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.

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.

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 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 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, Street Vendor Project here, National Day Labor Organizing Network here.

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.

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.
Open streets for restaurants: This weekend, the city’s Open Streets: Restaurants 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 (more details below).
Child care: Last week, responding to calls that many of you joined me in making, the Mayor announced 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.
Rent Relief Program: The State opened applications for a limited 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.
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.
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. 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.

Upcoming Events

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

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.

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.