Churches United For Fair Housing (CUFFH) and Hands Off NYC threw a party Sunday for the Bushwick Latinx community to celebrate immigrant families and generate awareness for constitutional rights. Although the event is usually an outdoor block party, CUFFH moved it indoors to Xanadu Roller Arts due to rainy weather.

The venue was decked up in neon lights, metallic streamers and handmade ‘ICE OUT’ signs. Community members were in their Sunday best, with little girls running around in frilly skirts and adults in traditional South American attire. The organizers provided guests with free lunch, and access to roller skates for a spin on the course. The event welcomed people of all ages, seniors mingling with young adults and families creating memories together.

Gabriel Fantacone, CUFFH’s Deputy Director of Civic Engagement, spoke about how the organization usually throws an annual appreciation party for it’s members, and why it was important to have more this year. “We partnered with Hands Off, who we’ve worked with in the past— and we’re trying to spread more awareness about immigrant rights, have our community members engage with business owners who have been involved with housing advocacy and just overall letting people know they have access to resources.” Fantacone also shared that they had 324 volunteers signed up to work the event, and that both organizations were extremely pleased with the turn out. CUFFH is a grassroots advocacy organization founded in 2009 that provides affordable housing services and integrated social resources.

Hands Off NYC is a coalition that trains organizations, unions, faith leaders, and everyday people to protect their communities from ICE and stop the Trump administration’s consolidation of power. Jim from Hands Off, who preferred not to give his last name, said that gatherings like the ‘Know Your Rights’ party are a major hub for educating people about just how much power they truly hold. “We’ve trained about 2500 businesses in New York City, and each of them have been surprised at the fact that they can actually say ‘no.’” Hands Off trains volunteers free of cost and provides them with supplies such as ‘NO ICE’ cards to distribute to local businesses. The more volunteers there are, Jim said, the more people truly “know their rights.”

Overall, the event was extremely lively, and really felt like a celebration of the community. There were birthday parties going on simultaneously, which only added to the fun. Some independent charities were also invited to set up booths, including a fund selling jewellery to raise money for families affected by the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Most guests belonged to South American and Latinx communities, and CUFFH founder Rob Solano addressed them in Spanish. Fantacone summarised his remarks in English, after which Solano’s five-year-old daughter closed the event with a wave to the crowd.

On Sept. 15 South of Prospect residents gathered for the very first workshop of a long-term improvement plan for the corridors of Coney Island Avenue & McDonald Avenue led by the Department of City Planning and three New York City Council officials. The workshop focused on community housing, economic development and local infrastructure of the large south of Prospect Park area, including the neighbourhoods of Kensington, Midwood, Ditmas Park and Borough Park.

Rita Joseph, a member of the New York City Council for the 40th district was one of the officials who opened the workshop, held at P.S. 889 on Hinckley Place. “I grew up just around the street,” Joseph said, “This is a long overdue meeting to start treating Coney Island Avenue and McDonald Avenue as a community asset rather than just a place.”

She encouraged South of Prospect residents to ask questions and participate in the activities, “Make your voices heard,” said Joseph.

Almost a 100 people attended the workshop. Residents grouped at tables around the room participated in a visioning activity to help identify the key issues. They supported the idea of mixed-use buildings with small businesses on the first floor and apartments above them. Many of the attendees also called for more affordable housing, additional community spaces and better support for locally owned businesses, as one of the major priorities was keeping the economy local. According to the residents, mixed-used buildings would expand small businesses and create additional housing along both corridors.

The participants also discussed the need for better parking, more buses and bicycle lanes. Some of the attendees raised concerns about poor street lighting and the narrow subway stations, including limited entrances to the Beverley Road and Prospect Park train stations on Q train line, which causes unsafe conditions in the neighborhood.

These concerns also reflect the results of a survey provided by the Department of City Planning. According to 1,865 survey participants, 84% of which live in south of Prospect area, the main three priorities for the plan are street conditions, affordable housing and open spaces.

