Day: April 25, 2025

There’s a new queen of the cookies.

Candidates running for NYC Mayor highlighted their plans for immigration policy and its proposed effects on these communities on April 16 during the hybrid forum hosted by the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (CUNY SLU), which was co-sponsored by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC).

The forum was held from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. The Democratic candidates in attendance were NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, Former NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, NYS Senator Zellnor Myrie (20th District), Zohran Mamdani, and Michael Blake. NYC Mayor Eric Adams, former NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo, NYS Senator Jessica Ramos (13th District), Whitney Tilson, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, and Independent candidate Jim Walden did not show up.

The candidates first discussed how they would evaluate the current state of the city’s sanctuary laws given the Trump administration’s nature and whether they would make any changes to them.

Former NYS Assembly Member Michael Blake (79th District), who is the son of Jamaican immigrants,  said, “ICE has no business here, whether it be at Rikers, whether our places of worship, whether we have schools. We are a sanctuary city; we will continue to be a sanctuary city. We will make sure that our communities are protected in every possible way. All of us are intertwined at this moment.”

Blake added that the changes he’d make to the current sanctuary laws would include increasing legal protections for the 180,000 immigrants who don’t consistently have them and making sure that every time Donald Trump and the federal government come for them, the State is serious in its attacks against the administration.

The candidates also discussed the City Council bill Local Law 18 of 2021, which will be reintroduced on April 24 as T2025-3413, which would require delivery workers to have e-bike licenses, and whether they’d support it.

Council Speaker Adams responded, “Our focus again has to be on the livelihood of those who are trying to make a living, and that is where the heart of my work is. I always say I legislate the way that I live. If I can’t represent my neighbor, then I don’t know what my neighbor is going through, suffering through, or dealing with.”

She added that her focus as mayor will be on ensuring that immigrants who have come and those who will come to New York have a variety of job opportunities available, despite President Trump’s efforts to make it challenging for those living in the state working hard to make a living.

In addition, the candidates also shared what they would do to protect immigrant workers in New York City from wage theft. Comptroller Lander shared that the Comptroller’s office has been working on this, saying that the office has recovered over $9 million for workers, mostly immigrants, who had their wages stolen.

“We created an employer violations dashboard for the first time that tracks city, state, and federal workplace violations. So, you can connect the dots because it’s often the same employer who has done wage theft, that has also had an unfair labor practice, that also violated OSHA guidelines, that also denied their worker paid sick days,” Lander explained.

Lander also proposes creating the first-ever Mayor’s Office of Workers Rights. If he becomes mayor, he said he would establish an office that would do precisely this: find the patterns, add enforcement capacity, and connect the dots regarding immigrant worker protection from wage theft.

State Senator Myrie also shared his support for fighting against this issue, highlighting that he has supported legislation that would increase the penalties for wage theft.

“I think that is something that I would continue to advocate for as the next mayor. We have a Supreme Court in the United States that is hostile to labor rights, that is hostile to the NLRB, and it’s going to be more important than ever that we have a robust Department of Consumer and Worker Protection,” Myrie stated.

Myrie strongly believes that New York City will be a leader for the rest of the country in protecting vulnerable workers during the Trump administration.

“I think we have to do more Know Your Rights outreach to ensure that people know that the City has their back, and with the law department, I think we have an opportunity to be utilizing every legal tool at our disposal to ensure that we’re protecting ourselves, expanding our Commission on Human Rights, ensuring that people have the protections that they need,” he continued.

To stay updated on future CUNY SLU events, interested people can sign up for its newsletter here. Those interested can also support CUNY SLU by following the school on its social media platforms, which can be found on their website: https://slu.cuny.edu/.

В пятницу, 25 апреля 2025 года, ФБР арестовало  судью Ханну Дуган ,  судью окружного суда округа Милуоки  в Висконсине, по обвинению в воспрепятствовании. Арест вызван обвинениями в том, что […]

In a second-floor gallery tucked inside a rowhouse on Maple Street, voices from across Brooklyn and beyond gathered Wednesday night to share personal tales that tied them to place, culture and memory — part of Gallery Particulier’s monthly “Collective Tales” storytelling series.

The latest installment, titled “Because, Roots,” invited audience members to explore the histories that ground them. Guests were greeted by a familiar symbol of connection — a New York City subway map — and asked to mark a spot that held significance. Later in the evening, they were invited to share stories inspired by those pins.

