One More Way the Courts Aren’t Working for the Poor Posted on May 16, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone 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 Jacquelyn Simone 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
Here Are City’s Top 15 Gentrifying Neighborhoods Posted on May 9, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone 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 Jacquelyn Simone 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 Jacquelyn Simone 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 Jacquelyn Simone 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 Jacquelyn Simone 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
Self-Taught Moms Posted on May 6, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone in Mashable Walk into Shakora Wood’s apartment and you’ll notice something strange: light. Light may not be an abnormality in most of the country, but here in Brooklyn, light is a rare gem, a distant real estate dream. It covers everything in Shakora’s a ..Read More
New York State Lawmakers Urged to Quickly Move $2B Into Affordable Housing Programs Posted on May 5, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone in New York Daily News A group of housing advocates are pressing state leaders to quickly release nearly $2 billion in affordable housing funding that was agreed to in the new state budget. The group that includes the New York State Association For Affordable Housing and AARP, sent ..Read More
