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For CUNY Students to Thrive, Mental Health Services Must Be Expanded


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The CUNY Chancellor and students (photo: @CUNY)


Graduating when the pandemic first hit New York City was hard for many students. To say that having access to a counselor during a time of increasing uncertainty and hopelessness was beneficial is an understatement - it was many students' lifeline. However, for countless students and peers, they are not so fortunate.

The effect of the last year on CUNY students can not be overstated. In a recent study that took place during the COVID-19 crisis, 40% of students said they felt depressed, anxious or “on edge,” roughly a 100% spike. Going through college while living through a pandemic is hard enough - now, more than ever, students deserve accessible and affordable mental health counseling, especially as we work to heal from the trauma caused by the covid crisis.

We can’t afford to wait any longer to remedy this glaring problem for our CUNY and SUNY students. A lack of these services has a negative effect on student’s academics, as mental health problems, especially depression and anxiety, are a leading health cause of college failure and dropout at CUNY. In fact, according to a survey conducted by CUNY, 55% of students with depression, 52% of those with anxiety disorders, and 58% of those with moderate or severe psychological distress report that their mental health symptoms interfere with their school work somewhat, moderately, or a lot. These staggering numbers demonstrate how crucial it is that these students have reliable access to support networks for the benefit of their health and their studies.  

We must take action now to expand the mental health services that these students require to ensure that our schools are safe spaces for young people to get the support they need. That’s why, as part of the CUNY New Deal, Senator Gounardes introduced a bill to ensure that CUNY campuses are required to staff an adequate number of licensed, mental health professionals in order to meet the specific needs of their unique student populations.

With this bill, each CUNY campus will be required to establish a board of experts and advisors within two years to study and make updates to the clinician-to-student ratio. Additionally, recommendations will be made every five years to update the ratio, which won’t be allowed to fall below a minimum of a 1-to-1,000 clinician-to-student ratio. This bill reflects our commitment to the services that bolster student’s well-being, and provides a foundation for our teachers and the school community to value their experiences, as well as their dreams for the future. Finally, we are one step closer to giving students the support services they deserve.

But the timing here is crucial. As this year’s legislative session draws to a close, this bill must get passed if we are to expedite the support and care our students need for their mental health and academic success.

In fact, in the state budget passed in April, CUNY and SUNY received a budget allocation of over $1 billion in new capital funding. If we’re unable to pass this bill with the remaining time left in the session, it’s imperative that these institutions take affirmative steps to address this pervasive problem on their campuses. We can’t afford inaction on this issue, no matter what the avenue for recourse is.

There needs to be an understanding that college success is not dependent solely on academic outcome, but on addressing students holistically, ensuring necessary supports are widely accessible and high-quality so students can be successful. Students are not cogs in a machine - they have basic needs. College can be the most social time of your life, but it can also be very stressful and challenging in many ways, even without a pandemic.

And when you’re isolated during a pandemic and learning solely remotely, it’s very, very difficult to navigate a time of pressure and stress, and a myriad of mental health consequences can ensue. 

The pandemic has exacerbated the mental health needs of students, with many reporting anxiety, depression, and an increased need for mental health services. Even if it feels like we’re starting to move back into a normal phase, many are still suffering and learning to deal with the trauma of the last year. Every day can be a struggle for students facing stress, anxiety, and depression, which is only made worse when it goes untreated or unrecognized. For the safety and well-being of our students, it’s imperative that the state legislature take action to pass this bill so that we can alleviate the anguish these students face.

We know that increasing mental health counselors and making them more accessible will help ease those struggles by ensuring adequate resources for those taking on the normal stress of college life compounded by the pandemic. Many students have made it through the beginning stages of a pandemic and graduated because they were able to get the help and support they needed, yet there are so many others who were not, and that is unacceptable.

Mental health issues can have dire impacts for college student’s academic successes, and in more serious cases can lead to physical harm from suicide and depression. For many of these students, mental health services on campus are the only affordable and available option. The passage of this bill would be a lifeline for students with limited options who are at significant risk.

Students enrolled on CUNY campuses pay a fee for mental health services, but the reported staffing ratios are in excess of one mental health clinician to over 2,000 students. For reference, the national average across college campuses is 1-to-1,250. Research also shows that low-income students are more likely to suffer from mental health illnesses, and CUNY campuses have a higher share of low-income, urban students than at other colleges and universities. 

To add stressors to this crisis, over the last year, approximately one in four adults have been food insecure citywide, and one in five renters are behind on their housing payments. For many during the final semester of college, all of these mental health issues were heightened because of unemployment due to massive layoffs and hiring freezes, housing and food insecurity, and to add on, the rise in anti-Asian sentiments and violence. These added burdens place an even higher strain on students who may not be able to focus on receiving their degree due to these worries they face in their personal lives. For these reasons and more, we have a collective responsibility to support the mental well-being of all students by passing this bill and getting more counselors on campus. 

Trauma is more than just a mental health issue - it’s an education issue. That’s why referring students with trauma to a school counselor or other mental health resources is a vitally important practice. When students are supported, their work is exponentially better. They can thrive. By strengthening counseling services, we’re letting students know it’s okay to ask for help, to reach out to someone who they can talk to and to make sure they know that they don’t have to go at it alone. 

We’ve heard from students that, previously, nine CUNY campuses had waitlists for mental health services, one of which was nine months long, and 12 campuses had a limit on visits, with some visitations being capped at as few as just six. It should never take such an extended time of a personal, life-threatening crisis to finally get a counselor to connect with. That shouldn’t be the case for anyone reaching out for mental health support.

