#eric adams

[mysharona1987]

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

Members of a private WhatsApp group, including billionaires like the CEO of Dell and the former CEO of Starbucks, allegedly used the chat to discuss ways to pressure New York City Mayor Eric Adams to use police to crack down on Gaza solidarity protests at the city’s universities, according to The Washington Post. AJ+ has not seen the chat messages referenced in The Washington Post’s report directly. ⁣

⁣

NYPD officers raided encampments at schools like Columbia University and the City College of New York, arresting close to 200 protesters in just one day. The police raid at Columbia in late April was the first on-campus mass arrest in 50 years, with police using riot gear and military-grade weapons against mostly peaceful protesters. ⁣

⁣

While Gaza solidarity encampments have been frequently targeted with violence by police and pro-Israel agitators – and over 2,200 people have been arrested – a study found that out of over 550 Gaza protests at U.S. universities, 97% have been peaceful. ⁣

⁣

…⁣

Senior Producers: Kareem Yasin, Ben Angeloni⁣

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[reasonsforhope]

"The New York City Council voted to ban most uses of solitary confinement in city jails Wednesday [December 20, 2023], passing the measure with enough votes to override a veto from Mayor Eric Adams.

The measure would ban the use of solitary confinement beyond four hours and during certain emergencies. That four hour period would be for "de-escalation" in situations where a detainee has caused someone else physical harm or risks doing so. The resolution would also require the city's jails to allow every person detained to spend at least 14 hours outside of their cells each day.

The bill, which had 38 co-sponsors, was passed 39 to 7. It will now go to the mayor, who can sign the bill or veto it within 30 days. If Mayor Adams vetoes the bill, it will get sent back to the council, which can override the veto with a vote from two-thirds of the members. The 39 votes for the bill today make up 76% of the 51-member council. At a press conference ahead of the vote today [December 20, 2023], Council speaker Adrienne Adams indicated the council would seek [a veto] override if necessary.

For his part, Mayor Adams has signaled he is indeed considering vetoing the bill...

The United Nations has said solitary confinement can amount to torture, and multiple studies suggest its use can have serious consequences on a person's physical and mental health, including an increased risk of PTSD, dying by suicide, and having high blood pressure.

One 2019 study found people who had spent time in solitary confinement in prison were more likely to die in the first year after their release than people who had not spent time in solitary confinement. They were especially likely to die from suicide, homicide and opioid overdose.

Black and Hispanic men have been found to be overrepresented among those placed in solitary confinement – as have gay, lesbian and bisexual people.

The resolution in New York comes amid scrutiny over deaths in the jail complex on Rikers Island. Last month, the federal government joined efforts to wrest control of the facility from the mayor, and give it to an outside authority.

In August 2021, 25-year-old Brandon Rodriguez died while in solitary confinement at Rikers. He had been in pre-trial detention at the jail for less than a week. His mother, Tamara Carter, says his death was ruled a suicide and that he was in a mental health crisis at the time of his confinement.

"I know for Brandon, he should have been put in the infirmary. He should have been seeing a psychiatrist. He should have been being watched," she said.

She says the passage of the bill feels like a form of justice for her.

"Brandon wasn't nothing. He was my son. He was an uncle. A brother. A grandson. And he's very, very missed," she told NPR. "I couldn't save my son. But if I joined this fight, maybe I could save somebody else's son." ...

New York City is not the first U.S. city to limit the use of solitary confinement in its jails, though it is the largest. In 2021, voters in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, passed a measure to restrict solitary confinement except in cases of lockdowns and emergencies. The sheriff in Illinois' Cook County, which includes Chicago, has said the Cook County jail – one of the country's largest – has also stopped using solitary confinement...

Naila Awan, the interim co-director of policy at the New York Civil Liberties Union, says that New York making this change could have larger influence across the country.

"As folks look at what New York has done, other larger jails that are not quite the size of Rikers will be able to say, 'If New York City is able to do this, then we too can implement similar programs here, that it's within our capacity and capabilities," Awan says. "And to the extent that we are able to get this implemented and folks see the success, I think we could see a real shift in the way that individuals are treated behind bars.""

-via NPR, December 20, 2023

[muntzerism-diggerism]

Something simple as a crack pipe.

[odinsblog]

Number of disproportionately Black and Brown people arrested last year for fare evasion on the NYC subway: 1,897

Number of white men arrested for strangling a Black man to death, caught on video, on an NYC subway train full of witnesses: 0

(source)

[hayquetenerpatience]

It's not a migrant crisis. It's an orchestrated assault.

[liberalsarecool]

That would be *billions in settlements. #ACAB

Eric Adams will never address these issues. Police are not interested in talking about their failings to connect/respect the community.

[elierlick]

I was wondering what the NYPD did to provoke the migrants resisting ("attacking") them in Times Square, but couldn't find any information. Today, we know officers illegally hit and detained them before the melee began. I hope they sue the city. https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/02/08/times-square-migrants-arrests-body-camera-footage-contradicts-nypd-account/

[proudzionist]

They say these are not Anti semitic protests !

Really 🤔

Then why are You targeting Jewish students who have absolutely nothing to do with what is going on in the Middle East ??

You are nothing but cowards( that's why you cover your faces )

You are nothing but Anti semitic 💩💩💩💩💩 who uses brain dead students who are looking for the next trend to follow.

It's a trend to hate on Jews right now but remember all trends eventually fade away and you Know what ?

The Jewish People will still be here .

