Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Department of Veterans Affairs

Department of Veterans Affairs

  • A Fall To-Do List for the City Council’s Veterans Committee

    At a Veterans Day parade (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    When City Council Member Robert Holden was appointed chair of the Council’s veterans committee in January, there was optimism in the city’s military veterans advocacy community as many felt his predecessor was caretaking the committee and holding hearings that didn’t press the city’s Department of Veterans Services (DVS) for answers.  

    Yet over the past several months, veterans have been surprised at the Council Member’s seeming unwillingness,

    ...
  • Without Chair, Council Committee Hears Bills Aimed to Help Discharged Military Veterans

    Council Member Chaim Deutsch

    Council Member Deutsch (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)


    A bill that would require the New York City Department of Veterans Services to help veterans discharged from the military solely for their LGBTQ status to upgrade or change the narrative of their discharge status and “extend all city benefits and services” to them was introduced to the City Council’s Committee on Veterans at a hearing on Monday.

    Introduced alongside it was a bill that would require DVS to create a unit to assist veterans with discharge characterization upgrades and offer

    ...
  • Planned Change to Veterans Department Budget Causes Stir

    bdb vets via nycveterans

    photo: @nycveterans


    Mayor Bill de Blasio’s preliminary budget, released January 24, proposes nearly $1 billion in increased spending for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. But a conspicuous, albeit infinitesimal, reduction for one agency has irked elected officials and advocates.

    The mayor’s spending plan, which will be evaluated by and negotiated with the City Council, includes a $318,000 decrease in the budget for the newly-minted Department of Veterans Services, which was created last year as an agency outside

    ...
  • The Week That Was in New York Politics, Dec 7-11

    week in review bus readers

    photo: Stanley Kubrick via Museum of the City of New York


    Gotham Gazette's Week in Review, Friday 

    PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Mayor de Blasio signs legislation creating the city's new Department of Veterans' Services, via Joe Bello, @NYMetroVets

    ...

  • The Week That Was in New York Politics, November 9-13

    week in review bus readers

    photo: Stanley Kubrick via Museum of the City of New York


    Gotham Gazette's Week in Review, Friday November 13

    PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: NYPD Commissioner Bratton addresses the media after a shooting Monday morning near Penn Station, via @NYPD1Pct; City Council Members-elect Barry

    ...
  • First Report Under New Law Will Give Key Data to Coming Veterans Department

    sutton presser new dept

    Tuesday's celebratory press conference (photo: @nylag)


    On the eve of Veterans Day, the City Council passed a much-celebrated bill to create a new Department of Veterans Services, which will replace the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs in serving New York City’s large military veteran population. While the new department will still be under the mayor’s administration, it will now have access to more resources and be the subject of

    ...
  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, November 9

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    Wednesday is Veterans Day, with parades, resource fairs, and events to honor and aid veterans taking place before, on, and after the day itself. Mayor Bill de Blasio will hold a breakfast reception to honor the military veterans Wednesday morning. On Thursday, the City Council will hold a hearing on veteran homelessness, which the mayor vowed to end by the end of this year as part of a national pledge.

    The

    ...