College students are already an increasingly vulnerable population when it comes to mental health, and they now face even greater risk due to this unprecedented year of grief and quarantine. As we reflect on the isolation, anxiety and trauma of the last year, it’s clear that we must make the investment of support, commitment, and care for our students right now, so that we can build the foundation for a hopeful future. I urge our legislators to pass this bill, because academics can wait, but mental health cannot.

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Andrew Gounardes is a State Senator representing parts of southern Brooklyn. Lisa Nishimura is a Policy Fellow with Young Invincibles and a recent graduate of John Jay College, a senior college of CUNY. Juvanie Piquant is the CUNY Student Trustee/USS Chair. On Twitter @Sen_Gounardes & @juvaniepiquant.

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Federal Infrastructure Plan Must Include a Path to Citizenship for Immigrants


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Becoming citizens (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


In his first several months in office, President Biden has taken significant steps to reverse the harm imposed by President Trump’s cruelty that devastated immigrant communities, including working to reunite families separated at the border, reversing the Muslim ban, announcing the closure of ICE detention facilities, and reinstating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti. Yet, when it comes to the most urgent demand of immigrant communities — creating a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants — the Biden administration and Congress have thus far fallen short of making any real legislative advances. 

As the administration moves forward to pass an infrastructure package, it’s time that Biden, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, and congressional allies include a pathway to citizenship for immigrant youth, TPS holders, essential workers, and as many of our loved ones and neighbors as possible as part of that legislation. 

Since last fall, our communities looked forward to leadership that would allow us to turn the page on one of our darkest eras. Under the Trump administration, immigrants suffered from inhumane policies and feared being ripped apart from their communities. We remained strong, however, and tenacious organizing helped us win critical defensive victories and led us to the current moment, where Trump holds no governmental authority and bold legislative action to deliver justice and relief to all our people is again possible.

It’s time to take advantage of this moment. During the pandemic, tireless efforts of our frontline workers, many whom are undocumented, kept this country afloat. Immigrant essential workers put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe and sustain our economy. From teachers and nurses to delivery workers and factory workers, immigrants are integral parts of communities who have helped save lives and worked to get key jobs done before, during, and after the worst of the covid crisis. And all while bearing the possibility of being separated from their loved ones due to their lack of immigration status. Before and during the pandemic crisis, over 5 million undocumented workers continued to be essential and yet deportable. 

For our country to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and begin to heal from the injustices brought on by our outdated immigration system, Congress must provide a long overdue pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants — that means not just immigrant youth and TPS holders (who absolutely need a path to citizenship), but also these essential workers. Immigrants have waited decades to become fully recognized by this country, paying over $79 billion in federal taxes every year, starting businesses, and building their lives in the country they have come to call their home. With broad support from across the country for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented youth, TPS holders, and essential workers, and with President Biden’s stated committment to providing them with that pathway, there should be no further delay. 

In March, the House of Representatives voted to pass the Dream and Promise Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for immigrants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS). But the House passing bills with no Senate action will not deliver real relief to anyone. The best way for the Biden administration, Senator Schumer, and Congressional allies to deliver long-awaited permanent protections is to use the reconciliation process.

By including a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants — including DACA recipients, TPS holders, essential workers, and more — in the infrastructure plan, Democrats can pass legislation with a simple majority. Given the razor-thin Senate margin and Senate Republicans’ stated goal of obstructing the Biden agenda at every turn, this is the only viable option that remains as long as the filibuster is in place.

Simply put, Democrats should use every legislative tool at their disposal to advance legalization for millions of undocumented immigrants. This is the window of opportunity for our communities and all of our allies, and we must take full advantage. Now, it is time for Congress to fulfill promises and finally deliver a recovery plan for our country that includes permanent protections for immigrants and their families. Our people cannot wait any longer. 

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Yaritza Mendez is the co-director of organizing at Make the Road New York. Murad Awawdeh is the Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition. Ana Maria Archila is the Co-Executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy. On Twitter: @YariMendez05 of @MaketheRoadNY; @HeyItsMurad of @TheNYIC; & @AnaMariaArchil2 of @popdemoc.

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Taxi Medallion Owners and Their Families are Still Suffering


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The mayor at an announcement (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


In February, my family and I discovered a “For Sale” sign on our house. For the last few months, we have been fighting for our home in the middle of a pandemic. For 90 days since then we’ve been living with the fear that our home would be sold and we’d have no place to go.  

This has been a deeply traumatic experience for my family brought on by the taxi medallion crisis, predatory lenders, and the city’s failure to act. As the daughter of a taxi driver and a school bus matron, I’ve always known a life of living paycheck to paycheck, one of great instability. Working-class people live in crisis every day, and our city has a moral imperative to aid our communities with bold policy to ensure we can all live a dignified life. 

The city’s taxi medallion system limited the number of medallions issued, which created an artificial market — and then that market was exploited to raise revenue. During the Bloomberg and de Blasio administrations, the city made more than $855 million from taxi medallions and collecting taxes on private medallion sales. Meanwhile, they opened the floodgates to Uber and Lyft, which eroded the medallions’ supposed monopoly rights to conduct street hails and led to the bursting of the medallion bubble. For years, taxi drivers in our city have struggled to maintain a living and some can never retire because of our city’s neglect to effectively address the medallion crisis. 

