One Way To Stop The Rats? Turn Away From Fines
By Crystal Hudson
City Limits, May 14, 2025
If there’s one thing every New Yorker hates, it’s rats. And coming in at a close second is the ubiquitous orange envelope tucked under their windshield wiper or a summons number with a hearing date posted on their door.
We’re a city of dreamers and hustlers; being a New Yorker is synonymous with fighting for one’s goals and not stopping at any cost. But there are times in our relentless pursuit of the New York hustle when we mess up and forget to move our car for the street sweeper or put our trash out too early. That’s when we find ourselves facing fines.
Fines have a place in any modern city. If utilized properly and equitably, they could ensure proper compliance with a number of laws that otherwise would go unheeded. But in some cases, fines unfairly penalize hardworking New Yorkers without fixing the underlying issue.
Rats are a part of the cultural fabric of New York. We have rats of all shapes and sizes: pizza rat, street performer rat (who happens to be a District 35 resident), and inflatable protest rats. We have so many rats that our city had to appoint its very own Rat Czar (who also happens to be a District 35 resident) to help handle our growing crisis. But our city has largely used a single tool to manage a crisis that has spanned generations: fines.
The health department uses fines in an attempt to persuade property owners to enact strong rodent mitigation protocol on their property. But as city data shows, fines alone don’t solve the problem. In Brooklyn, the city issued 63 percent more rodent summonses for the last half of 2023 compared to the first half, but rodent sightings still remain strong.
While fines can help keep tenants safe from hazardous building conditions due to negligent landlords or curb dangerous driving, they aren’t the answer for keeping our rat population down for some smaller properties. A system that centralizes fines ignores two crucial facts about our rodent crisis: rats do not abide by property boundaries and many homeowners are asset rich but cash poor, and do not have the resources to pay for either the fine or the requested intervention.
This means a homeowner could receive a $2,000 fine for a perceived repeated rodent infestation if gnaw marks or rat droppings were identified at a property even if rats just ran by that building and have no burrows nearby. That both dissuades residents from calling 311 for fear of unfairly securing a hefty fine for their neighbors and leads to dissatisfaction with the city’s response to rodent infestations since the problem never gets addressed. (Not to mention that many New Yorkers never even pay their fines, fines are largely levied against Black and brown homeowners, and enforcement sometimes costs more than the city gets back in fines.)
It’s clear that our strategy of relying on sticks alone to solve our rat problem has not worked. Now, the city must instead turn toward carrots and provide solutions rather than punishment. This vision drove us to co-establish the District 35 Rat Task Force, which convenes constituents, block associations, and agency officials to share best practices to address existing rodent infestations and prevent them in the future.
We’ve succeeded in securing funding for rat-proof litter bins, supplemental sanitation services, carbon monoxide treatments, and greater educational materials.There are a number of common sense, non-punitive solutions we can secure to reduce our city’s rat population such as education and advocacy to share best practices and push the city to invest in systems that address the root causes of rodent outbreaks, like easy access to food.
The largest variable in rat infestations is the availability of food. Rats only need an ounce of food per day, and food for a rat could mean anything from litter to dog waste to garbage. Thankfully, our city already has tools to stop this: mandatory curbside composting and residential waste containerization.
We must continue to increase compliance with organics recycling laws and ensure every building separates out organics waste. We must continue expanding our push to containerize all residential waste, including by passing our bill to mandate on-street containers for large residential buildings. And the city should consider tax breaks or other financial benefits for properties that abide by these programs, even if there’s a rat sighting or two, to show property owners that the city understands they’re doing everything in their power to fight back against our growing rat population and thank them for their cooperation.
In a time when trust in government is at a near historic low, we have an opportunity to show New Yorkers what effective governance looks like. Let’s stop focusing on penalizing hard-working New Yorkers and instead invest in solutions that work and support our neighbors who are doing the right thing.
Crystal Hudson is the councilmember for District 35 and submitted this op-ed in coordination with the District 35 Rat Task Force. Established in 2022, the District 35 Rat Task Force is a group of residents who share resources, advocate for policy changes, and organize to stop rodent infestations in Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, and Clinton Hill.
New York is aging. Our workforce better get ready
By Crystal Hudson and Jeremy Kaplan
Crain’s New York Business, April 24, 2025
When Edward Jones, an immigrant with no family in the U.S., began receiving assistance from Autrice Wildman, a case manager at Encore Community Services, in June 2022, his situation was dire. Experiencing advanced macular degeneration, Mr. Jones struggled with depression and even thoughts of suicide as his eyesight faded. He was also grappling with unresolved medical bill disputes, a missing pension, and denial of Home Health Assistance due to his immigration status.
