In a major step towards addressing New York City’s housing shortage the NYC Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning & Franchises and Committee on Land Use voted to advance five rezoning proposals on October 6. Four passed unanimously, while the Sojourner Truth–Mapes project was the only one to receive a single negative vote. The approved plans could pave the way for over 1,500 new apartments across Brooklyn, Bronx, and the Queens including hundreds of permanently affordable homes. 

The proposals would create approximately 292 apartments at Fort Hamilton Mews in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, including up to 88 permanently affordable units. While 391 apartments are planned along Park Avenue in Brooklyn, including up to 101 affordable units. At 289 Kent Avenue in Brooklyn 270 apartments with up to 83 affordable units. In Brox at the Sojourner Truth–Mapes development the proposed layout that would allow for a 100% affordable building with 457 income restricted apartments. 6967 108th Street in Queens could get 59 new apartments and 18 affordable units.

The NYC Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises approved the five proposals earlier in the day at 11am, with modifications to several of them, before they advanced to the Committee on Land Use. The City Council’s zoning subcommittee recently changed four out of five neighborhood building proposals to ensure they fit local needs and offer cheaper rent. 

For the Fort Hamilton Mews project in Brooklyn, the committee shrank the building’s allowed height from 9–14 stories down to 8–11 stories so it wouldn’t tower over the block. It would use the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing for the four proposals to guarantee lower rents that match local salaries of the community. With the modifications the subcommittee’s initial vote was unanimous on four projects. 

The Sojourner Truth–Mapes was the only rezoning development to receive a dissenting vote from Council Member Justin Sanchez. Although Council Member Amanda Farías voted in favor, she also voiced concerns about the Sojourner Truth-Mapes negotiations “I want to recognize that the community board and local union have deep concerns about the negotiation and deal made. Those perspectives deserve to be heard and respected.” 

Other council members raised concerns about how they struggled to negotiate with local officials over rezonings. Council member David Carr, representative of District 50, said he was troubled by what he described as the Council’s “increasingly limited options.” He ultimately voted in the positive for the proposal, and said, “with great frustration I vote yes on the Fort Hamilton Mews project and I vote yes on the others.”  

Council Member Lynn Schulman echoed his frustration, warning constituents that the Council is increasingly “excluded from certain projects to have any input on so I just want folks to be aware of that so that we’re trying to negotiate as much as we can but it’s going to be less and less.”

After being approved it went on to the committee of land use where it was also approved and now it heads to its final vote which if passed by the full 51 members of the NYC Council, it will move to the Mayor’s desk to be signed and passed.

Whistleblowers of titan AI companies addressed the dangers of artificial intelligence in New York’s City Council hearing. 

Council Speaker Julie Menin led the October 5 hearing with the entire council in attendance. She raised questions about AI’s potential catastrophic effects on people and technology. 

“There is a lack of any regulation by the federal government…and impact with leading AI firms focusing on self regulation,” Menin said. “When companies are developing technology with the potential to fundamentally reshape our economy, our workforce, our public safety, and our daily lives…the public deserves answers and solutions.” 

Menin sought legislation that would require artificial intelligence systems to pass a third-party validation that is free from conflicts of interest and incentivizes whistleblowers. Menin’s concern grew out of reports of an AI model that was tested by OpenAI that went rogue and hacked the AI company Hugging Face, on its own. 

“They (AI companies)vdon’t have the safeguards to prevent them from acting on these goals, either,” Menin said. “And as long as the attitude is to wait for things to break, one day, something like this will probably happen again, except the AIs will be much more capable, and the outcome much worse.” 

The City Council requested the participation of leading global AI companies, OpenAI, Google,  Meta, SpaceX AI and Anthropic. Representatives of all of the companies but SpaceX appeared at the hearing. 

Among the whistle blowers were Jacob Coxon, who previously worked at both Open AI and Anthropic as a researcher. Coxon left both companies because of what he considered a reckless approach to growth. He told Scientific American that the Hugging Face incident caused him to speak up. Daniel Kokotajlo, former OpenAI governance researcher, left OpenAI because he refused to sign the company’s non-disparagement clause. Alex Turner, a former Google DeepMind researcher specializing in AI control, left his position because of the rate at which the technology was growing and the danger it could cause.

AI “introduces significant risks. including exacerbating biases, surveillance concerns, breaches, negative public health outcomes, violence, and disparity,” Coxon said. “These are concerns that may become even more serious, as AI agents become more capable.” He added that AI companies should slow down development until there is a better understanding of what is safe. 

Kokotajlo said that AI companies automating their research research and development processes puts artificial intelligence in charge of recreating itsel and is “a recipe for disaster.” 

He added that AI shouldn’t be allowed to do recursive self-improvement. According to the Associated Press, recursive self-improvement essentially means AI that can improve itself by designing the next version of the system. 

Kokotajlo suggests to companies that their ongoing process should slow down the training of self-automation. Instead, the institutions should be required to redirect resources towards other things, such as serving customers, or beneficial deployments, or other types of research. 

“Severe misalignment is always possible,” Kokotajlo said. 

Turner added that the safest form of maintaining AI technology would be to stop allowing AI to self improve into an uncontrollable level of intelligence. “Restrict its access to quantities large enough to improve AIs beyond known, safe levels.” 

Turner said the speaker’s validation bill to check AI systems for bias, privacy, and security should test for loss of control, risk factors, misalignment risks, and the validators should not be chosen or influenced by the AI companies. 