In November 2019, my father filed for bankruptcy because he could no longer manage to pay the bloated taxi medallion loan, surcharges, insurance, gas, and repairs on what he was earning as a taxi driver, let alone also maintain other necessary bills. In the spring of 2020, his medallion was seized by Aspire Bank. On February 5 of this year, the United States Bankruptcy Court put the “For Sale” sign on our house — without any advanced notice — and verbally warned us that we had 90 days to reach a settlement with trustees or it will be sold. The trustees of the Bankruptcy Court, one of the only courts open and operating during the pandemic, told us that we need to come up with $250,000 within 90 days. 

We knew that our lawyer was not working in the best interest of our family, and we were unsure who we could trust in a time of urgency and desperation. A legal assistance group, and a representative from the mayor's office called me, but after hearing the details of our bankruptcy case, they never called back. We knew time was moving quickly and eventually we paid to retain another lawyer that we found on our own. 

During the settlement process, I learned that Bankruptcy Court allows Trustees to use fearmongering and threatening tactics to push lawyers and borrowers to move with urgency without any acknowledgement of the time it takes for families to weigh their options of losing their home or acquiring more debt.

In our case, the trustee became the owner of our home. When selling assets, the trustee gets about 6% or more from the settlement. In the middle of our settlement process, Aspire Bank, the lender who seized our taxi medallion, sold it to another lender instead of renegotiating the sale of the medallion back to us. Because the lender sold the medallion, we had to negotiate a settlement with the trustee who was willing to settle for $150,000. 

Although this was not a settlement we could really afford, we knew it would be the last offer before they decided to sell our home. While we are relieved that the bankruptcy court process is over, we are in deep debt. 

My family’s story demonstrates the dangers of our city’s neglect. This would not have happened if the mayor had fully adopted the New York Taxi Workers Alliance plan for debt relief, which would restructure medallion loans. Their proposal is supported by Comptroller Stringer, Attorney General James, and Senator Schumer, among others. But, the mayor’s plan is nowhere near what NYTWA is fighting for, it’s not debt forgiveness — it's a bailout for lenders. While the average medallion owner’s debt is $500,000, with industry business down 90%, the mayor’s plan is to have drivers take out $20,000 loans from the city as a payment to lenders. 

The city is not just failing taxi drivers. New York state legislators are also negotiating the value of Uber and Lyft drivers as they are currently working on a bill that still allows drivers to be considered independent contractors, and leaked language in the draft bill indicated an attempt to limit actions like "any picketing, strikes, slow downs, or boycotts." Some legislators are still negotiating the value of human lives and dignity against profit margins.

Our fight is not over. We will not stop fighting until the immigrant and working-class communities who kept this city moving during a pandemic are prioritized in policy and aid over banks and corporations and their profits. 

I want to thank every single person who has sent love, food, hope and donations to my family. We are so overwhelmed with gratitude for your outpouring during this difficult time. We are not the only family affected by the taxi medallion crisis; too many people have died by or lost a loved one to suicide, lost part or all of their income, their homes and their stability. Like so many others my dad will never be able to retire — out of 6,000 medallion owners, 1,200 are over the age of 62. This is why we chose to share our story and stand in continued solidarity with taxi drivers and their families across our city and beyond. 

We need New Yorkers to join us in demanding more. We need the New York City Council to push the mayor to do more. We need the mayor to listen to taxi drivers and adopt the NYTWA plan. 

In June, we have the chance to elect a City Council and a Mayor who will prioritize people over profits and treat our essential workers as essential New Yorkers. Get out there and vote for the people who lead with courage. 

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Felicia Singh is a teacher and Democratic candidate running for New York City Council in District 32 in Queens. On Twitter @FSingh_NYC.

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New York City is Heading in the Right Direction on Saving Small Businesses


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A small business visit (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


After a devastating year for small businesses, we are heartened to see commitment from Mayor de Blasio and the City Council to dedicate $155 million to small business recovery and job training. In the last year, we’ve lost many businesses and community spaces due to the pandemic and the lack of timely and sufficient action at all levels of government. Now, thanks to the advocacy of small businesses and commercial tenants from across the city, the mayor’s executive budget plan shows some real hope for the businesses that have been able to make it this far.

One exciting part of this investment in economic recovery is expanded funding for the Commercial Lease Assistance Program (CLA). Launched by the Department of Small Business Services in 2018 after sustained advocacy from our coalition, USBnyc, the CLA Program provides free legal representation in connection with commercial leases to underserved small business owners who otherwise cannot afford counsel. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CLA Program has seen a 10-fold surge in requests for help from commercial tenants who urgently needed advice and representation in approaching lease negotiations with landlords or formalizing unwritten agreements. 

In March 2021, United for Small Business (USBnyc) coalition members testified before the City Council small business committee at the preliminary budget hearing. Together, we called for CLA funding to be expanded and baselined. Now that the mayor has announced a proposed expansion in CLA funding, we look forward to working with both the administration and the City Council to ensure this critical program is funded in the final fiscal year 2022 budget, due by July 1, at the proposed level of $5 million and that the program is retained continuously with current providers so that services are not again interrupted.

In future years, we would also want to see that funding baselined and the program scope expanded to serve nonprofit commercial tenants, as well as including litigation in harassment and other cases.

On top of expanded legal assistance, the $100 million small business grant program represents a huge opportunity to help small businesses get through the next few months. Many of the businesses we work with owe tens of thousands of dollars in back rent, if not more, from periods of state-mandated restrictions on activity and capacity. They need financial support to ensure that back rent doesn’t foreclose the possibility of recovery. It is critically important to make sure that these grants are rolled out in a way that is accessible to immigrants and people of color, who have struggled to access assistance throughout the pandemic. Information about the programs should be widely distributed, in multiple languages, to businesses and community-based organizations before applications become available, and a wide range of documentation should be acceptable. This is an opportunity to prioritize New York’s smallest businesses and those who have not been able to access other forms of support.

