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2021. The Park Phase spokesperson also said that heating complaints, ranging from February 2021 to the present, involved three separate apartments. All four complaints were addressed and closed, according to HPD records.
“We are cooperating fully with FDNY and other city agencies as they continue the course of their investigation,” said the spokesperson.
The proposed federal law would also require the installation of heat sensors in certain federally funded housing, making it so that the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other agencies get real-time heating sensor reports from apartments. “Today’s breakdown of the newly proposed federal legislation to require the installation of heat sensors is a necessary step towards providing every tenant basic rights, regardless of their race, gender, zip code, religion or immigration status,” said Gibson. Adams called the situation “unacceptable” and that he would work to protect tenants from heating-related harassment and abusive landlords, and would push locally for the deployment of heat sensor technology.
At least one co-owner of the Camber Property Group, Rick Gropper, was a member of Adams’ housing transition team. The Park Phase spokesperson implied that Gropper and Adams hadn’t made any likely interactions in the two zoom meetings the housing group had, and that the transition committee ended once Adams took office and con-
Labor
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ny’s jobs is voluntary. DOCCS said that Corcraft provides certifications and that successful participation in several Corcraft programs can also result in an incarcerated individual’s earlier release from prison by six months. “By law, DOCCS is required to follow OSHA regulations for all workers, including incarcerated individuals,” said DOCCS in response to inquiries. “Each of Corcraft’s industries programs are designed to provide incarcerated individuals with meaningful experience in real working environments that will directly translate to comparable work opportunities in the community.”
Smallwood decidedly pushed back at the DOCCS response. She said that the “actual truth” is that people are forced to work everyday, and if they refuse, they are met with consequences. It can go as far as being placed in solitary confinement as a punishment, said Smallwood.
Lisa Zucker, NYCLU senior attorney for legislative affairs, added in the meeting that the legacy of chattel slavery in America lives on through these forced and exploitative labor conditions in prisons and jails.
Vidal Guzman, founder of #FixThe13thNY, spent more than five years in New York State prisons and was one of the launch members of the campaign to close Rikers Island. Guzman said that the campaign was inspired by the Attica prison riot that took place in upstate New York in 1971.
“People incarcerated are paid 16 cents per hour as I was,” said Guzman in the meeting. “I know how it feels to get a paycheck of $4 at the end of the week.”
From a community perspective, Smallwood said that incarcerated people want to work so they can have wages to support their families at home. “When you’re taking someone out of their community that affects the community as a whole in what the community is able to accomplish,” said Smallwood. “Someone who’s incarcerated, they are also our community members and neighbors, and the dignity of being able to work without being forced and them being used as slave labor is an important issue for us all.”
Bragg
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As our new mayor, Eric Adams, often says, we expend enormous resources pulling kids out of the
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about culture and politics in New York City for The Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://tinyurl.com/fcszwj8w
river once they fall in, but we need much more investment upstream to keep them from falling in to begin with. I got caught doing something stupid on a summer night and thank God it didn’t ruin 8.75 in. the rest of my life. But what if there had been a sports program, or a jobs program, or a mentorship for me before I got into trouble? We must invest in prevention as well as responding to crime.
And remember that while a young man carrying a gun has already fallen in the river, poverty and violence are intergenerational. If we divert that young person from prison to education and a career, imagine what that means for his kids, and for the future safety and wellbeing of our community. That is DA Bragg’s vision, and I am proud to support a district attorney who
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about culture and politics in New York City for The Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a taxdeductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://tinyurl.com/fcszwj8w
sees in today’s youth what Judge Wright saw in me.
Assemblyman Al Taylor has represented the 71st Assembly District––including Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood––since 2017.
I’m a Port Authority Police Officer.
At the Port Authority Police Department, it’s my job to protect the most iconic transportation facilities in New York and New Jersey. This career has given me the platform to mentor young people and give back to my community in so many ways.
