Dog poo in NYC Council crosshairs after a filthy winter
May 1st, 2026
NEW YORK (The City) — The New York City Council on Thursday introduced a package of bills aimed at helping the scourge of dog poop that intensified during weeks of feces-strewn snow piles this winter.
Vigil held for slain East Village bodega worker
April 30th, 2026
NEW YORK (WABC) — These places are the backbone of every neighborhood across our city, but they are vulnerable workers,” NYC Councilmember Harvey Epstein said.
Alleged shooter in East Village deli worker slaying charged with murder
April 27th, 2026
NEW YORK (New York Daily News) — Councilman Harvey Epstein, who represents the East Village and knew the victim, stopped by the memorial to pay his respects Sunday.
“it’s such a tragedy and we need to do what we can to avoid future tragedies just like this,” he added. “My campaign office was a block away. I’ve been here many, many times. We had my campaign pictures in the window when I ran for election last year. It’s a it’s an institution in our neighborhood.”
Locals, Advocates Rally Against W. 13th Street Condo Tower
April 27th, 2026
NEW YORK (Chelsea News) — An advocacy group rallied against a luxury condo tower that is slated to be built on W. 13th St. on April 23, alongside dozens of frustrated local residents and City Council Member Harvey Epstein.
City empties infamous Bellevue homeless shelter, sparking lawsuit over downtown replacement sites
April 22nd, 2026
NEW YORK (Crains New York Business) — Mayor Zohran Mamdani has emptied Manhattan’s most notorious homeless shelter and plans to replace it with two smaller intake sites — a shift that marks his biggest move yet to remake the city’s shelter system and one that has already sparked legal pushback.
32BJ SEIU Votes “Yes,” Giving Bargaining Committee the OK to Call for a Strike
April 20th, 2026
NEW YORK (Chelsea News) — 10,000 union members, made up of doorpersons, porters, superintendents, and other building workers, are negotiating with Realty Advisory Board for better wages, health care
Politics Unusual: NYC Building safety regulations, Councilmember Harvey Epstein
April 17th, 2026
Participatory Budgeting vote underway in Council District 2
April 12th, 2026
NEW YORK (EV Grieve) — Through April 19, New Yorkers age 11 and up can vote — online or in person — on how city funding will be spent on local projects via City Councilmember Harvey Epstein’s office.
Labor of Love? Mamdani’s Record with Workers in His First 100 Days
April 10th, 2026
NEW YORK (Documented) — Since taking office, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has hit the ground running on labor issues, with numerous early wins. But some challenges threaten his pro-labor image.
Community meeting set on proposed intake relocation to East Village
April 6th, 2026
NEW YORK (EV Grieve) — Local elected officials are hosting a community meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) evening to discuss the mayor’s plan to relocate Bellevue’s adult men’s homeless intake operation.
Unions, City Council members call for more DCWP funding
March 31st, 2026
NEW YORK (The Chief Leader) — Workers, union leaders and politicians rallied on the steps of City Hall Monday to call for increased funding for the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), which investigates exploitative labor practices and enforces worker protections in the city.
Unions, NYC council members to rally for DCWP funding
March 30th, 2026
Labor unions, council members and worker justice advocates will come together Monday to call on the Mamdani administration to fully fund the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
The rally, which will take place on City Hall’s steps at noon, comes after Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s preliminary budget plan for fiscal year 2027 proposed an 8% cut to the agency’s funding. That would translate to about $75 million for the coming fiscal year – down from $82 million in fiscal year 2026.
Union workers, Council members urge Mamdani to fully fund city’s labor watchdog agency as budget deficit fears grow
March 30th, 2026
NEW YORK (AMNY) — Dozens of union workers rallied at City Hall on Monday to demand that the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) receive full budgetary funding, following Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed cuts to the agency’s coffers in his preliminary spending plan.
City Council Member Harvey Epstein (D-Manhattan), who chairs the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection and organized the event, underscored the agency’s role as a watchdog and enforcement arm of NYC’s labor and consumer protection laws.
NYC Underground Railroad site endangered by proposed tower next door: advocates
March 28th, 2026
NEW YORK (New York Post) — A piece of Manhattan history tied to the Underground Railroad may come crumbling down — but not without a fight.
A proposal to build a 100-foot-high commercial building next door to the Merchant’s House Museum, where a secret passageway used to smuggle slaves to freedom was discovered last month, is causing outrage in NoHo.
Activist calls on Mamdani to Fund Worker Rights Organizing and Education Initiative
March 25th, 2026
NEW YORK (Documented) — Led by Council Member Harvey Epstein, the initiative would distribute $5 million to grassroots organizations for workers’ rights programming.
NYC Council members to Hochul: Tax the rich (corporations)
March 24th, 2026
NEW YORK (City and State) — Progressive New York City Council members are backing the state Legislature’s push to raise the city’s corporate tax rate.