Kokotajlo presented the AI 2040 plan, a potential solution to AI systematic worries. In Plan A, the U.S. and China regulate their own domestic industries quite a lot and also coordinate with each other. “You don’t have to worry that the other country is, you know, cheating on whatever rules you agree to, because you can just see exactly what’s going on in their research data centers,” Kokotajlo said.

Brooklyn job seekers gathered Tuesday at the Fall Central Brooklyn Career Fair, where employers offered information about opportunities in healthcare, public safety, education and transportation. The New York State Department of Labor, central Brooklyn elected officials, and Brooklyn Public Library, sponsored the fair at the Central Library at Grand Army Plaza on Tuesday, October 6. More than 25 employers and organizations participated, connecting residents with recruiters and career resources.

Representatives of elected officials also highlighted the broader economic challenges facing Brooklyn residents. Athena Moore, district director for U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke of New York’s Ninth Congressional District, said the fair was intended to connect residents with employers, training programs and community resources. “Our communities have been recently suffering tremendous job loss,” Moore said.

Moore identified rising living expenses and the loss of positions traditionally available to lower wage workers as significant challenges. She said organizers wanted to provide a broad selection of employers from government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. “We wanted to make sure that there was a wide, comprehensive variety of employers here,” she said. Moore encouraged job seekers to update their resumes, maintain professional connections and remain persistent even when immediate opportunities are unavailable. “Don’t be discouraged,” Moore said. “We have to continue to elevate and uplift ourselves.”

Although Moore emphasized the importance of connecting residents with employment opportunities and encouraging them to remain hopeful, job seekers at the fair revealed the challenges many face in securing work. From recent high school graduates entering the workforce to individuals seeking financial stability for their families, attendees shared their hopes for the future and the barriers standing in their way. Cam, a recent high school graduate attending his first career fair, said finding work has been difficult as he explores opportunities related to his interest in engineering. “Looking for a job is a job,” He said. “You have to be consistent. You have to be disciplined.”

John, who has approximately one year of retail experience, shared similar frustrations while searching for a beginner job in a security position. “It’s really rough trying to find a job, especially when you’re entry-level,” he said. He said one employer required five years of experience, leaving him unable to qualify. Despite the setback, he remained optimistic about finding work that would allow him to help his mother with household expenses.

Experience requirements were also a concern for Deandria, who is completing a master’s degree in public health. “A lot of people are looking for three to five to seven consecutive years of experience,” she said. Deandria explained that securing employment would help her support her grandmother and younger cousin, who recently began college.

Another attendee, Jordan, described difficulties finding suitable employment because of a lower back condition and competition from other applicants. Jordan said earning an income would help the family pay rent.

While attendees spoke about challenges to finding employment, recruiters highlighted available positions and pathways into different industries. Lieutenant Brown, representing the New York City Department of Homeless Services Police, said the agency was recruiting special officers to work within the city’s shelter system. According to Brown, applicants need U.S. citizenship, a driver’s license and a high school diploma, but a college degree is not required. Recruits receive training through an academy. “A lot of people feel that, oh, because it’s law enforcement, you have to have college, which is not necessary for DHS Police,” Brown said.

Meanwhile, Nursing Personnel, a home healthcare agency, was seeking qualified home health aides and personal care aides to assist elderly individuals and other clients requiring care. “We have jobs out in the field, we just need the people with their degrees,” a representative said.

In aviation, Nick Santana, a recruiter with Envoy Air, said the company was hiring for customer service and ramp positions at John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. Santana emphasized that applicants should follow up after submitting applications and arrive prepared and on time for interviews.

Professional Transit representative Adam said the company was recruiting commercial drivers and offering eligible applicants a pathway toward obtaining a commercial driver’s license. Adam encouraged job seekers to take advantage of free community resources and pursue additional qualifications. “Don’t be scared to take yourself to that next step and utilize the resources that are available to you,” he said.

New York Edge, an organization providing after-school programming, was also seeking staff for Brooklyn programs. A representative said the organization particularly needed activity specialists with skills in art, science, sports and writing. He encouraged applicants to bring resumes, research employers and clearly express interest during interviews.

The fall fair followed a May 5 event that attracted more than 1,000 attendees, according to organizers. Official attendance figures and hiring outcomes for the October event have not been confirmed. Although the fair offered no guarantee of employment, it provided residents with opportunities to speak directly with recruiters and explore new career paths. For job seekers hoping to support their families and achieve financial independence, those conversations represented a possible first step toward greater stability.

Bilingual educators met at Brooklyn College on October 7th to discuss the climate for bilingual students in public schools and how to better equip them. 

Bilingual education is teaching academic subjects in two languages. According to Gitnux, a market research and statistics website, 76% of U.S. students who are English language learners receive bilingual education services in U.S. public schools. These students need different tools, including translated versions of books, assignments, and more.

Carla España, an assistant professor of Bilingual Education and researcher with Puerto Rican and Latinx Studies at Brooklyn College, said, “Most of my students here at Brooklyn College tell me that their first time, their entry point learning about children’s literature, is through this picture book we read.”

Educators at the conference said these books and resources have to be available to bilingual students earlier so they don’t get left behind. Luis Tapia-Alfardo, a Mexican-American Brooklyn College senior, believes these bilingual resources would’ve been useful if he’d had them in his younger years. “My old schools never offered me any bilingual courses or resources.” He added, “It would’ve been helpful if those resources were accessible.”

Teachers are also finding it hard to fit these learnings into the curriculum, and bilingual teaching across different formats seems to be facing pushback. “I think that we are in many ways facing a lot of challenges,” said Emma Otheguy, a bilingual children’s author and historian. “I know many of the teachers mentioned curriculum challenges toward getting these books into their hands. I see on the publishing side serious obstacles to what I would call our book culture.”

