Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

June 5, 2020 at 6:04 PM

COVID-19: How will New Yorkers go back to work without childcare?

New York simply cannot reopen our economy and begin to recover from the #COVID crisis without affordable, high-quality child care for working families. Dear John, At long last, NYC is scheduled to start Phase 1 of our reopening process on Monday, June 8. I know that so many of you are, like me…

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  Team Lander · [email protected]

June 4, 2020 at 9:01 PM

Can you join us (virtually) to talk about housing justice?

Dear John: Before Brad joined the City Council, he worked on affordable housing issues for 15 years as a nonprofit director, urban planner, and community organizer -- and he understands that housing is directly tied to the systemic racism that millions of Americans are protesting right now. On…

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

June 3, 2020 at 7:47 PM

My pledge: I won't vote for a budget that does not meaningfully cut the NYPD

Tell the Mayor: Cut the NYPD’s Budget! .@NYCMayor, the NYPD’s budget should not go unscathed while they are brutalizing protesters and we’re losing teachers and youth jobs. I support @changetheNYPD’s call for #NYCBudgetJustice and cuts to the NYPD! TWEET AT @NYCMAYOR >> Dear John: New …

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

June 2, 2020 at 7:23 PM

She was pepper-sprayed by police. We need her in the Assembly.

My friend Diana Richardson, a member of the New York Assembly and a powerful progressive voice for racial and economic justice, was pepper-sprayed by police this weekend while protesting peacefully in Brooklyn. Dear John: My friend Diana Richardson, a member of the New York Assembly and a power…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

June 1, 2020 at 5:30 PM

COVID-19: The housing crisis is a public health crisis. And a racial justice one, too.

June rent is due today, a sharp reminder of our affordable housing crisis, and of the ways housing is inextricably tied to public health, economic opportunity, and racial justice.  Dear John, Amidst the public health and economic crises of COVID-19, and the crisis of systemic racism wrenching …

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 31, 2020 at 4:46 PM

De-escalate the police.

This is the most anxious time for our city and country that I can remember. Some thoughts and commitments going forward. Dear John, This is the most anxious time for our city and country that I can remember. I hope you all are safe, taking care of yourselves and each other. I’m writing today w…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 29, 2020 at 12:37 PM

COVID-19: Black Lives Matter

This is no time to let our outrage turn into despair and apathy. Dear John, Sometimes crises can bring us together across lines of difference, as we see in mutual aid groups and support for essential workers. But COVID-19 is also cracking open the deep fault lines in our society fostered by ce…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 26, 2020 at 4:05 PM

COVID-19: Time to request your absentee ballot

Dear John, The right to vote has rarely seemed so precious, or so precarious.  Showing up to vote in person sure doesn’t sound like a great idea during a public health crisis caused by an extremely transmissible virus. While the Board of Elections is working on protocols to make the polls saf…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 22, 2020 at 1:05 PM

COVID-19: The hard but hopeful path ahead

Dear John, One big challenge of this crisis is keeping up with the shifting collective actions it demands of us. So I want to take a minute today to let you know where we are at the moment with testing, contact tracing, and social distancing -- and what we need to do in the days ahead. At the…

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  Team Lander · [email protected]

May 20, 2020 at 8:19 PM

Don’t let the Senate block the support our small businesses need (SIGN ON)

We need to make sure the voices of our small business owners (and small business customers!) are heard loud and clear. Dear John, As part of the just-passed HEROES Act, the House of Representatives voted to give small businesses more time and flexibility to use their stimulus loans to rehire wo…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 19, 2020 at 11:15 PM

COVID-19: A relentless force for good meets a global pandemic

Dear John, In our cheers each evening, it’s easy (and important, of course) to focus on doctors and nurses providing essential, lifesaving services in our ERs. We also cheer for many workers we’ve come to recognize as essential, even if we failed to see that before: food chain, transit, sanit…

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 17, 2020 at 2:50 PM

What does the pandemic teach us about school segregation?

Today is the anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board Dear John, Today is the anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka which prohibited school segregation based on race. What can we learn about school segregation during …

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 14, 2020 at 8:59 PM

COVID-19: Supporting our local businesses

Dear John, One of the heartbreaking parts of this crisis is walking down the street and seeing our favorite neighborhood businesses dark. Already some beloved “mom & pops” around the city have announced they will be closing permanently. So many more fear that they will soon face the same …

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 13, 2020 at 2:05 PM

Amazon is loud. We have to get louder.

