New York to make state college tuition free for middle class under new budget

abcnewyork - Albany, New York: New York will be the first state to make tuition at public colleges and universities free for middle-class students under a state budget approved by lawmakers Sunday.

The plan crafted by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo will apply to any New York student whose family has an annual income of $125,000 or less. To qualify the student would have to meet certain class load and grade point average restrictions, and room and board would not be covered.

"College is today what high school was 50 years ago," Cuomo said on a radio interview Sunday on AM 970 in New York City. "If you're a young person who wants success and a career, a college education is necessary.

The initiative is included in a $153 billion state budget proposal that passed the state Senate late Sunday after being endorsed by the Assembly a day earlier. The budget was due by April 1, but difficult negotiations delayed passage.

The tuition plan will be phased in over three years, with families making $100,000 or less annually eligible in the fall of 2017, with the threshold rising to $125,000 in 2019. Cuomo's office says some 940,000 families will qualify. The initiative also includes $19 million for a new tuition award program for students at private colleges.

The governor's office estimates that the program will cost the state $163 million.

The budget approved Sunday also includes provisions allowing the ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft to expand upstate and a juvenile justice reform known as 'raise the age' that would raise the age of adult criminal responsibility from 16 to 18.

Additionally, the spending plan increases funding for schools by $1.1 billion, holds the line on taxes, sets aside $200 million to fight heroin and opioid addiction and invests $2.5 billion for water quality and upgrades to the state's aging water and sewer systems.

"That's a really, really good thing for the people of the state of New York and we got it done," said Senate Leader John Flanagan, R-Long Island.

Raise the age emerged as a top priority for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and other Democrats and was one of the greatest sticking points for a budget. The agreement would raise the age slowly, to 17 in October 2018 and to 18 a year later, and would create new youth courts for felony offenses.

Under the deal, young offenders would no longer be incarcerated in adult prisons and jails but would go to juvenile facilities where they could receive additional rehabilitation and treatment. Non-violent offenders could apply to have their criminal records sealed after a 10-year waiting period.

Bronx Democratic Sen. Jamaal Bailey shot down opponents who have said the proposal gives teenagers a free pass and reiterated that it will instead allow youth who have made mistakes a chance at rehabilitation.

"Ever been to a high school cafeteria? You're going to tell me that those are adults? That their brain development is the same as ours? No," Bailey said.

Advocates say the measure will combat rampant recidivism in the youth criminal justice system because young people prosecuted as adults are 34 percent more likely to be re-arrested, often for crimes that are more serious than the initial offense.

"This legislation will improve the lives of our youth, our families and our communities. It is also the best way to maintain public safety in New York," said Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy policy director Dorothy Hill in a statement.

Similar reforms have been proposed in North Carolina, the only other state with such a young age of criminal responsibility.

After years of failed attempts, Uber and Lyft finally would be able to move into upstate cities such as Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Albany. The ride-hailing apps have been limited to the New York City area but are expected to begin service upstate 90 days after the budget is approved.

The expansion is a victory for many upstate leaders who said it was an embarrassment that the region was among the largest in the country without Uber and Lyft.

"I am elated," said Republican Sen. Chris Jacobs of Buffalo.

Tighter campaign finance laws, term limits for lawmakers and new rules restricting outside income were left out of the budget again this year. Following widespread complaints from last year's elections, Cuomo proposed changes, including early voting and automatic registration, but those weren't included in the final agreement either. (ontinueReading

New York takes a stab at debt-free college, covering tuition for families earning less than $125,000

(WashingtonPost) - New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is forging ahead with one of the Democratic Party’s most popular ideas by proposing to cover tuition for low- and middle-income students at state colleges and universities.

Any New Yorker accepted to one of the state’s community colleges or four-year universities will be eligible for free tuition provided their family earns less than $125,000 a year. The new initiative will be phased in over three years, beginning for New Yorkers making up to $100,000 annually in the fall of 2017, increasing to $110,000 in 2018, and reaching $125,000 in 2019.

Cuomo aims to roll out the program, dubbed the Excelsior Scholarship, over three years beginning this fall, pending legislative approval. His administration estimates that the scholarship will cost at least $163 million in the first year, a price tag that could rise alongside participation. Nearly 1 million families would qualify for the programme.

“College is a mandatory step if you really want to be a success,” Cuomo said Tuesday at LaGuardia Community College in Queens. “And the way this society said we’re going to pay for high school because you need high school, this society should say we’re going to pay for college because you need college to be successful. And New York state is going to do something about it.”

