NYC Section 8 Residents Talk About the Horrors of Affordable Housing, Fears of Being Forced Out by Money-Hungry Landlords Posted on May 16, 2016 by Lisa Riordan Seville in New York Daily News Facing pressure to move by money-hungry landlords, Gloria Nieves and her neighbors resemble extras in a horror film as they shuffle through their Queens apartment building. “I see all the people — walking zombies,” said Nieves, 57, who has lived in her p ..Read More
One More Way the Courts Aren’t Working for the Poor Posted on May 16, 2016 by Michelle Chen in The Nation Americans are famous for filing lawsuits left and right, but for litigants living in poverty, justice can be harder to find. When facing civil litigation, a massive gap in legal-aid services reflects and reproduces the very injustices that often drive poor lit ..Read More
Over 2.5 Million People Applied for Just 2,600 Available Affordable Housing Units This Year Posted on May 11, 2016 by Erin Durkin in New York Daily News A whopping 2.5 million applicants have lined up for 2,600 affordable apartments the city has offered up since last summer, Mayor de Blasio’s housing commissioner said Wednesday. While demand for housing is sky high, Department of Housing Preservation and Dev ..Read More
Today’s Read: Albany’s Unfinished Business Posted on May 10, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone As State lawmakers meet in Albany for the last eight weeks of the legislative session, it is vital that they commit to addressing the homelessness crisis through a series of key actions. Mary Brosnahan, the Coalition’s President & CEO, wrote an op-ed for ..Read More
Here Are City’s Top 15 Gentrifying Neighborhoods Posted on May 9, 2016 by Amy Zimmer in DNAinfo Whether it’s a new glass tower going up or a beloved mom-and-pop shop closing down, locals often blame gentrification for unwanted changes in their neighborhoods. But what actually defines gentrification? NYU’s Furman Center, in a report released Monda ..Read More
Albany’s Unfinished Business Posted on May 9, 2016 by Mary Brosnahan in New York Slant Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state lawmakers are back in Albany to finish off this year’s legislative session. Kudos to the governor for charting a course to eventually increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour in many parts of the state – it will make a meani ..Read More
The Mentally Ill Need Supportive Affordable Housing Posted on May 9, 2016 by Ann-Marie Louison in The New York Times A small number of individuals with serious mental illnesses need long-term hospital care, but no one should need this level of care forever. In the 1990s, I worked as a social worker in a state-run mental health hospital of this kind in New York City; the pati ..Read More
A Day for Moms at Home and in Shelter Posted on May 8, 2016 by Shakora Wood in New York Daily News Millions of New York moms will celebrate Mother’s Day by relaxing at home with their families and — with any luck — getting some special treatment from their children. That’s certainly how I hope to spend the day. But Mother’s Day always carries extr ..Read More
Striving for Her Piece of the Pie Posted on May 7, 2016 by Susan Hartman in The New York Times Mardi Gras morning was difficult at the Cupcake Cafe. The health inspector showed up, and Ruth Arcone, the cafe’s pie maker, was so startled she forgot to put the plastic babies into her king cake. “The inspector didn’t look in the fridge, didn’t even ..Read More
