State Stops Accepting Rent Relief Requests
No 245
Monday, November 22, 2021
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Local News
- New York State stopped accepting requests for tenant rent relief because significant demand has left the program nearly out of funds, leaving nearly 100,000 applications pending. In light of this, Governor Kathy Hochul has asked the federal government for almost $1 billion in additional funding for rent relief.
- Due to an infusion of funding from the federal infrastructure bill, there will be no MTA fare hikes or service cuts in the immediate future.
- New York State officials announced that they intend to divest their holdings from Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, over the company’s decision to restrict ice cream sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
- New York State Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest (AD 57, Fort Greene and Crown Heights) advocates in AM New York that we need to build on the parole reforms established by her recent Less Is More legislation with the Fair and Timely Act and the Elder Parole bill.
- Mayor de Blasio continues to refrain from making a decision regarding key changes to the education system, including removing middle school screenings and ending geographic priority for high schools.
- The MTA is set to refund millions of dollars to its employees after it was discovered that workers were overcharged on pension deductions out of their paychecks for years.
- The City Planning Commission voted unanimously for a zoning text amendment that will allow more restaurants to set up outdoor dining structures across the city.
- The Economic Development Corporation revealed it’s master plan for the FiDi - Seaport Resilience Project, which details how it plans to protect the low-lying parts of the island during another superstorm.
- City University of New York (CUNY) and State University of New York (SUNY) four-year colleges whose student bodies are at least 40 percent Black or Latino have been found to have proportionately half as many full-time faculty as CUNY and SUNY senior colleges whose student bodies are composed of 25 percent or fewer Black and Latino students
Elections
- New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams officially announced his campaign for governor.