Ms. Wildman was quick to step in, coordinating a comprehensive plan that included mental health support and specialized services for the visually impaired. Today, Mr. Jones has stabilized and continues to receive care while pursuing permanent residency status.
At older adult centers across the city, frontline workers are seeing an increase in demand for vital services. Day-to-day, case managers, like Ms. Wildman, assist clients with a range of needs, including those living with profound mental illness and older New Yorkers experiencing normal aging without the support of family or professional help. Increasingly, staff and volunteers act as ad-hoc caregivers, translators, appointment makers, and therapists.
There is empirical data that demonstrates what service providers witness first-hand daily. According to
a report by the Center for an Urban Future, the share of older adults in New York City requiring care is soaring, and an ad-hoc system is simply not enough. To build a New York that supports healthy and dignified aging, we’ll need to build a sustainable, expert workforce. This will take public investment, philanthropic support, and long-term collaboration from nonprofit organizations and local and state governments.
Since 2000, the population of older New Yorkers has ballooned by 38 percent. And, among these older New Yorkers, poverty is far more common than in their peer groups across the country. They are also far more diverse: 59 percent of New Yorkers age 65 and older identify themselves as other than white. The trend is even more pronounced upstate: Saratoga County’s older adult population experienced a staggering 55 percent increase in a ten-year period.
Simply put, we’re not ready to meet the needs associated with this ongoing and future demographic shift. For example, a survey found that 42 percent of nursing assistants leave a job within a year—and the turnover is 56 percent outside the five boroughs and Long Island. The social and fiscal costs of that churn impact all of us.
The direct care workforce, essential to supporting older adults, will face even more significant challenges in the coming decade. Projections show a rapid increase in demand, with an anticipated addition of 1.3 million new jobs from 2019 to 2029. Long-term care employers are expected to generate 7.4 million job openings in direct care over the same period, highlighting the need to improve the quality of these jobs.
We are observing this phenomenon from multiple perspectives: as a member of the New York City Council and Chair of the council’s Committee on Aging; as an Executive Director of one of New York City’s largest aging nonprofit service providers, Encore Community Services; and as two people who have experience coordinating care for a loved one.
What lessons have we learned about this vital community? First, in recent decades, we’ve seen what not to do. We should not thoughtlessly warehouse older New Yorkers in nursing homes. We should not silo them away. Instead, aging adults should remain in their homes–in the communities they’ve nurtured–whenever possible, supporting their health and independence with first-rate caregiving, medical care, and connections to the community.
New York must invest in a robust aging services workforce to accomplish this. We need to train and hire more case workers, occupational therapists, mental health experts, geriatric medical professionals, and home caregiving workers. We must ensure they are ready to meet the nuanced needs of an aging population, and we must guarantee this workforce dignified labor, including fair pay. Supporting family caregivers with financial assistance and resources is also critical.
This change requires action from all of us: lawmakers who provide public support for older adults to remain healthy and independent for as long as possible; healthcare experts who guide healthy aging; colleges that develop courses to train an expert workforce; and nonprofits that support professional and kin caregivers.
We believe that New York is up to the challenge. Together, we can set a national standard for healthy and dignified aging and create a dynamic workforce in the process.
Crystal Hudson is chair of the New York City Council Committee on Aging and represents District 35 in Central Brooklyn. Jeremy Kaplan is executive director of Encore Community Services, an aging services provider in Manhattan.
By Nantasha Williams, Crystal Hudson, and Kevin Riley
City & State, April 19, 2025
For far too long, the New York City Fire Department has operated as a closed institution, resistant to diversity and plagued by systemic racial and gender bias. Black, brown, and female firefighters have been forced to navigate a culture that repeatedly obstructs their professional advancement, while white male firefighters benefit from an unaccountable and opaque promotional system. The recent $30 million class action settlement – a result of yet another lawsuit exposing FDNY’s discrimination – underscores what many of us have known for decades: this department does not treat firefighters of color fairly.
The facts of this latest lawsuit are damning. More than 300 Black and Hispanic FDNY members alleged that they were repeatedly passed over for promotions in favor of less-qualified white colleagues. The complaint details how leadership’s wide discretion in promotions, special assignments and disciplinary actions has consistently maintained a racial imbalance, making it all but impossible for firefighters of color to rise through the ranks. And while this settlement is a step toward justice, it is nowhere near enough to change the deeply entrenched culture of bias within the department. Without structural oversight and reforms, the FDNY will continue to fail people of color, just as it has for generations.
