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Opinion

The Governor’s Raids of Transit and Climate Funds Must Be Stopped


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Gov. Cuomo at an MTA announcement (photo: governor's office)


This budget year for New York State is like no other due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but one thing remains business as usual in Albany: The Governor is once again filling state budget holes with funds that are supposed to be dedicated to supporting mass transit and fighting climate change—hitting disadvantaged communities especially hard.

Governor Cuomo intends to take $240 million in dedicated taxes from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and $23 million from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Fortunately, the State Legislature has the opportunity to reject these raids in their budget resolutions, and in the final adopted budget due April 1.  

The MTA has long been a piggy bank for the state. Governor Cuomo and his predecessors have raided hundreds of millions of dollars from dedicated funds that are intended to be used by transit agencies to effectively and safely run bus, subway, and commuter rail services for the public. 

Raids of dedicated transit funds are a highly regressive backdoor tax which disproportionately harms low-income riders and essential workers. The Governor’s raids also come at a time when the MTA seeks to make riders pay more for less service. The MTA has temporarily postponed fare hikes, but hikes will come sooner if the state takes $240 million in transit funding.

The MTA’s budget has been hit much harder than the state’s by COVID-19. Ridership is still hovering at only 30% of what it was before the pandemic ravaged its finances. In good times, fares and tolls brought in nearly 40% of the MTA’s budget. Fortunately, federal funding helped fill some of its massive budget gaps. The bad news, however, is that the Governor has made this aid less meaningful by taking hundreds of millions away from the MTA when the authority and its customers needed that money the most. The MTA is still asking Congress for $8 billion to close its budget gaps through 2024, but the likely receipt of federal dollars is not in any way an excuse for the state to divert dedicated funds to its general fund.

Raiding dedicated funds breaks trust with the public, who pay these taxes with the understanding that they will fund specific programs and agencies — not other state purposes.

Mass transit funds, like RGGI, are crucial for the state to meet its climate goals.  

The RGGI program has brought over $1.4 billion to New York by charging polluters for the emissions they produce. In turn, these funds are used to support projects that help communities fight climate change, reduce air pollution, and create good green jobs. Or at least that is the way it is supposed to work. Unfortunately, throughout the life of the program, almost 15% of the total amount raised has been swept away to plug budget holes elsewhere. This year is no different, with the Governor’s budget again skimming $23 million into the general fund and away from their intended use—that’s 16% of the overall RGGI budget for the year missing on day one. 

The RGGI raid is even more egregious this year as these clean energy funds have taken on greater importance under New York’s new climate law, which now requires that at least 35% be invested in communities on the frontlines of climate change to help them transition away from fossil fuels. Sweeping $23 million of RGGI funds means that disadvantaged communities will be deprived of millions of dollars that are supposed to be there to improve their environment and create jobs. We cannot continue to shortchange the fight against climate change and communities cannot afford to lose millions more this year. 

The Legislature can finally put a stop to these budget games. The first opportunity is to stand against MTA and RGGI raids by rejecting them in their one-house budget resolutions, which typically come out in mid-March. They must also stand firm and make sure these funds aren’t on the chopping block during budget negotiations. Our state’s future is worth the fight, and this is a good opportunity for the Legislature to flex their supermajority muscles.

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Rachael Fauss is Senior Research Analyst at Reinvent Albany and Conor Bambrick is Director of Climate Policy at Environmental Advocates NY. On Twitter @RachaelFauss of @ReinventAlbany and @conorbambrick of @greenwatchdogNY.

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How the Biden Administration Should Better Protect Immigrant Domestic Violence Survivors Like Me


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March against domestic violence (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


As President Biden begins to make good on his promise to reverse some of the Trump Administration’s most heinous immigration policies, I welcome the changes but hope he is able to dig deeper. Because for every horrific Trump Administration immigration policy that was announced and grabbed headlines, there were others that were discreetly implemented, effectively creating an “invisible wall.”

These more subtle shifts in policy have been devastating, and unfortunately, only become obvious to the public after thousands have already been impacted. A particularly unjust one impacts domestic violence survivors like me. 

Born and raised in the Caribbean in Kingston, Jamaica, I immigrated to the U.S. in 1998 and have lived here in New York City since. A single mother to my daughter, a natural-born U.S. citizen who is now age 13, I work as a home health aide and am also a certified chaplain of my church, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in theology.  

But this part of my story began in 2009. I started dating someone and it was going well in the beginning. But then he began to behave in ways that made me not trust him and so I tried to end the relationship. He would not leave me alone until he convinced me to meet up with him at a hotel one day. That is when he raped me.  

My world was shattered. I was terrified of him but even more terrified of reporting this crime to law enforcement because of my immigration status. He was a U.S. citizen and he knew I was undocumented. I only told one person, a family friend.

Then in early 2011, the father of my daughter, Keith*, threatened to shoot me during an argument we had. Fearing he really had a gun, I grabbed my cell phone and called the police. By the time the police arrived, Keith had fled the apartment we shared, and so the officers asked some questions but left without filling out a police report. The next morning, however, the same officers returned to arrest me because Keith had filed a report accusing me of assaulting him—with the cell phone I used to call the police when he threatened me! I ended up being charged with assault with a weapon. I had to appear in court a couple of times but the case was ultimately dismissed as Keith did not appear. The records were then sealed

I tried to move on with my life until one day, later that year, I got a call from my sister, who mentioned that she saw in the news that someone we both knew was arrested and charged with several counts of rape. She said she did not believe it was true and so I opened up to her—I told her I knew it was true because he did the same to me. 

