News

Over one million New Yorkers work as freelancers or independent contractors. Unfortunately, most of them -- over 70% according to a Freelancers Union survey -- have been cheated out of payments that they’ve earned.

People like Mauricio Niebla, part of a group of 30 writers and editors cheated out of a total of $400,000 by a national publishing company.

Like Just Raymona, a pattern-maker from the Bronx, who paid the people she owed out of her savings when she was stiffed, but couldn’t pay her own rent or phone bill.

Like Ellen Sandles, who told us of persistent problems facing freelance court reporters, and Jessica Perez, who described rampant abuses in the modeling industry.

Today at the New York City Council we made history by passing new a law to make sure they get paid on-time and in full for their work. Read more »

This week was the official kick-off for Age Friendly Park Slope a new partnership to make Park Slope a more welcoming community to age-in-place. We launched this project by recognizing 60 small businesses throughout our neighborhood that offer age-friendly shopping experiences. That includes features like accessible entrances, available bathrooms, and in many cases new discounts for seniors. You can read more about this new initiative, and hear from some of the businesses participating in News 12, DNA Info, BKLYNER, and Patch.

To see the list of small business that have been recognized, and the discounts being offered download the full brochure here (or scroll down), and keep an eye out for “Age Friendly Park Slope” window stickers at local businesses throughout our neighborhood. Read more »

Yesterday afternoon, the EPA dipped their toes—or, more accurately, a 100,000-pound hydraulic excavator—into the depths of the Gowanus Canal, and began removing the decades of debris that has accumulated there.

Looking into those dark waters, we’ve all wondered what lies beneath. This week we'll start to find out: from sunken vessels, to discarded tires and bikes, and at least one very wet art project. (For more detail, here is a fact sheet from the EPA.)

Here on dry land, we are moving forward to answer questions about the Gowanus Canal area by coming together to shape its future. This Thursday evening, the NYC Department of City Planning will hold a kick-off meeting to introduce their Gowanus neighborhood planning study (or “PLACES” study), which will build upon the ground work our community laid together through the Bridging Gowanus community planning process. Read more »

Long after summer ends, in many NYC schools (especially during weeks like this one), it's just plain #TooHotToLearn!

Students can't learn in sweltering classrooms. Unfortunately, many public schools in NYC lack air conditioning in their classrooms, auditoriums, gym, and cafeterias. As climate change brings more days in June, September, and now even the middle of October when rising temperatures make it too hot to learn, we need to get serious about getting A/Cs in all our classrooms and critical public spaces.

In June, the City Council required the NYC Department of Education & School Construction authority to produce a report outlining which schools need air conditioning. 

Unfortunately, the new report (available on my website) fails to provide critical information. It identifies 17% of schools with full air-conditioning, and 5% of schools (90 schools) that lack A/C entirely. However, 78% of schools (1,590) are simply identified as “Partial A/C” -- which means only that they have at least 1 A/C unit somewhere in the building -- without any information about how many classrooms, auditoriums, gyms, or cafeterias remain to be covered. (Meanwhile, just 4 schools are currently having A/Cs installed.)

So we are asking for help from parents, students, and educators to fill in the missing information. We’ve launched a new #TooHotToLearn campaign – which you can read more about in DNA Info. Read more »