Serving meals (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The organizations that New York City contracts to deliver everything from essential health and homeless services to youth and senior programing are striking for better compensation in the next city budget.

Over 100 human services providers will pause many non-life-saving activities on Thursday to demonstrate what they say are the consequences of underfunding the sector as inflation and compounding economic and social crises strain the system. Led by the Human Services Council of New York, the "day without human services”

Mayor Adams unveils the MyCity portal (photo: Caroline Willis/Mayoral Photo Office)

Mayor Eric Adams began to fulfill one of his major campaign promises in March as he launched the “MyCity” online portal that promises to help New Yorkers more easily apply for public benefits and access city services. The platform — which Adams calls "a legacy project" — is in its infancy, currently only providing access to childcare applications, but is meant to grow into a one-stop-shop for many if not all interactions with city government.

But civic technologists say that the administration’s approach

Payments to nonprofit providers (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Nonprofits that provide essential city services are in crisis. New York City government’s failure to pay nonprofits on time for the vital work they are doing for the city is jeopardizing the existence of these critical organizations that New Yorkers – especially the poorest and most vulnerable – rely upon. 

In the past two weeks there has been reporting that two venerable nonprofits —

Human services (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The nonprofit providers New York City and State contract to deliver essential human services spend hundreds of thousands of hours and millions of dollars each year filing paperwork and performing repetitive administrative tasks in order to receive government funding.

That's because of compounded inefficiencies built up across a largely decentralized contracting and reporting system, according to a new report from Center for an Urban Future (CUF), a policy

Gov. Hochul at a bill-signing (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)

Update: Governor Hochul signed legislation to restore some of the comptroller's oversight of SUNY, CUNY, and Office of General Services centralized contracts on December 30, 2022.

Governor Kathy Hochul has yet to sign a bill that would restore some of the Comptroller's contract oversight powers that had been stripped by her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, putting her at odds with the state's chief fiscal watchdog, members of the State Legislature,

Mayor Adams, Comptroller Lander, & others (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

In a letter to City Hall last month, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander called on Mayor Eric Adams to make changes to the city's procurement rules to prevent corruption and fraud in nonprofit human services contracts.

In the October 19 letter, Lander asked Adams to convene the Procurement Policy Board (PPB) to take steps to increase contract procurement for minority- and women-owned businesses (MWBEs) and address...

Comptroller Lander and Mayor Adams in their prior roles (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a progressive Brooklyn Democrat, is getting situated in his new role, which he calls the city’s “chief accountability officer.” As the comptroller, Lander’s citywide perch gives him a series of largely fiscal responsibilities mandated by the city Charter, including as a fiduciary to the public pension funds, a watchdog over city government finances, and the auditor-in-chief of city agencies.

A New Normal for Our City’s Essential Nonprofits?

Comptroller Brad Lander (photo: Susan Watts/Office of New York City Comptroller)

February 16, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Comptroller Brad Lander on the City Budget & Improving Nonprofit Contracting

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a Democrat just seven weeks into his first term in the citywide position, joined the show to discuss his initial reactions to Mayor Eric Adams' preliminary budget plan, promised changes to nonprofit contracting, the city's infrastructure spending, his transition into the office and

New York nonprofits do it all (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

You've probably never heard of "National Nonprofit Day." The date, August 17, is pegged to the anniversary of a tariff bill passed in 1894 that outlined foundational requirements for tax-exempt status. A holiday based on the tax code has not exactly caught the public's imagination. There aren't even greeting cards.

But most New Yorkers rely on nonprofits every single day without really thinking about it. So this year, let's use this obscure holiday to appreciate and

Council Member Helen Rosenthal, the author (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

I am proud to support and fight for workers in the human services sector. The city’s 125,000-plus social service workers provide essential services to 2.5 million New Yorkers, especially seniors, children, people with disabilities, and our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Most recently, they have been absolutely central to New York City’s response to the pandemic, ensuring that the most vulnerable do not fall through the cracks.

Human

Mayor de Blasio handing out food (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Human services workers are the unsung heroes of the COVID-19 response, and the new city budget has failed them.

Many New Yorkers may not know that most social services are delivered by nonprofit
organizations under city and state government contracts that consistently set poverty level wages for workers.

Throughout the pandemic, when we heard about lines wrapping around the block outside of
food pantries, childcare being provided for

Providing city services (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

As COVID-19 swept across our city, nonprofit human services workers were a beacon of hope, providing a safe haven for New Yorkers from all walks of life. While others were told to stay home, these workers--who are predominantly women and people of color--were deemed essential and showed up in public-facing roles to help carry New Yorkers through an unprecedented crisis. They provided assistance to those who found themselves newly in need of access to food, shelter, and other

A domestic violence hotline (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the dangers facing domestic violence survivors.