The September 15 th workshop was just the first step forward to building a better environment. There will be a virtual meeting held on Wednesday, September 23 rd for those who couldn’t participate in the opening event. As the draft of neighborhood plan comes together, community members will be able to view and share their thoughts about the process.

“Today is the beginning stage. We’re here to work hand in hand with you to make our neighborhood safer and more affordable,” said Council member Farah louis, “Good thing happen when neighbors get together!”

New York City Council members pressed Office of Technology and Innovation services (OTI) at a City Hall hearing on September 9 over a nearly seven-hour 911 disruption on August 18 that left 113 unique callers without confirmed emergency assistance, questioning how the failure went undetected for hours and why the public was not immediately notified.

The August 18 disruption followed a software upgrade performed by Motorola Solutions, the vendor that provides the city’s 911 call services infrastructure. City officials testified that the upgrade triggered the problem but said an investigation into the outage and responsibility for it remained underway.

“What happened last month at the Bronx 911 call center, a seven hour outage with very little to no notice to the public, is unacceptable,” said Council Member Oswald Feliz, chair of the Committee on Public Safety.

New York City’s 911 system receives more than 9 million calls annually and operates through two emergency communications centers: Public Safety Answering Center, PSAC-1 in Brooklyn, and PSAC-2 in the Bronx. Each is equipped to independently handle the city’s typical daily volume of approximately 25,000 calls.

According to testimony, Motorola began upgrading firewalls in PSAC-2’s routing environment at 9:45 pm Aug. 17. The work was completed at 4:13 am Aug. 18 and was initially believed to have been successful. Investigators later determined that problems with calls had begun at approximately 3:13 am.

The first indication of trouble came shortly before 6 am, when a call taker reported difficulty hearing some callers. Officials initially believed the problem was limited to two call taking positions.

As reports increased, it became clear that Motorola and Verizon were having difficulty interfacing. Officials eventually discovered that some people calling 911 could not hear emergency operators answering them.

By approximately 9:50 am, officials determined that calls routed through PSAC-2 were affected while PSAC-1’s routing system remained functional. Motorola redirected traffic through Brooklyn, and by 10:19 am, officials said service was operating normally.

The administration acknowledged that the problem should have been detected sooner.

“It wasn’t caught, and obviously it should have been,” Lisa Gelobter, the city’s Chief Technology Officer, testified.

Preliminary figures showed that 5,489 calls were made to emergency services between 3:13 am and 10:19 am, including 911 and alarm company calls. Approximately 3,800, or 70%, were handled without problems, while 1,696 encountered issues.

Of the affected calls, 742 were 911 calls originating from 319 unique phone numbers. Officials said 206 of those callers eventually connected with an operator, leaving 113 unique numbers that were not serviced.

The testimony reviewed for this story did not establish whether anyone was injured or died because of the disruption or what emergencies were associated with the 113 callers.

Council members also focused on why New Yorkers were not immediately notified about the problem or advised about alternative ways to seek emergency assistance.

“Failing to properly inform the public about something as important as the 911 system being out, that is not a technical glitch,” Feliz said. “That is a human choice, an unacceptable one.”

Council Member Joann Ariola, chair of the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management said, “It is paramount that we, as a city, provide life-saving responses to fire and medical emergencies,” stating the outage threatened the city’s ability to provide timely emergency assistance.

Officials said Motorola’s upgrade triggered the disruption but stopped short of assigning final responsibility. A response from Motorola was not included in the portion of hearing testimony reviewed for this story.

The outage demonstrated the stakes of failures involving a system New Yorkers depend on during their most vulnerable moments.

Officials at OTI said they have introduced additional safeguards while conducting a root cause analysis. Normal redundant operations through both emergency centers were restored the following morning, and the city has increased monitoring of 911 recordings and potentially problematic calls.

OTI said the city has also frozen new technology deployments affecting the system. Critical updates must undergo additional executive review while the investigation continues.

“911 is not an ordinary computer system,” Council member Ariola said. “It is the number New Yorkers call on the worst day of their lives.”

