City Council Members and the Public Advocate at a rally on Nov. 22, 2016. Image Credit: Council Member Stephen Levin.

City Council Members and Citywide Officials formally endorse Home Stability Support legislation. On November 22, 2016, New York City Public Advocate Letitia James and thirty members of the City Council formally endorsed the promulgation of the Home Stability Support program. The announcement was made at an afternoon press conference and rally on the steps of City Hall. The event was co-hosted by the Public Advocate and Council Member Grodenchick, and included speeches by Council Members Crowley, Levin, Gentile, Richards, Reynoso, and Williams. The proposed program has been long championed by State Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi who represents the Forest Hills area of Queens in Albany. (more…)

Professor Arthur S. Leonard. Image Credit: New York Law School

Arthur Leonard for 40 years has been one of the most important and most-read chronicler of the LGBT rights movement. In 1979, as the founder and president of the City’s Gay Lawyers Association Leonard began reporting judicial decisions involving LGBT rights and slipping them in the monthly mailer—this was the start of LGBT Law Notes. Originally a two-sided photocopied sheet of paper, LGBT Law Notes is now a monthly newsletter with a circulation of thousands. Leonard remains the Editor-in-Chief of the newsletter and performs the bulk of the writing. (more…)

Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi. Image Credit: NYAssembly.gov

State Assemblymember may have answer to finally reverse the homelessness trend. Recently, the de Blasio Administration heralded that its efforts to prevent homelessness in New York City have had some success. On September 29, 2016, City Hall announced that thanks to its “unprecedented array of programs” some 7,000 New Yorkers were able to avoid the City’s shelter system. The Department of Homeless Services now shelters 60,000 instead of the projected 67,000 (the projection was largely based on the rapid increase of homeless persons seen after the end of the Advantage program in 2011, approximately 5,000/year). While the population in the City’s shelter system may have been stunted, it continues to grow. (more…)

Campaign 4 NY/NY coalition rallies in support of a Statewide supportive housing agreement. Image credit: Campaign 4 NY/NY

The campaign seeks to push Governor Cuomo to release the funding before the conclusion of the legislative session on June 16, 2016. On May 23, 2016, the “Campaign 4 NY/NY,” an advocacy group endorsed by more than 300 organizations, launched a campaign urging Governor Andrew Cuomo to release the $2 billion committed in the State budget to the creation of supportive housing. Governor Cuomo announced the commitment in his State of the State address in January of 2016, but has taken no further action since then.

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Image credit: Jeff Hopkins

In 2017, along with voting for mayor, council members, and other elected officials, the voters of New York will be asked to answer “Yes “or “No” to this question:  “Shall there be a convention to revise the constitution and amend the same?” Every twenty years, the New York State constitution requires that the voters of the State be given the option to call a constitutional convention for revising and amending the New York State constitution – a generational opportunity to consider the State’s governing document and how well we are governed.

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