- Get Covered New York: Huge thanks are due the 120 volunteers and our partners at Health Care for All New York, who helped insure almost 4,000 people in our city’s medically underserved communities.
- Register New York: Kudos to those who joined us and the New Latino Movement to register hundreds of people to vote in the 2014 elections.
- UPK-NYC Coalition: We celebrate the advocates and volunteers who made universal early education programs a reality for our city’s young children and families.
- Fair Wages for New Yorkers: We applaud the members of RaiseUpNew York, FastFoodForward, and the collective Fight For $15 and a Union, along with our colleagues in the Living Wage Coalition, who helped secure this year’s victory to limit tax-subsidized structural poverty in New York City.
- Protecting New York’s Homeless: Gratitude is due the many who joined us in our important panel on the plight of New York’s many homeless children and the blight of homelessness–and also committed to action. We extend grateful appreciation to Pastor Mark Erson of St. John’s Church for providing a space for discussion and a place for assistance to the many homeless youth (including LGBT youth) in Lower Manhattan.
- The People’s Climate March: Admiration and respect for our colleagues and fellow organizers for the brilliance of the largest worldwide gathering for a secure planet in history, and for their ongoing work for climate justice
- Fair Elections: We thank the many who continue to fight with us in demanding publicly financed elections, with oversight, to limit corruption and strengthen the people’s voice–and to secure the kind of locally reflective, disinterested representation that New York City’s campaign finance reform has provided for all New York residents.
- Get Out the Vote NY: We continue to be awed by all those who joined us in our massive, four-month-long voter contact effort, including multi-candidate phone banks and canvasses, to help attain stronger political representation for the people of our city and state.
Author Archives: Info@greaternycforchange.org
#BlackLivesMatter
On Saturday, December 13th, Greater NYC for Change gathered with people across the nation in a Day of Resistance. We demanded an end to police brutality, particularly of unarmed members of our communities of color, and recognition of the vital importance of black humanity in our society.
We joined in the demand to engage in civil disobedience and #ShutItDownfrom the conviction that out of this peaceful crisis can emerge the reform of the criminal justice system and the promise of the equitable and just society that #AllOfUs require.
Go to fergusonaction.com for information about events in your area.
Ferguson: A National Call to Action
#BlackLivesMatter
This Saturday, December 13th, Greater NYC for Change will gather with people across the nation in a Day of Resistance. We’re demanding an end to police brutality, particularly of unarmed members of our communities of color, and recognition of the vital importance of black humanity in our society.
We urge you to join us here in New York City. But your participation is essential, wherever you are. Go to fergusonaction.com for information about events in your area.
We join in the demand to engage in civil disobedience and #ShutItDown this Saturday from the conviction that out of this peaceful crisis can emerge the reform of the criminal justice system and the promise of the equitable and just society that #AllOfUs require.
EVENTS IN NEW YORK CITY:
EVENTS IN WASHINGTON, DC:
ACA Open Enrollment, Part II
On November 15th, the second season of general enrollment in health insurance under the landmark Affordable Care Act opens across the nation. All New Yorkers can find a range of affordable options for literally life-changing care at our state exchange or marketplace, NY State of Health, through February 15th. This means big things: low-cost or free comprehensive coverage for members of underserved communities, affordable options for young people and part-time workers, help for those with pre-existing conditions that require regular attention, and, for the undocumented, information on emergency Medicare and enrollment in comprehensive coverage for children.
This is for all of us–that’s how the system works best, for our health and our economy. Last year, almost 1.2 million New Yorkers enrolled. Yet, hundreds of thousands remain without insurance. And that’s where you come in.
In 2013 Greater NYC for Change, which was formed out of the struggle for universal health care for Americans, joined with the Health Care for All New York coalition (HCfANY) to develop and implement Get Covered New York. Using the field, data, and analytic models we’d learned on campaigns and an all-volunteer force (you!) we helped almost 4,000 fellow New Yorkers, many from medically underserved communities, move to enrollment during the first Open Enrollment Period.
This year, New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, along with its Human Resources Administration, is developing a program, including a similar field model, under the name Get Covered NYC or Covered NYC. Given these similarities and the need to avoid confusion for both volunteers and the uninsured, Get Covered New York will be absorbed into HCfANY and operate under the name Health Care for All New York; its website will continue to operate for sign-ups. The new operation is geared to have a wider reach as more organizations join in the effort. We’re delighted—and proud, too.
We’ll be working with Health Care for All New York, and we urge you to join us at events in all five boroughs in the three months ahead. Help give the gift of health to our communities this holiday season, and build a stronger, healthier society. Find out mo
re about HCfANY and the campaign here or contact Lois Uttley at lois@mergerwatch.org to volunteer.
Primary Day is tomorrow!
“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire… then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
―Abraham Lincoln
Our sixteenth president was right–turnout matters. Your vote tomorrow, including in local district races, can have consequences for our city and state. The polls are open from 6 am to 9 pm. You can find your polling location here, along with sample ballots. More helpful information is available at NYCVotes.
Zero Clemencies
55,000 men and women are imprisoned in New York State. Despite other governors’ records in pardoning or commuting sentences, Governor Cuomo has issued zero clemencies in over three years in office. Not one. That’s shameful. It’s why we’re joined NOW, Village Independent Democrats, and many other groups in “Candles for Clemency” on September 6th outside the governor’s Mt. Kisco home. Actress Kathryn Erbe, of Law & Order:Criminal Intent fame, was among the participants. The assembled lit candles to demand a second chance for the many who deserve it.