Dear friends,
As the weather cools, it is a bit more difficult to avoid thinking about the people who are unhoused and sleeping rough around the city and the world.
Little Amal is here in New York this week to remind us. She is a 3.5 meter puppet of a 10-year old Syrian refugee, operated by four puppeteers. Amir Nizar Zuabi, the artistic director of The Walk, explains the purpose of Little Amal’s journey:
“It is because the attention of the world is elsewhere right now that it is more important than ever to reignite the conversation about the refugee crisis and to change the narrative around it. Yes, refugees need food and blankets, but they also need dignity and a voice. The purpose of The Walk is to highlight the potential of the refugee, not just their dire circumstances.
Walk with Amal through LES and Chinatown tomorrow. Consider a donation to the Amal Fund, which supports education, housing, food, and medical services for refugees.
The housing crisis in NYC and elsewhere seems intractable, and it is also possible to hold real estate companies to account for illegal practices.
[A] judge class certified the lawsuit this week, potentially clearing the way for more tenants to join the lawsuit. [According to HRI], up to 3,000 current and former tenants could score reimbursements or rent reductions if the lawsuit succeeds.
[A] 2017 investigation that exposed how the company hounded low-income tenants with a barrage of lawsuits, eviction notices and late fees — even when residents had the legal right to continue living there.
Kushner was the leading architect in the housing scandal that left many residents paying for uninhabitable units riddled with pests and sewage issues.
The fine is intended to reimburse thousands of Kushner Company tenants in Baltimore.
When we fight for climate justice, we work for broad policy change as well as taking on the local battles against dirty infrastructure. I wish I understood more about how to do that with housing. I invite your input!
There is some good climate news on both fronts:
We wrote to the Biden Administration last year to speak out against permitting a proposed plastics complex in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley. Not only would the industrial site impinge on wetlands, but it would contribute to the deadly pollution that has made the area notoriously unhealthy to live in.
The federal government did not issue permits, but the state of Louisiana did.
This month, a federal court revoked them, ruling that the plant
would violate federal air standards and threaten public health, and that in approving them, the department failed in its duty to protect the public from environmental harm.
The Biden administration has now undertaken an investigation into enforcement of environmental regulations in communities overburdened by pollution. There is a new office at the Environmental Protection Administration devoted to environmental justice.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids anyone who receives federal funds from discriminating based on race or national origin. It’s been used in housing and transportation, but rarely on environmental matters.
The Biden administration said that must change.
The Kigali Amendment is a binding agreement to reduce production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), chemicals used in refrigeration and air conditioning that are also potent, short-lived greenhouse gases.
NY Streetsblogger Gabe Klein has been hired by the Biden Administration to head the new Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. Klein’s mission includes the adoption of electric vehicles as well as broader use of car- and bike-sharing systems.
It is fair to celebrate the Administration’s efforts, which have turned more muscular lately. A new plan was announced today to end hunger in the US and expand access to healthy food.
Heather Cox Richardson reported last night that
the real net worth of the bottom 50% of U.S. households has climbed 60% since Biden took office, now reaching $67,524.
Each day, we can renew our efforts to be loving, generous, and just.
Urge Congress to pass the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act. This quick action is from Moms Rising.
with love,
L