Jun. 22, 2023 By Ethan Stark-Miller Amid a push to further crackdown on illicit cannabis sales, the City Council on Thursday unanimously passed a bill barring landlords from knowingly leasing commercial space to stores that sell unlicensed marijuana or tobacco products. The legislation, sponsored by Council Member Lynn Schulman (D-Queens), overwhelmingly passed the council…
Tag: City Council
Compelled to compost: City Council supermajority passes mandatory food waste bill, likely conflicting with mayor’s voluntary program
Jun. 9, 2023 By Ethan Stark-Miller
The City Council wasted no time Thursday in overwhelmingly passing legislation that, if enacted, would mandate New Yorkers citywide to separate food scraps and other organic refuse from the rest of their trash.
City Hall beef: Mayor Adams blasts Comptroller Lander for not traveling to DC to lobby feds for migrant crisis help
Jun. 8, 2023 By Ethan Stark-Miller Mayor Eric Adams tore into city Comptroller Brad Lander Thursday, criticizing the city’s chief bean counter for not traveling to Washington D.C. to push the feds to provide more migrant crisis support. During the tirade, Hizzoner said Lander, who’s frequently criticized the mayor’s handling of the migrant crisis,…
Op-ed | Housing as a human right begins with Right to Counsel
Jun. 7, 2023 By Shaun Abreu & Shekar Krishnan
One of our city’s most important and effective tenant protections is in the midst of a funding crisis, and low-income New Yorkers are suffering the consequences.
Op-ed | Fair Fares makes public transit affordable for New Yorkers in need. Let’s expand it.
Jun. 7, 2023 By Selvena N. Brooks-Powers & Reverend Dr. Margaret Elaine M. Flake New York is expensive. Half of the City’s households cannot comfortably afford to live here. These New Yorkers are struggling to pay for the essentials, like housing, food, healthcare, and transportation. We believe in our shared responsibility to help our neighbors…
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AAPI groups rally at Queens Borough Hall, call for ‘fair, inclusive and equitable budget’ to uplift needs of the growing community
May. 11, 2023 By Carlotta Mohamed Members of several diverse AAPI groups rallied outside of Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens on Wednesday, May 10, calling on the City Council to adopt a “fair, inclusive and equitable budget” that uplifts the needs of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) New Yorkers. The groups are part…
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Mayor’s proposed budget cuts could cause ‘hurting’ agencies to ‘bleed out’: Speaker Adams
Apr. 27, 2023 By Ethan Stark-Miller
On the heels of Mayor Eric Adams dropping his $107 billion executive budget for the coming fiscal year, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said Thursday that many city agencies are “hurting” and proposed cuts in the mayor’s plan would continue to cause them to “bleed out.”
City Council petitioning could face delays over suit alleging redistricting carved up Queens Asian communities
Feb. 24, 2023 By Ethan Stark-Miller
Petitioning for this year’s City Council elections, set to start next week, could now be delayed due to a lawsuit filed on Friday by a legal defense group on behalf of Asian American communities in south Queens that seek to alter the new council maps adopted during last year’s redistricting.
City Council passes Queens lawmaker’s resolution calling on DOE to establish Diwali as public school holiday
Feb. 20, 2023 By Carlotta Mohamed The City Council on Thursday, Feb. 16 voted to pass Councilwoman Linda Lee’s resolution to call upon the NYC Department of Education to establish Diwali as an official holiday for public school students. “In recognition of the 1.1 million Asian American Pacific Islanders who call New York City home,…
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Mayor, speaker at odds over Hizzoner’s request to halve the council’s discretionary funds amid migrant crisis
Dec. 21, 2022 By Ethan Stark-Miller Mayor Eric Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (no relation) are at odds over the mayor’s suggestion that the council cut its nearly $600 million discretionary budget in half as a means of fiscal belt-tightening amid the growing expense of the migrant crisis currently engulfing the Big Apple…. Read more »