringer and Adams Score Public Funds In Record-Setting Payout
Gothamist
Feb. 16, 2021
Three New York City mayoral candidates expected to receive public matching funds from the New York City Campaign Finance Board on Tuesday. One did not. The news by omission that mayoral candidate Maya Wiley did not qualify for public matching funds this cycle ran counter to her campaign's expectations after filing her disclosure statement last month.
Eric Adams received $788,443 and Scott Stringer received $1,176,714. These payouts and hundreds of others made to candidates running for City Council, Comptroller, Public Advocate and Borough President, broke a record for the CFB, with more than $37 million dollars going to 124 candidates so far this election cycle.
Since Wiley only launched her campaign last October, achieving the fundraising threshold after just a little more than three months was supposed to help vault her into the top tier of candidates, demonstrating strong support among city residents in a race where more than 40 candidates have set up mayoral campaign committees.
By not receiving this funding, it deals a blow to the campaign's perceived viability and could limit the kind of paid outreach they can do during a campaign season made more complicated by the ongoing pandemic, meaning strategies like campaign ads need to wait.
Nobody knows what a social worker does. That is hurting our students.
Feb. 16, 2021
Three New York City mayoral candidates expected to receive public matching funds from the New York City Campaign Finance Board on Tuesday. One did not. The news by omission that mayoral candidate Maya Wiley did not qualify for public matching funds this cycle ran counter to her campaign's expectations after filing her disclosure statement last month.
Eric Adams received $788,443 and Scott Stringer received $1,176,714. These payouts and hundreds of others made to candidates running for City Council, Comptroller, Public Advocate and Borough President, broke a record for the CFB, with more than $37 million dollars going to 124 candidates so far this election cycle.
Since Wiley only launched her campaign last October, achieving the fundraising threshold after just a little more than three months was supposed to help vault her into the top tier of candidates, demonstrating strong support among city residents in a race where more than 40 candidates have set up mayoral campaign committees.
By not receiving this funding, it deals a blow to the campaign's perceived viability and could limit the kind of paid outreach they can do during a campaign season made more complicated by the ongoing pandemic, meaning strategies like campaign ads need to wait.
Nobody knows what a social worker does. That is hurting our students.
Chalkbeat
Feb. 16, 2021
When I say I'm a social worker, I usually get one of three responses:
"I could never do that kind of job!"
"Why did you choose a career that makes no money?"
"So you take children away."
I've also been asked for help renewing a driver's license and with food stamp applications. People have requested I speak to their troubled child, sibling, or friend because I will instantly know how to solve their problems.
As a social worker in the New York City public school system, I struggle between upholding the Social Work Code of Ethics and doing exactly what I am told by school administrators who typically have a misguided understanding of what my work entails. Instead of applying my skill set — active listening, empathy, and communication that empowers our clients and promote social change — I am ordered to fill in the gaps, from wake-up calls to data entry to disciplining students for dress code violations. I've had to cancel counseling sessions to stand by metal detectors that children are required to go through, to monitor the hallways, or to "watch" a group of suspended students.
I could fill pages with all the jobs I've done that have nothing to do with social work. The rationalization is that any type of human interaction automatically translates into "social work." That's because most people have no idea what a social worker does.
Vanessa Vélez, LMSW, a Bronx native, graduated from Cornell University and Columbia University, and is a firm believer in defying stereotypes and breaking barriers. When she's not busy explaining what a social worker does, she can be found fulfilling her passion helping New York City youth realize their full potential beyond the box society puts them in.
Feb. 16, 2021
When I say I'm a social worker, I usually get one of three responses:
"I could never do that kind of job!"
"Why did you choose a career that makes no money?"
"So you take children away."
I've also been asked for help renewing a driver's license and with food stamp applications. People have requested I speak to their troubled child, sibling, or friend because I will instantly know how to solve their problems.
As a social worker in the New York City public school system, I struggle between upholding the Social Work Code of Ethics and doing exactly what I am told by school administrators who typically have a misguided understanding of what my work entails. Instead of applying my skill set — active listening, empathy, and communication that empowers our clients and promote social change — I am ordered to fill in the gaps, from wake-up calls to data entry to disciplining students for dress code violations. I've had to cancel counseling sessions to stand by metal detectors that children are required to go through, to monitor the hallways, or to "watch" a group of suspended students.
I could fill pages with all the jobs I've done that have nothing to do with social work. The rationalization is that any type of human interaction automatically translates into "social work." That's because most people have no idea what a social worker does.
Vanessa Vélez, LMSW, a Bronx native, graduated from Cornell University and Columbia University, and is a firm believer in defying stereotypes and breaking barriers. When she's not busy explaining what a social worker does, she can be found fulfilling her passion helping New York City youth realize their full potential beyond the box society puts them in.
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