Corporations and their lobbyists have mounted a noisy public relations assault against Essential Workers Bill of Rights. We need to hear your stories and share them far and wide to show them why so many New Yorkers support these rights for workers. Right now, the best way you can support the E…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 12, 2020 at 10:35 PM

COVID-19: Reducing risk, managing the pandemic

Dear John, I find that I’m losing track of time a lot these days. One Zoom call fades into the next. The weather changes a little, but each day looks basically the same. February feels like years ago. Our daughter Rosa learned yesterday that camp (where she was set to be a counselor-in-traini…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 9, 2020 at 3:35 PM

COVID-19: Budgeting during an an economic crisis

Dear John, Amidst what are now officially the worst economic conditions of our lifetimes (over 20 million US jobs were lost in April, the worst devastation since the Great Depression), the City Council started our hearings this week on the Mayor’s proposed Executive Budget.  The challenge is …

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 8, 2020 at 8:52 PM

Thanks to you, we introduced Senator Warren to these five NYC essential workers

Dear John: Yesterday, I was honored to host a critical conversation between Senator Elizabeth Warren, city leaders, and five New York City workers on the frontlines of this pandemic to hear about why we need an Essential Workers Bill of Rights, in NYC and Washington DC. More than 1,500 people …

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 7, 2020 at 12:10 PM

COVID-19: Sticking together by staying apart

Two big events today (more details below): Today at 1 PM: Join Senator Elizabeth Warren and me for a conversation with workers in health care, food service, and sanitation about local and national efforts to pass an Essential Workers Bill of Rights. Register here or watch live on Facebook. T…

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  Team Lander · [email protected]

May 5, 2020 at 7:28 PM

Elizabeth Warren is with us, are you?

We need as many voices as possible in this fight to support our essential workers -- can you join Elizabeth Warren in signing on to support the NYC Essential Workers Bill of Rights? BIG NEWS: Senator Elizabeth Warren endorses our NYC Essential Workers Bill of Rights! SIGN ON as a Citizen Co-sp…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 4, 2020 at 6:55 PM

COVID-19: For small businesses, big gaps

Dear John, I spent a bunch of time on the phone last week with some of the beloved small businesses in our community. A few of my favorite book stores and bakeries and craft shops and restaurants, and I know some of yours too. Their stories were agonizing. They’ve invested their life savings,…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 1, 2020 at 6:45 PM

COVID-19: “Bread and roses” -- more urgently than ever this May Day

May Day has a dual history. As an ancient celebration of spring, with outdoor festivals and dancing. And as International Workers Day, honoring the organizing of workers who fought for and won campaigns for an 8-hour work day, the minimum wage, the right to form a union. Dear John, May Day has…

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

May 1, 2020 at 12:01 AM

Just a few hours left

We’re the only campaign in this race that isn’t taking money from the real estate industry or corporate PACs. Dear John: With only a few hours left before our end-of-month deadline, I wanted to reach out to you with a personal request. This is a campaign about tackling the problems of today whi…

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  Team Lander · [email protected]

April 30, 2020 at 2:53 PM

Fwd: Putting long-term good over short-term profit

We need Brad’s bold, progressive, compassionate, put-people-first leadership in the NYC Comptroller’s office. Dear John: During this time of stress and uncertainty, it is hard to look ahead a few weeks, let alone months or years. But in times of crisis, it is more critical than ever to come tog…

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 29, 2020 at 6:01 PM

Putting long-term good over short-term profit

Dear John: Before the COVID-19 crisis, our campaign had nearly 70 in-person grassroots fundraising events planned across the city. Now, our campaign has shifted to addressing the crisis: Advocating for an Essential Workers Bill of Rights, organizing informative Zoom calls to help thousands of …

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  Team Lander · [email protected]

April 28, 2020 at 4:05 PM

"Pandemic politics"

Ignoring the voices of nurses, drivers, grocers, and other frontline workers, the business lobby has trained their fire on our Essential Workers Bill of Rights: Don’t let corporate lobbyists block the NYC Essential Workers Bill of Rights! Sign on as a citizen co-sponsor now → TAKE ACTION Dear…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 27, 2020 at 10:31 PM

COVID-19: Planning for transit in a post-pandemic NYC

We are not at all out of the woods yet, but the spread of the virus is slowing and we are beginning to talk about how to reopen our city safely and thoughtfully. We will need to think carefully about schools and businesses, but we will also need to start planning seriously for how to manage transi…

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  Team Lander · [email protected]

April 25, 2020 at 3:18 PM

Big step forward for vote-by-mail!

