GOOD NEWS
| Airbnb Rentals < Apartments Starting September 5, short term rentals less than 30 days will be deemed illegal in NYC. Airbnb hosts will no longer be allowed to rent out entire apartments, and must be living in one of the rooms to rent out. Ideally, this should free up thousands of apartments tied up by Airbnb hosts. The average rent in NYC is now $5,588 per month. A New Brooklyn-Queens Train is coming – The Interborough express, a 14 mile train connecting Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to Jackson Heights, Queens is in the works! The new train would prevent locals from having to schlep into the city to get to their sister borough. Join the virtual town hall tomorrow, Aug 16th to learn more or ask questions! Sign up here! |
WTF NEWS!
| Covid’s back… hopefully, not with a vengeance – Call it a perfect storm of summer tourism, new variants and less masking. Health officials are expecting a resurgence once school starts up again, so be sure to get your boosters which will have new updates coming late Sept/Oct. |
GIVE US THE SCOOP
2. SHOULD YOU BUY CANDY ON THE SUBWAY?
| NO LONGER JUST SHOWTIME If you’ve lived in New York City, surely, you’ve encountered this familiar scenario. You’re sitting on the NYC Subway and a young child comes up to you with a cut off cardboard box of Welch’s fruit gummies, Peanut M&Ms and Nature Valley bars asks you to support their basketball team. Whether the funds were actually for a basketball team are up for debate. Some locals argue that the candy selling is part of a multi level scam, headed up by cruel adults taking advantage of low income kids. Others argue the kids may actually be part of an actual team, but overall, seeing a young child working on the train is troubling. Since last year, however, there has been a huge growth of children and street vendors selling candy on the NYC subways and streets. This time, it’s no longer for basketball teams, it’s for survival. HERE’S THE REAL TEA THOUGH… According to the UN, over 100 million people were displaced globally due to persecution, war, famine and human rights violations, and 100,000 of those migrants have landed in NYC. While awaiting shelter, and unable to get processing for work visas, many migrants are turning to selling candy in the streets to make money to support themselves. The most common sight? Mothers with young children. Unable to put their children in school, whether due to pending cases, or a lack of awareness around free programs, migrants and their children are struggling. Some migrants said they were scared to leave their children behind at home, forced to share rooms in homes with multiple other strangers. Others feared getting into trouble due to their undocumented status, and others said, sadly, kids help to make more money. A NY Mag article interviewed one candy seller, who stated, “On the best days, most candy sellers don’t earn much more than $80”. HOW DO WE SOLVE THIS? Governor Hochul was given a deadline till today to come up with a plan to help Mayor Adams provide shelter for all of the migrants. So far, she has helped to scrounge up $1 billion for the migrants, but that fails to cover the estimated $4 billion it will take to cover all social services and shelter costs. Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time New York has faced a migrant crisis, in fact, we’ve actually handled it pretty well. Buffalo, NY is home to over 16,000 Burmese, Bangladeshi, and Sudanese refugees. Solving the migrant crisis won’t happen overnight and one of the biggest holdups is the complicated & long process for migrants to get work visas. If there was a process to speed up the work visa process, we could resolve a significant chunk here. According to Governor Hochul, “Buffalo’s population was declining; it went up by over 8,000, which is a big deal for a city that size. I have walked the streets. I have gone to the refugee centers. I know what they did in Buffalo. But here’s the difference: They all have legal work status, and in fact they’re required to work for five years in order to receive permanent legal status. That’s the difference. So they’re taking jobs immediately, and employers are saying, we’re so grateful you’re here”. So, should you buy candy on the subway? It’s a personal decision, but while migrants are stuck in the limbo, perhaps we can all buy a few extra packs of candy in the meantime? |
OH HEY, HELLO, ciaooo!
3. WANT TO SUPPORT THE MIGRANTS?
| One nonprofit organization, Voces Latinas helps to educate and provide free services to migrants and communicates with them on the ground. Voces Latinas reaches out to new and undocumented Latine* immigrants, meets them where they’re at, and—through culturally-responsive services, and staff from the community— connects them to healthcare, HIV testing, and other intersecting services that address their needs. Our goal is to help each individual achieve sexual and emotional health, stability, and find safety in community. You can donate via the link below! |
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