CNBC
"With these small businesses that are such a vital part of New York City barely surviving, Morgan Stanley and the Robin Hood foundation have partnered with the Street Vendor Project (SVP) at the Urban Justice Center (all headquartered in New York) to distribute millions of dollars to thousands of local vendors."Law 360
"Without a comprehensive eviction moratorium, tenants are now being put out onto the streets, in the middle of a pandemic and heading into the winter," said Marika Dias, attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City. "This is simply cruel."The City
Marika Dias, a tenant attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, said: “We really have reached a moment where it’s clear that the lack of political action does not just have hypothetical consequences, but it has the very real consequences that people are being put out of their homes in the middle of a pandemic.City Limits
There are now more than 200,000 families across New York State in eviction court. Since Cuomo opened the door to new eviction cases in June, over 33,000 cases have been filed. With a million-plus New York tenants behind on their rent, this number will continue to rise.‘ - Marika DiasCity Limits
"Indeed, for those who strike out online, HRA offers a telephone Infoline... In August the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center reported that in an informal audit of 98 calls to the hotline, 58 percent were dropped. “In addition to dropped calls, we also documented significant issues with language access, uninformed workers, and confusing menus,” the report contended. “Overall, the Infoline was found to be ineffective.”Brian Lehrer Show
Mohamed Attia, director of the Urban Justice Center's Street Vendor Project, talks about their work on behalf of the many undocumented street vendors cut off from government assistance during the pandemic.Today, the Urban Justice Center’s Domestic Violence Project (DVP) released internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) records revealing the rushed implementation and devastating impact of USCIS’s “no-blanks” policy, which purports to empower USCIS to reject U-visa petitions, among other immigration applications, solely because they contain blank answer fields.... Over the past nine months, USCIS has utilized the no-blanks policy to reject properly-filed U-visa petitions for trivial and nonsensical reasons, such as when the “middle name” field in a U-visa petition is left blank because the crime victim has no middle name.
Brooklyn Paper
According to Mohamed Attia from the Urban Justice Center, as many as 20,000 people may be selling food and other goods in the streets of the five boroughs — legally or illegally. “The city has failed in regulating street vending. The city has failed in supporting street vendors, the most marginalized small businesses in our city didn’t get any support before COVID, during COVID or after COVID,” Attia said.The City
Harassment “has really heightened throughout the pandemic since the court system has not been an avenue that has been accessible,” said Marika Dias, tenant attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center.AM NY
According to Mohamed Attia from the Urban Justice Center, while vendor permits are capped at 4,000, there could be as many as 20,000 people selling food and other goods in the streets of the five boroughs. “The city has failed in regulating street vending, the city has failed in supporting street vendors, the most marginalized small businesses in our city didn’t get any support before COVID, during COVID or after COVID,” Attia said. “Intro. 1116 will be the first step in the right direction… It is only one step in a very long road.”© 2023 Urban Justice Center | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