Survivors are facing escalating violence, increased isolation, and economic insecurity. And there are new and formidable barriers to finding safety. Tragically, three domestic violence victims in New York City - Vanessa Pierre, Ai Min, and Jessica Mitcham - lost their lives at the hands of abusive partners in recent days.

At this critical time, the programs domestic violence survivors depend

Mayor de Blasio inspects school cleaning (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

The COVID-19 pandemic has cost more than $4 billion in direct New York City expenses through mid-October, almost all of which the city expects to pay for with federal dollars.

Of the total spending, $4.08 billion has been registered in contracts, according to a report from City Comptroller Scott Stringer. Almost two-thirds of that

Human services providers struggle due to covid (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

Nonprofits that provide human services have played an additionally vital role during the coronavirus pandemic in feeding, sheltering, and caring for New Yorkers. But the sector, which was already facing dire financial straits in recent years, has been devastated as fundraising has ground to a halt, city funding has been cut, and state contract payments have been put on hold. The Human Services Council, an organization that represents more than 170 providers in the state, is convening

Workers at Project Hospitality move meals (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)

Like health care workers, first responders, grocery workers, delivery workers, and more, human services workers are essential workers during COVID-19 and beyond. We are always essential.

We serve the most vulnerable where they are and according to what they need. We help seniors get meals and medications delivered and staff residential facilities, homeless shelters, and food banks.

We provide home care to at-risk communities, keeping them from overwhelming hospitals. We help

Council Member Helen Rosenthal, the author (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

To address the coronavirus crisis and save lives, New York City government and New Yorkers are mobilizing in ways never seen before. The City swiftly sent an unprecedented message to our human services sector -- the 250,000-plus employees who provide housing access, child and elder care, shelters, emergency food relief, mental health counseling, and disaster response. These workers -- traditionally undervalued, underpaid, and unappreciated -- were told that

Human Services Nonprofits provide essential staff and programming to the city (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)

Social service organizations in recent days have been scrambling for clarity from government officials on how they will continue to get paid as they carry out essential city services for the most vulnerable populations and take up positions on the frontlines of public health, safety, and crisis management amid the coronavirus outbreak.

On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he was designated roughly 40,000 workers from human services

Amid coronavirus outbreak, the social safety net must hold (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)

Daily home-delivered meals for home-bound seniors. Case-management to help make sure people have medicine and essential supplies, and reduce the harm of social isolation. Emergency food for people who are unemployed or homeless. Child care for those who still have to go to work.

All services we utterly need right now. And all provided by New York City’s remarkable network of not-for-profit human service providers.

These

(photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

New York City government spends roughly $20 billion per year on goods and services through contracts with non-governmental vendors, including thousands of opportunities for companies of all types and sizes to work with the city. But the contracting process has long been arduous for vendors to navigate and difficult for watchdogs to closely monitor. Officials say that is now changing as a multi-step effort has unfolded over the past few years to modernize the technical infrastructure and databases that

Cuomo & DiNapoli (photo: Governor's Office)

A resolution has finally been reached around how to deal with a thorny issue involving Governor Andrew Cuomo, contracting oversight, and the corruption that plagued some of the governor’s biggest economic development initiatives.

As of December 31, all relevant parties have agreed to comply with an August agreement between Cuomo and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli restoring the comptroller’s oversight of some large contracts entered into by SUNY and CUNY and their affiliates, and by the Office of General

(photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)

To the Editor:

New York City’s Chief Procurement Officer, Dan Symon, didn’t address any of the questions we’ve been raising about the $30.5 million Ivalua e-procurement contract scandal in his recent Gotham Gazette op-ed responding to my earlier

(photo: Rob Bennett/Mayoral Photography Office)

The City of New York has embarked on a mission to transform a procurement system that is outmoded, inefficient, and wasteful, and we are proud to have already made monumental progress. This paper-heavy process has been built up over generations, it is overly burdensome, particularly to small vendors, nonprofits and minority- and women-owned businesses, and, for many years, has plagued vendors with delayed approvals, slow payments, and a lack of transparency.

This reform effort has been underway for a

(photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

What if I told you that in an effort to enable 40 New York City government agencies to buy goods and services more cost-effectively, some city officials have put on a tutorial on how not to buy goods and services – and stuck taxpayers with a bill heading toward $47 million? 

As a New Yorker, you’d probably tell me to “Get the hell outta here!” -- then I’d have to give you details.

So here’s how the flimflam went down. Three years ago, city government hired an inexperienced French