Despite efforts over the years to improve diversity, the FDNY remains overwhelmingly white and male at its highest levels. This is no accident. The department has resisted change, creating new barriers whenever progress seems possible. Firefighters of color who dare to speak out about racial bias or discrimination are often met with retaliation, hostility and exclusion. The system is designed to protect itself rather than those who serve within it.
This is why the New York City Council must take decisive action to enforce transparency and accountability within the FDNY. That is why the three of us have introduced Int 1197-2025, which would require the commissioner of the city Department of Investigation to conduct an ongoing investigation into the FDNY’s compliance with federal, state and local laws regarding discrimination, harassment and equal employment opportunity.
This legislation would mandate a close examination of how promotions and special assignments are awarded, how complaints are handled and whether retaliation occurs against those who report discrimination. Moreover, it would create a dedicated website where firefighters and other department employees can provide information relevant to the investigation – ensuring that their voices are heard without fear of retribution. The Department of Investigation would then be required to regularly report its findings and recommendations to the mayor and the City Council, creating a level of oversight that has never existed before.
Radically reforming the FDNY’s culture is not just about fairness – it is about making the department stronger, more inclusive and truly reflective of the city it serves. A fire department that prioritizes equity and ensures that promotions are based on merit rather than favoritism will ultimately be better for all New Yorkers. It is unacceptable that in 2025, Black and brown firefighters must still fight to receive the same opportunities as their white counterparts.
This charter revision would fundamentally change the way the FDNY operates, breaking the cycle of discrimination that has denied so many firefighters of color their rightful place in leadership. If we truly believe in equity and justice, we must act now. The status quo is unacceptable, and we cannot allow another generation of firefighters to suffer in silence. It is time to shine a light on the institutional failures of the FDNY and demand the change our city desperately needs.
The flames of injustice have burned for too long. With this legislation, we have the opportunity to finally extinguish them.
Direct cash assistance can help drive down our state’s prison population
By Crystal Hudson and Sandy Nurse
City & State, April 16, 2025
The first days after release can be a period shaped by economic uncertainty and insecurity. People often leave prison with nothing but what they came in with, and sometimes less. For those who do not have outside support, they may be lacking stable housing, food security and the means to care for their family. That can be daunting for those returning from incarceration and puts them in a position where they must decide between going without or risking reincarceration with alternative means of survival.
Currently, people leaving incarceration in New York state receive up to $200, depending on the amount in their commissary, which they then have to stretch to cover transportation, toiletries and food. On top of rapidly dwindling finances, returning individuals have to find employment and housing, which is difficult when they may not be able to afford a phone or clothing suitable for a job interview. Providing the necessary direct support during this vulnerable period is critical to breaking the cycle of recidivism stemming from the lack of direct resources such as financial support.
New York state has an opportunity to lead the nation by passing the Reentry Assistance Bill to provide $425 per month for up to six months to people returning from incarceration. We are proud to champion a city resolution in support of this bill that will support those reuniting with their communities by reducing stigma, eliminating financial stressors and giving them access to resources that help make their transition less daunting.
Considering the dearth of resources and support for people returning from incarceration, it should come as no surprise that at any given time in New York, 40% of formerly incarcerated people experience joblessness and 2,300 people in New York City shelters are on parole or recently released from jail. Nationally, 20% of people returning from incarceration experience food insecurity – double the rate of the general population.
Without immediate support, many people struggle to provide necessities for their families such as housing and food. The stress and pressures to financially provide can lead those who recently returned from incarceration to make impossible decisions for survival, including some that can lead to reincarceration. Essentially, our state’s reentry system (or lack thereof) is setting people up to fail. Providing direct and continual financial support can immediately address basic needs such as food, rent, transportation and clothes, giving returning individuals room to breathe and allowing them to focus energy on securing employment and building stability. This level of assistance is proven to increase job security, which is a leading cause of recidivism.
Research consistently demonstrates the efficacy of investing in reentry services and direct financial support. In April 2020, the Center for Employment Opportunities conceived and implemented the Returning Citizen Stimulus program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In New York, this program distributed $4.34 million in cash assistance to 1,756 people. Nearly half of participants had found secure employment just five months after enrollment.
In addition to the growing body of evidence showing the positive impact of reentry support, direct cash payments are simply cost-efficient. For the same cost of incarcerating one person at Rikers for one year, 218 people could receive $2550 each in reentry assistance – the total amount of assistance per person proposed in the Reentry Assistance Bill. The state Department of Corrections and Community Services’ Fiscal Year 2026 proposed general fund budget is $3.1 billion dollars. With less than 1% of that proposed amount, the Reentry Assistance Bill could fully fund every person returning from incarceration (around 9,500 people).