Brooklyn’s Community Educational Council for District 20 opened the school year by debatingAI use and screen time, youth vaping, and enrollment issues for middle schools at its monthly
meeting on September 9.

The meeting was held at P.S. 310 – The School of Future Leaders in Sunset Park. The event was open to the public and via Zoom at 6 p.m. The meeting was run by District 20 president John Riccottone.

“I think we need to return to basics, you know, that we know works, which is live in person instruction,” Senator Andrew Gournades, Chairman of the Committee on Budget And Revenue said in regards to AI being used in the classroom.

He then praised school chancellor, Kamar Samuels and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s one year delay on students facing generative AI. “There’s no reason for young kids to have to be taught solely off of screens and solely off of apps.”

Superintendent of District 20 Dr. David Pretto added to this issue, displaying the NYC public school guidance on Artificial Intelligence and screen time. AI is to be banned from Kindergarten to 8th grade with varied screentime options. The high school curriculum has restricted use to specific software such as AI literacy, career readiness, and limited AI pilots.

“What we are really looking to make sure is being reduced and eliminated is passive, unstructured time on a computer in the classroom,” Pretto said

As far as teacher-facing AI policies, teachers are allowed to use AI for instructional planning and operational tasks. These include brainstorming, lesson planning, drafting emails, streamlining operations, professional learning, and translation.

“What is not allowed Teacher-facing AI cannot be used for grading, behavior monitoring, placement, promotion, graduation, or other decisions about students,” Pretto said.

All special education documents will be developed by qualified professionals and counseling, crisis intervention, and therapeutic support are provided only by qualified staff, all of which are exceptions to this policy in regards to teaching use.

E-cigarette use and distribution, punishment is given based on severity. Council member Alina Lewis discussed Districts 20 resolution to combat tobacco and E-cigarette use and distribution amongst students.

The initial possession of such products calls for education and intervention. A mandatory intervention conference must be convened with the student, parents/guardians, and the school guidance counselor. The student and parent must jointly complete a designated substance hazard education and cessation support program. A second offense calls for behavioral support and counseling. Repeated offenses shall be referred to the Principal and District Superintendent for administrative review.

Lewis also mentioned the District 20 solution to its declining enrollment, inviting the audience to read the online resolution. According to the District 20 council resolution, middle schools in this district have seen a 6.8% decline in admissions over the past five years and elementary school enrollment has declined 11.4%. The New York City Department of Education conducted an exit survey of parents who have left the system. The number one reason for leaving was “more rigorous education than possible in NYC.”

This is a citywide issue, with NYC public school enrollment falling nearly 12% between 2024–25. According to the New York Times, NYC Public schools could lose over 100,000 students over the next decade due to birthrate trends, migration patterns, housing production, home schooling and Charter schools enrollment increasing.

Middle schools have begun using academic screening, which examines students’ standardized test scores and report cards as opposed to being selected by a lottery or neighborhood based zoning. The proposals suggest that seats should be screened without affecting special education programs including NEST and IREAD.

As the 2026-2027 school year gets underway, these policies, both academic and safety, are set to bring out the best in student performance and growth.

  Every year during Labor Day, people from all over flood Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn for the   West Indian Day parade. On Sept. 6 in preparation for the event, Prospect Park Alliance and Smorgasburg hosted “Islands in the Park: A Caribbean Jam”. The event featured different activities and food vendors to celebrate the Caribbean community.

  Smorgasburg is a food festival that takes place in Brooklyn, with two locations; Williamsburg and Prospect Park. Multiple vendors from various cultural backgrounds serve every weekend in the summer until October. 

  For the event Federation Sound, a popular Caribbean DJ collective, had their member, DJ Danglez, on the turntables playing a mixture of new and old Caribbean hits. 

  Greg Will, also known as DJ Danglez spoke about what these events mean to him as a fellow Caribbean.

  “So I grew up in a house full of DJ’s. My stepfather and his family were DJs before I was born, so I kind of grew up with it,” said DJ Danglez.

   This is Danglez second time deejaying the Smorgasburg event. He expressed how his sets go off of the vibes and how he uses music to cater to multiple demographics.

