City Council members feeling the squeeze from high rents at their district offices got help last month from Speaker Adrienne Adams, who said she would pick up part of the tab in the upcoming budget. The change will allow the 51-member body to direct more money to their staff salaries, addressing longstanding complaints over low […]
Staten Island
Posted inLabor
A Cinderella Story: How Staten Island Amazon Workers Won Against the Multi-Billion-Dollar Company
Up against the online megaretailer, Staten Island Amazon warehouse workers did the unthinkable with just $100,000: beat Jeff Bezos
Posted inLabor
Amazon Warehouse Workers Win Historic Union Vote on Staten Island
Members of the new Amazon Labor Union are on course to become the the nation’s first unionized workers at the online retail behemoth, thanks to a grassroots independent organizing campaign.
Posted inStaten Island
Meet Christian Smalls and Derrick Palmer, the DIY Duo Behind the Amazon Labor Union’s Guerrilla Bid to Make History
Workers begin voting Friday at the warehouse in Staten Island where packages from the online retail behemoth get packed for New York City customers, culminating an organizing drive by upstarts from their ranks.
Posted inCampaign 2022
Candidates Race to Run for Reconfigured Seats Following New District Maps
Candidates are streaming in and out of congressional and state races now that New York has adopted new political district maps. Democratic state lawmakers last month aggressively redrew state and congressional boundaries to favor their party, including reconfiguring three congressional districts won by Donald Trump in 2020. Gov. Kathy Hochul approved the new lines on […]
Posted inSmall Business
New York’s 100-Year-Old Businesses Offer Lessons in Survival
What’s reliable about New York City is change. It’s what a batch of businesses around the boroughs have been adapting to — and counting on — for at least a century, even before construction of the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. These businesses made it through the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, all the […]
Posted inMental Health
Former Nurse Faces Court Battle After Being Shot by Cops During Mental Health Crisis
Lori Gjenashaj leaned her car seat back, turned the radio up loud, and waited for the cops to arrive on March 25, 2018. Moments earlier, the mother of two had led police on a wild car chase through the streets of Staten Island. When the police arrived, she was carrying a starter pistol and now […]
Posted inCampaign 2021
Fossella Thanks ‘President Trump’ in Staten Island Borough President Comeback Win
Ex-Rep. Vito Fossella’s political comeback bid appeared complete Tuesday night as he took the Staten Island borough president’s race — thanking “our great President Donald Trump” for his victory. The Republican’s win came in the only competitive boroughwide or citywide race as most New Yorkers elected their local mini mayors, comptroller and public advocate with […]
Posted inClimate Change
City Eyes New Push to Buy Out Flood-Prone Houses as Climate Change Hits Home
The de Blasio administration wants Congress to fund a voluntary buyout program modeled on efforts launched after Superstorm Sandy, which hit nine years ago this week. The devastation wrought Sept. 1 by Ida has spurred calls to re-up the “managed retreat” strategy.
Posted inClimate Change
Staten Island Sewer Project Stuck in the Drain for 24 Years as Climate Change Ups Stakes
Additional reporting by With Clifford Michel When Rudy Giuliani was being elected to a second term as mayor, his administration announced it would install a storm sewer in a flood-prone section of Staten Island. Nearly 24 years later, the $10.7 million project planned under a three-block stretch of Willow Avenue in Rosebank is finally set […]