If you measure it, you can miss it: The mantra of modern technocrats is that if you can measure something, you can fix it. This drove the focus on crime statistics under the COMPSTAT system the NYPD pioneered in the 1990s, and it shaped many initiatives--particularly in schools--during the Bloomberg administration. The approach has its merits, but also its risks: What if the number you focus on is the wrong one? 

One number has drawn increasing attention: The census of people in city homeless shelters each night. It does tell us something about the homelessness crisis. But the shelter census really reflects the city's compliance with its legal mandate to provide shelter for homeless people. It doesn't reflect broader city efforts, like the housing vouchers that have moved tens of thousands of people out of shelter. It doesn't capture the scale of the homelessness problem, since it excludes people bouncing from couch to couch, relative to relative, avoiding shelters but not enjoying any housing stability. 

David Brand's story this week captures the true scale of the issue and profiles the "typical" families living through it: single-parent households, disproportionately black, very low income, with very young children. That profile highlights what's at stake: Many thousands of children are spending key developmental years without stable housing. One voice from Brand's piece will haunt me: "I didn’t know what was next, being homeless," said one mother. "My daughter was so little and had been through so much." Something will stick out for you, too, and move you a little closer to knowing what that one big number really means.

- Jarrett Murphy, executive editor

Read the story

Flushing’s Chinese-run dollar stores are struggling amid rising rents and the U.S.-China trade war. Once ubiquitous in the immigrant neighborhood, Flushing’s Chinese-run discount shops are now struggling thanks to the competition from newly-arrived chain stores, a scorching trade war, rising rents and demographic changes in the area, World Journal reports.  Read More

The city’s food banks are offering home delivery in response to immigration fears. The city’s food bank workers say immigrant families are increasingly afraid of visiting their locations in person. “They believe that ICE could be around the corner, and many families have told us that they cannot afford to put themselves at risk standing in line,” one source told El Diario. Read more

The mayor recently announced an expanded homeless outreach initiative. But is that the right approach? Advocates say data and reporting won't solve our crisis. We need more beds. What will get street-homeless people off the sidewalk: more engagement, or a better place to sleep? Read more

Will Councilmember Rafael Salamcanca support the city's rezoning around Southern Boulevard? It's not clear. “I made it very clear to City Planning: If you cannot get this racial impact study done, this rezoning on Southern Boulevard is dead on arrival,” said Salamanca last week during a rally calling for such studies. in addition. The area around Southern Boulevard has secured a lot of the kinds of infrastructure investments that usually come with a rezoning, without Salamanca having to decide if he wants one, or grassroots organizations needing to decide which side they’re on. Read more. 

Are we producing enough housing for seniors? Over six years in office, the mayor has created 3,800 senior housing units and financed another 4,700 en route to a goal of 15,000 apartments that advocates say falls short of need. Read more

Three steps to equity in schools. Low-income, Black and Latino children generally have less access to high-quality education than their White, economically advantaged counterparts To reach true education equity, we need to disrupt historical patterns that harm students from marginalized communities by taking three initial steps: staffing experienced teachers in high-needs schools, teaching with culturally responsive curricula, and eliminating assessments that promote segregation. Read more


Keep the grassroots strong for criminal justice reform. Over the last 20 years, a growing grassroots movement has made reform mainstream while winning policy and political changes inside of local neighborhoods, city councils, and state legislatures around the country, write Lorenzo Jones and Gabriel Sayegh, co-executive directors of the Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice. Policy changes can be won through many avenues, but only grassroots movements make them durable. Read more. 

In 2017, the last year on record, the city had nearly 23,000 lab-confirmed cases of influenza, the highest number or rate since tracking began in 2006. Learn more about incidences of the flu, Hepatitis, Salmonella, Anthrax and other bugs via the Communicable Disease Surveillance Data kept via the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Epiquery toolkit.

Brooklyn Movement Center
Housing and Sustainability Organizer

"We’re looking for a dynamic organizer who can lead campaigns to resist displacement and build resilience among vulnerable, long-term Central Brooklynites residents. A competitive candidate is someone who is a fearless recruiter and has strong people and communication skills, including using digital organizing tools."

Brooklyn Movement Center/Central Brooklyn Food Coop
Food Sovereignty Organizer

We are the Central Brooklyn Food Coop (CBFC) an emerging consumer-owned, Black-led, grocery store set to open in 2020. CBFC envisions a future where Black residents take control of their local food system to provide healthy, affordable and sustainable food for Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights and the surrounding communities. CBFC is incubated by the Brooklyn Movement Center, a multi-issue, social justice, community organizing group.

We’re looking for a dynamic community organizer who will take the CBFC from its current organizing phase to the opening of its retail storefront by inspiring public excitement in CBFC and dramatically expanding the CBFC membership. A competitive candidate is someone who is a fearless recruiter and has strong people and communication skills, including the effective use of digital organizing tools.

Community Service Society of New York
Community Organizer

CSS seeks a Community Organizer to help advance CSS’s statewide, coalition-based Clean Slate New York campaign for criminal records expungement. Our goal for the campaign, led by CSS and partner organization Legal Action Center and involving anchor groups statewide, is to get automatic criminal records expungement legislation passed in New York State this legislative session. The Community Organizer will work directly with CSS Legal Department’s Senior Community Organizer and other key staff to move this campaign forward, engaging in coalition-based organizing and advocacy efforts both in New York City and across the state.

Center for an Urban Future
Education & Workforce Fellow

The Center for an Urban Future (CUF) seeks a full-time Education & Workforce Fellow with exceptional writing skills to lead new research on expanding economic opportunity in New York City. CUF is a leading New York City–based think tank whose reports, commentaries, and data briefs serve as a catalyst for smart and sustainable public policies to reduce inequality, increase economic mobility, and grow the economy in New York.