Tag: New York City

JHISN Newsletter 09/04/2021

Posted on September 4, 2021 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends, 

As the full story of the damage and human loss from Wednesday’s storm is emerging, we are–with you–startled and horrified. The torrential rains, carried here on the winds of Hurricane Ida and climate change, created deadly flooding in our neighborhood and across the city where at least 13 people were killed. Caught in basement dwellings as the floodwaters cascaded, many of the victims are immigrant, working-class, and undocumented neighbors, of all ages, who never imagined they might drown in their own home. Invisible to many New Yorkers, the basement apartments are part of a shadow economy of rental units that have existed for years here in Jackson Heights and other Queens neighborhoods. Housing and immigrant justice advocates have been fighting to formally legalize the units so that residents can be better protected from catastrophes like this. We extend our solidarity, and our collective sorrow, in the face of this intimate disaster. 

Please see JHISN’s recent blog post listing resources and information for folks applying to the $2.1 billion NYS Fund for Excluded Workers. Our JHISN newsletters on 8/21/21 and 4/3/21 explain more about the historic Fund. 

This week’s newsletter looks at how immigrant communities are using the Open Street on 34th Avenue, which offers space, social connection, and joy for so many of us in the neighborhood. We also report back on the rally in Diversity Plaza to support Potri Ranka Manis, a local health care worker from the Philippines who was recently attacked on the subway.    

Newsletter highlights:

  1. Support Jackson Heights Open Street@34th Avenue
  2. Mobilizing against Assault on Jackson Heights’ Filipina Activist

1. The Blooming of 34th Avenue Open Street

(Thanks to Jim Burke, co-founder of 34th Avenue Open Streets Coalition, for contributing to this article.)

Back in May 2020 when the 34th Avenue Open Street became fully operational, few people in Jackson Heights imagined how important this 1.3-mile stretch would become.

Jackson Heights/Elmhurst is starved for park space. Travers Park is the only park with green space within walkable distance in JH. Although Flushing Meadows Corona Park is big and beautiful, it became largely out of reach for many people during the pandemic lockdown. So in April 2020 a small group of residents blocked off a portion of 34th Avenue and pushed the mayor to make the whole avenue available as a respite from the confines of the pandemic. When that happened in May, suddenly things got less lonely in the streets of Jackson Heights.

A group of volunteers, the 34th Avenue Open Streets Coalition, maintains the street barriers and the median plantings, picks up trash, runs a food pantry, and organizes activities for kids. The Open Street has been amazing for seniors, kids, and everybody in-between, including immigrant communities. There are classes in Zumba, Salsa, and Yoga for adults. There is the ESL Conversation Club for all ages that meets every Tuesday and Thursday. The Friday Family Fun Ride visits nearby parks and attractions and includes all ages. There are kids’ races, kids’ slime-making class, arts and crafts, and Baile folklorico lessons for all ages every Sunday.

“I see various cultures, especially older folks in traditional garb sitting in the median having little picnics. I see especially East Asian girls and women, in traditional garb, riding bikes up and down the avenue. I have never seen so many women from traditional cultures breezing down the street before.” —Laura Newman, volunteer, Open Streets Coalition

A nightly soccer game at 70th Street attracts players of all nationalities, ranging in age from 3 to 75. The game was begun last year during a tough part of the pandemic by a Bangladeshi man who simply gathered some kids and started to play. Most of the participants are men and boys, but girls play too.

Violeta Morales and her husband came here from Mexico. They have three kids: Alex, Daniel, and daughter Arlen. 12-year-old Alex created one of the Open Street’s most popular kids’ events: Thursday at the Races. The informal foot races were held all winter long every single Thursday. Alex also shows younger kids how to play chess on 34th Avenue on Sundays. Violeta, Daniel, and Arlen participate in the Mexican dance lessons and arts and crafts events on Sundays.

Oscar Escobar hails from Colombia and has given Salsa lessons on the Open Street for the last 15 months. On Mondays, he works with a group called CSOC uniting immigrant volunteers from various countries including Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, and more. They distribute food to up to 1000 families every Monday on 34th Avenue. Mauricio Miraglia, originally from Chile, but educated at Columbia University, leads an “English as a Second Language Conversation Club” on Tuesdays and Thursdays on the Avenue. Students in his club have come to Queens from Russia, Mexico, Tibet, China, India, and Colombia. 