   “I think you could plug me in any room and I can play a set for whatever the room looks like,” stated Danglez. 

  Many individuals dressed casually wearing flags representing their countries for a pop of color. 

     Lawn chairs and blankets filled the area with different families who relished in the sounds of the Caribbean. New York City (NYC) has a large Caribbean community, concentrated in Brooklyn. An estimated 1 million people gathered at Eastern Parkway for the West Indian parade, from all different backgrounds on the day following Smorgasburg.

  Right outside the tri-state area, a group of friends from Connecticut came out to the Smorgasburg event to immerse themselves in Caribbean culture. 

  Keyla Casildo, who is stationed in Connecticut but originally from the city, attended the event to get a taste of home. She expressed how the cultural scene is different in Connecticut compared to the city.

 “We came for the vibes, great food because we are stationed in Connecticut and the festivals do not hit and we are from the city so we miss it real bad,” stated Casildo.  

   Angela Herrera, another resident from Connecticut talked about enjoying her favorite cuisine and finally being able to enjoy it at this event.  

 “I love oxtail, I had oxtail and cocoa bread from the vendor E Cocoa Bread. It was really good, it was a little spicy but I told them to go light on the spices.” stated Herrera. 

   Oxtail, Jerk Chicken and a variety of other Caribbean dishes were served during the event by multiple vendors. Jerk Chicken is a traditional Caribbean cuisine which features chicken doused in spices and peppers. Oxtail, aptly named, is the tail of an ox that is served with another Caribbean staple, rice and peas and gravy. 

A bill to honor African-American burial sites has finally moved forward after nine months in limbo, following a New York City Council committee meeting.

On September 9th, 2026, The New York City Council Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Relations unanimously voted to activate a new bill to amend the NYC
administrative code on how to properly identify historical African-American burial sites. “New York cannot tell its complete story while the resting places of people remain unseen,” said
Councilmember Kamillah Hanks. Hanks, a Staten Island resident who focuses on youth-driven community outreach, is the primary sponsor of the bill. “Their lives deserve dignity, their resting places deserve protection, and their descendants deserve to know why their history matters.”

The Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) will now be required to provide a report to the public about these burial sites. This report would need to include a list of all known burial sites historically associated with formerly enslaved persons or historically African- American communities citywide, along with certain information about each site. This bill was initially introduced by Hanks on January 29th, 2026.

Hanks’ proposed bill also aims to identify additional historical African-American burial sites. “[This bill] gives the city a responsibility to locate, document, protect, and recognize the sites,” said Hanks. Each site on the proposed list would also include a description of any historical significance of each burial site, a description of the physical condition of each burial site, and who has jurisdiction or ownership over burial sites located on certain property types, such as a burial site on private property. The report would also include a plan to locate any currently unmarked historical African-American burial sites citywide. “This is quite a relevant piece of legislation,” said Dr. Nantasha Williams, Chairperson of the Committee of Cultural Affairs. “There is an active situation happening in Queens, where one of these burial sites was just paved over.” In Elmhurst, Queens, a private owner knowingly paved over their property to use as a parking lot after the remains were discovered. The initial plan by the owner was to develop condos on the property, but when the remains were discovered, the owner instead bulldozed the property, which law enforcement later deemed illegal and ordered the oner to shut down the lot by November 30th, 2026.

The bill would also include recommendations for the preservation or commemoration of the burial sites as well as recommendations for sources of potential resources or support to preserve the sites, including from state or federal historic preservation programs. This has been done in the past, with the African Burial Ground National Monument located near City Hall in Manhattan. In 1991, while excavating for a federal office building, construction workers found “human burials,” and many African descendants and community members banded together to ensure the site was properly honored. The remains were carefully studied and reinterred near the property, and a memorial now exists at the original location.

“This bill is not the end,” said Hanks. “We will continue this work until every part of our history is seen, honored, and never forgotten.”

Members of Zorhan Mamdani’s administration spent almost four hours Wednesday responding to a cordial and primarily procedural line of questioning from the New York City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings in regard to the Mayor’s new housing plan.

