April
2019
10
In These Times — Wall Street bankers in expensive suits stopped and snickered on their lunch breaks June 5, 2018, as an eclectic group of New Yorkers with megaphones and banners called them out for investing in socially destructive industries—including private prisons, predatory lending, weapons manufacturing and, of course, fossil fuels.
January
2019
17
Our organizations support the concept of “postal banking,” as a potentially transformative form of public banking. As banks continue to redline New York neighborhoods — perpetuating poverty, inequality, and segregation — bold solutions like postal banking are clearly needed. Some recently-introduced proposals, however, would exacerbate our two-tiered financial system and promote debt as a solution to people’s financial struggles.
January
2019
4
Gotham Gazette — After an election where the issue saw little mainstream political attention, climate change and what to do about it has come roaring back to the forefront of the New York political scene.
November
2018
29
Gothamist — In September, months after declaring the city’s intention to divest its pension fund from fossil fuels and “sue Big Oil,” Mayor Bill de Blasio published an op-ed in the Guardian touting New York City’s effort to tackle climate change through sustainable financial policies. Alongside London Mayor Sadiq Khan, he announced the launch of a new global initiative, and encouraged local governments to “use our economic might to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.”
November
2018
28
As global leaders assemble for the United Nations-backed 4th Annual Climate Finance Day, New Yorkers, including representatives of environmental, community and student groups, rallied at City Hall and called on NYC to divest public money from banks that fuel climate change and to establish a municipal public bank to help fund the transition to a just, sustainable economy.
November
2018
2
Next System Project Podcast — This week on the Next System Podcast David Jette from Public Bank LA and Juleon Robinson from the New Economy Project, a member of Public Bank NYC, a broad-based coalition of community, worker rights, economic justice, and environmental groups to sit down to discuss the transformative potential of public banks.
September
2018
27
I’m pleased to present testimony on behalf of Public Bank NYC, a broad-based coalition New Economy project co-founded and coordinates. Public Bank NYC is made up of community, civil rights, environmental, and economic justice groups fighting for the creation of a municipal public bank – chartered to serve the public interest, accountable to New Yorkers, and rooted in principles of racial and economic justice.
June
2018
14
Mott Haven Herald — Activists from citywide community organizations gathered in front of the New York Stock Exchange on June 6 to press the city to divest from Wall Street banks and instead create an alternative banking system that would allow communities to control their investments.
June
2018
12
The Laura Flanders Show — Our Co-Director Deyanira Del Rio joins other members of the PublicBankNYC coalition to discuss the momentum for a public bank in NYC and the public launch of the campaign.
June
2018
12
The Progressive — The other day in front of the New York Stock Exchange, a diverse group of demonstrators held colorful signs and chanted, “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Wall Street banks have got to go!” The rally on June 5 was reminiscent of the Occupy Movement seven years ago—a microcosm of organized, strategic social and political demonstrations across states.