The Reentry Assistance Bill is the first step in fixing a deeply flawed criminal justice system. We urge state lawmakers to recognize that the months following release are critical, and that we must provide the critical direct support that will ease the difficulty of the transitional return period instead of continuing to punish returning individuals by reducing access to things like secure housing and employment.
Cost of living is one of the most pressing issues New Yorkers face in their daily lives. New York state has a responsibility – not only to returning individuals, but to its taxpayers – to pass and implement the Reentry Assistance Bill. Investing in potential, particularly when people are most vulnerable, is not only a moral imperative but also an economic necessity for a more just and thriving New York.
Crystal Hudson is a New York City Council member representing Council District 35 in Brooklyn. Sandy Nurse is a Council member representing Council District 37 in Brooklyn and the chair of the Council Committee on Criminal Justice.
Op-ed | New York is getting older. Can we keep up?
By Crystal Hudson and Allison Nickerson
Brooklyn Paper, March 10, 2025
New Yorkers are all struggling with soaring costs for rent, groceries, and everyday necessities. It’s harder than ever to make ends meet. But for older adults, many of whom live on fixed incomes, this problem hits much harder.
One in five New Yorkers is over 65. Right now, thousands of our older New Yorkers are forced to make the daily decision between paying for food, healthcare, and rent. Living off of savings, pensions, and fixed incomes that can’t account for increased costs, they face hard choices, especially as supportive funding has been drying up over the past twenty years.
And as funding for services shrinks, the demand only grows more and more desperate: The over-65 segment of the New York City population is projected to grow by 25% by 2040, and without urgent action, more and more older New Yorkers will be pushed out of our city or onto the streets. We are already seeing record numbers of street-homeless older adults and many more on the brink of eviction. For others, they face spiraling healthcare costs, hungry nights without fresh food, or life-threatening social isolation.
While countless older adults across New York are providing invaluable services to their community through volunteerism, caregiving and civic participation, hundreds of thousands of older New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet. Older adults deserve better, and if we change course, a future is possible where all New Yorkers can thrive as they age.
First, the City must reverse the $103 million budget cut from NYC Aging, which threatens to close up to 60 older adult centers throughout the city. These failures have catastrophic consequences for the 1 in 5 people in New York over the age of 65, and their families who rely on these centers for community and socialization that improves their health and quality of life. Every dollar we invest in our older adults is an investment in New York City’s future. We must move forward, not backward.
Next, we must pass the Age in Place legislative package in full. Age in Place lays the groundwork for initiatives that support older New Yorkers financially, physically, and socially. This means we are investing in updating and resourcing important spaces like senior and community centers, guaranteeing home-delivered or congregate meals every day of the week, and other services for older adults.
And finally, the city must ramp up funding for critical social services for older New Yorkers. While the Age in Place legislative package lays the groundwork for many of these initiatives, we need robust funding to ensure every older adult gets access to the services they need. We are calling on the City and Mayor to invest $2.3 billion to meet the funding needs for nutrition, housing, and community services for older adults in NYC.
Older New Yorkers are vital to the fabric of our society, and everyone — not just the privileged few — deserves to age in the communities they have built. We have an opportunity to create a future where older adults continue to engage and support their communities with the services they may need to thrive. The City and Mayor must reverse the deplorable cuts to NYC Aging, pass the Age in Place legislative package, and invest $2.3 billion to address the immediate needs of older New Yorkers, with a focus on housing, food, and community support. It’s time we center the needs of older adults in New York City.
Allison Nickerson is the Executive Director of LiveOn NY and has dedicated her career to enhancing the quality of life of aging populations. Crystal Hudson is the Council Member for New York City’s District 35 in Brooklyn, representing the neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene.
The New York City Council delivers for new moms
By Adrienne Adams and Crystal Hudson
New York Daily News, December 23, 2024
As lawmakers and mothers, we know just how difficult family planning can be, even under the best of circumstances.
But for pregnant women experiencing housing insecurity, poverty, or domestic violence, the resulting stress can have serious consequences on their mental and physical health. They are less likely to receive quality, essential prenatal care — which can result in adverse health conditions during and after pregnancy.
That’s why our women-majority City Council recently announced a groundbreaking initiative to provide city funding for a guaranteed income program for expectant mothers facing housing insecurity — the first municipally-financed unconditional income program in city history.
Guaranteed income programs, which provide unconditional cash assistance to recipients, are an innovative, research-informed approach to help make stability a reality for those facing the greatest challenges and on the brink of falling into further vulnerability.