Dear John, Governor Cuomo heard us! Thanks to advocates like you, every New York voter will receive an absentee ballot application for the June 23 primaries: But we’re not done yet. State Senator Alessandra Biaggi introduced a bill to expand no-excuse absentee voting for the General Election…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 24, 2020 at 9:15 PM

COVID-19: Caring for our elders

Dear John,  Ramadan Mubarak to all who are celebrating (in ways that none of us expected). I hope you find ways to connect to loved ones virtually, and make this time meaningful despite the physical distance and isolation. Thanks to Kensington’s Aamnah Khan for sharing this hadith, which see…

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 23, 2020 at 9:00 PM

New Yorkers are cheering for essential workers. It’s time to do more.

My colleagues and I are introducing the NYC Essential Workers Bill of Rights → Dear John, At 7pm tonight, as we have almost every night, Meg, Rosa, and I will be out on our stoop banging pots and pans alongside our neighbors to thank the New Yorkers who show up every day during this crisis to …

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 22, 2020 at 1:31 PM

Earth Day 2020: Bending the curve on CO2 emissions

“The fight to force financiers and insurers to abandon fossil fuels may soon get some powerful new recruits: the New York City Council.” (HuffPost, 4/18/20) Add your name to demand that NYC banks, asset managers, insurance companies divest from fossil fuels and stop funding climate destructio…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 21, 2020 at 5:03 PM

COVID-19: Supporting all of our students and families

It’s hard to be a parent of school-age kids right now, no matter what age they are, how much room you have in your home, how much time and resources you have. Dear John, It’s hard to be a parent of school-age kids right now, no matter what age they are, how much room you have in your home, how…

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 18, 2020 at 5:01 PM

Learning to organize differently

Dear John, Among the many challenges of this moment of crisis is that we cannot come together physically to mobilize our communities for change. But we are learning to find new ways to take action together. Over 175 people showed up to our organizing townhall on Thursday night to talk about h…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 16, 2020 at 8:03 PM

COVID-19: Mutual aid in a time of crisis

As soon as the stay-at-home orders began, google spreadsheets began flying around many of our networks, with people signing up to bring food and supplies to homebound neighbors through contactless-deliveries, offering to donate their monthly MetroCards to essential workers, volunteering to call is…

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  Team Lander · [email protected]

April 15, 2020 at 1:15 PM

New York can avoid a Wisconsin-like catastrophe

Last week in Wisconsin, Republican legislators and conservative judges cynically blocked efforts to postpone their spring elections. When advocates tried to expand mail-in voting to allow more folks to vote from home, they blocked that, too. (Photo Credit: Patricia McKnight / Milwaukee Journal…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 13, 2020 at 9:00 PM

COVID-19: What comes next? The long road ahead.

Dear John, The COVID-19 curve is bending, as the rate of New Yorkers coming into our hospitals slows. That is some much-needed good news, especially since it has been brought about by our collective action through physical distancing.  Let’s be clear: Tens of thousands of our neighbors remain…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 10, 2020 at 8:32 PM

COVID-19: A crisis both universal and disproportionate

Dear John, Every week of the last month has been hard in ways we never imagined, but for me this was the hardest one yet. Holidays apart from our families. The clarity that -- even while we are at last bending the curve -- we are really in this for the long haul. And of course, the most lives…

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 9, 2020 at 8:59 PM

Whistleblowers in today’s New York Times:

"Hospitals have warned, disciplined and even fired staff members who went public with workplace concerns about coronavirus precautions." “Hospitals have warned, disciplined and even fired staff members who went public with workplace concerns about coronavirus precautions.” (The New York Times, …

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 7, 2020 at 8:30 PM

COVID-19: When your home is not a safe place to stay (and other updates)

