Does Anyone Answer New York’s Unemployment Hotline?
NEW YORK FOCUS—One week in June, only a third of the people who called the Labor Department’s unemployment help line reached a real person. Last December, Kyra Assibey-Bonsu realized that her stream of work as a freelance audio producer was “puttering out.” She went to file for unemployment with the state, only to find that […]
Homeowners Who Hope to Legalize Basement Apartments Can’t Even Apply
THE CITY—A signature Adams administration “City of Yes” housing program became law last month, but needed rules and a promised online portal still haven’t materialized. Vanita Maloney knows there’s more than enough room in her home in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, to house other New Yorkers. She’s eager to rent out her basement. But she can’t. […]
This neighborhood in Queens has a brilliant plan to turn a busy street into a park
FAST COMPANY—A design vision for making a New York City “Open Street” permanent has potential around the world. One of the most positive legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic stretches across 26 blocks in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. The 34th Avenue Open Street emerged out of a New York City-sanctioned program in the early days of […]
The New Spiritual Leader on Campus
THE ATLANTIC —On May 24, 1961, the Yale University chaplain William Sloane Coffin Jr. led a group of Freedom Riders on a 160-mile bus ride from Atlanta, Georgia, to Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregation laws. The voyage and his subsequent arrest turned Coffin into a national figure in the fight for civil rights. Yet even […]
Understanding and facilitating life beyond the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community
CITY & STATE —An interview with Lani Santo, CEO of Footsteps. While current events have put international and intercultural conflict front and center in political discourse and heightened concerns about free speech and antisemitism, there is an important but often overlooked story about Jewish poverty and vulnerability here in New York City. Recent studies by […]
How a 1.3-mile stretch of street became a much-needed park space in Queens, New York
GRIST—“What started out as a necessity during the pandemic has really evolved into an incredible place that brings people together.” During the COVID lockdowns of 2020, people in cities all over the world were desperate to get outside. As everything slowed down, residents and city governments organized to block off sections of some streets to […]
Our Advice to The New York Times About a Vexing Editorial Decision
VITAL CITY—We’re pleased to share that Errol Louis, Chair of the Charles H. Revson Foundation Board, co-authored a recent piece in Vital City offering guidance to The New York Times on a challenging editorial decision related to public safety and urban governance. His insights continue to reflect the Foundation’s commitment to civic dialogue and informed […]
Building the skills to engage with the world: Youth have their say at NYC Youth Journalism Coalition
EDITOR & PUBLISHER — Fredlove Deshommes, a student at Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice in New York City, decided to tell a better story about her school than the story The New York Post ran under the headline, “School of Glock,” reporting on a student bringing a gun to school. “I was participating […]
Report: A Calmer 34th Avenue Open Street Starts on Northern Boulevard
STREETSBLOG NYC —New York City’s most popular car-free street has a moped problem — but supporters hope design changes can help calm the street and redirect faster micro-mobility users to busier streets. The 26-block 34th Avenue open street in Jackson Heights is widely recognized as the “gold standard” for the city’s car-free open streets. Yet […]
Judge orders Trump admin to release hundreds of millions in NYC housing, transit funds
GOTHAMIST —A federal judge this week ordered the Trump administration to unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in housing and transportation funds for New York City that were being withheld until the recipients agreed to conditions prohibiting “gender ideology,” diversity initiatives or sanctuary immigration policies. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the […]