NYC electeds back NYU faculty union with strike looming
March 20th, 2026
NEW YORK (City and State) — More than 60 state and city elected officials sent a letter to top New York University leaders on Friday, urging them to avert a looming work stoppage by giving the union representing the institution’s contract faculty a “fair agreement.”
The letter, which was sent to NYU President Linda Mills, was organized by Democratic New York City Council Member Harvey Epstein. It comes several weeks after members of Contract Faculty United-United Auto Workersoverwhelmingly voted to strike after nearly a year and a half of negotiations with university administrators over what would be a first contract.
Mamdani’s Regulatory War on Delivery Apps Under Threat Amid Budget Crunch
March 20th, 2026
NEW YORK (StreetsBlog) — Mayor Mamdani’s preliminary budget falls short of providing the resources necessary to fully enforce delivery worker protection regulations passed by the City Council last year, the city’s top consumer regulator conceded on Thursday.
Opinion: NYC must invest in consumer protection
March 17th, 2026
NEW YORK (New York Daily News) — New Yorkers, like the rest of the country, are struggling under an affordability crisis. Rent, utilities, food, prescriptions, and other necessities are increasingly out of reach. That’s why it’s especially important that workers receive the pay they have earned, and when companies price gouge or charge exorbitant junk fees, they are held accountable.
NYC’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) may not be a household name, but it plays a key role in navigating these unaffordable times. By going after bad actors, it creates a market to let honest businesses flourish.
Rat-ical Idea: City Council Mulls Ban on Rodent Glue Traps
March 16th, 2026
NEW YORK (The City) — A bill proposed by Councilmember Harvey Epstein would outlaw the sale of sticky boards that doom furry critters to a slow, painful death.
Epstein and Menin Team Up to Form Animal Rights Caucus
March 16th, 2026
NEW YORK (Our Town) — “Pets are family,” the duo posted on Facebook. “That’s why the Council is forming its first-ever Animal Welfare Caucus: to make pet ownership more affordable and build a more compassionate city for every New Yorker, whether they have two legs or four.”
New York City Council is creating its first animal welfare caucus. We talk with the councilmember leading it.
March 16th, 2026
NEW YORK (WNYC) — Councilmember Harvey Epstein, who represents parts of Midtown and Lower Manhattan and will help lead this caucus, talked with WNYC’s Sean Carlson more about the new caucus.
Inside Government with PoliticsNY: A Q&A with Council Member Harvey Epstein
March 11th, 2026
NEW YORK (PoliticsNY) — What we do impacts whether we have an affordable New York. Our office impacts daily life by helping build affordable housing, passing local laws that are responsive to the needs of our constituents, working with city agencies, helping secure funding for local community organizations, negotiating the city budget and working every day to address the needs of our constituents.
$30 and a dream: Why pols, unions think a massive NYC minimum wage boost is ‘fair share’ solution to inflation
March 10th, 2026
NEW YORK (AMNY) — Epstein, who supports the 30 for Our City bill, added that his own children cannot afford to live and work in NYC.
“That is not the New York we believe in,” he said. “If we want to fight for a New York that’s for everyone, we have to start talking about wages. We have to talk about how we raise the minimum wage for everyone. And that’s what this bill is doing.”
LPC hearing today on controversial development proposed for NoHo Historic District Extension
March 10th, 2026
NEW YORK (EV Grieve) — The Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing today at 3:30 p.m. on a proposal to build a 220-foot-tall, 228-foot-wide apartment building on the corner of Lafayette and Great Jones Streets in the NoHo Historic District Extension.
Krishnan, street vendors celebrate ‘transformative’ new law reducing criminal liability
March 9th, 2026
NEW YORK (QNS) — Krishnan joined Council Speaker Julie Menin, Council Members Tiffany Cabán and Harvey Epstein, and representatives from Street Vendor Project and the New York Immigration Coalition to celebrate the law, which advocates say will be “transformative” for New York’s vending community.
‘First time in a long time,’ NYC Council Jewish caucus talks needs, challenges with Jewish groups
March 9th, 2026
NEW YORK (Jewish News Syndicate) — The council’s Jewish Caucus, made up of its Jewish members, works on issues affecting Jewish communities across the city, including rising antisemitism. Its members include Julie Menin, the council’s first Jewish speaker, Lynn Schulman (caucus vice chair), Harvey Epstein, Lincoln Restler, Simcha Felder and Inna Vernikov.
Fight brews in NoHo over apartment complex planned for parking lot site
March 4th, 2026
NEW YORK (Gothamist) — A NoHo parking lot is at the center of a new housing fight downtown.
Opinion: On the road to student loan forgiveness, New Yorkers need assistance
March 2nd, 2026
NEW YORK (City and State) — Our country is facing a growing student loan crisis. As of February 2026, total student loan debt has reached $1.833 trillion, with the average borrower owing $39,547.
