June
2022
1
In her State of the City address last week, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams called for $4 billion in next year’s City budget for affordable housing, nearly tripling Mayor Eric Adams’s proposed investment.
May
2022
18
The City — For the last four years, Queens State Senator James Sanders Jr. has pushed his colleagues in the New York legislature to greenlight public banks: local government-run financial institutions intended to extend credit and generate economic activity in low-income neighborhoods.
May
2022
10
Today, community and labor groups from across the state rallied with legislators on the “Million Dollar Staircase” at the New York State Capitol Building, urging swift passage of the “New York Public Banking Act” (S1762B/A8290) this legislative session.
April
2022
21
EastNewYork.com — This month, Mayor Eric Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander vowed not to deposit city funds with Wells Fargo, following alarming reports that the bank rejected more mortgage refinancing applications from Black homeowners than it approved in 2020—denying hundreds of New Yorkers the opportunity to lock in lower interest rates and build generational wealth.
April
2022
19
City Limits — The New York City Council is once again considering a bill to curb speculation by giving nonprofits and community land trusts first dibs on residential properties that come up for sale.
April
2022
18
Spectrum News — A bill that would enable the creation of public banks in New York has won the backing of dozens of local elected officials in 19 cities.
March
2022
29
The City — Mayor Eric Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander are facing calls from progressive advocates to cut off Wells Fargo’s ability to hold municipal deposits following allegations of racial discrimination.
March
2022
21
Albany Times-Union — This budget season, there’s been a lot of talk about investing in New York’s future. Citing better-than-expected tax receipts and a wealth of federal stimulus funds, Gov. Kathy Hochul recently declared, “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make thoughtful, purpose-driven investments in our state and in our people that will pay dividends for decades.”
March
2022
20
CNBC — Siraba Keita survived New York’s deadliest fire in decades — only to see her bank freeze the savings she needed to pick up the pieces.
March
2022
1
Harlem World — Today, activists and elected advocates gathered on the steps of City Hall to celebrate the end of the Rudy Giuliani-created Lien Sale program. Since 1996, New York City has been selling the right to collect delinquent property tax and water debt at a discount to a privately administered hedge fund-backed Lien Trust.