“Tonight we’re gonna be talking about roots,” said Justin Freeman, co-director of the gallery. “It’s really important to be grounded with yourself, with your community, friends and family.”

Freeman set the tone for the night by reflecting on his own journey: not knowing his father, the loss of his grandfather, dropping out of high school, joining the military, and the search for belonging.

“All I’ve been looking for is home,” he said. “It’s right here, it’s here with you guys.”

The event was hosted by local creative and gallery co-director Comrade Cav, who opened the evening with reflections on his childhood in England and the impact of the television show “Roots.”

“Everybody was watching it and Black people, it felt like we were bonded,” Cav told the crowd. “It felt like a Black consciousness came together through this program.”

He recalled watching the series with his family — a moment that, in retrospect, felt monumental. “It was just as important to see all my family together, gathered around … but looking back, I realize it was just a real extraordinary, unique moment.”

“When people say they’re going back to their roots, that is what comes to mind for me. A program that came on and brought my whole family together, our whole neighborhood together.”

Gallery Particulier, a nonprofit founded in 2022, is working to reshape how people engage with art — not in museums or commercial galleries, but in their own living rooms.

With a mission to make art more accessible and personal, the organization invites hosts to display works by local artists in their homes. The exhibitions often include intimate events such as the “Collective Tales” storytelling series.

The April 23 showcase unfolded like a living oral history of Brooklyn, with stories centered on immigration, family roots and the changing tides of gentrification. One person spoke of the loss of a longtime family home, now gutted and renovated, taking part of their history with it. Another lamented how their once-bustling block has grown quiet, transformed by rising rents and shifting demographics.

Shari Pascarosa, a Brooklyn native, shared stories of her ancestors in Sheepshead Bay and Coney Island, where her great-grandmother raised nine children alone during the Great Depression.

“She had two rooms in Coney Island and they were all squished into these two rooms, but in the summertime, it was so hot, they were out all night,” she said. “She said, they were poor as dirt, but they had the best time.”

Pascarosa added, “These were serious survivors. I wish I knew a fraction of the stories that are held in the memory of my ancestors. The ones that I know, I cherish.”

Chinyere Brown-Mcvitie, who grew up in East Flatbush, recalled realizing the cultural richness of her neighborhood as a child, surrounded by people from the Caribbean.

“I remember one day when I was a little girl, my cousin and I, we finally reached the age when we could take the train by ourselves and the train was just taking so long so us being kids we decided to run up and down the platform and one day we just stopped because we just said, ‘wow, why does this look like the Labor Day Parade in a painting?’” she said. “It was that moment when we realized, ‘whoa, we live amongst Caribbeans.’”

She noted the changes gentrification has brought, but celebrated the resilience of her community. “If you walk down even these streets during Labor Day, you see so many young people just honestly living life, being unapologetically Black, which is something that is not visual all the time.”

As the evening wound down, the audience was invited to contribute their own memories — a practice central to the “Collective Tales” series, which emphasizes connection over performance.

“In a place as layered and diverse as Brooklyn, our roots may look different — but they all matter,” Freeman said. “‘Because, Roots’ is about honoring those deep personal histories and making space for stories that don’t always get heard. It’s part of how we build real community — through listening, sharing and celebrating where we come from.”

Following demonstrations by hundreds of union supporters, political pressure from elected officials, and multiple rounds of tense negotiations, District Council 37 (DC 37), Local 1502 and the Brooklyn Museum have reached an agreement that avoids layoffs of nearly 50 workers.

DC 37 is New York City’s largest public employee union, with 150,000 members and 89,000 retirees.

It said the agreement allows for a voluntary separation package or retirement with an additional incentive.

DC 37 said the voluntary separation package includes three weeks’ pay for every year of service, a reference letter from management to assist in finding new employment, and COBRA health insurance paid for by the museum for up to four months.

“We secured an agreement that is fair and results in no layoffs for our members,” said Henry Garrido, executive director of District Council 37. “The outcome of these negotiations is a testament to the power of union representation— when we fight together, we win.

“We will continue pushing for sustainable funding for the city’s cultural institutions,” he added.

Garrido said the terms of the agreement also apply to workers represented by UAW Local 2110.