February
2023
10
American Banker — New York City will now require banks that want to hold city deposits to provide detailed plans about what they’re doing to root out discrimination in their lending and employment practices.
August
2022
18
New Economy Project and co-counsel at The Law Office of Ahmad Keshavarz filed a federal lawsuit this month, on behalf of Bronx resident Jose Crespo, against Gutman, Mintz, Baker, and Sonnenfeldt (GMBS), a Long Island-based debt collection law firm that has for years engaged in predatory and unlawful practices that harm low-income New Yorkers.
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.
January
2022
14
New York’s approach to economic development desperately needs a reboot. We spend billions of dollars annually on wasteful corporate subsidies and tax giveaways – in the process diverting much-needed resources from higher education, transit, health care and other investments that would advance equity and economic opportunity in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
January
2022
12
NY State of Politics — Advocates on Tuesday began another push to approve a measure creating a regulatory system for public banks in New York state in order to bring more financial institutions to underserved communities.
December
2021
16
Brooklyn Eagle — The city is missing an opportunity to create affordable housing, claims the Abolish the NYC Tax Lien Sale Coalition, making its statement ahead of the city’s tax lien sale this Friday.
December
2021
16
Next City — Marcus is a disabled, 66 year-old Vietnam war veteran. He lives in a house in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn that has been in his family since the 1960’s. An only child, he inherited the home when his parents passed, his only piece of generational wealth. But after falling behind on property taxes, the city placed an $11,000 lien on his home. That lien will be sold to a third party, making the debt nearly impossible to pay off.
November
2021
22
Fresh off his electoral victory, Eric Adams declared that his administration will look abroad for policy solutions to New York City’s myriad social and economic problems. “Let’s learn what they’re doing there so we can do it here,” he urged.
It just so happens, there’s a broad-based citywide coalition pressing for a bold policy solution that is common throughout the world: public banking. Bringing public banking to New York, as a proven strategy for addressing racial and economic inequality, should rank among Mayor-elect Adams’ top priorities.
November
2021
19
Though Adrienne Harris has quite a resume — she was a special assistant to President Obama for economic policy and she currently serves on the faculty at the University of Michigan — a coalition of 25 groups, including Citizen Action and the Western New York Law Center is urging Gov. Hochul to rescind her nomination.
November
2021
18
This afternoon the NYS Community Equity Agenda, a coalition of more than 40 community, labor, and civil rights groups, cooperative organizations, and community development financial institutions from across New York, released its policy priorities for 2022.