The Council is pioneering municipal support for guaranteed income programs by partnering with The Bridge Project to support 161 expectant mothers, demonstrating how this intervention can change lives.
The stabilizing impact of unconditional income support for mothers is critical to their health and the fight against child poverty. According to The Bridge Project, 90% of their participants in prior cohorts reported improvements in their mental health and stress levels after receiving just one payment. Nearly two-thirds of past participants who lived in transitional housing moved into permanent housing within nine months of their first payment.
This pilot program is critical because studies show that the first 1,000 days of a newborn’s life are paramount to their development and set a pivotal foundation for the rest of their lives. Infants born into homelessness begin to show signs of developmental delay and emotional problems by 18 months. They are more likely to experience adverse health conditions, have poor nutrition, and attend fewer medical appointments.
Currently, more than 1,400 babies are born into our city’s shelter system each year. A guaranteed income program that supports mothers experiencing or on the verge of homelessness can help prevent this outcome and ensure mothers and their children have the resources they need to live healthy, successful lives.
Mothers have complete discretion over how they use the funds — from rent and child care to groceries, diapers, and strollers — because the needs of families are unconditional and unique.
This Council consists of not just mothers, but also grandmothers, expectant mothers, and those supporting spouses through pregnancy. We know it’s crucial to prioritize the health of women, children, and families.
The Council has taken action to confront the maternal mortality public health emergency, passing laws to provide free doula care in underserved communities and establishing postpartum support groups to help mothers during and after pregnancy.
We committed $1 million to provide access to abortion and reproductive health care for those in need of financial assistance — the largest municipal funding commitment of any city in the nation.
In 2022, we also established CUNY Reconnect to help working-age New Yorkers who left school without their degrees to return to school and advance their earning potential. As of this fall, the program has helped more than 40,000 students re-enroll, the majority of whom are women and people of color.
These policies and investments ensure working-class women and people of color can access quality health care, growth opportunities, and the support they need to thrive, including if they choose to start a family.
We don’t just talk about supporting the working people of our city, we deliver with concrete solutions.
As policymakers, we recognized the potential of direct guaranteed income as an effective tool to advance this mission. It is also the type of program that can help other New Yorkers facing the most challenging circumstances — such as youth transitioning from foster care, shelter, and other systems — attain stability and opportunities for self-sufficiency and success.
There is much more our city must do to extend the impact of this work. Our first historic investment into a guaranteed income program can be a model for our city to extend life-changing assistance to other New Yorkers whom policies have historically and systematically overlooked.
These programs provide more than just flexibility and immediate assistance to those who receive them. They also offer hope, stability, and a foundation for economic mobility.
Our city should be investing more deeply in these types of evidence-based solutions that meet the needs of New Yorkers seeking pathways to success.
Adams is speaker of the New York City Council. Hudson is a co-chair of the Council’s Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus and represents parts of Brooklyn.
Dear Mayor: Clinton Hill Calls For a Town Hall on Emergency Shelters
Brooklyn Reader, May 7, 2024
Dear Mayor Adams,
March 2022 was a moment of reckoning for our city. Witnessing an immense surge in asylum-seeking people from around the globe arriving in the five boroughs, The New York Times dubbed Midtown’s Roosevelt Hotel the “New Ellis Island.” Today, just over two years later, almost 200,000 people — primarily from Central and South America and Western Africa — have made their way to our city in search of a more prosperous and dignified future. Yet, upon arriving, asylum seekers are forced to face an increasingly complicated and hostile procedural system—one that is failing both our new neighbors and our established communities alike.
Asylum seekers are told to go to the Roosevelt Hotel for intake and to receive assistance navigating available government services. There, they are promised a bed at either the hotel or a shelter somewhere in the city. However, reporting indicates many people were forced to spend hours waiting before being assigned a room. And in many reported instances, people were forced to sleep on the city’s sidewalks without receiving any form of municipal assistance. Be sure, the implications of this nascent issue reverberate well beyond midtown.
In the district I represent, roughly 4,000 people have been sent to a NYC Health + Hospitals operated Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center (HERRC) on Hall Street. Since the opening of this HERRC and other respite centers, New Yorkers across the city have worked diligently to accommodate the needs of their new neighbors.
In my district alone, community partners like BKLYN Combine, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), and One Love Community Fridge have coalesced to collect donations ranging from clothes and canned food to toiletry items and backpacks full of care packages to provide for the single men at the HERRC on Hall Street and later for the families at the shelter on Park Avenue. Local businesses and nonprofits, through their many partnerships with restaurants and distributors, have also opened their doors and asked how they can be of assistance to new arrivals and the community writ-large, with some donating food and providing material support to those in need. Local residents have also organized to hand out free meals and provide sorely needed translation services.
