New York Legal Assistance Group’s Post

23 years later, the pain and loss of 9/11 remain deeply felt, as if it were yesterday. On this September 11, we pause to remember and honor the thousands of lives lost, the heroes who responded with courage, and the families and communities who continue to feel the impact. We will never forget. #NYC #NeverForget

Tonight the Puerto Rican Bar Association, Inc. (PRBA) awarded our President & CEO Lisa Rivera the inaugural Carol Robles-Román Public Service Award. Carol was an unwavering advocate for women, children, immigrants, survivors of gender-based violence, and historically overlooked communities across New York City. We are so proud and can think of no one more deserving of this award in her name than Lisa, who has dedicated her entire career to advocating for those most in need of access to justice. Thank you PRBA for recognizing our incredible leader, and congratulations Lisa!

NYLAG’s Rose Marie Cantanno spoke with New York Focus about the crippling debt that, despite the City's relief deal, continues to plague taxi medallion owners. While the plan was designed to ease financial strain for taxi drivers — many of whom are lower income immigrants — we're still seeing drivers struggle under the burden of high loan payments for medallions of declining value, in many cases because some of the lenders never agreed to sign on to the program in the first place. Read more from New York Focus, including stories of drivers with no clear path out of this financial nightmare: https://lnkd.in/ewQ_MuWf

A good landlord will address mold or moisture issues in your apartment as soon as possible. It’s critical to ensuring a healthy and safe living environment. But even after five years under federal monitorship, NYCHA has yet to show its residents that basic dignity, not only with continually slow wait times but even fighting residents on getting basic repairs, leaving them in unsafe and unlivable conditions. Read what NYLAG’s Public Housing Justice Project Director, Anna Luft, had to say about the ongoing issue: https://lnkd.in/eJNwxt4p

As we've said since the City announced the shelter stay limit policy, interruptions in our new neighbors' access to mail stands to render their efforts to obtain work authorization and other legal relief futile. Now, shelters are not only returning critical mail to original senders, but losing mail altogether in the constant shelter shuffles after 30 or 60 days. Allison Cutler, a Supervising Attorney in NYLAG's Immigrant Protection Unit, spoke to The New York Times about what we're seeing on the ground, and how missing mail only increases risk of harm to our new neighbors. Read here for the full story: https://lnkd.in/dqdSk5Hi #immigrationnews #inthenews #NYLAGinthenews #legalservices #justice

One look at the data on students' reading challenges in New York City schools, and the inherent racial and economic disparities are clear. But while NYC's Education Department seeks to address these reading struggles among younger grades, we have yet to see solutions for older students who received flawed instruction or went without interventions — and the stakes are even higher for those with learning disabilities like dyslexia. This piece from The New York Times highlights multiple stories of students and families still in need of meaningful programmatic support, including that of Ms. Dipisa and her son Alejandro who work with NYLAG Special Education Unit's Equal Justice Works fellow Calleigh Higgins to obtain the support Alejandro needs. Given the immense consequences of reading gaps like heightened risks of cyclical poverty and other systemic harms, it's incumbent on the DOE to include older students in their efforts to improve reading proficiency — especially for those most in need of interventions. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dkQfRajj

Because CDPAP (Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program) is a Medicaid program, disabled people of lower-incomes and people of color depend on this program for both their care and livelihood. The planned changes in this support system are so drastic that home care and jobs will no doubt be disrupted – putting lives at risk and stripping autonomy specifically from disabled people of lower-incomes and people of color who depend on this program for their care, while eliminating opportunities for their loved ones to maintain an income while caring for them. More from Mother Jones about the potential impact of this plan: https://lnkd.in/geNxWEzX

#AccessSpecialEd as a racial justice issue: Navigating the special education system can be complicated for every family, but this report from the NYC Comptroller’s office confirms the same racial, social, and economic injustices we see across the board — that Black, Hispanic, and low-income students disproportionately face barriers to accessing the support they need and are entitled to. Special education access doesn’t exist in a vacuum, but directly reflects and further impacts already existing inequities. With access to the proper services, students with disabilities have tremendous potential for progress; inversely, every moment they go without the support they need, they fall that much further behind. That the latter is disproportionately true for Black, Hispanic, and low-income students points to glaring racial and economic inequities in which these students and their families have most to lose and face the steepest climb to get appropriate special education support and ultimately, to thrive. See the full report here: https://lnkd.in/e9A9VNUF 

Evicting more of our new neighbors from shelter is deeply cruel, creates more logistical nightmares, and further destabilizes families already facing countless obstacles to build their lives here. We condemn this decision — and the policy itself — in the strongest terms. https://lnkd.in/eFE4_nHm

Between traveling to the intake center and waiting for hours, applying for shelter or re-entry can pose serious burdens for families already experiencing trauma and instability. Thanks to New York City Council Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala’s recent legislation, requiring children to attend intakes in person is one less thing to worry about–and one fewer obstacle for families in urgent need of a roof over their heads. Read more from Gothamist: https://lnkd.in/eb4dtdXe