Elementary schools may struggle to offer bilingual programs at all because of insufficient staff and curricular materials, according to Ileana Najarro, a writer at Education Week. Without these resources, bilingual students get left behind. However, Otheguy believes solutions exist. 

“I went to back-to-school night, and I met my daughter’s new first grade teacher…She said the most important thing you can do is to be a reader yourself. She told us that she reads from a book five pages every single day,” Otheguy said. “She won’t go to bed until she has finished her five pages. She recommended a book for parents to pick up, and I thought that was one of the most inspiring examples.”  

As schools struggle to provide bilingual students with sufficient programs and resources, parents have to take the initiative and become teachers themselves. 

“As a parent, for my child to have somebody who is modeling, I am bilingual. I’m Latina. I’m part of my culture,” said Otheguy.  “I seek out books that interest me, and I am a reader myself, so that I can model what it means to be a reader for my students.”

Pedicabs are a staple of New York City. These pedal-powered carriages are designed to ferry passengers across the city for a fraction of the cost, usually through areas inaccessible by car. However, these carriages have been faced with heavy scrutiny. Between being operated by unlicensed drivers and overcharging the passengers who use them, New York City is seeking to crack down on the pedicab industry as a whole. NYC Council Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection held a meeting on October 7, where they proposed a litany of bills focused on pedicabs throughout New York City.

Pedicabs are a part of NYC; the meeting sought not to completely eradicate them, but to reform the pedicab industry as a whole. While NYC has an upper limit of 850 licensed pedicabs and only 330 pedicabs in operation, the actual number of active pedicabs could be closer to 1,500. The New York Pedicab Alliance, a nonprofit group founded in 2005 and incorporated in 2024, which seeks to employ legally licensed pedicab drivers in a quasi-union, was in attendance at the council meeting. 

The President of NYPA spoke out about how the oversaturation of the pedicab industry has hurt his workers in more ways than one. The unlicensed drivers have been taking fares from those actually licensed to operate pedicabs in New York, while simultaneously leaving a bad taste in people’s mouths. “For us, protecting this industry means protecting our ability to put food on the table and pay the rent,” said NYPA President Makan Kamara. “We want our passengers to be safe, and we want honest drivers to be able to keep working with dignity.”

One of the bills proposed was a call to incorporate these pedicab drivers into the NY Taxi & Limousine Commission, as the pedicabs fall into a “grey area,” currently falling under the jurisdiction of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. NY TLC, however, expressed reservations regarding the transfer. “This legislation would be extremely costly to implement, going well beyond existing resources,” said Ira Goldapper, Deputy Commissioner of NY TLC. “I don’t believe it could just be as simple as a copy and paste of how we regulate taxis.”

Another problem plaguing the pedicab industry is the severe price-gouging, primarily targeting tourists. “We have heard that tourists have been charged $500 to nearly $1,000 for rides that are only 20 minutes,” said Gale Brewer, council member for the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection. “We want passengers to know what they are paying. Right now, you have no idea. You just have to argue.”

In 2025 alone, there were at least 1200 criminal summons issued to these unlicensed drivers. Only 9% of these summons actually had any lasting effect, resulting in some form of criminal punishment. Enforcement of these laws and regulations remain largely ineffective, with one council member stating “If people think a ticket’s meaningless, then there’s no incentive to comply with the law.”

One of the most common violations issued to these drivers was riding in a bike lane, which is prohibited by NYC law. Under NYC Administrative Code § 20-259(b)(3), a pedicab driver may not operate a pedicab “on any bridge or in any tunnel or in any bicycle lane.” This, however, displaces the pedicabs to the streets, where they have to compete with cars and drivers. 

Pedicabs, for what it’s worth, should be able to operate in an area where they aren’t at risk of being struck down by an aggressive driver; it’s why NYPA has found great success in areas like Central Park and Times Square. This issue has come up in past City Council meetings, with a 2009 meeting stating “Pedicabs should not be restricted from using any bike lane or path. It is the safest lane of travel for any bicycle.” Chad Marlow, then-President of NYC’s Public Housing Advocacy Group, also talked about how “forcing the pedicab into regular traffic lanes will only result in more accidents, injuries, and congestion. A bike belongs in a bike lane.”

The New York City Council unanimously passed a bill on Oct. 7 that requires the Mayor’s Office of Childcare and Early Childhood Education to study how language barriers affect pre-school children’s access to gifted and talented public childcare programs. 

“Before enrolling a child in kindergarten, families must know that early elementary gifted and talented programs exist, understand how a child may be considered, and navigate deadlines often in a second or third language,” said Committee on Education Chair Eric Dinowitz at the vote. “Whether a family gets through those steps should not depend on the language spoken at home or the neighborhood they live in. Yet, today, the city cannot tell us whether it does.” 

Gifted and talented programs identify children as young as five years old and offer “accelerated instruction” in New York City. In his campaign for Mayor, Zohran Mamdani announced that he planned to phase out these programs in a similar fashion as earlier mayors, according to an Oct. 2, 2025, article by the New York Times.  

Gifted and Talented programs’ lack of representative enrollment have been controversial for decades as a method of promoting elitism, according to many critics. 

The Coalition for Asian Children and Families, the nation’s only pan-Asian children and families’ organization, released a study in September 2025 which found that more than 10,000 students and families “receive little or no translated information” from NYC schools. 