My office has joined these efforts, working tirelessly with extremely limited resources to provide support for both our new neighbors and the communities in which they now reside. To date, my team and I have:
● Held a months-long clothing and supplies drive in fall and winter 2022, in collaboration with the Brooklyn Academy of Music, to support newly arrived migrants across District 35 and personally delivered those donations to families in need;
● Promoted a mutual aid asylum seeker support drive that called for new toiletry items and bedding in collaboration with Gowanus Mutual Aid and Clinton Hill-Fort Greene Mutual Aid in summer 2023;
● Signed an August 2023 letter from Governor Hochul to President Biden calling on the federal government to expedite work authorizations for all asylum seekers and provide the state and city with funding to guarantee our ability to continue providing housing assistance, healthcare and human services, and educational support among myriad other services that ensure a person’s right to a dignified existence;
● Rallied with the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) and advocates to demand federal support and immigration relief for long-term and new New Yorkers;
● Organized a Resource Fair at the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Building 77 in November 2023 to provide a number of services, including immigration support, housing/tenant aid, legal support, IDNYC Mobile Van, older adult services, and free clothing giveaways, to more than 500 new arrivals;
● Facilitated the removal of abandoned vehicles along Hall Street and near the HERRC that became hazardous hangout spots in coordination with the Department of Sanitation, Department of Transportation, and the NYPD after receiving multiple complaints;
● Arranged two walk-throughs of the HERRC in the second half of 2023 with Hall Street residents, city agency representatives, Brooklyn Community Board 2 representatives, and RXR staff to allow residents to communicate concerns and speak directly to those empowered to address them;
● Allocated nearly $200,000 in limited discretionary expense funds in FY24 (July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024) toward supplemental sanitation services, including clean ups near the HERRC;
● Conducted monthly street sweeping clean-up events under the BQE near the HERRC in coordination with the Department of Sanitation and ACE Programs for the Homeless; and
● Coordinated with NYC Health + Hospitals, which oversees the Hall Street HERRC, to address the community on a quarterly basis, and establish a dedicated email address to facilitate community suggestions and concerns (HallStreetHERRCFeedback@nychhc.org).
And we’re not done yet. In the coming months, my team and I will:
● Organize a second Resource Fair with dozens of community-based organizations and a vaccine bus;
● Renew funding for supplemental sanitation services in District 35 for FY25, targeting the area around the Hall Street HERRC;
● Introduce legislation to increase community notification requirements for the siting of all migrant-related facilities — including those operated by NYC Health + Hospitals, the Office of Emergency Management, and the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations — so communities are made aware of changes in real-time;
● Host monthly meetings with local residents to understand ongoing quality of life issues and establish a plan to address them;
● Write a letter to the New York Congressional Delegation urging them to work with President Biden to enhance financial support for New York City and expedite work authorization approval for all asylum seekers, including those from West African nations, the Caribbean and beyond;
● Urge your administration to establish a long-term plan for the care and support of asylum seekers in our city, including steps to address persistent quality of life issues in and around HERRCs and expand co-located support services for asylum seekers, prior to any discussion of a contract renewal for a HERRC.
Despite our shared efforts, the reality is that an influx in the population requires an increase in the resources our communities need. More people means more trash, greater use of public facilities like parks, and more neighborly disputes around issues like noise or loitering. My office and my neighbors have been asking for your assistance for the better part of a year to no avail. I have a team of six. You have a team of nearly 1,300 (not to mention the 350,000 employees working under you across all agencies). I have an annual office budget of $521,000 and a discretionary expense budget of a little more than $2 million that I can use to support nonprofits and city agencies. You have an office budget of $177 million.
Why is it, then, that since placing a HERRC at Hall Street, my community — including our new arrivals — has seen no material support from City Hall? My team and I have tried to schedule a Town Hall meeting with you and your senior leadership, including by filling out your recently mandated elected official engagement form, to discuss how best to address emerging challenges and support asylees in my district, but have been met with no tangible follow-up or firm commitment to even hosting a meeting.
Your administration’s persistent passing of the buck to federal and state officials has meant my office and constituents have had to step up, using our limited resources to address an issue of city-wide and national importance. But we simply do not have access to some vital services, namely translation services for languages predominantly spoken by Black migrants (e.g. Wolof, Fula, Malinké, Pulaar, Mandinka, and Bambara) and wraparound support services for those in dire financial straits who are resorting to panhandling. In FY24, your administration refused to re-fund the Language Access Initiative: Interpreter Bank and Worker Cooperatives that would have provided the city critically needed language access support. And despite the respite center opening in July 2023, my office has been the sole point of culturally competent contact for community members until two months ago.
