February 2, 2023
Today, the New York City Council unanimously approved the fourth bill in Council Member Crystal Hudson’s Age in Place NYC legislative package, which aims to address systemic issues facing older New Yorkers across the five boroughs.
As passed, Int. 676 — introduced by Council Member Hudson along with Council Members Linda Lee, Lynn Schulman, and Kristen Richardson Jordan — would require the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to develop a list of universal design features and require a developer who receives City financial assistance incorporate universal design elements in all dwelling units in a new housing development project. The bill would also require HPD to produce a report on the universal design list, which HPD would post on its website.
Universal design for housing is defined as the process of designing an apartment or house so that it is accessible for everyone, regardless of age, physical ability or stature.
January 19, 2023
Today, the New York City Council unanimously approved the first three bills in Council Member Crystal Hudson’s Age in Place NYC legislative package. Council Member Hudson unveiled the Age in Place NYC legislative package in September 2022. The package aims to address systemic issues facing older New Yorkers from housing insecurity to general City-wide accessibility and bolstering cultural competency and programming at older adult centers (OACs) across the five boroughs. The legislation passed the Council by a vote of 50-0-0.
January 10, 2023
On Tuesday, January 10, New York City Board of Correction will hold a meeting regarding proposed changes to Minimum Standard §§ 1-11(e)(1)(i) and 1-12(a)––variances establishing correspondence and package delivery policies in City jails. The proposed variances would drastically change the Department’s mail system by requiring all mail be sent to an off-site facility to then be scanned in order for it to be read exclusively on tablets by people in custody and require any packages be sent directly from a limited list of vendors.
Ahead of today’s meeting, Council Members Hudson and Rivera sent a letter to the City’s Board of Correction making clear their opposition to these proposed changes and urging the Board to reject them. The letter, found here, was signed by 16 Council Members from across the five boroughs.
December 21, 2022
Slashing funding from vital City resources while simultaneously gutting the agencies that offer our neighbors care and support is wholly irresponsible and negligent.
The proposed cuts in the Administration’s November Financial Plan and budget modification are illustrative of a Mayor more concerned about waging political battles than truly getting stuff done.
Despite IBO projecting a $2.2 billion surplus for this fiscal year and the federal government announcing that New York City will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for asylum seekers, the Mayor has turned to his favorite tactic of cutting funding and stoking fear with xenophobic dog whistles.
Statement from NYC Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus
December 20, 2022
As the New York City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, we unequivocally condemn the recent homophobic and transphobic attacks on members of our Caucus.
In recent months, the majority of our Caucus’ members have experienced direct homophobic attacks, online and in-person. A number of our members and Council allies have also faced antagonistic protests outside of their homes and district offices where bigoted protesters called them “groomers” and “pedophiles” after their personal information was published online.
These incidents underscore the importance of the LGBTQIA+ community’s continued struggle for equity and justice in a world that so frequently and blatantly disregards our humanity. These hateful attacks are not isolated but rather patterned and indicative of the violent prejudices still alive and well in the United States. You need only to turn your attention to the countless laws in state legislatures nationwide undermining the health, safety, and wellbeing of trans youth, Congress’ failure to pass legislation protecting LGBTQIA+ folks from discrimination, the thousands of tweets posted daily calling for physical harm to queer people, or the senseless shooting of 30 folks – five of whom were killed – in Colorado Springs just last month as proof.
October 20, 2022
This morning, Council Member Crystal Hudson joined the family of Eudes Pierre for a street co-naming ceremony in his honor. On Monday, December 20th, 2021, Mr. Pierre, a Crown Heights resident, was killed by the New York Police Department (NYPD) when they responded to a 911 call that Mr. Pierre was suffering from a mental health crisis. To commemorate his life, Council Member Crystal Hudson joined his family, community leaders, and elected officials in unveiling Eudes Pierre Way on the southwest corner of Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue, the site of his death.
“Eudes Pierre’s death could have been prevented,” said Council Member Crystal Hudson. “Suffering from a mental health crisis, Eudes needed the help of specially trained professionals. With today’s co-naming it’s my hope that our entire community holds his memory close and works toward achieving alternative solutions to our failed overreliance on the NYPD to address mental health crises. This is an issue that extends beyond the neighborhood of Crown Heights, and Mr. Pierre’s family has been at the forefront of ensuring that their loss can be a lesson never to be repeated in our City.”