Committee Chair Piereina Sanchez, Councilmember Sandy Nurse and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams went as far as to compliment the proposal.

“I think this is one of the better housing plans I’ve seen across administrations so congratulations there,” Williams said.

Sanchez did voice concerns as well, questioning whether the city government had the staff to roll out and enforce some of the more labor-intensive aspects of the plan. The members of the administration reassured the committee that they are properly staffed and had made hiring efforts in the places where there may have been a deficit. 

Dina Levy, the Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), led the administration’s team through the questioning. She outlined a four-pronged approach focusing on protecting tenants, increasing the number of available homes, easing the path for first-time home buyers, and improving public access to programs such as the housing lottery and permitting procedures.  

“First, our administration’s commitment to ensuring that we are providing protections for tenants and significantly improving our code enforcement efforts,” Levy explained. “Second is our commitment to building a record number of affordable housing with a goal of building 200,000 new units over the next 10 years. We are also committed to converting and stabilizing an additional 200,000 units over the same period.” 

The plan introduces a series of stricter guidelines for landlords to adhere to, while making it easier for tenants to file complaints to the HPD. With an increase of staff and streamlined processes, the mayor’s office is aiming to address more housing violations and speed up response time.

Sanchez also asked for clarification on what will differentiate “high road” and “low road” landlords, distinguishing between landlords who will be given time to improve living conditions under city supervision and those who will have more severe legal action taken against them.  

“We are really looking to work with owners who want to work with their tenants. We are really putting an emphasis on dialogue with residents and resident associations,” responded Cea Weaver, Director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.  

The effort to increase the quantity and quality of available rental units includes an expansion of existing tax rebates to incentivize homeowners to renovate and rehabilitate multi-family housing, while incentivising developers to convert non-residential buildings into homes. Any participating units will be subject to rent stabilization.

Under the plan, HPD would also increase the number of subsidy loans given to developers building new cooperative buildings and one-to-four-family homes. These homes would be sold at prices set by the HPD, to buyers of an eligible income range. The HPD will also expand its downpayment assistance program. 

According to the 2023 NYC Housing & Vacancy survey, 10% of households in the Bronx are subject to an eviction filing, while 26% reported three or more maintenance deficiencies. In response to these high rates, the housing plan looks to implement extra efforts in the Bronx by focusing on educating the community on renters’ rights, assisting building owners with improving conditions, and supporting quality of life through public space improvement.

Independent of the Mayor’s plans, members of the committee were also able to bring forward their own initiatives.. Both Councilmember Sandy Nurse and Councilmember Harvey Epstein introduced initiatives that other councilmembers  and mayor’s aides complimented. 

Councilmember Nurse’s Initiative 0905-2026 looks to give pre-approved housing non-profits early access to buy certain residential properties with the intention of turning them into affordable housing. 

Councilmember Epstein’s Initiative 0178- 2026 would establish an Office of Convergence Assistance. This new office would assist all entities, both public and private, with the conversion of non-residential buildings to residential buildings. 

“According to the Department of Buildings and Records, about one third of new housing permits came from these conversions this year,” Epstein said. 

A date for the final City Council vote on the housing plan or specific initiatives is yet to be set.

The New York City Council on Sept. 9 unanimously passed a resolution to call on the State Legislature to create a 9/11 Awareness curriculum for all New York State schools. 

“New York already requires a moment of silence in our schools each September Eleventh. That matters,” said Councilmember Rita Joseph of District 40 at the City Hall meeting. “But, a moment of silence is not a lesson plan. Silence remembers. Curriculum teaches.

There is no current national guideline for school systems to follow when teaching the topic of 9/11, according to a Committee on Education’s report on the resolution. A curriculum is a guideline of topics a teacher is required to include in their lesson plans

“My generation of teachers didn’t need a curriculum to explain that day; We lived it, and we improvised because we had to,” said Joseph, who was a fifth grade teacher on the day of the attacks. “But the teachers standing in front of the classroom today weren’t there, and neither were their students.”