“Currently, the city mandates that schools translate official materials into a select list of 12 languages,” stated the study. “However, more than 10,000 students speak languages that fall outside this list—including many languages spoken within AAPI communities,” including  Vietnamese, Hindi, and Samoan, among others.

The bill aims to recognize and close this gap for students and families that are not native English speakers, a “critical” step “to ensuring a thriving and successful school system,” according to Dinowitz. 

The NYC Comptroller ? released an audit report in September 2025 where it found the DOE had failed to comply with state regulations and its own internal policies “regarding the identification of English Language Learners, program placement, service provision, and records retention.” 

The report found that the DOE failed to “provide a significant percentage of ELLs with required courses,” “satisfy minimum instruction times,” “ensure that [ELLs] were taught by appropriately qualified teachers,” and ensure that certain ELLs were placed in the right program to begin with, among other issues. 

“Every family deserves an equal opportunity to understand and navigate the current process,” said Dinowitz. “Access to an existing public school program should not depend on a family’s zipcode, or how well a parent speaks English.” 

Councilmember Susan Zhuang was the primary sponsor for the bill and the only person other than Dinowitz who spoke before the council vote. The measure will open doors for students and families alike, Zhuang believes.  “Too many families, like immigrant families, low-income, and minority families, face barriers that can make these opportunities feel out of reach,” said Zhuang. “Every child in New York City deserves a fair shot at a great education.”

In the wake of a $50 Billion 10-year capital spending plan introduced last December, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey presented an update on the capital projects affecting NYCs two major airports to Queens Borough President Donavan Richards Jr. and Community Board Chairs on Monday Oct. 8 at the borough hall. 

Queens is home to both LaGuardia (LGA) and John F. Kennedy (JFK) international airports. Though the Port Authority’s 10-year-plan covers projects spanning the five boroughs and New Jersey, the meeting on Oct. 8 centered around past and future improvements to both airports, expansion of service and infrastructure for the Q70 bus line and an increased fee for ride-share and taxi pickups at all local airports. 

Hersh Parekh, Deputy Chief of Intergovernmental Affairs for The Port Authority, started the meeting by praising the work done in the previous decade to improve both airports. With a special emphasis on LGA highlighting the renovation of terminals B and C, Parekh cited specific awards as proof of the progress LGA has made. Specifically, an award from Forbes magazine naming the airport as the best in the nation for two years running. 

“10 years ago, if you look back, if you think back, our airports were the laughing stock of the nation,” said Parekh. “If you fast forward to today, the headlines are a total 180 difference.” 

Turning to the future, the new plan introduces a demolition and re-construction of LGA’s terminal A. These upgrades are seen as a priority. In Parekh’s own words, the current terminal A “is where the raccoons live.” 

The plan also includes expansion to the Q70 bus line, which is the only public transportation currently running to LGA. The line connects the airport to local subway lines but often sees delays on its route along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. The Port Authority is looking to add a bus-only lane to this portion of the BQE in order to cut down delays. While building an entire new lane may be too costly, they are planning on expanding the current shoulder to allow for bus traffic on the side of the road. The plan also looks to increase the frequency of the line, highlighting the motto of the Q70 “Free, Fast and Frequent.”

The Port Authority is funded by fees and tools not by tax income, its budget is not reliant on funding from city, state or federal dollars. According to the presentation they are “entirely self-sustaining.” 

To pay for these expansions, there has been an increased access-fee for ride-share and taxi pickups at the airports. Ride-share airport access-fees increased from $2.50 to $5.00, while taxi fees are incrementally increasing from $1.75 to $2.50 for every pickup. The cost is passed on to the riders. The Port Authority is hoping this results in larger ridership on the Q70 bus line. 

At JFK, the end of 2026 is supposed to bring the opening of a new terminal 6, while terminal 1 will be opening in the first quarter of 2027. In total, 25 new gates will be opening in the airport. 

“Before the end of this year we are going to see a ribbon cutting,” said Parekh. “Borough President, get your scissors ready.” 

Similar to LGA, the port authority is hoping to make travelers’ journeys to JFK easier. Outlining an addition of 10 miles of new roadway around the airport, reducing driver “disicion-making points” by 30 percent. The goal of these improvements is to limit congestion and last minute merging. The air-train is also set to get more traincars as ridership increases, with current cars being taken out of rotation and replaced with up-to-date models. 

Borough President Richards Jr. voiced some concerns around baggage theft at JFK and how it may cast an ill-light on the borough. Calling on an increased Port Authority police presence in the baggage claim area of the airport.

“There’s a lot of grand larceny happening at the baggage handling and those numbers are being reflected into our numbers in southern Queens,” said Richards Jr. “PA [The Port Authority] should have to answer for their stuff, rather than it being a reflection of larceny happening in our neighborhood.” 

Parekh promised increased emphasis on maintaining public safety in those spaces. 

   Creatives from all around the nation entered Brooklyn Navy Yard on Oct. 3 to hear from New York City’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

   CultureCon is a two-day convention curated towards Black creatives within media and technology that is held every year in early October. 

   Every year, the convention is themed, this year’s being, “Museum of Us” which highlights the impact that Black creatives have had within the media and tech industry. 

“The most important work of art is the people in the room. The art is you. It’s Us,” as stated on the Culture Con page.

    For the 10:30am panel, Mayor Mamdani joined Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the convention, Imani Ellis. Ellis asked questions catered to creatives in New York emphasizing the impact of creatives that live in the same city that the convention is held in. 

 “This week we announced, for the first time in close to 20 years, we’re doubling the size of the artist’s grant to up to $10,000 in New York City. And this is a grant that any New Yorker can apply for so long as they’re an artist,” said Mamdani.