With my sister’s encouragement, I came forward to the detective handling the case and reported the crime committed against me. That’s when I learned I should be able to get humanitarian immigration help as a crime victim.  

I was introduced to Safe Horizon, a non-profit organization, by the detective. At this point, fear and paranoia took over since my rapist knew where I lived and my immigration status. I received counseling from Safe Horizon and its Immigration Law Project attorneys helped me apply for legal status in the U.S. through the U visa program

This special visa is available to victims of certain serious crimes who are helpful to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of the crime. I applied in 2012 and I was granted a U visa in 2013, which allowed me to live and work in the United States lawfully, and three years later, to apply for permanent residence, or a “green card.” In 2017, again with the assistance of the Immigration Law Project, I submitted my application for a green card. 

I was shocked to receive a request from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for details about my arrest in 2011, even though I had already disclosed my arrest in my U visa application and explained that the records were sealed. DHS demanded unsealing of the records to determine what kind of weapon was involved and whether I was indeed a threat to public safety.  

According to my attorneys, this was a noticeable shift from previous DHS policy. Before the Trump Administration, DHS would not demand unsealing of records because arrests that resulted in dismissed charges and/or sealed records typically did not warrant additional scrutiny. Moreover, sealing statutes, such as the one in New York, are designed to protect individuals in situations like mine. It allows us to essentially start over without the stigma that usually comes with an arrest. My attorneys refused to ask for unsealing of the records. Consequently, my “green card” application was denied.

My heart sank. My work permit was also denied, which has impacted me severely, especially during this pandemic as I struggle to keep a roof over my family’s head. I feel victimized all over again. And I am not the only one. Sadly, I learned that countless others like me have suffered similar fates—domestic violence survivors falsely accused by their abusers have had their U visa or “green card” applications denied.

My attorney helped me file an appeal, which was dismissed, and then a motion to reconsider, which is currently pending. They have also demanded that DHS turn over any records related to this unannounced shift in policy.

Awaiting the outcome, I hope that the Biden Administration will step in and protect domestic violence survivors. I hope that my story sheds light on this invisible policy change and that it finall y comes to an end.

*Names changed to protect identity.

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Angela Harriett* is a domestic violence survivor, immigrant, mother, and resident of New York City.

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We Must Rebuild Our Health-Care Infrastructure to Care for Our Seniors


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Hospital workers (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


The current process to secure a COVID-19 vaccine is, to put it frankly, a logistical nightmare. Appointments have been cancelled by testing sites due to supply shortages, and vaccines were frequently being defrosted and then thrown out due to missed appointments and limited eligibility criteria. This was expected.

Contributing to the problems with vaccine distribution is the inaccessibility for seniors, especially in parts of eastern Queens. Successful vaccination often requires digital fluency and a mode of transportation – two large barriers that complicate a speedy rollout to our most vulnerable neighbors. One of our parents (ages 71 and 74) struggled tremendously navigating the highly decentralized systems to find an appointment despite not facing these technical and logistical barriers.

Vaccine distribution spotlights fundamental problems in our city’s health-care infrastructure that disproportionately impact elders. However, these issues date back to far before the pandemic. A series of management mistakes and a lack of political will to support investing in our health-care infrastructure permitted three major Queens hospitals to close in 2009.  This has led to a borough that is uniquely unprepared to handle the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the most impactful closures was St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center, which served Forest Hills, Rego Park, Maspeth, Glendale, and Corona. The medical center’s bankruptcy was partially fueled by slow reimbursements from the government to support health care for the elderly, like Medicare. The city should heed the lessons from the last recession, we cannot divest again from preventative care or health-care infrastructure when city finances tighten. We must choose to have a moral budget that prioritizes our health and wellbeing.

Increasing hospital bed capacity in Queens needs to be one of the top priorities as we rebuild from the pandemic. Queens currently has 1.7 beds for every 1,000 residents, whereas Manhattan has three times that capacity. Unsurprisingly, bed shortages led to hospitals like Elmhurst being overwhelmed during the pandemic. Post-pandemic, we must focus on investing in new infrastructure to replace institutions such as St. Vincent. We must fight to maintain and buoy existing capacity in hospitals and health centers.  New York City has left Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills empty and idle for the past 10 years, but with some effort it can be rehabilitated into a useful place to deliver wellness services for our community.

We have an obligation to support our seniors in Queens. It is a vulnerable group, most reliant on and hurt by the diminished accessibility of health services in the borough. Demographically, the communities of Rego Park, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, and Richmond Hill (City Council District 29) form one of the oldest areas in the city. We must take the initiative to increase our ability to care for our parents and grandparents.

A new mayoral administration and a new City Council presents a tremendous opportunity to commit to a moral budget that protects the most vulnerable and elderly. New leaders must also accept the radical responsibility to truly address social determinants of health, such as food insecurity, affordable housing, and economic instability.

This past year has reminded us that there is nothing more important than our ability to stay healthy – our overall physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. Nothing can fix the social-emotional toll of partial or full isolation from friends and family, or of the loss of loved ones. We are collectively suffering from a trauma exacerbated by racial and economic inequality.

As Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” Now more than ever our city must commit to ensure a robust health-care infrastructure. So let’s support our seniors. Let’s restitch our social safety net and ensure we have the capacity to repair what is not yet broken. Let’s heal together.

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Douglas Shapiro is a candidate for New York City Council in Queens, Council District 29. Reva Singh is an undergraduate at Princeton University. On Twitter @Shapiro4NYC.

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