The resolution calls on the State Legislature to pass Assembly Bill A 8347, which would require the new curriculum to be “age appropriate and developed according to the needs and abilities of pupils at successive grade levels.” 

According to the bill, the curriculum would also include core tenets such as the “antecedents of 9/11; the events of the day and global impact of the attacks,” “the ongoing health crisis that emerged from toxins found in the air at Ground Zero,” and “Islamophobia and xenophobia, racism and religious intolerance, occurring after 9/11,” among others. 

The bill also states that all educational resources to be used by the curriculum “must be age appropriate, factually accurate, sourced from reputable sources such as the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, and aid in students’ understanding of what happened on 9/11 and in its aftermath, and the continuing importance of the attacks today.”

A study done by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017, found that New York’s then-current standards for teaching about 9/11 did not include certain key historical details, such as identifying Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, a group that was deemed responsible for the attacks. Other key topics not included were Guantanamo Bay – which holds a detention camp established by then President George Bush to house Muslim militants and those suspected of terrorism– or the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.  

“If we don’t require this history to be taught deliberately and well,” said Joseph, “it simply won’t be.”    

The Little Apple has just opened its first daycare center in the DCAS building at 1 Centre St. New York’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) and Imagine Early Learning Services have partnered together to run the first free childcare center for municipal workers.

Childcare costs are skyrocketing, and prices for infants to toddlers are going as high as $1,850 per month. Mayor Mamdani, DCAS, and Imagine have set out to pilot a program that is a 100 percent free childcare assistance for the DCAS municipal workers in the same building. But this is just the start for the program. The project, called “ The Little Apple,” opened its doors this Thursday September 10, 2026 with the enrollment of tiny apples from six weeks up to three years of age.  Backed and operated by their partner Imagine Early Learning Centers, the program will consist of  40 tots and run between the hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and provide meals. 

Walking in a visitor can see the former mail room for the DCAS agency now turned into a kiddie wonderland. Sensory walls and small books fill the nooks that are lit by the pastel walls. The small  tables and chairs are intended to make the kids feel at home. 

The project has already finished under budget and in a record seven months. Brandon Haynes, a DCAS worker and his wife Shani were amongst the first to enroll little Jackson into the inaugural program. When the cost of childcare came up Brandon Haynes also shared his thoughts, “the realization of childcare while having a child I was flabbergasted[…]so having this here to cover the cost is a great stress reliever.” Shani, who also had doubts about who was watching the children, weighed in on what she thought about the workers of Imagine at the facility. “ They’re extremely good at communicating,  they have reached out to us at every point[…], so handing him over to people who we trust is really great for us.”

Marina Gutierrez, the director of The Little Apple, an educator and mother herself, added, “Childcare is the infrastructure for our kids,” she said, “and great childcare starts with great educators.”

 Having adequate  childcare has been an issue that has plagued parents for some time. The aim for this pilot program, Gutierrez explained, is not only to alleviate the stressors that come with finding adequate help but also to give accessibility to those who really could benefit from this program while building a community and village that many often need.  In 2025 childcare for infants to toddlers was $1,550 to $1,800 per month, over a 33percent difference to the national average.

As the pilot gears up to open to the children one thing that Jenny Cha, another member of Imagine says is, “the point here is that we’re not just investing in childcare, but the future of New York City, it’s the families and the next generation of the city.”

New York City union members gathered in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan for a Labor Day Rally and then marched to Foley Square to stand in solidarity with one another and to honor those who suffered during the 9/11 attack.

Organized by the New York City Central Labor Council, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, the “Our City, Our Fight, Our Future” Labor Day Rally and March was described by organizers as an opportunity to demonstrate the strength of NYC’s labor force.

While the rally does traditional spotlight unions and their workers, the platform and attention has been used to shine a light on and educate the public on other issues like the growing presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the United States or increased violence and control over women’s autonomy.

There were keynote speakers from many different representatives of the unions present like 32BJ SEIU, NYSNA, and TWU. For many participants, the rally was an opportunity to support their unions and to recognize how different struggles facing New Yorkers can be connected.

