“The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center, a cornerstone of Puerto Rican, Latinx, and multicultural arts in New York’s Lower East Side, proudly announced the commencement of a significant accessibility project. This initiative, which launched on January 6, 2024 during the company’s annual Three Kings Day celebration, marks a historic moment for the 1897-built, six-story, 100,000 square foot building.
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Published January 8, 2024
Today the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), elected officials, education allies, asylum seeking families, and immigrant New Yorkers.
They called to halt the displacement of asylum seekers from shelter mid-winter to navigate an unnecessary and burdensome bureaucratic process to receive a new shelter placement. The coalition held the rally the day before the City’s planned implementation of the 60-day shelter limit, evicting thousands of asylum-seeking families with children currently in Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRC) shelters.
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By Ariama C. Long, January 11, 2024
The New York City council passed bills last December that ban the use of solitary confinement in city jails, a practice that is considered a form of psychological torture with lasting trauma for those incarcerated, and would require the NYPD to publicly report on all police-civilian investigative stops.
The
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By Lincoln Anderson, published December 26, 2023
“In “The Wizard of Oz,” after the Wicked Witch of the West melts, the Munchkins all rejoice by singing, “Ding, dong, the witch is dead!”
Since the famed musical’s lyricist, “Yip” Harburg, went to school at the old P.S. 64, now would be the time, if ever, to sing something similar about Gregg Singer, who for 25 years has played the role of the bad guy, vainly trying to redevelop the former beloved community center.
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Published December 23, 2023
“ICYMI: The New York State Department of Health has ordered Mount Sinai to “immediately stop” the closure of its Beth Israel campus on First Avenue at 16th Street.
Per Gothamist:
“Continuing to close beds without approval is unlawful and may result in civil penalties of $2,000 per day for each day that the beds or services are closed without approval,”
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By Nia Prater, published December 22, 2023
In 2015, after spending two years in isolation on Rikers Island without a trial, Kalief Browder took his own life. His family blamed Browder’s stay in solitary confinement, which they said left him a broken man. His death at age 22 renewed calls to end solitary confinement and, eight years later on Wednesday, the City Council voted to
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By Lincoln Anderson, published December 21, 2023
“Now this is what you call a holiday shopping special!
On Thursday, the School Construction Authority and New York University announced that they have agreed to extend the option up to 13 years for the city to build a public school at the site of the current Morton Williams supermarket in Greenwich Village.
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By Emma G. Fitzsimmons, published December 20, 2023
“New York City banned most uses of solitary confinement in city jails on Wednesday, setting the stage for a showdown between City Council leaders and Mayor Eric Adams, who opposes the ban and has vowed to veto the measure.
The Council vote, 39 to 7, was framed by supporters as a pivotal moment in a national push to make jails more humane.
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By Emma G. Fitzsimmons, published December 18, 2023
“The City Council is expected on Wednesday to approve a bill that would make New York the largest American city to ban solitary confinement in city jails in most cases, part of a national campaign to end a practice that critics say amounts to torture.
The Council’s push to ban solitary confinement has been stalled for years over concerns about staffing shortages and violence against jail workers.
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By Reuven Blau and Katie Honan, published December 20, 2023
More than four years after the death of a transgender woman in solitary on Rikers Island galvanized the nation, the City Council Wednesday passed legislation to strictly limit the use of the punishment that the United Nations has deemed torture.
The 39 to 7 vote, with one abstention, is the culmination of even longer years of advocacy and gives the Council a veto proof majority should Mayor Eric Adams move to block the legislation.
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