[[link removed]]Dear John,

Like many of you, I am looking anxiously towards July 25, when the additional $600 monthly in federal unemployment payments is set to expire. More than 1 in 5 New Yorkers is currently unemployed, and bills are mounting for many families just as relief payments and eviction protections are expiring.

For tens of thousands of immigrant New Yorkers, there has been no relief at all. Many immigrants who lack work authorization do absolutely essential jobs in food service, health care, cleaning, construction and more. The coronavirus health crisis and economic crisis has hit immigrant communities extremely hard. One in six jobs lost in New York during this crisis was held by someone undocumented, according to Make the Road New York.

Despite contributing to New York’s taxbase, undocumented workers are not eligible for unemployment and they were intentionally excluded from the federal stimulus payments by Trump, McConnell, and GOP xenophobes.

But here in New York State, with a Democratic governor and majorities in the State Senate and Assembly, what’s our excuse for excluding our immigrant neighbors?

Join the campaign to #FundExcludedWorkers by signing the coalition’s petition here. [[link removed]]

Last week, Rosa and I joined Make the Road and their partners NYCC, Street Vendor Project, Nail Techs United, New York Taxi Alliance, and others, for a 24 hour fast and sleep-out at the foot of Amazon owner Jeff Bezos’ New York penthouse. In the morning, we marched on Governor Cuomo’s NYC offices, demanding that he tax billionaires to fund relief for excluded workers [[link removed]] .

State Senator Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Carmen de la Rosa have proposed legislation to tax the unrealized capital gains of New York’s 118 billionaires, who have collectively seen their wealth growth by hundreds of billions of dollars since the start of the pandemic, in order to generate $5.5 billion in revenues to provide some basic rent and income support for families like those we marched with.

But Governor Cuomo has steadfastly opposed such a tax, claiming that it will push wealthy people out of New York. It is a specious argument at best, and downright callous in practice. Governor Cuomo talks a lot about New York’s identity as an immigrant state and his own immigrant heritage and, but has done little to ensure that today’s immigrants have the same access to opportunity that his family had. As I said outside his office on Friday morning, how dare we talk about New York as an immigrant state and not support immigrants, these excluded workers, in this most difficult time? I’m skeptical that it will really push the wealthy out of NY, but if that’s the concern, then do it regionally, as I have proposed [[link removed]] with closing the carried interest loophole at the same time as New Jersey and Connecticut, to make it harder for people to just shift their addresses to neighboring states.

One of the best signs at the protest on Friday said: “Si no hay pan para el pobre no habrá paz para el rico” (If there’s no bread for the poor there will be no peace for the rich). We can go hoarse blaming Trump, Congress and xenophobia for the suffering of these families, but if we allow Governor Cuomo and our state legislature to get away with protecting billionaires rather than providing some relief for our immigrant, excluded neighbors, then we are complicit as well. Other states and localities [[link removed]] have made financial relief available for those excluded from federal funds, New York can too.

In the absence of federal and state support, organizations have created funds for emergency cash assistance for excluded communities. You can give to Make the Road’s excluded immigrant fund here [[link removed]] , Street Vendor Project here [[link removed]] , National Day Labor Organizing Network here [[link removed]] .

If you want to learn more about the campaign to win relief for excluded immigrant workers, join Ruth Messinger and me for a conversation with Make the Road leaders during our next “Justice in Action” Zoom conversation on Thursday 7/23 at 2 PM. Register here [[link removed]] .

Brad

In this email:
City and State Updates
Upcoming Events

City and State Updates

*
Latest
Virus
Data:
There
were
298
new
cases
identified
over
the
weekend,
and
12
more
New
Yorkers
died
from
the
virus.
We
have
lost
23,400
people
in
NYC
from
the
virus,
and
221,419
total
cases
have
been
identified
in
the
city.
Currently,
the
percent
of
tests
that
came
back
positive
remains
low,
under
1.2%.


*
Phase
4:
A
modified
Phase
4
starts
today,
with
media
production,
professional
sports
(without
fans),
low-risk
outdoor
entertainment
(like
zoos
and
botanical
gardens),
and
more
reopening.
Indoor
activities
like
gyms,
museums
and
malls
are
not
yet
permitted
to
open.
Read
more
about
Phase
4
here
[[link removed]]
.


*
Open
streets
for
restaurants:
This
weekend,
the
city’s
Open
Streets:
Restaurants
[[link removed]]
program
expanded,
and
I
was
delighted
to
participate.
Thanks
to
the
Park
Slope
5th
Avenue
BID,
stretches
of
5th
Avenue
from
Dean
Street
to
Park
Place,
Garfield
to
3rd
Street,
and
10th
to
13th
Streets
are
included.
That
means
the
streets
will
be
closed
to
traffic
and
open
for
dining
and
walking
from
5pm
to
11pm
on
Friday
nights,
and
noon
to
11pm
on
Saturdays
and
Sundays,
from
now
through
October
31st.