The 34th Avenue Open Street enables immigrant families, many of whom are essential workers, to spend more time together and to access vital services. Besides food distribution, a number of legal and social services geared to immigrants are available right out on the Avenue. And for workers and caregivers with limited time for recreation–maybe even just an hour or two here and there–the Open Street allows family fun without having to travel. Local families can bike together right outside their door. Before the Open Street, participating in exercise classes, ESL classes or many other activities required pre-registration or mandatory attendance and travel. But now the 34th  Avenue classes and events are all “drop-in”–no pre-registration required, and free for everyone at all levels. 

According to a recent survey of likely voters commissioned by Streetsblog, “the overwhelming majority of voters who identified themselves as Latino or Hispanic support open streets.” And, indeed, a majority—nearly 58 percent—of the people who live in Census blocks that straddle 34th Avenue identify as Hispanic or Latino. 

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Hate Attack on Local Filipina Activist

Potri Ranka Manis, an Indigenous Filipina nurse, artist, public health worker, and community activist who lives in Jackson Heights, was assaulted on August 10 on the E train. The incident started when Manis offered face masks to an unmasked couple who had a young child with them. According to Manis, the masks were thrown on the ground. “Mind your own business, Ch..k,” they yelled. “Go back to your dirty country.” The couple hit Manis; they also tried to grab her phone and bag.

On August 17, Manis, visibly bruised, spoke defiantly at a news conference at Jackson Heights’ Diversity Plaza organized by the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), along with neighbors and other supporters. “I stand here not for myself, but for those who’ve been assaulted,” Manis said. “Anti-Asian sentiment has become a parallel virus to COVID-19. It is the virus that divides us people of color. We cannot allow this to continue.”

May Madrang of NAFCON reminded the attendees that Filipina nurses have borne a heavy burden during COVID-19, making up nearly a third of health workers who have died from the virus, while simultaneously facing widespread anti-Asian racism.

Anger and solidarity were expressed by speakers including Minerva Solla of the NYS Nurses Association, Assembly Representative Jessica González-Rojas, and representatives from the offices of Borough President Donavan Richards, Councilperson Daniel Dromm, and Mayor de Blasio. They demanded more community education and action to stop anti-Asian attacks. Boxes of free masks, sanitizer, and gloves were distributed to everyone in Diversity Plaza as a tribute to Manis’ public health activism.

The assault on Manis came two days after an August 8 attack against Filipino actor and director Miguel Braganza near his Manhattan apartment. In the wake of the two incidents, Philippines Consul General Elmer G. Cato urged Filipino Community members to “remain vigilant.”

WHAT CAN WE DO?

  • Take Bystander Training or plan in advance how to intervene safely and effectively in hate incidents using the tactics of the Five D’s.
  • Keep informed about AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) activism by visiting Movement Hub, which amplifies the work of Adhikaar, CAAAV, DRUM, and many other progressive community organizations.
  • Check out the website Stop AAPI Hate for resources and safety tips in 11 languages.

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN.

 

 

JHISN Newsletter 08/21/2021

Posted on August 21, 2021 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

​​Summertime is often a season of celebration, festivals, and sun-lit joy. We bring news this week of two recent celebrations organized by and for immigrant justice communities. On August 10, trans Latinx folks and friends, allies, and families gathered in central Queens to celebrate their community power and collective resilience. And on August 14, immigrant groups kicked off the opening of the Fund for Excluded Workers with a festive street fair. This hard-won victory promises a measure of economic justice for hundreds of thousands of mostly undocumented workers state-wide, including an estimated 58,000 immigrant workers here in Queens. Please check out our reports below.

Newsletter highlights:

  1. TransPower@CentralQueens 
  2. Launch of $2.1 Billion Fund for Undocumented & Excluded Workers

1.Rally for TransLatinx Power

Hundreds of people rallied in Corona Plaza on August 2 for the 10th Annual #TransLatinxMarch. The gathering is sponsored each year by the Trans Immigrant Project (TIP), as part of Make the Road New York’s commitment to TGNCIQ Justice, and the challenges facing immigrant, undocumented, and Latinx trans people.

TIP put forward three main demands: 1) dismantle NYPD vice units that disproportionately harass and criminalize trans women of color; 2) decriminalize sex work in NY state, and; 3) create a federal pathway to citizenship for all undocumented people.