We know the services and programs my office and our community have provided are nowhere near sufficient. We are fighting symptoms, not root causes, because we have neither the jurisdictional authority nor the financial resources to do so.
Yes, we need significantly more funding from the state and federal governments to meet the growing need. Yes, we need Congress to reform our immigration system, and, more urgently, they need to expand work authorization to more countries so more migrants can work and move out of shelters. And yes, we need a national settlement strategy for asylum seekers coming to our country. And I have made all of this clear in the aforementioned letter to President Biden that I signed onto with the Governor’s leadership.
But our city has resources. You have added an additional $2.2 billion to your FY25 Executive Budget, but there is still, conservatively, at least $1 billion remaining in unallocated revenue that you can utilize to support vital city services––like our libraries, cultural organizations, CUNY, and older adult centers––as well as new arrivals and local communities. We can use the unallocated $1 billion the Council identified, as well as the recently earmarked $3 billion in the New York State FY25 budget, to (1) pay for more routine services in and around HERRCs including sanitation, legal services, mental health support, and workforce development, (2) restore cuts to and enhance the Parks Department’s Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP) program to maintain and enforce rules in local parks, or (3) to expand service and program offerings to our neighbors in need. These are initiatives that can help integrate new arrivals into their communities if done right.
As the one responsible for addressing the influx of our asylum seeking neighbors, you have the unique authority and ability to ensure the seamless integration of new arrivals into our communities. While some measures may be out of your control and in the hands of our partners in Washington, D.C. and Albany, you can and must do better by my constituents — new and long-time residents alike. And I am a willing partner. I am asking you, on behalf of my community, to commit to co-hosting a Town Hall within 30 days of the date of this letter with all relevant agencies and contractors in charge of the management and operation of the Hall Street HERRC and recently opened shelter on Ryerson Street, as well as the Department of Sanitation, the Department of Parks & Recreation, and other city agencies who can help to the address quality of life issues my constituents are facing.
We need sustained leadership now more than ever. Let’s work together and use the innovation and ingenuity of our city’s municipal workforce to make New York City the home we know it can be to current New Yorkers and those seeking refuge and asylum alike.
Supporting our older neighbors in the New York City budget
By Adrienne Adams, Crystal Hudson & Beth Finkel
amNY, June 1, 2023
The number of older adults in New York City is soaring.
A recent report by the Center for an Urban Future highlights the trends shaping this massive demographic shift. New York City’s 65-and-older age group grew by 36 percent over the past decade. New Yorkers ages 50 and older comprise nearly one-third of the City’s population. Even more striking, the number of older adults living below the poverty line has increased by 37 percent.
These realities call for increased material support for our older neighbors.
However, the Mayor’s proposed budget falls well short of making the needed investments that allow us to ensure our parents, grandparents and other loved ones can live safely and with dignity in the city they call home as they age. The Council is united in efforts to close these gaps in funding.
Despite serving as linchpins to our city’s economy and cultural life, and making up the city’s biggest volunteer base, our older New Yorkers have been left to struggle. More than half spend too much of their income on housing. One in ten is food insecure. And because of the prohibitively expensive cost of medication, too many go without life-saving prescriptions.
Crystal’s Corner: Land Use by the People, for the People
Brooklyn Paper, April 28, 2023
Take a moment to imagine yourself standing in the middle of Downtown Brooklyn or Williamsburg or Prospect Heights. Look around. The overbearing luxury glass towers – residential, commercial, or both — beaming into the skyline, likely make up part of what you see. Ten, twenty years ago, these buildings weren’t there. Their blueprints likely didn’t even exist.
Yet, their ubiquitous presence today has undoubtedly reshaped entire neighborhoods and, in most cases, offered the communities in which they were built very little in return. So, how did we get to the point where huge projects spring up quicker than we’re able to keep track of them? And why do our communities play only a cursory role in the decision-making process, if they get the chance to participate at all?
Our Communities Need Fair Pay for Home Care Work; Albany Leaders Must Hear Them
Co-Authored with Bobbie Sackman, Gotham Gazette, April 18, 2023
For the first time in United States history, a president has declared April as Care Workers Recognition Month. Making the announcement, President Biden stated, “Care workers help raise our children, assist seniors as they age with dignity, and support people with disabilities.” Despite this, care workers remain among our nation’s least recognized heroes.
