Good riddance to 2020.
This pandemic year has taught us many lessons. Some haven’t been so bad: we’ve learned how to bake, use Zoom, and found exquisite corners of Prospect Park we didn’t know existed.
Other lessons have been far harder: How to apply for unemployment. How to mourn together without hugs.
Many were lessons that it shouldn’t have taken a pandemic for us to learn: To tip delivery workers generously and in cash.
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NEW YORK – Council Member Brad Lander welcomed the announcement today of the suspension of middle school admissions screens and high school district priority.
“This is a huge and important step towards fairness and integration in our schools, and fundamentally necessary this year to mitigate the inequalities of pandemic school,” said Council Member Brad Lander. “All too often admissions screens measure access to resources far more than ability, furthering segregation and inequality in our public schools.
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The New York City Council voted today on two pieces of legislation to give just cause protections to fast food workers in NYC. Introductions 1415 and 1396 will require fast food chains with more than 30 stores nationally to implement fair termination and progressive discipline policies.
Said Council Member Brad Lander:
“Fast food workers have been on the frontlines of this pandemic, serving their neighbors, working in tight quarters, taking on new responsibilities for sanitizing, and yet often unable to speak up about health and safety issues for fear of losing their jobs.
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Most of the conversation about rezonings tends to focus on new residential and commercial development. How tall will the buildings be? What uses will be allowed? How much of the housing will be affordable, and to whom? And those questions matter a lot, of course.
But that means we don’t usually spend enough time focusing on the infrastructure —
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But even with more opportunities to perform and renewed pandemic unemployment assistance (and hopefully stimulus checks too), it’s going to take a lot more to help artists get back on their feet and to revive art and culture in NYC.
I’m voting no today on the Flushing Rezoning. Organizing by community groups and labor unions, and leadership from my colleagues, has made the proposal better. And many of its shortcomings reflect broader failures of our land-use process. But it still does not meet the standards we should be setting for broadly-shared, equitable, and sustainable growth.
Council Member Brad Lander released the following statement following the City Council Zoning Subcommittee’s vote to amend and approve the application for 312 Coney Island Avenue on December 7, 2020:
“I share the frustration of many New Yorkers with a planning process that too often presents communities with reactive choices rather than including them in the process of shaping their neighborhoods.
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If I’m being fully honest, I’m struggling this Thanksgiving. I’m usually pretty good at finding the bright side of things. I love being with Meg and Marek and Rosa, and we have blessings beyond measure. But amidst this lonely holiday, without my parents and sister and nieces and nephews, without our silly traditions, and our serious ones…I’m finding it a lot harder than usual to lean into my gratitude practice.
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“It is a massive failure of leadership to have allowed our schools to close before we got a handle on the virus spreading in indoor restaurants, bars, and gyms, worship and other gatherings. Schools should be the last things to close, not the first.
“The Governor and Mayor’s ego-battles over making decisions about our schools have thrown families and educators into chaos on a daily basis.
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“We must get our priorities straight. Schools are essential spaces for learning, community building, and services for all of our students. They should not be the first thing to close as the second wave of COVID-19 cases rise around our city.
“Prioritizing schools means closing indoor dining, gyms, offices, and even non-essential retail before we close the schools.
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