In the first official debate among leading Democratic mayoral candidates, almost all of them highlighted small business support as a critical piece of the city's recovery from COVID-19, and some acknowledged the importance of rent as a barrier to recovery, along with discriminatory enforcement.

Small business recovery should be part of the discussion for the upcoming debate as well. We hope the next mayoral administration will take bold and comprehensive action to ensure that local economic development is supported.

And in the last year of the current administration, we hope the Council and mayor will take steps to address these long-term challenges of commercial rent and vacancy. This proposed budget represents a step in the right direction, and we are proud to have helped get the city to this point.

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Abigail Ellman is Director of Planning and Development at the Cooper Square Committee; Olympia Kazi is founding member of the New York City Artist Coalition; and both are members of the United for Small Business NYC Coalition. On Twitter @usb_nyc.

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Letter to the Editor: Keeping 911 in the City’s Mental Health Emergency Response


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Emergency (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


To the editor:

Last week, I joined the final day of training for the new teams who will soon begin responding to 911 mental health calls in East Harlem and Harlem. Through this pilot program - the Behavioral Emergency Response Assistance Division or B-HEARD - mental health professionals will be part of 911 response for the first time in New York City history. It's part of our commitment as a city to treat mental health crises as issues of public health, not public safety. 

As we planned our pilot, we consulted with many practitioners and advocates around the city and country, including Correct Crisis Intervention Today in NYC (CCIT-NYC). We looked at health-centered responses in places like Denver, San Francisco, Harris County, and Toronto, as well as the long-running CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon, to develop our model: small teams of emergency medical technicians/paramedics and behavioral health clinicians responding to nonviolent mental health calls that come through the 911 system.

CCIT-NYC has argued against using 911 -- as written in the recent op-ed published by Gotham Gazette: De Blasio is on right track, but mental health response teams need crucial changes to really work -- for the program. But every jurisdiction in the country dispatches their emergency response, including health-centered responses like CAHOOTs, through 911 for good reason.

Importantly, New Yorkers have options outside of 911 for urgent, in-person mental health support. NYC Well can dispatch mobile crisis teams to people's homes within hours. But if New Yorkers need help within minutes, they know to call 911. When they do, B-HEARD will ensure they get the most appropriate response for their needs. Our model builds on other strengths in New York City: FDNY EMS has decades of experience responding to more than 100,000 mental health emergencies each year, and Health + Hospitals has long been the City's behavioral health safety net, overseeing many significant crisis response and emergency psychiatric operations. 

The B-HEARD team members themselves also bring impressive experience to this work. In addition to extensive crisis response and de-escalation experience, many team members have lived experience with mental illness and substance use disorders. This was intentional. By layering lived experience on top of tested crisis management skills and rigorous training protocols, we know the teams will be ready on day one.

And they are. The energy on the last day of training was palpable. The new teams are working together seamlessly, equipped with new skills and existing strengths. They are eager to be on the forefront of long-needed change. Everyone involved is looking to learn as much as possible from the pilot program, and use what we learn to inform our approach citywide. As we do, we will continue to learn from advocates, practitioners, community members with lived experience, and other cities embarking on this work.

Sincerely,
Susan Herman
Director, Mayor's Office of Community Mental Health

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Latinos and the 2021 City Council Elections in Queens


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Council Member Francisco Moya (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)


The Latino population in Queens has exploded over the last two decades, and it is prompting a coming of age in Latino political representation in the borough. If current trends continue, Queens may become another center of Latino political power in the City of New York, alongside the Bronx.

The rise of Latino political representation in Queens began in 2000 when Hiram Monserrate became the first Latino elected to a position in the borough, beating an incumbent for a Democratic district leader position. One year later, he became the first Latino from Queens to be elected to the City Council. While acknowledging his eventual conviction, one cannot ignore Monserrate, for in many ways he paved the way for other Latinos to win and hold local office.

Many of them, including former City Council Member Julissa Ferreras and current State Senator Jessica Ramos, were once members of his staff. Others, like the late Jose Peralta, were not only allies of Monserrate but Monserrate lent them his once effective organization for their electoral pursuits and eventual victories. To be clear, both Ferreras and Ramos disavowed Monserrate after his conviction. Peralta ran against Monserrate after his scandals and beat him in a special election for the State Senate seat that had once belonged to him.

As Latinos have increased in number in the overall and voting populations, the number of Latino elected officials has likewise increased. In addition to the names already mentioned, Francisco Moya (who is up for re-election and is facing a formidable challenge from Ingrid Gomez), Catalina Cruz, Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, and of course Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have all won legislative seats representing Queens. Other Latinos have won positions as Democratic district leaders in the borough.

The ramifications of this growth among Latinos will again be felt in this year’s elections — all of city government is on the ballot in this month’s primaries and the fall general election, with many competitive City Council races in Queens and across the five boroughs, as well as the races for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, and borough presidencies.

It is quite possible that the number of Latino elected officials in Queens will increase by as much as five (though I anticipate a gain of three), as the demographic changes in some City Council districts have tilted heavily from majority white to majority Latino.

