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By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

The migrant crisis has run the city ragged over the last several months. With a new wave of asylum seekers expected to arrive when Title 42 ends, Speaker Adrienne Adams and the City Council convened a historic two-day hearing on Tuesday and Wednesday to review access to important services like food, education and housing.

To date, New York City has received more than 30,000 immigrants bussed up from the border with about 25,000 in shelters or Humanitarian Emergency Respite Center (HERC) living conditions. There’s a portion of asylum seekers that have decided to resettle outside the city or reconnect with family and friends, said city authorities in the hearing. Most of the migrants are from Central America, South America, West Africa and South Africa. The incoming influx of an even bigger wave of asylum seekers requires improving coordination and support services between every city agency.

The Row NYC and Stewart Hotels have housed more than 4,000 families with children with hundreds of adult families at the Wolcott Hotel, and mostly adult men briefly at the now dismantled Randall’s Island site. On the family sites especially, there’s bilingual education department enrollment staff, medical staff for physicals and vaccinations, access to clothing and cultural food, social and mental health services, and resettlement assistants, testified city authorities.

“Over the past several months, New York City has worked to pool its resources and accommodate the arrival of tens of thousands of new migrants. As a sanctuary city, we welcome our recent arrivals with open arms and will continue to utilize every tool at our disposal to ensure they can build safe, productive, and dignified lives,” said Adams at the hearing.

“The Council will continue to advocate that greater resources be provided to our city for this national and international humanitarian crisis, while prioritizing improved services and support for all New Yorkers, including newly arrived migrants,” said Adams.

City authorities testified that they are considering more HERC centers because of the end of title 42, including rebuilding the Randall’s Island intake center. From the Department of Social Services Gary Jenkins spoke about what a sheer struggle it is to provide temporary housing without any warning. He said a coordinated effort from southern states would be immensely helpful but that just isn’t happening.

“This is a 24-hour operation. There’s no down time. We are constantly working throughout the day and the night,” said Jenkins at the

See MIGRANT CRISIS on page 27

2022 in Review: Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg reflects on first year on the job

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Gun violence prevention, shoddy landlords and a financial investigation into an ex-president to name a few things—Alvin Bragg’s plate is always full during his freshman year as Manhattan district attorney. But this past Thursday morning, he’s only focused on his egg white veggie omelet and a side of an unhealthy breakfast food he insists be scratched from the record. Over the meal, Bragg recounts 2022’s biggest hits as New York County’s first ever Black chief prosecutor.

“Allen Weisselberg plea, Trump Organization convictions, Stephen Bannon indictment, Steven Lopez vacatur, creation of the Housing Unit, creation of the Pathways [to Public Safety] Division,” he said. “And the people that we’ve already begun to connect with services. Our Own Every Dollar [Gang] prosecution in conjunction with the feds [and the gun violence prevention] initiative, those are some of the things that stand out.”

He also tallies his mental health initiative, announced just a day earlier. The $9 million investment goes towards housing, treatment and care. Councilmember Shaun Abreu, who Bragg shouts out as a staunch ally throughout his first year, called the funding critical for making communities safer through measures “that actual work.”

“This program targets the determinants of crime and provides key wrap-around services before individuals become justice-involved and after low-level court arraignment,” said Abreu from his statement. “By making sure our neighbors have housing assistance, substance abuse treatment,

See D.A. REVIEW on page 29

Help Needed: NYC comptroller report finds key vacancies in city agencies

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Eight percent of New York City government jobs are currently vacant, found the Office of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander earlier this month. Before the pandemic, the rate hovered around 2%.

“We need a municipal government that works for the people of this city, achieved by ensuring agencies are adequately staffed and supported so they can successfully provide essential services for New Yorkers,” said City Council leaders Adrienne Adams and Justin Brannan in a statement. “A city often more focused on wasteful contracts than fixing its core workforce shortage will not get us there. Understaffing and underspending on the most critical services for New Yorkers at key agencies that can confront the crises facing our city is not efficiency.”

Throughout the year, concerns of vacancies in the NYPD and Department of Corrections (DOC) sparked public safety concerns and pressure from respective department unions. But Lander points out uniform agencies actually boast some of the lowest rates of understaffing throughout city government. Nine percent of the DOC positions are vacant while just 5% of police department jobs are unmanned.

Still, there are other major concerns facing the city due to agency understaffing. The Department of Buildings faces the highest rate of vacancies for any major agency, with only 1,529 of 1,978 positions filled. That’s over 22% of the ranks vacant. And with fewer inspectors means higher risks of building

Mayor Eric Adams, the Rev. Al Sharpton, others gather for joint Kwanzaa, Hanukkah celebration

To take an active stand against the increasing instances of racism and anti-Semitism in our country, Mayor Eric Adams, the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners and the Chairman of Carnegie Hall Robert F. Smith, founder and CEO of the World Values Network Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, and Elisha Wiesel came together to host 15 Days of Light, celebrating Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in a unifying holiday ceremony last Sunday at Carnegie Hall.

At the event, speakers called for Americans to join them in a coast-tocoast display of unity to dispel the darkness of racism and anti-Semitism for the 15 nights of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

They encouraged individuals across the country to post photos of their own African American and Jewish friends, neighbors and colleagues coming together to #lightthecandles on their social media.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams unveils worst landlord watchlist

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams unveiled the 2022 Worst Landlord Watchlist today, naming the 100 most egregiously negligent landlords in the city as determined by conditions at their buildings. This year’s list found that housing violations at the worst owner’s properties are at the highest levels in the history of the list, with conditions continuing to deteriorate even as the median rent in the city has massively increased in recent years.

Across the 2022 list, there were a staggering 69,018 violations, nearly a 30% increase from the previous year. At the same time, New York City has risen to become the most expensive city in the world.

The number one worst landlord for 2022 is Johnathan Santana, who averaged 2,980 open violations across 15 buildings on the watchlist—the most violations of any landlord in the history of the list, and more than double the average number from last year’s worst offender. The list was unveiled this morning outside two of Santana’s Washington Heights properties averaging over 300 violations each, where tenants spoke about heat and hot water outages, rodent infestation issues and collapsing infrastructure. Without a superintendent to maintain the property, tenants are forced to pay for and perform repairs.

Chancellor announces expansion of cafeteria enhancement experience for schools

City schools Chancellor David Banks announced the expansion of the Cafeteria Enhancement Experience (CEE), as part of the city’s reimagining of the student dining experience and city’s ongoing commitment to health and nutrition. With an additional $50 million in capital funding in Fiscal Year 2023, the CEE initiative will transform more than 80 cafeterias into warm and welcoming spaces for students to enjoy nutritious meals.

The announcement also included a doubling down of the city’s commitment to expanding access to halal options to schools across New York City, fulfilling a key commitment of Mayor Adams. If any school communities are interested in an extended halal menu, their school principal will work with the entire school community and the Islamic Leadership Council of New York to add the service to the respective site.

Middle and high schools that receive a cafeteria enhancement are identified by a range of factors, including enrollment and participation at that site, with an emphasis on schools in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and older school buildings.

NYC Health + Hospitals offering COVID-19 bivalent shot for children 6 months and older

NYC Health + Hospitals is now offering updated COVID-19 bivalent vaccines for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that children as young as 6 months receive the updated vaccine that helps protect against the newer variants of the virus.

The Pfizer-BioNTech primary series for babies and toddlers is three