Corona Plaza was full of colorful signs, posters, and balloons. A giant banner advertising the three demands was dropped from the subway platform high overhead. The crowd alternated chants of “Trans power!” and “Brown power!” A DJ and various cultural performances added to the liveliness of the event.

Several local progressive politicians attended the rally, including Jessica Ramos, Catalina Cruz, Tiffany Cabán, and Shekar Krishnan.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

  • Support Make the Road’s TGNCIQ (transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex, and queer) organizing for dignity and safety for all. Donate here if you are able.

2. Launch of Historic NYS Fund for Excluded Workers 

“This is what community looks like … We want everyone across the state to know about this fund … I want this fund to run out of money not because no one applied, but because everyone did.” –Brayan Pagoada, Excluded Workers Fund Launch Fair (Bushwick Daily, 8/16/21)

After over a year of grassroots campaigning and a 23-day hunger strike in March 2021, the historic $2.1 billion NYS Fund for Excluded Workers went ‘live’ in mid-August, marked locally by a Launch Fair in Bushwick. Along with food and dance, guidance about how to apply for the funds was featured at the well-attended street fair.

As the largest economic assistance package won by undocumented immigrants in US history, New York’s $2.1 billion fund has inspired similar struggles in New Jersey, Iowa, and California, as undocumented workers—excluded from federal forms of pandemic relief—demand state-level support for lost wages and economic hardship. 

Workers in New York excluded from unemployment benefits or stimulus checks can now apply for either the Fund’s Tier 1 benefits of up to $15,600 (equal to $300 weekly unemployment payments from April 2020-April 2021), or Tier 2 benefits of up to $3,200 (equal to 3 federal stimulus checks).

Immigrant justice groups rallied in July when the newly-released Department of Labor (DOL) regulations for accessing the Fund appeared to exclude many excluded workers from qualifying for assistance. Bianca Guerrero of the Fund Excluded Workers (FEW) Coalition stated, “We demand that the Governor stop these shameful tactics and ensure that the program requirements allow workers who were the intended beneficiaries to qualify for the maximum benefit….The lives of thousands of excluded workers rely on this Fund.”

Local immigrant advocacy groups–including in Jackson Heights, Corona, and Elmhurst where the pandemic ravaged the livelihoods of many undocumented workers–are mobilizing resources and building outreach. Their aim is to ensure that workers can accurately assess their eligibility for the Fund, and successfully apply to the DOL. Make the Road NY co-organized a livestream on August 10, drawing 1200 listeners, which addressed FAQs and protocols for making an application. Over 60 community-based organizations across NY State are ready to help workers apply for the Fund in the language of their choice.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

  • Sign up to volunteer with the Fund Excluded Workers (FEW) Coalition to assist immigrant community members in navigating the eligibility and application process for the Fund. 
  • Share FEW resource information, including an eligibility and document checklist, and multi-lingual video teach-ins, here. 
  • Circulate the NY Dept of Labor’s Excluded Workers Fund application FAQs website, available in 13 languages. 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

JHISN Newsletter 05/15/2021

Posted on May 15, 2021 by - Jackson Heights, News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

Greetings to each and all of you, our readers, as we continue to find our way in an unfolding pandemic. For some of us, this is a season of vaccines and anticipated freedoms. And for some of us, especially South Asian immigrant families in Jackson Heights, it is a time of brutal sorrow. The ravages of Covid-19 burn across India, Nepal, and beyond, as global inequalities in wealth and the reality of vaccine apartheid lead to obscene differences in vulnerability and death. Thank you for continuing, with us, to learn and invent what solidarity looks like in this truly global pandemic. 

We turn this week to examine how one predominantly immigrant workforce—taxi cab drivers in NYC, many from South Asia, and many residents and neighbors here in Queens—is fighting for their survival.          

New York’s Immigrant Cab Drivers Seek Justice and Debt Relief  

If you are the owner-driver, you are handcuffed to that wheel and without a real solution you are literally facing a life sentence to debtors’ prison.   —Bhairavi Desai, New York Taxi Workers Alliance

Drowning in debt and devastated by Covid, New York’s yellow cab drivers—almost all immigrants—are carrying out a long-term, militant campaign for relief and accountability from a city that so far has systematically betrayed their interests. United under the banner of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA), they are demanding justice and resisting a cynical maneuver by Mayor de Blasio aimed at undermining their struggle.