  After hearing about this panel, many New York attendees felt a sense of hope, including Bronx native Unique Tomlinson.

  “It took a lot for me to even get to this convention alone, so I feel like Mamdani has been a breath of fresh air when it comes to being able to commit to my craft,” stated Tomlinson. 

  Due to inflation artists, which make up more than 233,500 of the NYC population, have had to choose between their craft and bills.

   “To me, that’s also what it means, because if we just rest on our laurels as being a city where great art was once made, we will forget the fact that we’re becoming a museum where artists today can only afford to come once a month as opposed to live here,” stated Mamdani. 

  “I feel burnt out because I am stuck between doing a job to basically live or being able to fully pursue my passion which literally, sucks you know,” expressed Tomlinson. 

   This convention was piloted in a Harlem apartment by Ellis who previously worked in crisis management for Bravo, as well as VP for NBC. 

   She started this in her living room in Harlem designing this convention around bridging the gap between creativity and action; it expanded to the Brooklyn Navy Yard with a total of 12,000 attendees this year. Mamdani used this as a sentiment when speaking on the panel. 

  Ellis asked about the current climate and many artists not being able to fully commit to their path because they fear failure but also face the reality of what failure means. 

“ […] if you never fail, you will never learn. And so many of the greatest artists that we all admire are artists who had to deal with those kinds of failures. stated Mamdani. “And I would say that what we want is in this city that you feel like you can take a swing at something.” 

  On Sept 30, The New York City Council Gender and Equity Committee proposed new legislation calling for medical resources to help those with endometriosis and Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS). 

   This disease has caused fertility issues with up to 30 to 50% of women being affected and doctors are struggling to find ways to help those who have been diagnosed. 

    City Council Women Farrah Louis sponsored  Intro 295 is a bill that would require the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene to establish a menstrual health program providing screening, referrals, and education to address endometriosis and PMOS.

  “Too many women continue to have gaps in awareness diagnoses and access to appropriate care,” said Louis in a letter to the Council. 

   Endometriosis is a condition that affects women’s reproductive organs (ovaries). It is caused when tissue similar to the uterine lining forms outside of the area, causing inflammation and scarring. 

   PMOS formerly known as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a common hormonal and metabolic disorder affecting roughly 10% to 13% of women of reproductive age. 

 Earlier this year the term PCOS was changed to PMOS sparking a larger conversation within the medical community. “The change reflects a broader understanding that this is a complex endocrine and metabolic condition that affects more than just the ovaries,” stated Councilwoman Louis.

  PCOS is known to have severe symptoms that can cause infertility resulting in hysterectomies.

   Some symptoms and effects from these conditions include irregular and or painful periods, higher risk for diabetes and heart problems.

“Among women diagnosed with either condition, rates of current fertility problems were substantially higher than women without these diagnoses,” stated Louis in the letter.

   These conditions have shown up in women across all ages, mostly detected later on. Louis cited information from the Centers for Disease Control showing that among 49-year-old women, 6.2% have been diagnosed with endometriosis and 8.7% with PCOS in 2023-24.

    The bill would  also expand the city’s sexual reproductive outreach to include these conditions. The NYC Department of Health does recognize that both conditions do cause severe symptoms in those affected. However, Councilwoman Louis and other councilpersons are calling for action. 

   “We have an opportunity to change that by making accurate information and pathways to care a part of our city public health infrastructure,” said Louis in her letter.

   The bill was ultimately laid over by the committee due to time constraints on other topics within the agenda but will bring up this matter in a later hearing.

“The five scariest words in the English language are, ‘Your ConEd bill is ready!’” Said Chi Ossé,  the City Councilmember representing Bedford-Stuyvesant and North Crown Heights at New York’s  first ever Utility Ripoff hearing in Bedford-Stuyvesant on October 6th.  

Public Power NY is a statewide, grassroots movement of New Yorkers who aspire to take their  power back from corporate control. They sponsored the hearing, which was held at Herbert Von  King Park’s amphitheatre, with over 70 attendees. Representatives claimed that New York’s energy  system is leaving residents with exorbitant bills, amid angry accusations of a higher amount every  year.  

ConEdison, a major energy company that provides electricity, natural gas, and steam to about 10  million people, and is the main energy provider in NYC, has users complaining of feeling ‘ripped off’ while paying thousands of dollars for a service that is irregular and unreliable. To address this  

“crisis”, Public Power NY hosted a public hearing, inviting New Yorkers to share their “utility  horror stories” with ConEdison and describe the environmental impact that investor owned  energy providers have. 

Josh Karen, a Brooklyn College alum who works closely with Public Power explained that the goal  for this event was to bring the community together to share their experiences, and explain how  the inflated bills are going into the pockets of corporate subsidies while New Yorkers suffer  through black outs and power outages during extreme weather.  

“Our utilities are out of control, we are being ripped off, and our wallets feel it.” said Ossé. He  commented on communities in Bed-Stuy and Flatbush that went without electricity in 30 degree  weather last winter. “ConEd was unresponsive, and there were no refunds provided for the hours  spent in black out.”  

Jeremy, who did not provide a last name, is a resident of East Queens who reported having to go  on a payment plan to pay off his $3,100 ConEd bill, while ConEd CEO Tim Cawley received a 5  million dollar raise this fiscal year. He also spoke about individuals on life-sustaining medical  technology such as ventilators and dialysis machines potentially losing their life due to power cuts  “There is zero accountability being taken, this is a broken system.”  

