Jun
06
Decriminalize small amounts of marijuana; end stop-and-frisks, say Black and Latino lawmakers
By JESS STRING | May 22, 2013
May
30
HIV/AIDS patients in NYC forced to choose between paying for rent or basic needs
Every month, Wanda Hernandez considers whether to use her cash for bills, rent or possibly medical care.
May
24
“A home is, you know, sort of like air and water; I think it’s just one of those things that you need to survive as a human being…the four walls that you can call your own that no one can take away from you…”
May
18
Bangladeshi Factory Fire Survivors, Truck Drivers, Manufacturing & Warehouse Workers from Walmart Suppliers Demand Safety & Health Improvements Throughout Supply-Chain
May
12
Getting Our Money’s Worth Coalition Responds to New Data Showing IDAs Spending More Than $2 Billion
May
06
Rally Calls For Passage of Community Safety Act to Protect Condom Promotion & Syringe Exchange Efforts
Apr
30
NEW YORK, NY (04/22/2013)– In 2011, City Council Members Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn), Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan), Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) and Jumaane D. Williams (D-Brooklyn) launched Participatory Budgeting (PB) in their districts, enabling their constituents to decide how to spend millions of dollars in Council Member discretionary funds. On Monday, these Council Members were joined by Mark Weprin (D-Queens), Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn), and David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) to announce the results of the second cycle of PB in New York City (PBNYC), now an annual process in several council districts.
Apr
25
JPMorgan Chase has announced new policies to limit the ability of online payday lenders to access bank customers’ accounts in order to withdraw improper or unwanted automatic payments.
Apr
20
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has warned debt collectors that they could face legal sanctions if they try to collect predatory loans that violate the state’s usury law, which prohibits loans with interest rates above 25 percent. The governor needs to take an equally forceful stand against pending bills that would encourage predatory lending by allowing check-cashing stores to enter the lending business and exempting them from the usury law.
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Apr
15
Consumers who use online payday lenders may be taken advantage of twice: first, by the lenders’ triple-digit interest rates that flout state caps, then with fees tacked on by the borrowers’ own banks.