In the 22nd Council District, based in Astoria, Tiffany Caban is a favorite for the seat left vacant by Council Member Costa Constantinides, who was term-limited but resigned recently due to family reasons and another job opportunity. Interestingly, this district is not majority Latino, though Latinos make up a quarter of the Democratic electorate, according to L2 voter data. Caban’s strength lies in the fact that she comes to the race off an incredible run for district attorney, where she barely lost to Melinda Katz in a recount, and thus has considerable name recognition and other advantages. Furthermore, Caban is a darling of the progressive left, many of whom reside in this district. Together, this makes her a serious contender for the seat and therefore increases the possibility of another Latina being elected in the borough of Queens.

Further west, we come to the 25th Council District, the seat currently held by outgoing Council Member Danny Dromm, who is term-limited. This district, covering Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, has seen one of the largest increases in the Latino population in the entire borough, making it now a majority-Latino district. Of the Democratic electorate, an estimated 41% is Latino. The next closest group is Southeast Asians at 20% of the Democratic electorate. Four of the eight candidates running in the all-important Democratic primary are Latinos: Liliana Melo, Manuel Perez, Alfonso Quiroz, and William Salgado. Of the four, Melo and Quiroz have received over $140,000 in public matching money, significantly boosting their campaigns. This race is one to watch.

Another Council district with a rapidly increasing Latino community is Queens’ 26th, covering parts or all of Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, Astoria, and Dutch Kills. Its current occupant, Jimmy Van Bremer, is term-limited and thus cannot seek re-election to the Council. White voters only outnumber Latinos by an estimated 1,125 Democratic voters. Considering the trend of continued growth among Latinos, it is likely that in the next few years this district will also become majority-Latino. Two of the 15 candidates are Latinos: Lorenzo Brea and Glennis Gomez. Both have received public matching money and are competitive, creating another opportunity to increase Latino representation in the borough.

The 30th Council District is the fourth Queens district presenting Latinos an opportunity to increase representation this year. Covering the neighborhoods of Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Woodhaven, and Woodside, this district is now majority-Latino. Latinos have a slight edge in the Democratic primary (by just an estimated 61 voters) over white voters in what has been a white-ethnic enclave for many decades. Juan Ardila is taking on incumbent Council Member Robert Holden, who is up for re-election after he lost the Democratic primary in a 2017 bid to unseat Elizabeth Crowley, then defeated her in the general election running on the Republican and other ballot lines.

Ardila has proven to be a solid fundraiser, and like Holden, he has received the maximum in public matching money. Endorsed by Donovan Richards (the current borough president), State Senator Ramos, the Working Families Party, and many progressive groups, elected officials, and labor unions, Ardila has a good chance of defeating one of the few incumbents in this election cycle, at least in the primary.

The last Queens Council district I am looking at in terms of Latino representation is the 32nd. Eric Ulrich, one of the few Republicans in the Council, is the current occupant and is term-limited from running again. Latinos are now the majority of the Democratic electorate, though not a majority of the overall vote. Bella Matias is the only Latina on the ballot and has received over $52,000 in public matching money. If she is able to organize and turn out enough Latino votes in a crowded race, she may surprise some observers, though whoever wins will still have to defeat the Republican nominee in the general election in a district that has more Democrats than Republicans but has elected Ulrich several times.

On primary day and as the votes are counted over the following weeks, my eyes will be focused on Queens. With its sizable and growing Latino presence, Queens may well send even more Latinos to City Hall. 

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Eli Valentin is an adjunct lecturer at Union Theological Seminary, a frequent guest political analyst at Univision NY and author of the forthcoming, Reinhold Niebuhr: A Political Life. On Twitter @EliValentinNY.

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New York’s Chance to Take on the Crisis of Child Poverty


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Time to focus on children (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


Children live in poverty at higher rates than any other age group in the United States. Children make up 22% of the United States population and 31% of those living in poverty. Racial inequities are deep and persistent: 71% of America’s children in poverty are children of color.

New York State entered the pandemic with more than 700,000 children living in poverty, 18% of all New York children. Black New York children live in poverty at twice the rate of white peers. Compared to the rest of the nation, New York children are more likely to live in poverty than children in 32 other states. More than 50% of Rochester’s children and just under 50% of Buffalo’s children live in poverty. In New York City, 22.2% of children live in poverty, with Bronx child poverty at 37.1%. By July 2020, the pandemic had pushed an additional 325,000 New York children into poverty or near poverty.

The impacts of child poverty can be severe and lasting and especially devastating for our youngest children who are most likely to live in poverty and most severely affected by it as their developing young brains and bodies are especially sensitive. Young children have the highest poverty rates of any age group in the country and poverty is a strong predictor of negative child outcomes. 

While poverty is difficult for anyone, the impact on children can be permanently damaging.  Children, especially those under the age of five, whose brains are just developing, need good nutrition, strong and stable parent/caregiver connections, and high-quality early learning experiences to grow and develop, but the odds are against them if they are poor.

This should concern all of us.

For our children experiencing poverty, every day New York fails to prioritize ending child poverty matters. The experience of poverty and trauma in childhood can have long-lasting impacts on development. The stress of poverty can alter the brain development of young children – causing permanent changes in the structure and functioning of the brain. As a result, many children who experience poverty face significant challenges – in the form of poor health, academic obstacles, lower earnings – for the rest of their lives.

This has a detrimental impact on children, and on the future viability of communities. Reactive interventions in the out-years through the provision of public benefits or interaction with the criminal justice system are far more costly than meeting the needs of disadvantaged children and families from the beginning. With the stakes so high, there should be no delay in tackling child poverty. 

