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 jail barge Vernon C. Bain Center to close; detainees, staff moving from Bronx to Rikers Island, other lockups
NY Daily News
“The Boat, like Rikers Island, should have closed a long time ago,” Lezandre Khadu, a member of the Campaign to Close Rikers [co-founded by UJC’s Freedom Agenda], said in a statement."NYC’s ‘Floating Jail’ Will Close Next Month After 31 Years
Gothamist
“I'm glad to hear that 'the Boat' is going to close in October,” Santana [a criminal justice advocate with the Urban Justice Center's Freedom Agenda] said. “But I'm saddened to hear that they're going to put the people that are on the boat on Rikers, because no one should be at Rikers."Four Year Countdown to Closing Rikers’ Begins
Queens Eagle
“'We call on the mayor to take every necessary action to do what he said he would do, to do what is legally required, and to do what is right,' Darren Mack, the co-director of Freedom Agenda, said during the rally."
Sex Workers Deserve Job Security Too
Girl Boss
“'The pandemic really showed that sex work is work—and it's necessary work,' says Zola Bruce, communications director at Sex Workers Project. And yet, those workers struggled immensely during the pandemic—and their precarity hasn’t improved."
Prison Reform Advocates Renew Calls For Mayor Adams to Close Rikers Island: ‘He Has an Obligation’
Pix 11
“Let the mayor know that he has an obligation to close this place down,” said Ashley Conrad of the advocacy group Freedom Agenda. “This is law. It’s a plan that was well thought out and curated by years and years of organizing by directly impacted people.”
In First Months of Street Vendor Enforcement, Sanitation Seized—Then Donated—32,220 Pounds of Food
City Limits
“'People are stuck in a really awful situation, and some vendors are taking loans,' said Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, deputy director of the Street Vendor Project, of those who’ve been unable to sell in the plaza in the four weeks since the sweep."