Dear John, We’re all affected by the COVID-19 crisis. We’re seeing suffering all around us. So many of us have lost loved ones or friends. People who never imagined they’d be unemployed find themselves forced to seek emergency food or other assistance.      But if the virus itself does not di…

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  Team Lander · [email protected]

April 6, 2020 at 9:13 PM

Protect health care workers who sound the alarm

SIGN ON: Protect medical staff who tell the truth! Ensure whistleblower protections for hospital workers →  Dear John: From inside the NYC hospitals on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, doctors and medical staff have been telling their urgent stories on social media and to the press. Fro…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 3, 2020 at 10:58 PM

COVID-19: Trying to smile through our tears (and our masks)

Dear John, Today was a dark day: New York recorded our highest increase yet of deaths due to the coronavirus, the total now surpassing the number of people who died on 9/11. And the numbers are still rising. As we end our third week largely isolated in our homes, we’ve taken further steps to p…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

April 1, 2020 at 3:46 PM

COVID-19: Counting for our future and other updates

Today is Census Day! The Census is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to make sure that our neighborhoods get the resources and representation we deserve. Dear John, Today is Census Day! The Census is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to make sure that our neighborhoods get the resources and represen…

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  Team Lander · [email protected]

April 1, 2020 at 12:10 AM

Fwd: Before, during, and long after this crisis

From supporting gig workers to standing up to the real estate lobby to stop non-essential construction, Brad has been an unyielding advocate for the health and safety of every New Yorker since this current crisis began. Dear John: From supporting gig workers to standing up to the real estate lo…

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

March 31, 2020 at 4:29 PM

Before, during, and long after this crisis

Dear John: In this moment of crisis and uncertainty, it’s hard to think even a week ahead, much less plan for what’s beyond. But crises demand that we do everything we possibly can in the moment, and fight like hell for the future.  So with the end-of-the-quarter deadline today, I need to ask …

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

March 30, 2020 at 11:45 PM

COVID-19: Valuing essential work (and other updates)

Dear John, I hope you and your family are as well as possible in this impossible time. Today is National Doctors Day, in a profound and poignant irony. I never even knew this day existed before, and now there’s no way we could find enough gratitude for our health care workers (not only doctor…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

March 28, 2020 at 12:25 PM

COVID-19: Two weeks in. Too many more to go.

Dear John, I hope you and your family are doing as well as you possibly can, in these totally impossible times, as we close our second full week of this new reality. The disruption to our normal lives, jobs, homes, schools, and more has been enormous, but I am taking inspiration from the cour…

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  Team Lander · [email protected]

March 27, 2020 at 1:26 PM

Fwd: ADD YOUR NAME: Every gig worker needs paid sick leave, NOW

Dear John: Right now, Brad is working with City Council attorneys, economists, and advocates to introduce a bill expanding NYC paid sick days law to include gig workers (for details, see his previous email below). We must pass this bill as quickly as possible -- and we need your help to make s…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

March 25, 2020 at 8:46 PM

COVID-19: Preparing for the hardest days

Dear John, Over the last few days, it has become clear to public health officials that the rate of coronavirus infection in New York is outpacing previous expectations. The peak of cases (and thus the time when hospitals will be most overstretched) is likely to be sooner and higher than we th…

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

March 24, 2020 at 7:25 PM

This virus does not respect prison walls. Tell Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio:

Dear John: Everything we are hearing about conditions inside NY jails and prisons, particularly Rikers Island, has been incredibly disturbing. 30 staff and 54 incarcerated people have been diagnosed with COVID-19. There isn't enough hand sanitizer or soap. Inmates are still kept in close quart…

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  Councilmember Brad Lander · [email protected]

March 23, 2020 at 10:58 PM

COVID-19: Keeping our distance, and other updates & opportunities

I hope you and your family are doing OK as we enter our second full week of this rotten new reality. I’m writing today with updates, resources, and more information about volunteering.  Dear John, For those of you who started distance learning with your students today, congrats on making it th…

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  Brad Lander · [email protected]

March 21, 2020 at 6:07 PM

ADD YOUR NAME: Every gig worker needs paid sick leave, NOW

Real relief for our communities can’t stop at "traditional" employees. That's why I have introduced a bill to EXTEND New York City’s paid sick leave to gig workers and misclassified independent contractors. Dear John: This week, both Congress and the New York State Legislature passed paid sick …

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