*
Back-to-School
Plans:
On
Thursday
evening,
we’ll
be
holding
a
townhall
with
DOE
officials
about
their
reopening
plans.
I’ve
heard
from
so
many
of
you,
with
questions,
anxiety,
frustration,
out-of-the-box
ideas
(like
outdoor
classrooms),
some
pretty
obvious
ideas
(like
using
the
new
classrooms
at
PS
32
creatively),
and
a
desire
to
push
as
hard
as
we
can
to
do
right
by
our
students
and
educators
under
the
hardest
circumstances
ever.
Register
here
[[link removed]]
(more
details
below).


*
Child
care:
Last
week,
responding
to
calls
that
many
of
you
joined
me
in
making,
the
Mayor
announced
[[link removed]]
that
City
Hall
is
working
to
scale
up
child
care
and
enrichment
activities
for
100,000
kids
during
the
time
they
will
not
be
in
the
classroom
this
fall.
If
we
are
going
to
send
students
back
to
school
part-time
this
fall,
there
has
to
be
a
plan
to
help
working
parents
deal
with
the
child
care
gaps
this
creates.
The
Mayor’s
announcement
is
a
good
step
forward;
much
more
is
needed
to
help
child
care
providers
survive,
and
to
make
sure
that
back-to-school
is
safe
and
possible
for
families.
City
Hall
is
looking
for
public
and
private
spaces
to
house
this
programming,
if
you
have
suggestions
let
them
know
here
[[link removed]]
.


*
Rent
Relief
Program:
The
State
opened
applications
for
a
limited
[[link removed]]
rent
relief
program,
offering
some
rent-burdened
households
a
one-time
subsidy
paid
directly
to
landlords.
The
application
is
open
until
July
30
and
available
here
[[link removed]]
.


*
COVID-19
Legal
Resource
Hotline:
The
New
York
Legal
Assistance
Group
has
extended
the
hours
of
their
hotline
in
response
to
the
surge
in
need
for
legal
services
in
areas
such
as
unemployment,
housing,
employee
rights,
public
benefits,
and
consumer
debt.
The
hotline
hours
are
7am-1pm,
Monday
thru
Friday,
and
the
number
is
929-356-9582.


*
Brooklyn
is
behind!
Fill
out
your
Census:
Recent
data
shows
that
Brooklyn
is
still
far
behind
where
we
need
to
be
on
Census
response
rates.
All
our
neighborhoods
have
to
be
counted
for
us
to
get
the
federal
resources
and
representation
we
desperately
need.
IF
you
have
not
yet
filled
out
the
Census,
please
do
so
now
at
my2020census.gov
[[link removed]]
.


*
New
Food
Pantry:
The
Camp
Friendship
Youth
Program
is
pulling
together
a
volunteer
pop-up
food
pantry.
Non-perishable
food
can
be
dropped
off
on
Tuesday
from
1
to
6
or
Saturday
from
10am
to
1pm
at
the
Camp
Friendship
club
house,
located
at
339
8th
Street
(between
5th
&
6th
Avenues).
There
are
lots
of
opportunities
for
volunteers
to
do
deliveries,
or
help
with
the
assembly
or
distribution
of
food
boxes.
Donations
are
also
accepted.
More
information
here
[[link removed]]
.
Food
will
be
distributed
to
those
in
need
weekly
on
Tuesdays
from
3
to
6
pm.


*
Health
Care
Enrollment
deadline
extended:
The
deadline
for
health
insurance
special
enrollment
has
been
extended
to
August
15,
2020.
New
Yorkers
without
health
insurance
can
apply
for
coverage
through
NY
State
of
Health
[[link removed]]
.



Upcoming Events

*
Thursday,
July
23
at
2
PM:
Justice
in
Action
Session
on
Undocumented
and
Excluded
Workers.
Register
here
[[link removed]]
.



Join the JCC's Social Justice Activist in Residence Ruth Messinger and me in conversation with Deborah Axt, Executive Director of Make the Road New York about the proposed Excluded Workers Disaster Income Replacement Fund.

*
Thursday,
July
23
at
7
PM.
Parent
Townhall
with
DOE
Officials.
Register
here
[[link removed]]
.



Join me for a townhall with DOE officials to talk about the plans for back-to-school in the fall and other issues. We will have Deputy Chancellor Adrienne Austin, Executive Superintendent Karen Watts and District 15 Superintendent Anita Skop to answer questions from parents about the scheduling logistics, child care needs, support for social and emotional well-being, and more.

456 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-499-1090
[email protected]

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