October 7, 2022
Today, Council Member Crystal Hudson, co-chair of the New York City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, along with members of the Caucus, general body, and representatives from organized labor and LGBTQIA+ activist organizations announced the launch of the Pride at Work Initiative.
Under the leadership of Council Member Hudson and the LGBTQIA+ Caucus, the Council agreed to create a new budget initiative for Fiscal Year 2023 that aims to get more LGBTQIA+ people into unionized jobs. It is the first such partnership to be publicly funded nationwide. The initiative, funded at $501,000 for FY23, was included in the September 29, 2022 Transparency Resolution.
Press Release: Council Member Crystal Hudson to Introduce #AgeInPlaceNYC Legislative Package
September 13, 2022
Tomorrow, Council Member Crystal Hudson will introduce the #AgeInPlaceNYC Legislative Package at the City Council’s Stated meeting. The ten-bill package includes legislation aimed at combating some of the most pressing issues facing older adults, including housing insecurity, healthcare access, cultural competency, and accessibility. Council Members Lynn Schulman, Kristen Richardson Jordan, Linda Lee, Alexa Avilés, Gale Brewer, Julie Menin, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Tiffany Cabán, and Christopher Marte have joined Council Member Hudson in sponsoring some or all of this package.
August 11, 2022
On Thursday, the New York City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus will introduce legislation aimed at combating the monkeypox outbreak in New York City. This package — the first major legislative push by a municipality to address the monkeypox virus — will require the City to create a robust monkeypox response plan, establish an equity-based education and outreach strategy, ensure adequate vaccine access for communities most at risk of contracting the virus, strengthen monkeypox data reporting, and establish a permanent infectious disease vaccine scheduling portal. All seven members of the LGBTQIA+ Caucus — Council Members Hudson, Cabán, Bottcher, Jordan, Schulman, Ossé, and Carr — are introducing the legislation.
June 16, 2022
The following statement may be attributed to the New York City Council LGBTQIA+ Caucus and/or its co-chairs, Council Members Crystal Hudson and Tiffany Cabán:
“The recent comments made by Council Member Vickie Paladino (District 19) are unacceptable from anyone, let alone an elected official. They are full of hate, intolerance, and ignorance. As Co-Chairs of the City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, we condemn and denounce Council Member Paladino’s bigoted comments and call for her to be removed from her committee assignments and formally censured.
Drag Story Hour NYC is a wonderful, wholesome, and vital program that invites our children to explore who they really are, to see themselves as unique individuals with the right to be whoever they are in the world. It shows queer youth and their peers alike that each of our existence is valid – that we all belong.
We are part of a City striving to become more just and equitable, with members of a governing body committed to making our democratic institutions more accessible, representative, and compassionate. Our constituents are diverse, and our communities are vibrant. Yet, across the five boroughs, our LGBTQIA+ neighbors routinely face the threat of violence in a City that has paved the way for our struggle for queer liberation. Statements like those made by Council Member Paladino only intensify that threat and make our city less safe.
We know what keeps our cities safe — investing in programs like Drag Story Hour NYC that gets at the root causes of hate and reduces the likelihood of violence down the road. Drag Story Hour NYC is not only a great educational program, it is an important piece of public safety infrastructure.
We urge the Council to take immediate action by censuring this member and removing her from her committee assignments. This is not an issue of ideological differences, but a question of our collective belief in all New Yorkers’ right to an existence free from discrimination.”
June 15, 2022
Council Member Crystal Hudson will introduce legislation at tomorrow’s City Council Stated Meeting that offer greater oversight of the NYPD and support affordable housing across the five boroughs.
The three bills introduced today by Council Member Hudson work to address long-standing issues facing New Yorkers. The first bill will increase police transparency by mandating the NYPD regularly provide data on New Yorkers who do not consent to police searches. It includes language to require reporting on denials of forensic sample collection and the use of interpretation services. Using this data, advocates and lawmakers can identify which populations may be unaware of their rights during a police stop and bolster City resources aimed at informing those populations of their rights. This package also supports tenants seeking affordable housing by providing minimum standards and greater transparency for the lottery process while also requiring the City to study how to better preserve rent-stabilized housing.