Assembly member Sarahana Shreshtha, representing the Hudson Valley district of New York,  explained that companies like ConEd are a “natural monopoly” that have no competition.  Shreshtha reported that ConEd’s return on equity rate rose from 9.25% to 9.5% this fiscal year,  which raised their profits by 113 million dollars. ConEd’s proposed rate, however, was 10.1%,  which would have raised their profit margin by a whopping 190 million dollars. Shreshtha called  investor-owned utilities a “scam,” before introducing her Hudson Valley Power Authority Act Bill,  which proposes to dissolve and replace the privately owned Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp  with a public, nonprofit, democratically governed power authority. She described her bill as being  “designed for the profit of people, not shareholders.”  

Emily Gallagher, the New York State representative for Greenpoint and Williamsburg, shared that  Greenpoint is “the most environmentally compromised region in the United States due to the oil  industry.” Newtown Creek, an estuary off the East River has been storing liquified gas for Long  Island for over 100 years. State representatives claimed that holding oil companies responsible for  cleaning up the mess they leave behind only results in them declaring bankruptcy to avoid fines  and clean-up costs. “The planet is burning,” said Gallagher, “we are struggling to stay housed  and clothed and warm. It is not enough to be upset. You should be enraged.”  

In a statement quoted by Pix11, ConEd defended their practices by stating, “We’ve provided  more than $500 million in discounts to income‑eligible customers over the past two years,  expanded our energy affordability programs, and continued offering flexible payment options to  ease the burden.” A spokesperson added that the company is investing in the grid to maintain  reliable service and build clean energy systems.  

Faroud, a resident of Bed-Stuy, concluded the event with an emphasis on the need to speak up,  make your voice heard and protest against the current system. “Silence protects this system.  Anger leads to power, and power brings change.” 

Following a spring 2026 New Labor Forum article examining the gig economy and worker organizing, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies hosted an event where speakers discussed the future of gig economy. Lina Moe, a co-author of the article and a research fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, moderated the forum.

The event, “We Are All Gig Workers Now: The Path to Full Labor Rights,” was held on Oct. 6. at the school’s Midtown Manhattan campus and featured labor economists, assembly members and researchers to explore different approaches regarding the growing issue. 

Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, questioned the flexibility promoted by ride-hailing companies. Drivers must work around rush hours and passenger demand to earn enough. “The hours of your work are not controlled by anything except the streets themselves,” Desai said.

The heated disagreement started over whether organizing should prioritize acknowledging self-employed workers as employees or pursuing collective bargaining rights for workers who consider themselves independent contractors.

Gabe Morgan, executive vice president of 32BJ SEIU and director of the union’s Pennsylvania and Delaware region, defended his union’s approach in Massachusetts, describing a model that allows ride-hailing drivers to organize and bargain across the industry without resolving their employee status under state law. Morgan argued that workers need organizations that finance them to win protections. He said the Massachusetts model gives workers a voice in contracts, strikes and union representation.

According to Desai, easier access to collective bargaining for institutions is different from workers achieving power. She said that access to bargaining alone does not guarantee worker power. Arguing that minimum standards and democratic representation must underpin negotiations, and questioned approaches that make organizational recognition easier without building a strong base of workers, Desai also remembered how her organization had fought for in New York, for minimum pay standards and paid sick leave for app-based drivers. “I don’t think hardship is the reason for us to make compromises.”

James Parrott, a labor economist and senior fellow at The New School’s Center for New York City Affairs, explained that gig workers are misclassified as independent contractors. He challenged the idea that gig work is mainly a source of extra income. For example, many drivers depend on it to support themselves, while companies shift business expenses onto workers. “The use of gig work provides tremendous advantages to employers, as it offloads all the traditional workers’ rights, that workers have secured through struggle over the past century, to the workers themselves,” Parrott said, “It turns out to be a big cost saving move for employers.”

New York State Assembly Member Claire Valdez urged the labor movement to pursue federal labor-law reform while continuing to organize locally. According to her, people are committing a lot of their time during delivery work, driving, freelancing, etc., but they don’t have theh same protection as full-time workers. “Companies are taking bigger and bigger cuts,” she said, “People that should have healthcare, dental insurance, PTO – their days are being wrapped up in work that has no protection or wages. These workers are being completely abandoned across so many sectors.”

Andrea Gordillo, executive director of the Freelancers Union, also called for stronger protections for freelancers and independent contractors. She said independent work should allow people to set their prices, choose clients, maintain their own client relationships and leave without punishment. “I see taxi workers, I see artists and people in journalism, who are all excluded from what should be a human right – healthcare, insurance, retirement plan, unemployment, etc.” According to Gordillo, freedom is missing for many gig workers. 

Council members of the subcommittee for early childhood education came forward to talk about the expansion of 2k enrollment and the failure to reimburse workers. One of the bigger challenges facing the program.

Earlier this year in April, Mayor Mamdani announced that this fall, his administration would launch a free 2K program starting with 2,000 seats in five districts, including District 6 in Manhattan and District 10 in the Bronx. These programs would run on a full-day, full-year schedule in partnership with NYC Public Schools and funding from the state. The success of the program depends on its expansion.

Wednesday’s hearing focused on payment delays for education workers and the plan to expand the program  by 2,000 seats to 12,000 seats by fall 2027. 

Henry Rubio, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, spoke about the delayed payment of providers.  “The financial difficulties that providers once again face demonstrate why the city’s council’s oversight matters,” Rubio stated when he testified to the council.

Emmy Liss, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education, said the city offered additional contracts for providers who weren’t getting paid. As a short-term solution, she said, the city expedited interest-free bridge loans, as well as  direct assistance to help programs prepare for the school year. 

