New York City

NYCHA agreement, Child Victims Act and Amazon in the hot seat

It was cold in New York, but Amazon was feeling the heat, while the feds reached a NYCHA agreement with the city in This Week's Headlines.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and HUD Secretary Benjamin Carson announce and sign a new NYCHA agreement

Mayor Bill de Blasio and HUD Secretary Benjamin Carson announce and sign a new NYCHA agreement Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

Cold enough for ya? A polar vortex descended on New York, bringing with it a brutal snow squall and subzero temperatures. Thankfully, it never dipped into the negative double digits, like in parts of the Midwest, but wind chills of minus 20 degrees meant New Yorkers still bundled up in layers before venturing outside. Although according to RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, it was still not as cold as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ heart. Read on for more of this week’s headlines.

The fate of NYCHA

After two months of talks between New York City and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the two have reached an agreement over the future of the troubled New York City Housing Authority. The federal government will appoint a monitor to oversee the agency and the city will replace NYCHA’s interim chairman. The plan falls short of full federal receivership, which the city was hoping to avoid. The agreement will also require the city to invest an additional $1 billion in the system over the next four years, and $200 million a year after that. The new deal comes after the federal government sued over poor conditions and mismanagement and a judge struck down an earlier agreement as inadequate.

Years in the making

After trying for more than a decade, the state Legislature passed the Child Victims Act, extending the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse. Now, survivors will have until age 55 to bring civil suits or age 28 to bring criminal charges. The bill also includes a look-back window, giving victims one year to retroactively bring a lawsuit – the aspect of the legislation that was ardently opposed by groups like the Roman Catholic Church. The Legislature also passed its first gun laws since passing the SAFE Act six years ago. Among the bills are one banning teachers from carrying a gun while at school and a “red flag” law to allow a court to take guns away from those deemed a danger to themselves or others.

Amazon in the hot seat

New York City Council members had another opportunity to air their grievances about Amazon’s plan to build a campus in Queens at a hearing with company executives. Amazon officials said they would guarantee about 30 jobs at a new customer service center to Queensbridge Houses residents, the NYCHA complex near the development site, but it did little to appease lawmakers’ discontent. They were especially displeased to hear that Amazon would oppose any unionization efforts by employees at the new campus.

Tragic subway accident

A young mother died in a New York City subway station after falling down the stairs while carrying her baby’s stroller. Initially thought to be caused by the fall, a coroner said her death may have been the result of a pre-existing medical condition. But the incident had already galvanized transit and disability advocates, as well as concerned parents, who called for better accessibility at subway stations in the wake of the tragedy. The incident highlighted the many stations that still do not have elevators.

Johnson’s preannouncement

New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson is officially thinking about running for mayor in 2021. As part of his announcement, he launched an exploratory campaign account and began accepting donations. Johnson pledged that he would not accept corporate political action committee money or donations from employees of real estate and lobbying companies. He also said he would cap his donations at $250, meaning he will need to rely on many individual contributions and the city’s newly expanded matching funds program.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.