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Parks Department gets a 'fraction' of funding restored

Around 600 positions in the Department of Parks and Recreations lost under the Eric Adams administration have still not been restored, park advocates and union leaders say, leading to a degradation in the quality of the city’s open spaces. The...

PSC says adjuncts were fired for supporting Palestine

The union representing faculty and other pedagogical staff at the city’s public university system has called on CUNY’s leadership to reinstate four adjuncts who have publicly protested in support of Palestine and were suddenly not reappointed for...
Advocates penned a letter to Mayor Eric Adams urging him to reinstate municipal workers who were fired over refusing to get the Covid vaccine. Thousands of city workers were fired for refusing to comply with the Covid vaccine mandate in February...
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Since Zohran Mamdani’s decisive upset victory in the Democratic primary last month, a slew of unions have thrown their support behind his bid to become New York City mayor.  Among those backing the 33-year-old Queens assembly member in...
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The United Federation of Teachers has endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor after deciding not to endorse any candidates in last month’s primary election. The UFT’s delegate assembly, which is the union’s highest decision-making body, voted to...
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State legislators have passed a bill that would bar the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from operating subways without a conductor. Although most of the city’s subway lines have both an operator and a conductor, the MTA uses One-Person...
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With $2.5 million in extra funding included in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, city lawmakers have ended the threat of impending layoffs at the Brooklyn Museum, five months after workers initially learned of planned cuts. After being informed by...
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Dozens of American unions and civil society groups have a “deep concern” about the of the impact of the Trump administration’s immigration policies on FIFA’s ongoing Club World Cup and the 2026 Men’s World Cup. Millions of soccer fans from dozens...
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Pete Rodriguez didn’t sleep well. When he woke up for work at 6 a.m. on that Tuesday, he had a bagel, a banana and an iced tea. Rodriguez doesn’t usually eat much of anything for breakfast. But this day was different — he was retiring after 45...
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Other stories we are reporting on
Judge halts Trump order stripping federal workers’ union rights
Pending the result of a lawsuit challenging an executive order from President Trump curtailing collective bargaining rights for federal employees, a U.S. District judge has approved a preliminary injunction halting federal agencies from complying...
Crime citywide continues to fall
Violent crime in New York City through the first half of the year has dropped compared with 2024, with murders down 23 percent and shootings and shooting victims dropping to record lows, according to the NYPD.  Reported rapes, though,...
EMS peer support program included in budget
The city has approved $1 million in funding to launch a pilot “Wellness & Peer Support Program” for EMS workers in the five boroughs. The funding included in the fiscal year 2026 budget, which was finalized at the end of June by the City...
Thousands of city workers are on strike in Philadelphia 
A strike being staged by nearly 10,000 city workers in Philadelphia entered its second day Wednesday as a judge ordered some emergency service dispatchers and essential water department employees to return to work. Common Pleas Court Judge Sierra...
Legal Aid attorneys authorize strike
Unionized workers at the Legal Aid Society have voted for the first time in 30 years to authorize a strike. With 91 percent support and 99 percent of the bargaining unit participating in the vote, over 1,100 workers have sent the signal that they...
JFK, LaGuardia workers get expanded benefits
Members of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ and Unite Here! Local 100 joined Governor Kathy Hochul to celebrate the recent expansion of the Healthy Terminals Act, which will provide healthcare and paid leave for airport...
Killer of EMS’ Russo-Elling sentenced to 25 years to life 
A New York man on Monday was sentenced to serve 25 years to life in prison for the fatal stabbing of a veteran emergency worker in 2022. Peter Zisopoulos, 37, was convicted in May of second-degree murder for killing Lt. Alison Russo-Elling, then...
PSC, higher-ed unions slam federal research funding cuts FREE
Researchers at the city and state’s public universities affected by cuts to federal grant funding urged state congressional leaders to oppose further cuts to research funding proposed in President Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill.’ Members of the...
Federal workers protest ICE arrests
Federal workers fed up with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detaining immigrants in federal buildings gathered in three cities on Thursday to protest what one union leader called “extrajudicial kidnappings.” The rallies in New York City,...
City’s street vendors won’t face criminal penalties for violations
Street vendors who run afoul of city regulations will no longer receive criminal summonses but will instead be liable for fines of up to $1,000, depending on the infraction, according to a City Council bill passed Monday.   Queens...
Labor Perspectives
Letters to the Editor
To the editor: A few follow-up points to "Free to Choose" (The Chief, Letters, July 4) and "The Greediest Generation” (The Chief, Letters, June 27)  An online commenter replied to the former this way: 1) The GG letter does not deny freedom...
To the editor: In the first half of 2025, the NYPD reported a nearly 50-percent increase in retirement fillings. That exodus follows the departures in 2024 of 2,900 officers and the hiring of just 2,345. Unfortunately, the NYPD is not alone....
To the editor: The headline "The New York primary system is leaving too many behind" (The Chief, June 27), is one of many truths concerning the flaws of the closed primary system. More are in this excellent commentary. Some argue that primaries...
To the editor: Can you think of anyone who would have despised Donald Trump more than the spokesman for the little guy and gal, Woody Guthrie? I submit this as an updated version of Woody’s classic to reflect the times.   This land is...
To the editor: The Presidential Greatest Project last year asked scholars to rank America’s presidents from Washington to Biden, with 150 individuals participating in the survey. The panel ranked President Trump 45th out of 45. (Were all 150...
Op-Eds

Mamdani’s politics of collective possibility FREE

Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic mayoral primary has upended the city’s political landscape. Critics dismissed his policy proposals — city-owned grocery stores, free buses, expansive rent control — as unrealistic, while a barrage of...
Wake-up call

MAID service FREE

New York State's Medical Aid in Dying Act (MAiD) passed both legislative chambers with flying mourning colors and awaits Governor Hochul's signature as soon as she can gauge the electoral winds and reconcile it with her negotiable...
Wake-up call

Beth David, a quiet place that resonates FREE

There are now no differences among them. The calendars of their lives have run out, and all their legacies are equalized. The dates of birth and death on their stone monuments yield nothing about their individuality when alive.  Their...
Your money
Tax strategies 

Money-saving tax tips for the self-employed FREE

If you are in business for yourself, or carry on a trade or business as a sole proprietor or an independent contractor, you generally would consider yourself self-employed and you would file IRS Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, with your...

The home-office deduction: Do you qualify? FREE

To take the deduction, the IRS requires the home-office to be your principal place of business and it must be used exclusively and on a regular basis. According to the S.B.A., just over half of the country’s small businesses are based in a home,...
Tax strategies

A taxpayer's Bill of Rights FREE

Every taxpayer has a set of fundamental rights. You should be aware of these rights when you interact with the Internal Revenue Service. There are 10 broad categories: 1. The Right to Be Informed.Taxpayers have the right to know what they need to...
Work rules by Barbara Smaller

Labor Nation
Days after a record-breaking heat wave in New Jersey, the Legislature recessed for the summer without moving legislation that would mandate protections for workers who spend hours outdoors in the blistering heat.  Sen. Joe Cryan (D-Union),...
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The AFSCME local representing thousands of city workers in Philadelphia and the city have reached a deal to end a more than weeklong strike that halted residential curbside trash pickup and affected other services, officials said...
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