The federal American Rescue Plan Act is expected to significantly reduce child poverty in New York, and across the nation, in the coming year. However, the plan’s enhanced Child Tax Credit leaves out children without a Social Security number and as a result leaves behind an estimated 72,000 of New York’s children. These same children and families were cut out of the first round of stimulus checks, and the current one, along with many other family supports. The future of the child tax credit enhancement is also unclear.

Without thoughtful, intentional, and additional investments to address child poverty, hundreds of thousands of children will continue to live in poverty. And the income and economic effects of the covid recession will linger for years. But New York’s children can’t put their development on hold. 

We know our fellow New Yorkers care about boosting families living in poverty. We know our legislative colleagues are pained to know their residents live in poverty. But child poverty is not going to go away without unified focus and effort.

We won’t get returns on investments we don’t make. As an investment in New York’s long-term future, we must aim to eliminate poverty and mitigate its effects. 

Our bill (S.2755/A.1160) will do just that. The Child Poverty Reduction Act -- which just passed the State Senate -- provides New York the tools needed to reduce child poverty. It makes a public commitment to cutting child poverty in half in ten years; requires an annual public report of the effects that any adjustment or reduction by the director of the budget will have on child poverty; establishes the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council to develop a plan to achieve this goal with attention to racial equity; requires regular reporting to hold government to account; and directs the Advisory Council to evaluate policies proven to cut child poverty.

Let’s pass this bill in the Assembly and take on child poverty like the crisis it is.

***
New York State Senator Jessica Ramos represents parts of Queens and Assemblymember Harry B. Bronson represents upstate areas including Rochester, Henrietta and Chili. On Twitter @JessicaRamos & @HarryBBronson.

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The State Should Restart the City’s Clock on Shrinking Class Sizes


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School in session (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


In 1980, Robert Jackson enrolled his daughter in Kindergarten at P.S./I.S. 187 on Cabrini Boulevard in Washington Heights. He soon noticed that her class sizes were huge, sometimes more than 30 or 35 children. There were no science or art rooms left because the school had been forced to convert them to classrooms. He decided to run for president of the school’s parents association, was elected, and soon thereafter became the head of the Community School Board in District 6.

As School Board President, Jackson decided to do something about the deplorable and overcrowded conditions in his district’s schools and citywide, and in 1993, he formed a coalition of parents, community members, and education advocates to sue the state for more education funding.  

This lawsuit, filed in 1995, became known as the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) case, and in a landmark 2003 decision, New York’s highest court ruled that the city’s schools had severe and chronic deficiencies due to underfunding by the State of New York.  

One of these core deficits was class size, which the justices concluded were far too large to provide children with their right to a sound basic education under the State Constitution.

In their ruling, the Justices noted that “evidence of the advantages of smaller class sizes supports the inference sufficiently to show a meaningful correlation between the large classes in City schools and …poor academic achievement and high dropout rates.” They also found that “tens of thousands of students are placed in overcrowded classrooms...The number of children in these straits is large enough to represent a systemic failure.” 

Smaller classes in grades K-3 are a proven, cost-effective method of improving student success. They lead to better grades and test scores and reduce disciplinary problems and teacher attrition. Children assigned to small classes in the early grades are more likely to graduate high school, go on to college, receive a STEM degree, and own their own home. And studies show that smaller classes in the middle and upper grades are correlated with greater student engagement, persistence, and other attributes critical to better outcomes.

Students who reap the most benefit from smaller classes are those from low-income households, along with students of color, those with disabilities, and English language learners. Yet nearly two decades after the CFE ruling, class sizes in New York City public schools have actually increased rather than decreased – especially in the early grades.  

Why no progress? In 2007, in response to the CFE ruling, the State Legislature overhauled New York’s school finance system. It enacted a new funding formula, Foundation Aid, promising a massive infusion of new state aid, and a new law, the Contracts for Excellence (C4E) Law, to ensure that the additional funds districts received were spent on programs proven to improve student learning. The law also specifically required the city to develop and implement a plan to phase-in smaller classes over five years. 

Although New York City developed such a plan, it didn’t follow through. The result? Class sizes remain excessive, and, in the early grades, have actually increased by about 10%. Large disparities persist across the city, with especially huge classes in schools where the population has grown most quickly – often schools with high concentrations of immigrant and Latino students. Last year, more than a third of all students were in classes of 30 or more.

New York City teachers agree that reducing class size would be the best reform to improve student outcomes, and parents put smaller classes among their top priorities every year on Department of Education surveys. Most principals concur.

In 2018, nine public school parents, along with the Alliance for Quality Education and Class Size Matters, sued the city for not reducing class size according to the C4E law. Yet our lawsuit lost in court, primarily because the years cited in the law to implement a class size reduction plan had lapsed.

The federal government is providing the city’s public schools with $7 billion in additional aid to help them reopen safely and well. In addition, due to the efforts of advocates and a progressive State Legislature, including Robert Jackson, now a State Senator, our schools will receive the additional funding promised by the Legislature in 2007, with $530 million next year, rising to $1.3 billion annually over the next three years.  

In recognition of the importance of smaller classes, Senator Jackson and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon have introduced bills in their respective houses that would restart the clock on New York City’s obligation to lower class size. At the same time, the City Council, led by Council Member Daniel Dromm, Finance Committee chair and former middle school teacher, is calling for $250 million to be dedicated towards class size reduction next year.

The past year-and-a-half have been extremely difficult and disruptive for most students, who have spent months trying to learn remotely, staring into screens with only intermittent engagement with their teachers, fellow classmates, and the curriculum at hand. Isolated, bored, disconnected and at times even despondent, they will need the close, in-person support of their teachers more than ever before. It is even more evident now that human relationships are central to children’s emotional and intellectual development, and the strength of those relationships are immensely enhanced in a smaller class. It is past time that our city’s students are provided with the class sizes that have long been promised but never delivered by our elected leaders.