Rebecca Lurie, a member of several unions, most notably the Professional staff Congress and Carpenters’ union, said that she attended the rally primarily to show her support for the labor movement. “I’m feeling like all of our struggles are interconnected,” Lurie said.

For Lurie the rally was less about a single issue or even a single union’s goals but about showing the connection and community unity of the workers across NYC.

That same sense of unity was shared by Tamoya Norwood, an administrator and organizer at 1199SEIU United Healthcare. “All the unions come together, you know, and show our union pride”, Norwood said. “to show our union force.”

For some workers, being part of the rally was a way to encourage other union workers to become more involved and make their voices heard. Evelyn Lanzo, a member of the Organization for Staff Analysis, said, “Other union members should come out to represent themselves because I’m only one person, and there’s so many of us”

The COVID-19 pandemic may have pushed institutions to make drinking water more accessible and sustainable through the expansion of water bottle filling stations–it’s certainly true at Brooklyn College.

Brooklyn College student Jessica Herrera, for one, brings a reusable water bottle with her and enjoys that the college has access to drinking water for free.

“I don’t have to pay almost three dollars for a bottle of water when I can bring my own bottle and refill it. It’s convenient for me. I’m saving money, and I’m staying hydrated while I’m on campus. I can refill as much as I want,” said Herrera.

Elkay’s 13 bottle filling stations are spread out on Brooklyn College’s campus. Elkay is an American-owned and operated innovative manufacturer of sinks, faucets, bottle filling stations, and drinking fountains. According to elkayezh2o.com, Elkay has saved 4,208,988,517 plastic bottles from waste with their bottle fillers.

While the college turned off drinking fountains as a health measure because of the pandemic, the bottle filling stations were installed as a part of the Participatory Budgeting initiative by the BC Student Government in 2017 which provided students an opportunity to propose innovative ideas for the college to fund that students then voted on.

“The Participatory Budgeting Committee had an open call for proposals,” said Zunera Ahmed, co-chair of the 2017 CLASS Student Government. “We did outreach with Professor Michael Menser who is an expert in participatory budgeting,” she said.

The committee reviewed all proposals and narrowed the choices down. “Students had the opportunity to vote for a project during the student government elections. There were five projects total on the ballot. The stations won 33.9% of that vote and thus was the project that was funded by the Student Government,” she said.

Carrie Sadovnik, director of environmental health and safety at Brooklyn College said that USG’s push for bottle filling stations is the reason why students at this campus can enjoy free, accessible, drinkable water.

Brooklyn College’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety spokesperson, Richard Pietras, said the college is committed to combating the environmental impact of single-use plastic bottles.

“Brooklyn College is tackling the environmental impact of single use plastics, including water bottles. The water bottle filling stations installed around campus divert over 375,000 plastic bottles from entering the landfills since they were first installed,” said Pietras.

Facilities across CUNY have purchased over 150 filling stations, replacing fountains as resources allow. The stations deliver cold water from the New York City water system. Brooklyn College is required to check for lead levels in the drinking water associated with the early childhood center.

According to the Department of Environmental Protection, NYC tap water is tested more than 900 times daily, 27,000 times monthly, and 330,000 times on an annual basis with 1,200 sampling locations throughout New York City.

Sadovnik said the College is planning on expanding the number of bottle filling stations. Since Covid-19 is still rampant, for the safety of staff, faculty, and students–all water fountains will remain off until further notice.

“We are trying to get the DEP’s Water on the Go portable filling stations to be installed on campus for the summer term. This initiative helps with hydrating our students, staff, and reduces the use of single-use plastic bottles,” said Sadovnik.

The Department of Environmental Water on the Go Project are portable fountains that are installed with filtered water on the campus using a hose system, now retrofitted to be bottle fillers.

Brooklyn College wants to use the Water on the Go Project on its campus grounds during the summer for students, faculty, and staff to be hydrated and bring reusable water bottles to reduce the use and purchase of single-use plastic bottles.