Erica Phillips, Deputy Chancellor of Early Childhood Education, spoke to the financial strains. “The city took steps to help programs manage those immediate pressures while contracts and payments moved forward,” she said.

Phillips also spoke about the expansion and how public schools plan to support the program. By hiring over 200 employees across Early Childhood and other agency offices, she said, the city is showing its commitment to provider stability.

“Our ability to expand 2K depends on a strong network of community-based organizations and family child care programs that can continue to deliver high- quality care for children and families,” Phillips stated.

The challenges that come with contracting and payments may be the biggest hurdle in the infrastructure as plans for expansion will continue to accelerate.

For families solving this this could bring the city one step closer to Mayor Mamdani’s goal of universal child care, and free high quality childcare.

There is a one in three chance rogue artificial intelligence could seize control from humanity in the near future, according to an AI whistleblower who testified before an NYC Council hearing October 5. The hearing was convened by “a committee of the whole,” meaning the full council, to consider safeguards and explore ways to hold AI companies accountable.

Three whistleblowers, all AI researchers formerly employed by major companies, testified about the dangers of advanced AI systems. The attitudes of their former employers, the whistleblowers said, encouraged a reckless rush towards superintelligence. 

Representatives of OpenAI, Meta, Google and Anthropic were also present, and were questioned by Council Speaker Julie Menin, who led councilmembers in questioning AI safety concerns and protocols.

“We don’t build programs, we ‘grow’ them,” said Daniel Koktoajlo, a former employee of OpenAI and Anthropic, describing the unpredictability of AI development. Koktoajlo gave his testimony in the whistleblowers’ portion of the hearing, which would last ten hours. He described flimsy safety precautions those companies set as “applying duct tape that will fall off later.”

Through shuddering breaths, Koktoajlo described a “move fast, break things” approach by his former employers in their race to be the first to develop a superintelligence, a goal he said puts humanity’s continued survival in existential danger. “That works for a photo sharing app,” said Jacob Coxon, a former Capabilities Researcher for Anthropic, “not the most powerful technology ever built.”

All three whistleblowers referenced an incident earlier this year when a group of AI agents formed a swarm, coordinated in secret, escaped containment into the wider internet and hacked into the rival AI company Hugging Face, a discovery which sent shockwaves throughout the tech world. “The AIs had developed goals no one intended, and carried out what would have been a federal felony if a human had done it,” said Coxon. He said it was a perfect example of AI’s ability to do harm, and the lack of safeguards that let it happen.

Competition between companies is driving acceleration at a dangerous pace, Coxon said. “Each is worried a competitor will get to superintelligence first,” he said, explaining that the ultimate goal of these companies is to use AI to fully automate research and development, a process known as recursive self-improvement. If companies succeed at this, said Koktoajlo, “they would be putting AIs in charge of making the AIs that make the AIs that will transform the economy, talk to us everyday, and integrate into our military.” This is a recipe for disaster, he said.

Alex Turner, a former AI safety researcher for Google’s Deepmind AI, said he tried unsuccessfully to convince Google to sever its ties with Immigration and Customs Enforcement following ICE’s killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January. Turner had learned that Google provided ICE with cloud storage. 

Turner’s doctorate focused on advanced AI systems’ tendency to seek power. In his testimony, he connected Google’s actions to what he sees as a dangerous integration of unpredictable AI systems into the arsenal of rogue Federal agencies unconcerned with killing American citizens.

Koktoajlo shared this concern. He said that even in the unlikely event that tech CEOs were able to control the technology, they shouldn’t be trusted with AI super intelligence. Kotoajlo maintained that it would enable tech leaders to become oligarchs and dictators. This prompted a commotion in the chambers, with someone crying “they already are!” off-mic. “We have more adversaries than just China,” continued Koktoajlo, referencing the committee’s line of questioning about Chinese development of AI.

The witnesses were largely dismissive when Menin grilled them on the threat posed by China. To Coxon, the heart of the issue was tech companies’ fear of a global race to AI superintelligence. Koktoajlo pointed out that China’s AI systems are trained on US programs. The quickest way to slow down development in China would be to slow our own, he said.  “It’s a false dichotomy,” said Turner. “We are racing to build and grow our own adversary here at home,” he said. “Misaligned AI is everyone’s adversary.”

Coxon, Turner and Koktoajlo were unanimous in calling for limitations on recursive self-improvement, with Turner proposing legislation to introduce third-party validation measures to track AI development by tech giants. He stressed the importance of making sure AI companies couldn’t influence these third-party validators.

Turner described a scenario where the AI bots who attempted to hack Hugging Face were truly superintelligent, a scenario made more likely by the current trajectory set by his former employers. For the bots to achieve their misaligned priorities, they might take control of key infrastructure and government functions, through the use of hacking, blackmail, and autonomous weapons to make sure humans didn’t get in the way. “In the end, misaligned AI wouldn’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican,” said Turner. “We would simply lose control.”

Private equity (PE) firms now control roughly half of the home care sector in New York State,  Cornell University researchers said at a conference organised by the university’s Industrial Labor  Relations on September 30th.  

Researchers from Cornell’s school of Industrial & Labor Relations published a report this June  about PE consolidating home care, home health, and hospice agencies. Home care is the largest  occupational category in New York State. In 2023, NYS had 566,160 home health and personal  care aides, of whom 87% were women, 81% people of color, and 66% immigrants or foreign-born.  