***
Leonie Haimson is Executive Director of Class Size Matters. Wendy Lecker is Senior Attorney at the Education Law Center. On Twitter @LeonieHaimson & @Wlecker.

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Getting Back to Our Roots: End the Influence of Multinational Corporations in New York Elections


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Wall Street (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


For the framers of our Constitution, the desire to free themselves from corruption by foreign powers was central to their debates at the hot summer in Philadelphia that gave structure to what became the oldest surviving democracy. But the threat of foreign influence, and corruption--the struggle for self-determination, self-representation, and freedom from outside influence--continues. 

That struggle is epitomized by unlimited campaign spending by corporations and wealthy individuals through super PACs and dark money groups. Since 1976, the Supreme Court has approached campaign finance reform with growing skepticism, slowly loosening restrictions on political spending to the point that just about anything goes.

New York now has the chance to turn this tide, and usher in a new era of freedom nationwide, with a bill that could blast a hole in Citizens United v. FEC. 

The New York Democracy Preservation Act, championed by State Senator Michael Gianaris and Assemblymember Latrice Walker, is making its way through the New York Legislature. The bill, which just passed the State Senate, takes aim at one of campaign finance’s heaviest hitters: the multinational corporation. Corporations with partial foreign ownership have thrown millions of dollars into races on the federal, state, and local levels to lift restrictions on their activities and grow their bottom line, always at the expense of everyday Americans denied the ability to impact our democracy.

The 2016 election gave us a perfect example of this attempted bribery in New York. Airbnb, partially owned by a Russian oligarch’s venture fund, spent at least $1.2 million in New York’s 2016 legislative races while fighting a bill to end the advertising of illegal units on home-sharing sites.

The Democracy Preservation Act isn’t just a landmark bill in the fight for campaign finance reform — it’s also common sense. Federal law explicitly prohibits all election-related contributions, expenditures, donations, and disbursements made directly or indirectly by foreign nationals. Such restrictions are enshrined in the Constitution in the form of the Foreign Emoluments Clause. Unless, of course, the foreign national owns stock in a major corporation.

How does this work with the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Citizens United v. FEC? In the decision, the majority held that big corporations spending unlimited sums of money in our elections deserved First Amendment protection. The logic of Citizens United might seem to apply to foreign money, too. However, a case just two years later in 2012 made clear that Citizens United doesn’t preclude limits on foreign spending, making this legislation possible. It would make a big dent — over 98% of S&P 500 companies would fall in its ambit. In fact, it points to a fatal logical flaw in Citizens United, which simply failed to address the inevitable role of corporations with foreign owners spending in elections. 

The measures laid out in the bill aren’t entirely unique. Similar legislation, pioneered by the nonprofit advocacy group Free Speech For People, is on the books for municipal elections in Seattle, Washington. In the lead-up to Seattle’s 2019 City Council elections, omnipresent tech giant Amazon spent $1.5 million to elect business-friendly candidates. Their efforts were mostly unsuccessful, and in January 2020, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to bar multinational corporations like Amazon from spending money to influence city elections.

Countering the corrupting influence of corporations and billionaires, both foreign and domestic, on our elections is no easy task, but it is vital to the future of our democracy. By passing the Democracy Preservation Act, New York can embody the best parts of our framing generation — the anticorruption spirit — and put an end to the fundamental threat of money from foreign-influenced corporations in our elections. Because democracy should be by and for the people it represents, and no one else.

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Zephyr Teachout is an Associate Law Professor at Fordham Law School. On Twitter @ZephyrTeachout.

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Note: this article has been updated to reflect Airbnb disputed the $11 million figure reported by the Daily News - that number has been adjusted to "at least $1.2 million" to reflect one Airbnb PAC's spending.

To Build Back Better, New York Should Build Public Renewables


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(photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)


A state with the nation’s most ambitious climate justice goals and a White House and Congress promising historic investment in green infrastructure should be a match made in heaven. If we act quickly and pass the New York Build Public Renewables Act, we can make the most of this historic opportunity to rebuild our energy system and economy, and ensure the historic targets we set in 2019 on eradicating carbon emissions and environmental racism become reality.

The New York Build Public Renewables Act, or “NYBPRA,” (bill S6453/A1466a), introduced by State Senator Kevin Parker and Assemblymember Robert Carroll, will enable our nation-leading public power provider, New York Power Authority, to lead a mass buildout of 100% renewable energy.

According to a recent report from a University of Pennsylvania research group, this will create up to 51,000 jobs; build enough renewable energy to power the majority of the state; add as much as $93 billion to the state’s economy; and put billions in green stimulus towards fighting environmental racism in frontline communities like the “Asthma Alley” shared by Queens and The Bronx. This is all achievable without raising taxes a single cent.

The NYBPRA is a revenue-neutral bill that jumpstarts renewable energy construction and adds over $90 million to the economy. Since its creation by New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, NYPA has gone from New Deal prototype to the nation’s leading public power provider, supplying over 25% of New York State with 80% renewable energy. And it is funded by issuing its own bonds, which are highly-rated by all three major rating agencies.

And unlike for-profit options like NRG, which even in 2021 feel as comfortable as ever pushing fracked gas projects on Asthma Alley, despite fierce opposition from the community and its representatives, NYPA’s long history as a top public institution has proven it a more accountable, transparent, and cost-effective option for all involved.

