The Pandemic Robbed Thousands of NYC Children of Parents. Many Aren’t Getting the Help They Need.
More than 8,700 children in New York City have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March 2020, nearly double the national rate. These losses, like the coronavirus itself, have disproportionately struck families of color and immigrants.
City Limits, THE CITY, Columbia Journalism Investigations and Type Investigations have spent a year documenting the NYC Department of Education’s response to COVID-bereaved children in public schools. We discovered that decades of underfunding mental health care left schools unprepared to handle the spike in needs during the pandemic. Amid that crisis, grieving students were largely overlooked and often didn’t get the help they needed.
Buried Beneath: The Fight to Clean Up Toxic Brownfields in The Bronx All across the Bronx there are toxic chemicals in the ground, hazardous enough to the people who live and work nearby that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has ordered them cleaned up. Yet years—and in some cases decades—after the dangers were identified, the toxic substances are still here, unremediated. Read the story.
An Overlooked Climate Solution? Greener Playgrounds Across the country, cities are transforming asphalt schoolyards into spongy, shady community centers. The new playground at PS 184M Shuang Wen School in Manhattan’s Chinatown, for example, has a porous turf field that can capture an estimated 1.3 million gallons of stormwater runoff. Read the story.
With SWEAT, Labor Advocates Renew Push For Anti-Wage Theft Legislation Seven workers’ organizations have compiled a database on wage theft during the pandemic totaling $130.5 million owed to workers. The preliminary data from just seven groups dwarfs the nearly $3 million Gov. Kathy Hochul boasted of the state having recovered for workers last year. A preliminary version of this data has been shared with City Limits. Read the story.
PODCAST: ¿Cómo se están organizando los defensores de los derechos de los inmigrantes para frenar demandas al Título 42? Una expansión del Título 42 por un lado permitirá a los inmigrantes procedentes de Nicaragua, Cuba y Haití con patrocinadores financieros con sede en Estados Unidos entrar legalmente en el país a través de un “parole” y con ello, podrán vivir y trabajar legalmente en Estados Unidos de forma temporal. Leer el artículo.
Con SWEAT, defensores de trabajadores renuevan presión en favor de una legislación contra el robo de salarios Siete organizaciones de trabajadores han compilado una base de datos sobre el robo de salarios durante la pandemia por un total de $130.5 millones de dólares adeudados a los trabajadores. Una versión preliminar de estos datos ha sido compartida con City Limits. Leer el artículo.
City Views
Opinions & Analysis
Opinion: Reducing the City’s Waste Output is Good for New York State “Addressing New York City’s organic waste output isn’t just about keeping our streets rodent free. It’s about communities across the country where our waste ends up in polluting incinerators and towering landfills, including the largest in the state: Seneca Meadows.”Read the story.
Job Board
This week's offerings
Associate Director,
NYC Energy Efficiency Corporation
NYCEEC, the country’s first local green bank, is a non-profit specialty financier of projects in buildings that save energy and reduce greenhouse gases. The Associate Director will support the General Counsel/Director, Legal in efforts to manage NYCEEC’s legal and compliance affairs and help advise NYCEEC management and staff on various legal, compliance and risk management issues.
Social Work Positions at Brooklyn Community Services
BCS strengthens communities by fostering the educational success of children, the leadership development of youth, the employment and housing stability of adults, the advancement of individuals living with disabilities, and the empowerment of seniors and families.
Tenant Counselor, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation
Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (CHLDC) is a multi-service, nonprofit community development organization and settlement house in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. The Tenant Counselor will counsel and represent low-income tenants to prevent eviction, secure apartment and building repairs, stop harassment, and otherwise resolve tenant-landlord conflicts.
The Center for an Urban Future (CUF) is a leading think tank focused on the future of New York City. The ideal candidate will have outstanding writing and editing skills; significant work experience conducting research, communications and/or journalism on public policy issues; fluency in New York’s policy and government landscape; a passion for New York; and some familiarity with issues related to economic opportunity.
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