New York (NY)

New York Rent Control Advocates Camp Out Near Capitol

June 24, 2015 Nick Muscavage, www.legislativegazette.com Resist! Housing, New York (NY), Rent

By Nick Muscavage in Legislative GazetteProtesters in support of stronger protections for renters slept in Academy Park in Albany last night with only pillows and sleeping bags. They are planning a protest in the Capitol Tuesday as lawmakers return to Albany to finish the legislative session. Rent regulations remains one of the last major issues to address before lawmakers can return to their districts for the summer. There were about 15 protesters from different organizations including NYC Communities and Real Rent sleeping in the park. While there, at least two Assembly members came to the park to show support and chat with the protesters. Assemblyman Keith Wright, D-Manhattan, and Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, D-Manhattan, both stopped by the park last night and visited with the protesters. Wright said at a press conference last week that he will fight for stronger rent laws as long as it takes.

Transformer Explosion At Nuclear Plant Causes Oil Spill

May 11, 2015 Steve Lieberman and Matt Spillane, www.lohud.com Educate! Environment, New York (NY), Nuclear Energy, Public Health

The owners of Indian Point are planning to clean up several thousand gallons of oil that potentially spilled into the Hudson River after a Saturday night transformer explosion and fire. The fire, which began at 5:50 p.m., sent smoke billowing into the air and oil overflowing the plant's moat, said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "The plant's fire suppression system automatically sprayed water on the transformer fire," Sheehan said Sunday. "Oil made its way into the drains and into the water. Several thousand gallons may have overflowed the transformer moat." The fire didn't cause the release of any radiation and didn't pose a threat to workers or the public, according to a statement by Entergy Corp, the owner of the nuclear power plant.

Why The Movement To Opt Out Of Common Core Tests Is A Big Deal

May 5, 2015 Valerie Strauss, www.washingtonpost.com Resist! Education, New York (NY), Student Activism, Testing

It was evident that the state would be far below the 95 percent federal participation rate as soon as the 3-8 English Language Arts tests began. When math testing started, the numbers climbed higher still. In the Brentwood School District, a 49 percent opt-out rate for ELA rose to 57 percent during math tests. These rates defy the stereotype that the movement is a rebellion of petulant “white suburban moms.” Ninety-one percent of Brentwood students are black or Latino, and 81 percent are economically disadvantaged. Brentwood is not unique–Amityville (90 percent black or Latino, 77 percent economically disadvantaged) had an opt-out rate of 36.4 percent; Greenport (49 percent black or Latino, 56 percent economically disadvantaged) had an opt-out rate that exceeded 61 percent; and South Country opt outs (50 percent black or Latino and 51 percent economically disadvantaged) exceeded 64 percent. New York’s rejection of the Common Core tests crosses geographical, socio-economic and racial lines.

NY Airport Workers Strike, ‘Poverty Wages Don’t Fly’

April 27, 2015 Matt Surrusco, www.truth-out.org Resist! Airport, New York (NY), SEIU, Workers Rights and Jobs

The people who may have handled your baggage or helped you or a family member who uses a wheelchair navigate through the airport, or perhaps on or off a plane, continued their call for higher wages, more affordable benefits and union representation on April 23 in New York City. Striking baggage handlers and wheelchair attendants, joined by dozens of union members from 32BJ SEIU and a city politician, rallied outside LaGuardia Airport's Terminal D, calling for a union contract. For two years, Local 32BJ, part of the Service Employees International Union, which is funding the nationwide Fight for $15 campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and unionize fast-food workers, has been organizing airport workers at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International Airport, among the 12,000 subcontracted workers employed in New York and New Jersey.

Erie County Sheriff Records Reveal Invasive Use Of “Stingray” Tech

April 8, 2015 NYCLU, www.nyclu.org Educate! Law, New York (NY), Surveillance, Wars and Militarism

The New York Civil Liberties Union released today records it received from the Erie County Sheriff’s Office on its use of ”stingrays,” devices that can track and record New Yorkers’ locations via their cell phones. The records showed that of the 47 times the Sheriff’s Office used stingrays in the past four years, it apparently only once obtained a court order, contradicting the sheriff’s own remarks. Stingrays can collect information on all cell phones in a given area as well as precisely track particular phones, locating people within their own home, at a doctor’s office, at a political protest or in a church.