Though ambitious, this plan is not risky. NYPA is the rare institution to be as lauded by Green New Deal activists as by S&P Global. The fact is, the risk of not passing it is far greater. In 2021, New Yorkers know the climate crisis isn’t some abstract fear—it’s heightened COVID deaths, heatwaves, hurricanes, and the huge racial disparities in who they harm most.

NYBPRA will put New York in prime position to use every last federal dollar from the American Jobs Plan, the Department of Energy’s $8.25 billion electrical transmission loan, and anything else our federal counterparts can offer as cost-effectively, transparently, and equitably as possible.

It will let Congress know that when the American Jobs Plan comes to our state, we’ll execute it with the same leadership and success that makes “New York” a name known all across the globe. That when it comes to Building Back Better, New York will build back best.

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Michael Gianaris is New York State Senate Deputy Majority Leader and represents parts of Queens. On Twitter @SenGianaris.

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City Should Quickly Expand Use of Schools as Vaccine Hubs — Welcoming Students, Parents, Staff and Anyone Else


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Mayor de Blasio at a school offering vaccines (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that New York City would launch covid vaccination sites at select schools across the city for 12 to 17-year-olds. The program is to start at four schools in the Bronx on Friday, June 4, and move to additional locations in the five boroughs, trying to vaccinate large numbers of kids by the end of school this month. The mayor should be commended for this initiative, along with City Council Member Mark Levine, chair of the Health Committee, who had been advocating for this effort.

The converging developments involving the return to full in-person learning this fall for the school system, and the expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to adolescents, were strong arguments to use the schools as vaccine sites. But the outreach power of the schools is enormous, and several million adults in the city, the vast majority of them Black and Hispanic, remain unvaccinated. 

There are hundreds of junior high schools and high schools available -- with all their security, their gyms, cafeterias, and auditoriums for space, their freezers in their kitchens for storing vaccines, and their widespread proximity to the people in their neighborhoods, who drop their kids or work at schools or simply walk by them all the time -- that could be perfect locations for continued mass outreach. That is why city government should plan to vaccinate adults as well as kids at the schools and ramp this effort up as quickly as possible in order to help overcome some of the gaps in vaccination that we’ve seen.

New York City’s overall vaccination effort is keeping pace with the nation. According to the city Department of Health vaccine tracking system, by last week about 61% of adults aged 18 and up have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The Center for Disease Control vaccine tracker reported as of May 26 that 62% of American adults had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Here is the city’s breakdown as of May 28 (with data updated through May 27):

Table

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The city’s table shows more than 2.5 million adults still have not received one dose of the vaccine. Data in the city’s table also show that 7% of persons aged 0-17 have received the vaccine. Mayor de Blasio stated in his announcement this week that about 118,000 12 to 17-year-olds have already been vaccinated, about 23% of the city’s population of persons in this age group. That means about 400,000 12 to 17-year-olds are still unvaccinated, nearly all of whom will be in school in September. 

Although the city’s overall vaccination rate is showing similar progress to the nation, it hides massive racial and ethnic disparities. This table, from the city’s data set just cited, shows how striking these disparities are:

A picture containing timeline

Description automatically generatedOnly 34% of Black adults have received one dose of the vaccine. That rate is 45% for Latino adults, 52% for white adults, and 76% for Asian adults. The city Health Department offers a caution on the data: some vaccination reports don’t identify a racial or ethnic background, and DOH records show about 11% of the vaccinated adults don’t have their race or ethnicity identified. It means that the actual vaccination rates for the different groups are somewhat higher, but the overall concern doesn’t change. Using the percentages of the city’s population broken down into different ethnic groups from 2019 Census estimates, and comparing those to the percentages vaccinated, I estimate that nearly 2 million of the roughly 3 million unvaccinated adults and adolescents are Black or Hispanic.

The city begins a summer school program on July 6 that includes all grades. Not every school will open. Junior high school and high school sites will be clustered. For instance, one junior high school will open and receive students from nearby junior high schools for the program in addition to their own. The programs run through mid-August. The city could add vaccine distribution at the summer school sites and continue them through August and the beginning of the school year while expanding the effort to as many schools as possible.

The Biden administration said it plans to ship vaccines to pediatricians. A Kaiser Family Foundation vaccine monitoring survey indicates about 40% of parents of adolescents aged 12-17 either have already had their children vaccinated or plan to do so soon. This survey suggests that a majority of adolescents will not be vaccinated in the very near future. 

Again, the outreach power of the schools is enormous. Every school has records of the addresses and phone numbers of the families whose children are enrolled. The parents and other family members of the kids can be invited to get vaccinated at the school, and parent associations can be enlisted to encourage parents to use the schools for vaccinations.

The schools should also be available to the general public. The schools have the records of the kids who dropped out, and of the kids who just graduated. Many high school students are “overage” and many kids don’t graduate until they are 19 or 20 years old, and the lowest percentages of unvaccinated adults are the youngest adults, aged 18-24. Sixty-six percent of New York City public school students are Black or Hispanic. The schools should stay open into the early evenings to address one of the most significant hurdles remaining to get the population vaccinated — the work schedules of people who can’t get time off or need time after the workday is over.

Vaccination progress will continue as the summer rolls on;  thankfully the vaccines are widely available at pharmacies and many other sites. But with 3 million New Yorkers unvaccinated, developing the potential of the schools to reach the broad population of the city still unvaccinated is a self-evident proposition.

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Jim Brennan was a member of the New York State Assembly for 32 years, where he chaired four committees. On Twitter @JimBrennanNY.

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