Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

1199 SEIU

1199 SEIU

  • Frontline Nurses are Ready to Fight for Reproductive Rights in New York and Beyond

    Gov. Hochul makes an abortion access announcement (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Since March 2020, health-care workers in New York have been on the front lines. Resilience, service, and a fierce commitment to delivering high-quality care to our patients guided us through the darkest days of the pandemic.

    Due to the heroism of my co-workers and with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration, two years later we now stand ready to continue providing abortion care and set an example for the nation

    ...
  • New York's Activist Left and Organized Labor Begin Choosing Their Next City Council Class

    City Council chambers City Hall

    The City Council chambers (photo: William Alatriste)


    With 31 members facing term-limits and with special elections slated to fill five recent vacancies, it is set to be a transformative year for the New York City Council. City politics have undergone a dynamic shift since the last class of Council members was seated after the 2017 municipal election, and activists and organized labor are hoping to take advantage of that fact in announcing their support for a new crop of Council contenders.

    Almost every “open” City Council seat where no

    ...
  • Creating a New Hub to Protect and Empower Brooklynites

    rich univ city

    Supplies arrive in Brooklyn (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Every neighborhood in New York City has been touched in some way by the COVID-19 pandemic. But due to longstanding disparities in our health-care system and structural economic inequality, communities of color have been more susceptible to the virus and more vulnerable to its consequences. 

    One of these consequences was the distant and dysfunctional health-care supply system, which left safety net hospitals like One Brooklyn Health, which serve and employ the city’s most vulnerable, without

    ...
  • Cuomo Campaign Removes Misleading Boast of Old Endorsements

    cuomo 1199 endorsement

    Gov. Cuomo being endorsed by 1199, Feb. 2018 (photo: @nydems)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo’s campaign website has been updated with a 2018 logo but was touting dozens of endorsements that the governor received in the 2014 election cycle, with no indication that the backing of the groups listed did not apply to the current election, in which the Democrat is seeking a third term.

    The Cuomo campaign took down its endorsement page, which said “endorsements updated daily,” on Thursday after Gotham Gazette inquired about it. Shortly after an email to a campaign

    ...
  • Lobbying Cuomo: How to Get the Governor on Your Side

    Cuomo speech better NY

    Gov. Cuomo (photo: Don Pollard/Governor's Office)


    Have an issue you want addressed in Albany? Perhaps you’d like the state to legalize your new multi-million dollar venture into the “sharing economy” -- one that terrifies existing business interests and labor unions; maybe you want to change the protections offered by New York’s civil rights laws; or maybe you want in on the hundreds of millions of dollars the state allocates to economic development programs. No matter the issue, you’re going to want Governor

    ...
  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, April 4

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    We're about two weeks from New York's April 19 presidential primary vote. The three remaining Republican candidates and two remaining Democrats have been campaigning in New York, which is more in play than it has been in several cycles. Hillary Clinton is set to hold events in New York City and Albany Monday, including a rally with Gov. Cuomo and a meeting with state Assembly Democrats, and while the candidates are

    ...
  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, January 4

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    Happy New Year!

    So far, New York politics in 2016 looks a lot like 2015. On Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a new Executive Order related to homelessness that appears to be the opening salvo in his plan to take aim at the issue, most pressingly in New York City, where he's criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio's handling of the crisis that includes about 60,000 homeless people. Cuomo's order notes that homelessness is a problem around the state and says that when

    ...
  • Strategy Meetings Signal Coming Flurry of Rent Law Lobbying

    housing rally

    A housing-related rally at City Hall (photo: @AffordabilityNY)


    On Friday, tenant advocates, union representatives, and elected officials gathered in two separate meetings to discuss the renewal and strengthening of state rent laws. There is a sense of urgency among city-based legislators and tenant advocates as the laws regulating many thousands of apartments are set to expire in six weeks and legislative debate on the topic is non-existent.

    One meeting took place at the United Federation of Teachers (UFT)

    ...