Gotham Gazette

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Community Service Society

Community Service Society

  • Report Takes Closer Look at Low-Income New Yorkers' Concerns About Long-Term Covid Impacts

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    New Yorkers lined up for food (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)


    Newly-released survey data confirms lower-income New Yorkers were far more worried about the long-term effects of the pandemic and its economic fallout than their moderate- and higher-income counterparts after the pandemic's first and most devastating peak last spring.

    According to a study conducted by Community Service Society -- a nonprofit advocating for

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  • Democratic Mayoral Candidates Discuss Addressing City’s Health Care Gaps After Covid

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    Top (l-r): Carlos Menchaca, Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer, Loree Sutton, Maya Wiley,
    Bottom (l-r): Eric Adams, Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Ray McGuire, Andrew Yang


    Eleven Democratic candidates for mayor appeared at a virtual forum on Tuesday focused on how they would shape health policy to be more equitable in New York City, especially amidst and in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought the city’s health care infrastructure under considerable strain and has had a starkly unequal racial impact. The pandemic has thrust the issues of

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  • Survey Shows Extent of Suffering, Challenges for Low-Income New Yorkers

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    A line for emergency food (Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Low-income New Yorkers are doing worse financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic than they were during the Great Recession, according to survey findings being released Friday by the Community Service Society (CSS), a non-profit focused on disadvantaged New Yorkers.

    The Unheard Third is an annual survey conducted by CSS in partnership with Lake Research and named based on the third of voting-age New Yorkers who live in low-income households that are often overlooked by politicians.

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  • 'Fair Fares' Proposal Dominates Transportation Hearing

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    Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez (Photo: William Alatriste)


    A campaign to provide discounted MetroCards to low-income New Yorkers took center stage at a City Council hearing on Monday, with council members and transit advocates calling for greater equity in the public transportation system.

    The City Council’s Committee on Transportation conducted oversight of the Department of Transportation’s citywide initiatives to examine how they can better serve New York City residents. Central to the proceedings was the issue of transportation equity,

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  • Saying City ‘Can’t Afford’ ‘Fair Fares,’ De Blasio Points to State

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    Mayor de Blasio & First Lady McCray in the subway (photo: Edwin J Torres/ Mayor's Office)


    Mayor Bill de Blasio says he supports the “Fair Fares” campaign to reduce public transit fares for low-income New Yorkers, but insists that the city cannot afford it and that the funding must come from the state.

    Both Tuesday during his preliminary budget presentation and Wednesday during an transportation-related press conference de Blasio was

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