From 2002-2014, the City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission—packed with Guiliani and Bloomberg cronies—oversaw a massive, artificially-created bubble in the price of taxi medallions (the permits required to operate yellow cabs). Bankers and brokers connected to city officials grew rich bidding up medallion prices—in some cases pushing their price from around $200,000 to over a million dollars. Drivers were “knowingly misled” by the City; encouraged to take out predatory loans as a supposedly unbeatable investment in their future. The Bloomberg and de Blasio administrations took advantage of the bubble to harvest hundreds of millions of dollars from sales of taxi medallions and by collecting taxes on private sales. They used this money to balance their budgets and fund favored projects.

But when the bubble burst, drivers were left with impossible levels of debt. At one point, medallion prices dropped to less than $150,000. Today a medallion once again sells for about $200,000; meanwhile, the average driver owes banks and finance companies more than $500,000. Almost a thousand drivers have gone bankrupt; several have died by suicide.

Even as yellow cab drivers reeled from this personal and financial disaster, the City allowed Uber and Lyft to flood the city with tens of thousands of “ride-hailing” cars—yellow cab competitors, who weren’t even required to buy a medallion. This was a body blow to the yellow cab business, which continues to be tightly regulated. In 2018, the City government finally put some caps on the number of so-called “app” cars. But tremendous damage had already been done, once again, to the livelihood of yellow cab drivers.  

As if this wasn’t enough misery, the pandemic caused taxi usage to plummet. And like other essential immigrant workers, many taxi drivers and their families became sick or suffered fatalities.

But the NYTWA has refused to buckle under. Showing resilience and determination, they are using every available tactic to seek justice. They have demonstrated and lobbied and motorcaded to D.C. They shut down the Brooklyn Bridge twice, blocking it with parked cabs. They took over Times Square. They demanded and won the right to be vaccinated as essential workers. As the central focus of their struggle, the NYTWA formulated and is now promoting a comprehensive plan for taxi driver relief, which has been introduced in the New York legislature and taken up by progressives across the state and nationally. It calls for the City to guarantee and help restructure unsustainable loans. It also puts a limit on monthly mortgage payments and gives drivers in foreclosure a chance to regain their medallions. In the meantime, the NYTWA also reached out and united with the “app drivers,” who have their own problems with predatory corporations. In fact, it was an NYTWA lawsuit that won full employee unemployment pay for Uber and Lyft drivers.

Finding himself under sustained political and legal pressure, in early March 2021, Mayor de Blasio suddenly unveiled his own so-called “relief” plan. Denounced as pathetically inadequate by the NYTWA, it proposes using some of the City’s expected federal coronavirus stimulus money to float $20,000 loans for some individual drivers, and $9,000 to help restructure medallion loans. As taxi workers point out, most of this money would go straight into the hands of lenders and debt collection agencies, without making a meaningful dent in drivers’ heavy financial burdens. “The mayor’s plan is a disgraceful betrayal from a city that already has blood on its hands,” said Bhairavi Desai, Director of NYTWA. Desai commented further this week to JHISN: “We remain vigilant about finding a solution that is comprehensive, ever-lasting and, fundamentally, one that is communal. We refuse to be divided and take an individual approach as the city has done. None of us survive if any of us fail.” For his part, De Blasio has so far flatly refused to consider NYTWA’s proposal, even though it would cost less than his plan.

Cab drivers show no signs of being diverted from their goals by the mayor’s maneuver. Dozens of demonstrations have been organized in front of City Hall, at Gracie Mansion and in Albany, since de Blasio’s flawed plan was announced. Politicians, including Jessica Ramos, Chuck Schumer, Scott Stringer, and Letitia James, have come out strongly in favor of the NYTWA relief plan. A class-action suit by drivers, demanding restitution of $2.5 billion, may add to the pressure for a fair settlement by the City. Taxi drivers’ long struggle for justice seems to be catching its second wind.

I really don’t believe this is America. Because I know this country. The justice will be delayed; but I’m confident it won’t be denied. One day. One day the truth will come out, and all these things they did wrong to us because we are immigrants, they will pay for it.  —Mouhamadou Aliyu, Taxi Driver

WHAT CAN WE DO?

  • Join NYTWA’s protests. The schedule is on their Twitter page: @NYTWA
  • Call 311 and tell Mayor de Blasio that you support the drivers’ plan
  • Make a donation to the NYTWA Community Kitchen Fund to help out with food and protest supplies

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN.