Public Advocate's Corner

Bronx Residents: Apply for Unemployment Benefits Today

The recession has cost New Yorkers in every borough jobs, and Bronx residents have been among the hardest hit. From November to December, the unemployment rate in the Bronx was higher than in any other borough: While the citywide rate rose from 6.3 percent to 7.3 percent, the Bronx unemployment rate jumped from 8.3 percent to 9.6 percent.

This has left 50,000 Bronx residents out of work, according to the office of the Bronx Borough President. However, as of this January, only 16,000 were receiving unemployment insurance. With additional support from President Obama’s stimulus package, New York is able to extend the unemployment benefits program —but Bronx residents first need to know they exist and apply for them.

The Bronx Borough President released a helpful Unemployment Benefits Fact Sheet for Bronx residents. The Fact Sheet outlines eligibility requirements and application procedures in a clear, concise (and bilingual) format. For example, to qualify for unemployment insurance, you must have:

• Worked in at least two calendar quarters, two three month periods, over the last five calendar quarters
• Earned at least $1,600 over one quarter (approx. $125 a week), the quarter in which you earn the most is your high quarter
• Earned at least 1.5 times your high quarter earnings over the last five quarters

If you, or anyone you know, is eligible but has yet to apply, refer to this fact sheet, or simply contact the New York State unemployment office online or by phone at 1-888-209-8124.

We all need to do our part to help our fellow New Yorkers get through this crisis. Please help spread the word.

Guía Informativa Sobre Beneficios Públicos para Inmigrantes

 ¿Es usted inmigrante? ¿Habla español? Si su respuesta es sí, usted debe consultar nuestra guía informativa sobre beneficios públicos para inmigrantes. Ahí encontrará mucha información útil. Quizás usted califica para recibir beneficios y no lo sabe, por ejemplo esta guía informativa incluye información sobre cupones de alimentos, programas de salud, vivienda y mucho más. También voy a visitar los vecindarios de los cinco condados donde reside una gran cantidad de inmigrantes, con el fin de dar a conocer y distribuir esta guía informativa, accesible y gratuita. Leia la guía informativa y dígame sí le ha sido útil.

 

Today's News: Food Stamps in Hard Times

Check out today's New York Times Editorial:

Published: February 24, 2009

In seeking an instant jolt to the economy, almost nothing beats food stamps. Hungry people who get federal food aid don’t horde it. They don’t put vouchers under the mattress. They rush out and spend their share at the corner grocery or deli or bodega — sustaining not only themselves, but also the local economy.

For those reasons, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s cramped food-relief policy makes little sense. The federal stimulus plan allows one big category of food stamp recipients — able-bodied single adults without dependents — to remain eligible to receive stamps until Sept. 30, 2010. Present law limits these recipients to three months of food stamps in a three-year period.

Mr. Bloomberg insists that these recipients must, in effect, work for their supper. He is under no obligation to extend benefits to anyone not enrolled in the city’s workfare program, which offers some training, some internships and some low-level work.

States and cities are allowed to require recipients to participate in such programs. But forcing people to take make-work jobs to qualify for food assistance takes valuable time away from the search for a real job. That’s counterproductive.

Moreover, by limiting eligibility, the city also reduces the amount of money it receives from Washington — a decrease of $750,000 a year, by the city’s estimate. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum puts the loss far higher — in the millions of dollars over the next 17 months.

At a time when the mayor is supposed to be counting every dollar, $750,000 matters. And if he sticks to his job requirement, Mr. Bloomberg would have to expand his workfare program. This would also add to the city’s bill.

As Washington is bailing out banks and businesses, it is important not to lose sight of how food stamps save people. As the economy worsens, the number of hungry New Yorkers will only grow. There was a 19 percent increase in food stamp recipients in New York City in 2008 alone, according to the city’s data.

We can understand the mayor’s ideal of “work, not welfare,” but this is not a time to be stingy with food, especially if Washington is picking up the tab.

Gotbaum Calls On Mayor To Accept Federal Stimulus Aid For Food Stamps

Last week, Mayor Bloomberg announced that he is not obligated to extend Food Stamp benefits for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) unless they are enrolled in the Work Experience Program. This decision hurts hungry New Yorkers and keeps money out of the city. In response, Public Advocate Gotbaum - joined by Comptroller Bill Thompson, Councilman Bill de Blasio, and other elected officials and advocates - called on the Mayor to reverse his decision and accept millions of dollars of federal aid for hungry New Yorkers

Watch the video online, or below:

Guest Post: Doreen Wohl on Food Stamps

Following last week's effort by Public Advocate Gotbaum to call on the Mayor to change course on his decision to refuse a provision of the federal stimulus bill that would bring millions of dollars into the city, today's guest post comes from Doreen Wohl, Executive Director of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger.

Single unemployed people need to eat, too
By Doreen Wohl

At the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, we are committed to providing food to everyone in need, employed and unemployed, single or in families. We provide three days of food, once a month, and we assist people in finding solutions to income and food insecurity, such as enrollment in SNAP (food stamps), enrollment in health insurance, and enrollment in job training programs to help free them from food insecurity.

The refusal to extend food stamps to able-bodied unemployed adults without dependents, beyond three months while they look for work, is based upon old prejudices that see the poor as lazy. 

At West Side Campaign Against Hunger, our perspective is different. We function as a customer cooperative. Many of the people coming for emergency food assist in the operation of the store where customers select their food. We find that if we treat people with respect, they are eager to work.

In 2008, the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, the largest food pantry in New York, provided New Yorkers across the city with food for 710,415 meals. In the current economic crisis and with the rise in unemployment, we are struggling to keep up with a striking 26% increase in New York households.

Extending SNAP to able-bodied unemployed adults without dependents while they look for work is not only humane, but essential at this critical time.

Accessing Services: Fighting Bedbugs

New York’s bedbug problem is worsening: Nearly 10,000 bedbug complaints were called in to the city in 2008, reflecting a 33 percent increase over the previous year, according to an article this week in the Daily News. This figure doesn’t even include New Yorkers who hired a private exterminator to deal with their bedbug problem!

About Bedbugs
According to the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's (DOHMH) bedbug fact sheet, adult bedbugs are flat, rust-colored and about the size of an apple seed, though after they bite their bodies may swell and become bright red. They live in mattresses and other furniture, but they may travel on clothes or in luggage.  Bedbugs are not known to spread disease, but they leave itchy red welts on the skin. They also can live for months without food and water. They frequently come out at night, and they may travel from apartment to apartment through small cracks and crevices in floors and walls. The city Department of Education has a "bedbug protocol" in case a suspected bedbug is sighted on a child or otherwise seen in school.

What should I do if I discover bedbugs in my home? 

If you live in public housing, contact the Centralized Call Center at (718) 707-7771. The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) provides useful online bedbug information, including what you should expect when an exterminator arrives.

 

DOHMH recommends that home owners hire licensed exterminators for the job. Be aware that the pest control company should make follow-up visits to ensure the pests are gone. The city also offers tips for choosing and working with a pest control company.  

More information:
Ridding your home of bedbugs is no job for amateurs. DOHMH warns that you should  “be very cautious about using pesticides yourself.”  If you decide to go the do-it-yourself route, DOHMH suggests the following precautions:

• Only use pesticides clearly labeled for bedbug extermination. Never use a cockroach spray, ant spray or any other pesticide that does not list bedbugs on the label.
• Follow label instructions exactly.
• Never spray pesticides on top of mattresses or sofas or in areas where children or pets are present.
• Never purchase or use a product without a manufacturer’s label, and never buy pesticides from street vendors.
• Avoid using 'insecticide bombs' and 'foggers' in your home. These products can spread hazardous chemicals throughout your home and are not likely to be effective against bedbugs.

If you still need help, please call the Office of the Public Advocate at 212-669-7250.

Affordable Housing Must Not Be Sacrificed

Today, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum joined the City Comptroller, Housing Advocates, and Councilmembers to rally against the proposal to raid funds from Battery Park City meant for affordable housing.

Betsy Gotbaum said, "As the current economic crisis deepens, the need for affordable housing will be even greater than it has been in recent years. Governor Paterson should not tap this crucial resource in order to plug a budget deficit. It's never a good time to raid funds for low and middle-income families, but right now especially, affordable housing must not be sacrificed."
 

Today: Mayor Bloomberg Must Change Course on Food Stamps

Betsy Gotbaum, Bill Thompson and other elected officials and advocates gathered on city hall steps today to call on Mayor Bloomberg to change course on his decision to refuse a provision of the federal stimulus bill that would bring millions of dollars into the city.

President Obama’s stimulus package includes a provision that suspends the limit on how long able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) can receive Food Stamps—now known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—while they look for work. The Public Advocate’s office estimates, based on available information, that the city could lose roughly $155 million because of their refusal to accept this provision of the stimulus bill.

Gotbaum said, "The mayor’s message to Washington is clear: When Wall Street executives get billions from the federal government, it should come without restrictions or rules, but poor New Yorkers should have to jump through unnecessary hoops to get the hundred-plus dollars a month in aid that they’re entitled to." Read More.

NY Post Crosses the Line with Political Cartoon

Despite the fact that the chimpanzee shooting in Stamford, CT and the President's stimulus package are big news items at the moment, the comparison made between the two in this cartoon is inappropriate and unconscionable. The cartoon run by the New York Post appears to be a cheap shot that uses historically violent and racist imagery while referencing the President of the United States. It was neither smart, clever, or funny. I'm deeply disappointed that the Post would even consider running this cartoon. They should immediately issue a public apology on their poor judgment.

New Book: When Mayors Take Charge

If you haven't seen it already, a new book has been published by the Brookings Institution called When Mayors Take Charge: School Governance in the City. This book, edited by Joseph P. Viteritti who was also the Executive Director of the Public Advocate’s Commission on School Governance, "brings together leading experts on mayoral control to analyze the factors and people driving this trend as well as its achievements and shortcomings, possible ways to improve its design and implementation and its prospects for the future." The papers presented in When Mayors Take Charge were commissioned by the Public Advocate’s School Governance Commission.

Contributors include: Clara Hemphill, New School University; Jeffrey R. Henig, Columbia University; Michael Kirst, Stanford University; John Portz, Northeastern University; Diane Ravitch, New York University; Wilbur C. Rich, Wellesley College; Robert Schwartz, Harvard University; Dorothy Shipps, Baruch College; and Kenneth K. Wong, Brown University.

It also includes the first in-depth examination of mayoral control in New York City. The state law giving the mayor control of the schools sunsets in 2009. Read an excerpt of the opening letter by Public Advocate Gotbaum below:

"My professional interest in education policy began when I served as an assistant to Mayor John Lindsay.  Earlier, upon graduating from college, I taught school in Brazil and subsequently received a graduate degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. Since becoming public advocate in 2002, I have focused on the issue of education, and my office has prepared many reports on the school system and its policies. Often these reports have been critical."

Read the Full Text of the Letter from Public Advocate Gotbaum.