Cuomo Protested Over Billionaire Backed Education Scheme

March 30, 2015 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Resist! Education, New York (NY), Student Activism, Teachers

The protest follows weeks of actions targeting the Cuomo administration as lawmakers weigh the governor's proposal to tie more than $1 billion in school aid to an overhaul of the teacher evaluation system, which places extra emphasis on standardized test scores. Hundreds of people rallied at the Albany Capitol on Thursday and last week teachers from upstate New York delivered the governor 1,000 apples—each representing "a local teaching position unfilled because of years of underfunding for public education." Groups say that the hedge fund and Wall Street billionaires, which "bought control over the New York State Senate this past election," are seeking to starve the public school system "through subsidies to private and parochial schools and through privately-run charter schools."

One Protestor Arrested, Stop Sprouts From Opening Store

March 17, 2015 Damin Esper, www.contracostatimes.com Resist! Food and Agriculture, Law, New York (NY)

One person was arrested on Saturday afternoon as protesters shut down Sprouts Farmers Market in Walnut Creek for nearly an hour. About 70 protesters targeted the grocery store because of its plans to build a store in Albany on land owned by the University of California. The store shut down after activists entered the store in a conga line of shopping carts. They assembled in the middle of the produce section, with a nine-piece band blaring music and leading chants. Eight Walnut Creek police officers eventually entered the store and herded the protesters out.

Employee Wage Theft At Papa Johns Ends In $2.1 M Judgment

March 17, 2015 Office of Attorney General Schneiderman, www.ag.ny.gov Resist! Criminal Justice, Law, New York (NY), Worker Rights and Jobs

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that his office has obtained a judgment against New Majority Holdings, LLC (New Majority) a Papa John’s pizza franchisee, and its owner and operator Ronald Johnson for underpaying hundreds of delivery workers at five Harlem pizza restaurants. “Within the last two months, courts have found that two Papa John's franchisees owe almost $3 million to their workers,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “We will continue to investigate wage and hour violations in the fast food industry. More broadly, franchisors need to step up to the plate. I call on all fast food franchisors, including Papa John's, to take steps necessary to ensure that their workers -- the backbone of their business -- are treated fairly and paid the wages the law requires."

Life After The March

March 5, 2015 Faith Meckley, www.theithacan.org Educate! Environment, New York (NY), New York City (NYC), NYC, People's Climate March, Social Change

The Climate March was the most I have ever exerted myself in all three sectors, and yet, I had a healthy sleeping schedule, I ate nutritious meals, I was in the best shape of my life and I was the happiest I’d ever been. Obesity is a hot topic in our country, and is it any wonder why? We sit down while we commute, we sit down while we work, we sit down while we’re at home, and then we sleep. When we live inactive lifestyles, our bodies don’t demand healthy eating habits, and it becomes so easy to lapse into eating worthless junk food. Yet, amazingly, this is the lifestyle we send our kids to school to learn how to pursue. On the March, I needed 3,000–4,000 calories a day. I needed quality, fresh food on my plate. I needed a good night’s sleep.

NY Towns Threaten Secession Over Gov. Cuomo’s Ban On Fracking

February 23, 2015 Christopher Mathias, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Environment, Fracking, New York (NY), Politics

Fifteen New York towns that are upset at Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to ban fracking have threatened to secede from the state and join neighboring Pennsylvania, where fracking is allowed. The towns, all members of the Upstate New York Towns Association, have expressed interest in secession, Conklin Town Supervisor Jim Finch told The Huffington Post. The association is compiling a report to assess the feasibility of joining Pennsylvania. “We're in the Southern Tier of New York,” Finch said, referring to localities in Broome, Tioga, Sullivan and Delaware counties. “There are no jobs. The economy is terrible. There's nothing going on.” He decried Cuomo’s recent decision not to bring a casino to the region, and noted that Conklin and the 14 other towns in the Southern Tier sit on the Marcellus Shale, which is rich in natural gas.