Press Release: Council Member Crystal Hudson Votes To Approve FY23 Budget
June 13, 2022
This evening, the City Council voted to adopt the New York City budget for Fiscal Year 2023, with Council Member Crystal Hudson voting in the affirmative.
As a member of the Council’s Budget Negotiating Team, Council Member Hudson was instrumental in securing nearly $1.1 billion in additional funding, including deeper investments in summer programming for youth, restoring investments in the Department of Sanitation to pre-pandemic levels, preventing the addition of new correction officers in city jails, and advocating for additional resources for our City’s parks.
As Chair of the Committee on Aging, Council Member Hudson successfully fought to obtain critical funding for older adults–ensuring much-needed food and housing security programs can continue to serve more than 1 million older adults across the five boroughs. With this allocated funding, $15 million will go toward ensuring older adults can adequately transition from the GetFood Recovery Meals program, $3.5 million will fund IT programming for older adults, and $802,000 in baselined funding for NYCHA social clubs.
Statement from Council Member Crystal Hudson on Budget Handshake
June 10, 2022
The following statement regarding the budget handshake is from Crystal Hudson, Council Member for the 35th Council District and a member of the Budget Negotiating Team.
“Today’s agreement between the City Council Speaker and Mayor Adams shows that the City can take steps to break free from a status quo that is woefully unconcerned with the well-being of some of our most vulnerable New Yorkers. It is evidence that this Council has taken a stand for a more caring and compassionate City and fought for the just and equitable future we know we’re capable of building.
“By taking steps to provide immediate relief to undocumented families and parents, prevent the addition of new correction officers in city jails, restore cuts to sanitation services, and secure additional funding for our City’s parks, cultural institutions and libraries, our City has taken a big step toward creating universal systems rooted in care and compassion.
“As Chair of the Committee on Aging, I’m proud to have successfully advocated for the well-being of our older adults, obtaining tens of millions of dollars in new funding for vital programs like baselining IT support for older adults, a cost-of-living adjustment for human service workers, and baselining funding for NYCHA social clubs — safeguarding our City’s more than 1 million older adults from financial strain, food insecurity, and health issues.
“This budget, my first as a Council Member, is a move in the right direction that shows we can redefine what public safety, access to health care, and economic justice mean for New Yorkers. I will continue fighting for greater equity and justice, setting new standards, and crafting even stronger budgets that provide greater resources for marginalized communities.”
April 28, 2022
Today, the City Council voted to approve two residential developments in Prospect Heights at 870-888 Atlantic Avenue and 1034-1042 Atlantic Avenue. By greenlighting these projects, the City sets a new tone for future land-use proposals, showing that developers can and must offer more than required under the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program.
870-888 Atlantic Avenue will provide approximately 228 dwelling units, and 1034-1042 Atlantic Avenue will provide approximately 210 dwelling units. In total, these properties will bring approximately 150 units combined in affordable housing. Both properties will include commercial and community facility space on the ground floor and are located in Brooklyn Community District 8.
Council Member Hudson’s Statement on the Council’s Response to Mayor’s FY23 Preliminary Budget
April 1, 2022
Today, the City Council announced its formal response to the Mayor’s FY23 Preliminary Budget. In it, the governing body called for greater community investments and increased funding for programs that will pave a path for a truly equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mayor’s Preliminary Budget fell short. It illustrated an utter lack of compassion and understanding for the needs of everyday New Yorkers. It cut the budget for the City’s Department for the Aging (DFTA), its cultural institutions and libraries, its hospitals, and its schools. It stripped funding for the City’s Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and the vital curbside organics recycling program. The Preliminary Budget made no significant investments to improve the material conditions of many of New York’s most vulnerable communities.
March 24, 2022
Today, Council Members Crystal Hudson, Keith Powers, Pierina Sanchez, Gale Brewer, and Oswald Feliz will introduce a bill to raise the minimum indoor temperatures required of property owners during heat season.
Between October 1 and May 31 (aka “heat season”), all residential building owners are currently required to maintain indoor temperatures of at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit between 6am and 1 pm when the outside temperature drops below 55 degrees. They are also required to maintain indoor temperatures of at least 62 degrees between 10pm and 6am regardless of the outside temperature.
This bill would raise the minimum required temperatures from 68 degrees to 70 degrees during the day and from 62 degrees to 66 degrees overnight.