News
Here you can read the latest press from all of our Projects, and find out about the tremendous work we’re doing every day.
Each of these stories represents lives changed for the better, and we are so proud of our staff for their dedication to the people they serve.
NYC Failing to Process Most Food Stamp, Cash Benefit Applications on Time
City Limits
"A recertification delay can lead to a lapse in benefits—a dangerous situation for recipients like Diana Ramos, a leader with the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center. Ramos has Type 2 diabetes and has yet to receive her SNAP for September...“I’m deathly afraid of my sugar bottoming out, and ending up in the hospital,” she told City Limits.Rikers Throws Out $40K of Instant Mashed Potatoes Due to Boxes Full of Bugs
Gothamist
[Freedom Agenda member] Loray Hodge said her son — who is currently detained at the OBCC facility on Rikers — told her there are “worms and bugs” in the food. She and other family members are currently sending him about $100 per week to spend at the commissary, she said.
Local Street Vendors Affected: NYC Comptroller Queries City Hall Over Delayed Law Implementation and Vendor Sweeps
Newsbreak
Lander's letter asks for detailed information on licenses, waitlists, enforcement actions, and vendor engagement. He aims to hold the city accountable to Local Law 18 and advocate for fair treatment of street vendors...Mohamed Attia of the Street Vendor Project...support[s] Lander's call for a quick and fair implementation of Local Law 18.
WE ACT Organizes Against Adams’ Reversal of Rikers Closure
Columbia Spectator
“He’s gotten away with not saying that he doesn’t want Rikers to close, even though all of his actions say that very thing,” [said John Proctor, the communications and digital organizing manager of the decarceration organization Freedom Agenda.]BOC Chair Absent From Crucial Rikers Oversight Hearing
Queens Daily Eagle
“'It seems that the new chair has the idea that his objective is to prevent the department from being portrayed in any negative way, which is not at all his job,' Sarita Daftary, the co-executive director of Freedom Agenda."‘Poster Man’ and Vendor Activist Michael Wells Celebrates 15 Years of Decorating Columbia’s Walls
Columbia Spectator
Wells has worn many more hats than just Poster Man. He is a father, vendor, activist, a founder of the Urban Justice Center’s Street Vendor Project, a one-time sports agent, jazz fanatic, and former law student, he told Spectator on a recent Wednesday evening.