Seneca Lake Sentencing . . . Postponed Again

February 21, 2015 Faith Meckley, www.theithacan.org Resist! Environment, Law, New York (NY), Seneca Lake

On Dec. 3 of last year, a tall 24-year-old Cornell University graduate with wild, curly blond hair was called up to the bench of Judge Raymond Berry in the Town of Reading. Kelsey Erickson was being accused of committing a violation trespass on Nov. 17 at the main gates of Crestwood Midstream, a gas storage company looking to store massive amounts of explosive gas in unstable salt caverns beneath the shores of Seneca Lake. To this accusation, Erickson pleaded guilty. Judge Berry asked zir* to pay a fine of $250, and ze refused. He looked up from the papers sitting on the desk in front of him and stared at zir for a long moment down his nose over his glasses. From my seat in the audience, my posture tensed and my energy bristled. Judge Berry obviously had no idea who Kelsey Erickson was. Kelsey Erickson, who walked 26 miles with a 50+ pound backpack in the midst of a Nebraska summer rather than use the March’s gas-guzzling U-Haul.

Dispatches From The Seneca Lake Uprising

February 13, 2015 Sandra Steingraber, www.ecowatch.com Resist! Energy, Environment, New York (NY), Seneca Lake

There are no guidebooks for how to carry out a sustained civil disobedience campaign during winter—let alone one that involves human blockades that intercept trucks attempting to enter a compressor station site on a steeply sloping lakeshore with 18 inches of snowpack. Ice fishing with a chance of handcuffs. It’s as good a metaphor as any. With that in mind, I bought a pair of waterproof boots that looked like something that you might bench-press at a gym and were guaranteed to 40 below. After two hours of standing on ice at 10 above, my feet were—surprise!—distressingly cold.

10 Protesters Arrested At Crestwood Gates

February 6, 2015 Jeff Stein, www.ithacavoice.com Resist! Environment, New York (NY), Seneca Lake

Ten people, including two from Tompkins County, were arrested in the ongoing protests at the gates of the Crestwood natural gas facility in acts of civil disobedience on Wednesday. One of those arrested — Jim Connor, of Schuyler County — is 83 years old. The total number of arrests since demonstrations began this fall is now 210, according to We Are Seneca Lake, the group mobilizing opposition to the expansion of the natural gas facility. From the protesters: “The protesters began blockading at 9:45 a.m. and blocked the main entrance to Crestwood in below-freezing temperatures, preventing one truck from from entering the facility and two trucks from leaving. Supporters shoveled snow along the side of the road to ensure safety. At 10:30 a.m., all ten were arrested by Schuyler County deputies and transported to the sheriff’s office where they were charged with trespassing and released.”

Protestors: De Blasio Neglected NYPD Issues In State Of City Speech

February 6, 2015 Ross Barkan, www.observer.com Resist! New York (NY), NYPD, police brutality, Politics

They called it a “glaring omission,” an insult to who they are and what they do. Anti-police brutality activists blasted Mayor Bill de Blasio this afternoon for neglecting yesterday to mention race and policing issues in his annual State of the City address. Mr. de Blasio, straining to balance the demands of protesters with unrest in the NYPD, ignored the issue entirely in favor of ambitious affordable housing and transportationproposals. “Yesterday there was a glaring omission–we thought this mayor was committed to this issue. He ran on this issue, in the first few months he dealt with the issue, and now it seems he’s gone silent,” said Michael Skolnik, an activist with the protest group Justice League NYC.

New York’s Fracking Battles Heat Up

February 3, 2015 Patrick Robbins, www.indypendent.org Resist! Fracking, New York (NY), Oil & Gas

Liberty Natural Gas LLC (a shell corporation made up of anonymous Cayman Islands investors) is pushing a plan to build a liquified natural gas port called Port Ambrose in the New York Harbor. This project would bring dangerous, super-sized liquified natural gas tankers into the harbor at a rate of roughly one per week over the course of a year. In addition to the security risks associated with a highly volatile fuel and the danger to marine ecosystems, this project will create financial incentives for more fracking all over the Northeast. It is also being proposed in an area that is under consideration for building offshore wind power, which we desperately need.

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