The City Limits Newsletter

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Procedural Drama: The typical City Limits story on the big new building or the bold new rezoning is often as much about how the deal got done as it is about the deal itself. The complaints, the protests, the angry letters are not about the product, but rather the process. Process figures prominently in our stories this week--the breaking news about the Inwood rezoning lawsuit and our stories about NYCHA's development plans and the Bushwick rezoning.

Sometimes, of course, the process is just a proxy someone uses for an idea they will never support: The vicious protests against the siting of homeless shelters have focused on process when it seems clear that not even the most open give-and-take would ease the outrage. Those unreconcilable complaints, however, don't get the process off the hook. Just because there are people bound to say “no” doesn't mean it's not worth building a truly inclusive and meaningful system.

Some advocates pushed hard earlier this year for the city to adopt a comprehensive planning process, so that the city might grow more democratically. That effort has failed. But legislation, advocacy and, in Inwood at least, litigation could still shape changes to how the system works.

- Jarrett Murphy, executive editor


** New this week:
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Inwood rezoning annulled. A New York Supreme Civil Court judge on Thursday annulled the city’s 2018 Inwood rezoning, siding with a lawsuit that alleged the city did not address community concerns or do due diligence during the environmental review process. The decision could have significant implications for the de Blasio administrations future proposed rezoning. Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])

Community planning or no rezoning in Bushwick. Bushwick elected officials, community groups and residents sent a joint letter this week urging the de Blasio administration to include the community zoning framework outlined in the Bushwick Community Plan within the scope of the city’s environmental review process for City Hall’s planned rezoning. Councilmember Reynoso's office says that if the community plan is not included in the scope of the environmental review, the rezoning process will not move any further. Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])

Fraud against undocumented license seekers. On Monday, New York's new 'Green Light' bill went into effect, allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for drivers licenses. Some though, are worried about fraudsters who might offer help with application and take advantage of applicants. Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])

Gang policing replicates the harms of mass incarceration. In 2012, the NYPD began implementing ‘Operation Crew Cut,’ which doubled the number of officers in their gang unit, and recreated its ‘Criminal Group Database’ to track alleged gang members. Since then, thousands of youths and adults have been arrested accused of gang affiliation. A new report reveals the harms this has caused these teens. Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])

NYCHA Development dreams at a crossroads: For years, studies have touted NYCHA’s potential to generate desperately needed income from developing land. NYCHA says it expects to raise $2 billion from infill but just three projects are currently active and none are moving very quickly. Can NYCHA actually develop its parking lots to fund repairs? Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])

How to explain? 29 cyclists were killed by vehicles this year, up from a record-low of 10 cyclist fatalities in 2018. The latest death was just yesterday. Experts say it's hard to pinpoint a direct or single cause behind the increase, but instead point to a confluence of factors, including an increasing population, more cars and larger vehicles on city streets, and insufficient bike infrastructure that hasn't kept up with the growing popularity of cycling. Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])

Income inequality is a well-known story. What hasn’t been examined closely is how the nationwide pattern of the rich getting richer and the poor staying poor looks when analyzed through a racial lens. Reporter Daniel Parra looks into how income inequality looks through a racial lens. Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])

Rest in peace Carmen Vega-Rivera. The long-time tenant champion and 40-year Bronx resident whose career in housing advocacy began with a fight against her own landlord over a decade ago, died Sunday at the age of 65. Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])


** Listen: NYPD’s Anti-Gang Efforts Under a Microscope
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Taylonn Murphy Sr. and Josmar Trujillo joined Jarrett and Ben this week to discuss the city's gang policing efforts. Murphy Sr. lost one child to gun violence and his son was arrested in a gang raid. Trujillo authored a recently a report on gang policing. Both discussed what they see as the problems with how the city approaches gangs.

Hear the discussion ([link removed][UNIQID])
Sponsored
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** Opinion
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The Constitutional Case for ‘Medicare for All’

‘Ultimately, it is the role of government to do what it can to assist the people it serves. We have done this since our founding and have developed a stronger safety net over time. ‘
Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])

Starving the CUNY System Erodes an Engine for Equality

‘The cumulative consequences of systematic underfunding – the long-term weathering of CUNY – mark the erosion of New York’s commitments to democracy, racial justice, integration, freedom of expression, and association,’ write two CUNY professors.
Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])
Stop Sunnyside Yards! Reparative City Building Now!

‘Development of Sunnyside Yards is emblematic of a broader and fraught city-building process, which is churning communities across the city and displacing working-class communities while building new neighborhoods for wealthier, whiter households.’
Read more ([link removed][UNIQID])
The reservoirs that make up New York City's drinking water system hold a maximum of 553 billion gallons of water ([link removed][UNIQID]) , about 10 percent more water than exists in Lake Erie. ([link removed][UNIQID])
Jobs


** The Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative
Strategic Partnerships Manager
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The Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI) is a community-led effort to build an equitable, sustainable, and democratic local economy that creates wealth and ownership for low-income people of color—what we call economic democracy. One of our core strategies is building a network of Bronx institutions and leaders that share our vision and values.

We are looking for a Strategic Partnerships Manager to lead our effort to cultivate and maintain a network of institutional leaders committed to build shared wealth and opportunity for Bronx residents. Reporting to the Executive Director, and working closely with BCDI’s board of directors, the Strategic Partnerships Manager will utilize exceptional relationship building and project management skills to build and support the network of labor, community-based organizations, anchor institutions, and others that BCDI is building including the development of the Bronx Anchor Council.
Read more and apply ([link removed][UNIQID])


** Brooklyn Movement Center
Housing and Sustainability Organizer
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"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."
Read more and apply ([link removed][UNIQID])


** Brooklyn Movement Center/Central Brooklyn Food Coop
Food Sovereignty Organizer
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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.
Read more and apply ([link removed][UNIQID])


** Community Service Society of New York
Community Organizer
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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.
Read more and apply ([link removed][UNIQID])
Our job board is full of positions in New York's public sector. Explore more jobs here ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
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To get more of City Limits in your inbox, sign up for our housing newsletter, Mapping the Future. Subscribe ([link removed][UNIQID])
Read:


** Judge Annuls Inwood Rezoning, Citing Flaws in City’s Review ([link removed][UNIQID])
Bushwick Stakeholders Demand City Assess Their Rezoning Plan ([link removed][UNIQID])
Tenant Turned Tenant Organizer Carmen Vega-Rivera Mourned in the Bronx ([link removed][UNIQID])
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