Today, home care workers are some of the lowest-paid workers in the country and routinely face harsh working conditions. Countless providers are forced to hold multiple jobs and overwhelmingly rely on public assistance programs. One in four home care workers lives under the federal poverty line. In an industry comprised primarily of women, particularly women of color, the impact of this chronic underpayment widens gender and racial pay gaps, and tangibly undermines the wellbeing of our communities.
Crystal’s Corner: This Women’s History Month, we deserve action on reproductive rights
Brooklyn Paper, March 30, 2023
The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last spring left the vast majority of the nation lurching. In the weeks after the decision was leaked to the press, we were forced to grapple with the reality that an unelected, undemocratic body could inflict such harsh consequences on our communities and scrambled to continue delivering necessary abortion and reproductive care to all who needed it.
The Dobbs decision left us in “a different world.” It made clear that long established legal protections can readily be struck down, and it dangerously undermined our faith in an institution meant to safeguard the very democratic principles this nation supposedly holds so high. More than that, the Dobbs decision showed us that the fight for reproductive justice––one where the struggle for racial equality, gender equity, and economic liberation converge to underscore the plight of Black women, Black LGBTQIA+ folks, and poor and working class people across the country, in particular––has not yet been won.
Brooklyn Paper, February 28, 2023
From 2010 to 2020, New York City saw a 9% decline in its Black population. In just the last decade, the District I represent – which includes the neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and Bed-Stuy – has experienced a 20% loss in its Black population. In neighboring communities across the city, the same housing and affordability crisis wreaking havoc in traditionally Black neighborhoods is actively undermining the wellbeing of all poor and working class communities across the five boroughs.
In the last two decades, the city and state have taken outwardly hostile stances toward our most vulnerable tenants and moderate and low-income homeowners, worsening economic strain and deepening housing instability. Understanding, then, the mechanisms driving the affordability crisis and enacting meaningful solutions––those that adequately address the material needs of our most vulnerable neighbors — is critical.
Crystal’s Corner: Accountability matters. Why do we exempt the worst landlords?
Brooklyn Paper, January 20, 2023
Every New Yorker knows there are a handful of fundamental truths about living in the greatest city in the world: Times Square should be avoided at all costs, we have the best bagels, and your landlord is probably terrible. Horror stories of persistent leaks, ceiling collapses, and rodent infestations are all too common. To be clear, big, corporate landlords with several multi-unit buildings are disproportionately the problem, not smaller independent landlords who rely on rental incomes to get by.
Op-Ed | Crystal’s Corner: 311 is good. We’re better.
Brooklyn Paper, December 23, 2022
Crystal’s Corner is a monthly column written by New York City Council Member Crystal Hudson (District 35), Chair of the Committee on Aging.
I’m as local as it gets. My team and I see it all, and more: Noise complaints. Evictions. Alternate-side parking. Public safety. Sanitation. Our mission, since we’ve been in office together, is to make city government and its resources more accessible, reliable, and responsive to the needs of all our neighbors.
Consider Ms. Mobley. At ninety-six years old, she’s lived in Fort Greene for more than seven decades. After living in the same apartment all those years, she decided it was time to downsize. Moving around her home was difficult, and getting to her appointments became taxing. Yet, Ms. Mobley remains an independent woman, continuing to do the things that keep her happy, healthy, and thriving. She came to us seeking something that is too frequently denied to older New Yorkers across the five boroughs, and that is the opportunity to age in place affordably, with dignity and comfort in the city we call home.
Op-Ed: New York City isn’t ready for its aging population
New York Daily News, September 15, 2022
Our city’s affordability crisis knows no bounds. Its effects are not only unquestionably tangible today but also a harbinger of crises to come. Presently, skyrocketing rents undermine the health and wellbeing of our communities, forcing scores of long-time residents out of the neighborhoods they’ve long called home and making our city uninhabitable for the millions of poor and working class, Black and Brown New Yorkers continually pushed into the margins of society. But have you considered the effects this crisis has on older New Yorkers — those living on a fixed income, those with mobility limitations or chronic illness, those living close to the loved ones that care for them, or those who simply want to age in place in the comfort of their own homes?
Op-Ed: NYC’s homecare workers need care too
New York Daily News, March 6, 2022
Imagine spending two hours on a bus and sitting on three subway trains twice a day to get to your job. Once you get there, you work for 24 hours straight but only get paid for 13 because of an archaic state law. And you’re forced to go into work during a global pandemic even if you’re not feeling well. Odds are you’d likely join the millions of workers who are voluntarily quitting their jobs and try your luck finding a new one. But many workers don’t have that choice.