Repayment difficulties are also rising: some 5.5 million borrowers are in default. As more Americans struggle under the crushing weight of this debt, the effects ripple across the economy. One in six American adults carries student debt, reducing disposable income, limiting consumer spending, and slowing the path to homeownership or starting new businesses.
City Council forms Animal Welfare Caucus to protect animals and make pet ownership more affordable for New Yorkers
March 2nd, 2026
NEW YORK (AMNY) — Spearheaded by Council Member Harvey Epstein and City Council Speaker Julie Menin, the Animal Welfare Caucus is dedicated to advocacy for the humane treatment of animals in the city while also advancing more legislation to make pet ownership more affordable for animal-loving New Yorkers.
Twenty-Two City Council Members Call on State to Give City Power to Tax Millionaires
February 25th, 2026
NEW YORK (Norwood News) — Twenty-two members, a minority, of the New York City Council’s 51 member-body released a joint statement on Wednesday, Feb. 25, calling on the State legislature and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to pass the Fair Share Act, legislation they say would grant New York City the authority to enact a 2% income tax increase on millionaires.
Jimi Hendrix street naming postponed due to New York blizzard
February 23rd, 2026
NEW YORK (ABC) — Earlier in February, it was announced that West 8th Street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, where Hendrix’s legendary Electric Lady Studios is located, was due to be co-named Jimi Hendrix Way. That renaming was supposed to take place Tuesday, but it was just announced that the weather has caused plans to be changed.
Safe house linked to Underground Railroad discovered in Manhattan
February 10th, 2026
NEW YORK (Spectrum NY1) — Hidden inside a historic 19th century house on East Fourth Street in Manhattan is a secret sanctuary.
Ever since the Merchant’s House Museum opened its doors to the public in 1936, visitors have lined up to get a taste of “old New York.”
State Says NYCHA Broke Law Removing Toxic Soil Without Required Oversight
January 30th, 2026
NEW YORK (The City) — Councilmember Harvey Epstein, D-Manhattan, whose district includes Riis, has long battled NYCHA management over poor living conditions at the deteriorating development, which opened in the 1940s and houses 3,590 residents. He said he was “glad DEC is notifying them of violations but disappointed to see that NYCHA took actions without notifying the appropriate state agency and potentially risking the health of thousands of residents.”
NYC Council Dems push Schumer to block ICE funding
January 29th, 2026
NEW YORK (City and State) — More than two-thirds of the New York City Council signed on to a letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer imploring him to continue blocking any funding package that includes resources for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Menin Appoints East Side Reps. Epstein and Maloney to City Council Committee Roles
January 19th, 2026
NEW YORK (Our Town) — Council Member Harvey Epstein, who represents Manhattan’s Lower East Side (and who recently represented it in the State Assembly before getting elected to the Council), was named the chair of the Council’s Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection by Menin.
‘People over profits’: State lawmakers rally against Con Edison rate hikes
January 12th, 2026
NEW YORK (PIX11) — A small crowd chanted, “People over profits, people over profits, people over profits.”
More than 100 lawmakers across the state lashed out at Con Edison for proposed increases in gas and electric rates.
Meet the New NYC Council Members
January 12th, 2026
NEW YORK (City and State) – Of the 11 new City Council members joining the body over the past year, six are former staffers for other elected officials, two are former elected officials themselves and one is the daughter of a former elected official. So as a group, they are not exactly breaking the mold of New York’s political world. But there is still little doubt this council will operate much differently from the previous one. A new speaker and mayor will make that inevitable. And though they have been around the political scene, these new members are bringing lots of fresh ideas. This year’s new class comprises nine people elected in November and two who took office in 2025 after their predecessors stepped down early.
OP-ED: Universal childcare for two- and three-year-olds is investment in our future
October 9th, 2025
NEW YORK (Amsterdam News) – New York City is a place where families come to build dreams, but in recent years, too many parents have told us a heartbreaking truth: They love their neighborhood, they love their community, but they can’t afford to raise their children here. One of the biggest reasons? The crushing cost of child care. For too many working families, quality care for their toddlers costs more than rent or a mortgage. It’s an impossible choice: Pay a second rent for child care, or uproot your life and move elsewhere. This is not the kind of city we want to be.
LIVE: New York City mayor’s race update | Battleground NYC full episode – Oct. 8, 2025
October 8th, 2025
Opinion: New York is ready for single-use plastic waste reduction
September 25th, 2025
NEW YORK (City and State) – This week, New York City is hosting over 900 events dedicated to creating bold solutions to the climate crisis. Across all five boroughs, business leaders, politicians, climate activists, scientists and academics from across the world are gathering for conversations on clean energy solutions, decarbonizing industries and sustainable development.