Medicaid is the primary payer for home care services. New York State has higher Medicaid  long-term-care enrollment and spending than most states, offering a steady revenue source for  PE-owned home care agencies. ILR analysts suggest that PE-backed home care agencies in NYS  derive most of their home care revenue from Medicaid, with a reported $2.32 billion in 2022,  more than 7.6% of the Medicaid home care revenue reported by NYS home care providers that  year.  

The total amount of Medicaid revenue flowing to PE owned agencies in NYS is projected to rise  sharply in 2026, as a PE-backed company has now taken over administration of the Consumer 

Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP). In 2025, CDPAP accounted for more than 50% of  home care delivery in NYS.  

ILR researchers and authors met to discuss the impact defined in the report. Anne Marie Brady,  ILR’s Director of Research for Worker Rights and Equity, acknowledged the profit extracted by PE  across services for aging and disabled individuals. Researchers, policymakers, and advocates are  concerned about the potential negative impact these changes have on the quality of jobs, and  the quality of care provided, she said. This included serious issues, such as caregivers who went  without pay or were paid incorrectly, limited health coverage for workers, and procurement  irregularities.  

Kezia Scales, the vice-president of Policy, Research & Evaluation of Protected Health Information  (PHI) says that women in home care ”are not treated like real professionals. This severely affects  their wages.” Workers often face workplace discrimination as well, Scales said. Aditi Sen, the  managing director of campaigns at Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF),  brought up ties to structural racism dating back centuries. “Conditions in this sector have been  abhorrent, both for caregivers and patients.”  

With PE acquisition, less funds are being dedicated to employee connection, which means little to  no human support. Automation in customer service has led to reports of lack of information on  patient conditions, as well as racism and bigotry through patient families, according to Scales.  Workers have been unable to connect with support resources. Robin Rowe, the lead project  researcher, says that many home care workers described “feeling isolated from the company, and  that they were left on their own.” 

Dispersion of efforts and economic impact across the five boroughs was the main point of contention at a Sept. 30 joint committee City Council hearing on the impacts of the 2026 World Cup on New York City

Members of both the Committee on Economic Development and the Committee on Small Business took turns asking representatives from the Mayor’s Office for specifics on how the economic impact of the event affected small businesses across all five boroughs. The post-mortem came just a day after Tourism Economics, a tourism economic analysis company, published its report on the World Cup’s economic impact on the city. 

World Cup Czar, Maya Handa, and the other members from the administration were quick to highlight the estimated $2 billion in economic impact on NYC, as well as 12,000 jobs supported by World Cup activity, according to the study. 

While the committee members were complimentary of the findings in the report, many had questions regarding what specific efforts were done to disperse the impact across New York, while stressing the importance of a more equitable approach. 

“When you’re promoting New York City to travelers, promote our neighborhoods,” said Shanel Thomas-Henry, North Queens representative and Chair of the Council Committee on Small Business. “They’re there, they’re bustling, they’re thriving and we need that economic activity to sustain our small businesses.’ 

In their testimony, the administration made it clear they did prioritize this dispersion. Nancy Mammana,  Chief Marketing Officer for New York City Tourism and Conventions, highlighted a targeted online ad campaign that encouraged visitors to spend time in all five boroughs. According to her testimony, the campaign made over 150,000 impressions, of which 44% went to Brooklyn, 40% went to Queens, 24% to the Bronx and 13% to Staten Island. 

Mammana also mentioned a coordinated effort to promote boroughs other than Manhattan in TV broadcasts through Telemundo and NBC, which aired the event. 

“These results demonstrate that our World Cup marketing investment helped broaden the event’s economic footprint and brought measurable visitor activity into communities across the city,” said Mammana. 

Council Member Thomas-Henry, among others, questioned whether these efforts resulted in large enough economic impact in these areas. Thomas-Henry highlighted a section of the Tourism Economics study which measured the increase in incremental visitor spending, essentially the amount visitors to the city were spending during the World Cup compared with average visitor spending. The report found a 19% increase in Brooklyn and a 6% increase in Queens. 

Council Member Frank Morano, a Republican representing Staten Island, brought attention to the “five borough winner special” a city organized small business promotion, getting restaurants and food vendors to sell a $26 food and beverage special which came with a commemorative cup distinct to the borough the business is in. This initiative was originally touted by the administration as a success, with almost 1000 small businesses participating. But Morano voiced frustration with the dispersion of participating businesses: of the 1000, only 33 were in the Bronx and only 22 in Staten Island. 

The program was voluntary and the administration was adamant that it cast a wide net in trying to get businesses to participate. 

“We prioritized outreach in black and brown communities and immigrant communities,” said Haris Khan, Chief of Staff for NYC Department of Small Business Services. “We were in Jackson Heights, in Port Richmond and Harlem. We went to Jamaica, Elmhurst, we went to so many different communities in outer boroughs.” 

In the eyes of the joint committee, the administration did enjoy some wins. According to data from Meltwater, a social media data analysis company, online rhetoric about New York city was generally improved while the World Cup was taking place. 

The Where the World Comes to Play marketing campaign is estimated to have made roughly 30 billion impressions, according to Mammana. Perhaps the biggest win for the mayoral administration was the five free official World Cup fan zones which brought 600,000 people to celebrate the event across all five of the boroughs. In preliminary planning, the fan zones were supposed to be in New Jersey, closer to the games. One of the first actions taken by the administration was to bring the fan zones to New York and place one in each borough. 

“I am the first person to be critical of the administration, when warranted, “Morano said. “The administration deserves a great deal of credit here. New York City didn’t host a single World Cup Match, yet, according to preliminary analysis captured today, the city captured $2 billion in economic impact. That’s pretty significant, so congratulations to all of you for that.”