Iqura Naheed, the 2022 Undergraduate Student Government president expressed how the bottle filling initiative started back in 2017 has made an impact with college students, faculty, and staff today.

“The stations provide an accessible and affordable alternative to having to purchase water bottles from vending machines. I think getting these stations was one of the great initiatives pushed by students through the undergraduate student government and I hope we can continue to bring creative ideas forward on how to improve our campus,” said Naheed.

By ENRICO DENARD

For decades, the United States has been the epicenter of higher education, attracting generations of students from around the globe. However, in more recent times, the US is witnessing a steady decline in interest from foreign students. In fact, the US government reported an 18% drop in overall international student visa holders and a whopping 72% decrease in new enrollments even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decline in enrollment rates can be attributed to factors such as competition from countries like Canada and Australia. A recent study conducted by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), found international student enrollment rates dropped by 7% at US institutions but rose 52% at Canadian colleges during 2016-2019.

“I always dreamed about studying in America,” said 18-year-old Mana Rai, who resides in Kathmandu, Nepal. “But with little to no hope of being able to stay in the country after graduating, Canada is starting to seem like more of a better option,” she added during a phone interview.

Unlike the United States, Canada offers visa and immigration opportunities, allowing international students to remain in the country immediately following graduation through its Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP), which is commonly seen as the first major step towards obtaining permanent resident status.

According to data collected by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), from January to October 2021, 97.5% of international students who applied for permanent residency following their graduation were successful and were awarded legal permission to stay and work in the country.

By contrast, following the Trump administration’s short-lived immigration directive, over one million international students in the United States were barred from residing in the country if their school offered a fully online schedule for the Fall 2020 semester. Students already in the United States were to be deported and the remaining students that had already left the country were denied re-entry.

“I was shocked,” said Rai. “How can you deport someone with a valid visa? It was purely racist and the message was very clear– we [international students] are obviously not welcome in the States,” she said.

Although the Trump administrations immigration directive rescinded the directive after facing eight federal lawsuits and the opposition of hundreds of universities, it still prohibited new international admission from entering the United States if their school was conducted entirely online, inconveniencing thousands to attend classes with major time differences and limited physical resources.

Similarly, denial rates for employment-based Green Cards increased by 15.5% in the last quarter of 2019, again under the Trump Administration, making obtaining permanent residency in the United States more challenging than ever before.

Other foreign students ponder whether the tuition costs and additional fees that come with obtaining an American education are truly worthwhile.

“Simply put, it’s just too expensive,” said 21-year-old London resident, Naomi Harris. “I don’t see the point in spending tens of thousands of dollars on tuition alone, with no guarantee of getting a job or any possibility of being able to stay back in the country,” she said.

Educators also ascribe the decline in foreign enrollment rates to what they are calling the ‘Trump Effect,’ in which anti-immigrant rhetoric has caused a general concern over the safety and security of international students in the United States.

“After the 2016 election, there was a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment,” said Jesus Perez, who is Director of the Immigrant Student Success Office at CUNY Brooklyn College. “People [International Students] felt not welcome or that being here [the United States] would be an uphill battle,” he said.

Despite the hardships and overall foreign disinterest, international students already in the United States are eager to complete their degree and accredit American education for its financial power.

“I left India knowing I would have more of an opportunity making more money here in the same field,” said 24-year-old Brooklyn College marketing student, Yajat Mahjan. “I’m also a chef, but I wasn’t making enough money in India to live in the city, whereas in New York I am able to make enough money to sustain myself,” he said.

As of 2019, Brooklyn College was home to 578 international students from over 50 countries, largely from China, South Korea, and India. The Brooklyn College International Student Services Office was unable to provide comparative data on international student enrollment rates from pre-pandemic years to the present day, despite repeated efforts to get in contact with them. However, the campus community heavily relies on its international community and recognizes their usefulness at Brooklyn College.

“International students bring value to the campus,” said Perez. “Especially with college and academia, we want to be able to look at things from a different perspective, so they [International Students] enrich our community,” he said.