Existence is Resistance 🇮🇱💙🫂

Israel Lives

The Jewish People are stronger than Your Hate 🫂🇮🇱💙💪

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Marjorie Taylor Greene had to leave the Trump arraignment rally after she was drowned out by counter-protesters.

During her chaotic arrival in New York on Tuesday, there appeared to be more members of the media than protesters present.

Ms. Greene was joined by the New York Young Republicans – a group with ties to embattled congressman George Santos, who also made a brief appearance at the rally before departing after being mobbed by the media. Ms. Greene was also met by counterprotesters holding their own “emergency noise demo” to drown out her “hate speech”.

The New York Young Republicans at one point responded with a USA-chant.

As clashes between pro- and anti-Trump demonstrators took place, the NYPD tried to separate the groups. Both camps were separated with NYPD barricades and community affairs officers between them.

Ms. Greene took aim at New York Mayor Eric Adams, saying that “you send your henchmen down here to commit assault against people by making loud noises”.

Per Ben Collins of NBC News, the reason it was difficult to hear Ms. Greene may have been because a Trump supporter handed out whistles. He was apparently unaware that Ms. Greene was attending.

Ms. Greene urged Americans to “take a stand” during her brief speech, large parts of which were drowned out by the sounds of counter-protesters.

She claimed that the government has been “weaponized” against Americans, adding: “I’m here to protest and use my voice and take a stand. Every American should take a stand. This is what happens in communist countries – not the United States of America. We have to take a stand against the injustice, the corruption, and the communist Democrats.”

She continued: “They’re taking our legal code, twisting it, manipulating it, and perverting it into something it was never meant to be. Donald J Trump is innocent, this is election interference. DA Alvin Bragg is nothing but a George Soros-funded tool. He is a tool for the Democrats to try to hijack the 2024 presidential election. This is a travesty!”

Ms. Greene soon left the rally and appeared on RSBN, saying that Mr. Trump “is joining some of the most incredible people in history being arrested today. Nelson Mandela was arrested, served time in prison. Jesus! Jesus was arrested and murdered”.

She was slammed by New York congressman Jamaal Bowman, who told her to “go back to your district. What are you doing here? You’re here for politics, you’re here because you want to be VP ... you’re here for your own nonsense”.

[deanmarywinchester]

there was just a small earthquake in NYC and reductress was ready with this in half an hour 🫡

[reasonsforhope]

Across New York City, delivery drivers are a ubiquitous sight: congregating outside big restaurant chains waiting to collect orders, zooming through the city streets with orders in tow. “The most chaotic time for deliveries is easily during lunch time,” says Elijah Williams, who delivers food for both Uber and DoorDash. “I’ve had up to four orders at one time.” 

Mayor Eric Adams recently announced a major change that will deeply impact busy workers like Williams: app-based delivery workers will be paid $17.96 an hour starting July 12th — and nearly $20 an hour by 2025 — marking the nation’s first minimum pay for such workers.

“Our delivery workers have consistently delivered for us — now, we are delivering for them,” he said. “They should not be delivering food to your household, if they can’t put food on the plate in their household.”

The Background

Mayor Adams made the announcement at City Hall, surrounded by delivery workers as well as members of the nonprofit organizations, Workers Justice Project (WJP) and Los Deliveristas Unidos.

Ligia Guallpa, executive director of WJP, expressed her excitement and gratitude.

“This first of its kind minimum pay rate will uplift working and immigrant families,” said [Ligia Guallpa of Workers Justice Project (WJP)] alongside Gustavo Ajche of Los Deliveristas Unidos. “[It will] ensure that workers who keep New Yorkers fed, are able to keep also their families fed too.”

WJP was founded in 2010, and coordinates numerous worker-led programs, including Los Deliveristas Unidos, that aim to improve conditions for low-wage immigrant workers across the five boroughs.

The Details

The current minimum wage in New York is $15 an hour. On average, service workers are paid $7.09 an hour, excluding tips. The new wage is in keeping with a law passed by the City Council in 2021, which requires the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to set a standard minimum rate for delivery workers.

App-based delivery workers are classified as “independent contractors,” which means they’re not entitled to the standard minimum wage that applies to salaried employees’ pay. Instead, delivery workers who work for the big food delivery services, like Uber Eats and Relay, are entitled to just $2.13 an hour before tips — a so-called “tipped sub-minimum wage.”

Research has shown that getting rid of tipped sub-minimum wages benefits not just the workers getting the raise, but the economy as a whole. A 2021 analysis found that states without a tipped sub-minimum wage saw 29 percent growth in their leisure and hospitality sectors, compared to just six percent in states that used the federal tipped sub-minimum wage of $2.13.

...For many of the workers who face hostile roads and unpredictable weather conditions to get New Yorkers their ordered goods, this is a life-changing development.

“This is my full-time job. I get up every day and do this,” says delivery driver Justin Martinez outside the Chick-Fil-A in Washington Heights. 

Martinez, 30, is originally from the Dominican Republic. His commitment to completing deliveries, he explains, is fueled by his love for his family.

“This is my way to contribute. I go out, 9, 10 hours a day, do deliveries, and then I can come home,” he says. Martinez first started driving for Uber in 2019 before transitioning to delivering food for Uber Eats and other apps in 2021. He’s excited for the pay wage increase: “Maybe now, I only [have to] go out for 6 hours.”

-via Reasons to Be Cheerful, June 30, 2023

[mysharona1987]