News & Events
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News Release: NYC and Rochester Council Members Join 55 Groups in Urging Albany to Support Public Banks
Fifteen Members of the NYC Council delivered a letter last week urging the NYS Legislature to pass the New York Public Banking Act (S.5565-C/A.9665-D), a groundbreaking bill that creates a pathway for New York cities, counties and regions to form public banks—financial institutions established by local governments and chartered to serve the public interest.
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Shelterforce: Giving Tenants the First Opportunity to Purchase Their Homes
Shelterforce — As state and local economies attempt to reopen, and eviction moratoriums expire, millions of Americans once again face losing their homes. While these moratoriums have temporarily protected renters who may be unemployed and unable to pay rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, elected officials are waking up to the reality that additional, far-reaching…
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(Archive) Tell Albany to Pass the NY Public Banking Act
Even before COVID-19 gripped our communities, New York faced extreme racial and economic inequality. Now, against the backdrop of a pandemic that has further devastated low-income and Black and brown communities, the New York State Legislature is preparing to reconvene next week, for what could be the last time this year.
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City Limits: Advocates: NYC Needs More Money, New Model to Meet Housing Crisis
City Limits — Housing advocates and elected officials released a new plan Thursday which calls on the de Blasio administration and City Council to support more development of community land trusts, maintain tenant protections, restore the city’s affordable housing budget and create new a path to homeownership.
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Gotham Gazette, Op-Ed: With Mass Evictions and Real Estate Speculation Looming, City and State Leaders Must Give Communities Opportunity to Own Their Own Land
Gotham Gazette — In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York faces two new fronts in its housing crisis — a wave of heightened speculation likely to destabilize communities and an onslaught of expected evictions as housing courts reopen.
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City Limits: Will New York Launch a Public Bank?
City Limits — Now is the time to create a public banking system as the city prepares for deep budget cuts amid an inequitable economic crisis stemming from the Coronavirus pandemic, advocates testified Wednesday.
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(Archive) Tell the NYC Council to Fund Community Land Trusts!
As the Mayor and City Council finalize next year’s City budget, we are fighting to make sure Community Land Trusts (CLTs) are included! Join us in calling for renewed funding of the citywide CLT initiative, to support community control over land and housing. In the wake of COVID-19, community control of land is more critical than…
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From Immediate Relief to Transformative Change: Stopping Predatory Debt Collection During the Pandemic and Beyond
Systematic wealth extraction from communities of color hasn’t stopped for the public health crisis caused by COVID-19—and it won’t stop unless we transform our economy.
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ProPublica: Capital One and Other Debt Collectors Are Still Coming for Millions of Americans
ProPublica — Since 2018, Capital One has been a looming presence in Julio Lugo’s life, ever since the company sued him, as it did 29,000 other New Yorkers that year, over an unpaid credit card. But when the coronavirus hit the city this March, it wasn’t on his mind.
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The City: How Old Subway Fines Blocked New Yorkers’ State Tax Refunds
The City — Marc Davis was set to get $168 back from the state in his tax refund this year. And the 53-year-old Bronx resident says that money would have gone a long way to keeping him on his feet.