If the proposal clears the state legislature, New York will become the largest state to offer tuition-free public higher education to residents. Yet states across the country and across the political spectrum are paying greater attention to college costs as more local employers demand some form of postsecondary education. According to the Upjohn Institute, there are at least 85 initiatives at the municipal and state level aiming to cover the cost of tuition at community colleges. Tennessee, Oregon and Minnesota have free community-college programs, with Tennessee’s model lauded as a viable path for reducing higher-education costs.

Although momentum for debt-free college has been building for years, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Hillary Clinton elevated the issue of college affordability with campaign proposals to make public higher education free for the vast majority of American families. Those prospects seemed to fade with the election of Donald Trump, but proponents are rallying behind states to continue the fight.

New York City eases public drinking and urination laws before St Patrick's Day

(msnnews) - On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of partiers will take to New York City streets, awash in a sea of green beer, novelty T-shirts and cheap plastic beadsto follow long-held St Patrick’s Day tradition. But for the first time in recent history, those who decide to consume alcohol or relieve themselves on the streets won’t be risking arrest in the process, according to the city.

Under a new joint initiative between the New York police department and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, so-called quality of life violations like public urination and public consumption of alcohol will no longer expose citizens to the possibility of criminal charges. Instead, these crimes will be handled exclusively by issuing offenders a summons. The plan was announced on 1 March, and went into effect 7 March, just 10 days before the notoriously spirituous and rowdy holiday.

The DA’s office described the policy as one that will allow “the NYPD to devote its resources to investigating serious crimes, while further reducing the backlog of cases in criminal court”. An internal review by the office determined that it could keep as many as 10,000 New Yorkers out of the system annually.

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio called the plan “an intuitive and modern solution” that would “help safely prevent unnecessary jail time for low-level offenses”.

Even New York police commissioner Bill Bratton, the pioneer of so-called “broken windows” policing that targets minor crimes as a tactic to prevent larger ones, expressed support. “This new policy in Manhattan will save valuable police resources … without jeopardizing the public safety,” Bratton said.

The announcement came just a few weeks after city council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced a sweeping criminal justice reform proposal in her state of the city address that would decriminalize quality of life offenses citywide and purge as many as 1.5m old summons warrants from the city’s books. (Full Story)

NY minimum wage push spurs US debate, faces hurdles at home

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s plan to give fast-food workers a $15 minimum hourly wage is spurring similar efforts in other states even as Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s effort to enact a $15 wage for all workers faces vocal opposition at home.

In a campaign modeled after the successful push by fast-food workers in New York, groups in 18 states are creating citizen wage boards to pressure elected officials to raise the minimum wage. While the boards have no legal or governmental power to raise wages, they reflect the increasingly potent political muscle of low-wage workers.

“New York has done yeoman’s work. It’s one of the states that is leading the way,” said Michigan state Sen. Bert Johnson, a Democrat from Highland Park. “It’s a growing conversation around the country. Other states show that this can be done.”

New York became the first state to enact a $15 minimum wage though the one approved by Cuomo’s administration last month applies only to fast-food workers at chain restaurants. Cuomo bypassed the Legislature by having his labor commissioner appoint a state Wage Board to recommend the increase.

The Democratic governor said he will seek to raise the minimum hourly wage to $15 for all industries, an idea sure to face opposition in the state’s Republican-controlled Senate, where members say such a sharp increase would devastate small businesses. The state minimum is now $8.75 and was already set to rise to $9 at year’s end.

Restaurant owners continue to mull a legal challenge to the larger increase, saying it’s unfair and should have gone through the Legislature. Business groups, meanwhile, are preparing for a fight in the Legislature over Cuomo’s broader proposal. The Business Council of New York State, an influential organization of state business leaders, this week estimated that raising the wage to $15 for all workers would increase total private sector labor costs by $15.7 billion a year.

“In my particular business it would mean a 20 percent increase in prices,” said Bill Pompa, president of Mr. Subb, an 18-store sandwich chain in the Albany area. “I understand you can’t make the minimum wage and support a family. But I don’t think the minimum wage was ever designed to support a family.”

New York law allowed Cuomo to raise the minimum wage for a particular industry without legislative approval. But raising the wage for all workers would require legislation and a fight with opponents.

Related: FACT SHEET: It’s Time to Raise The Minimum Wage

New York: Target pharmacy workers form union, first in company's history

(Reuters) - A group of pharmacy workers within Target Corp's store in Brooklyn, New York, have won a vote to form a microunion, making it the first unionized store at the retailer since its inception in 1902.

Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters was first to report that a group of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians won an initial ballot, 7-2, to form the union, according to a filing on the National Labor Relations Board website and union officials.

Target said it was "disappointed" by the vote within its store and will appeal the NLRB's decision to allow the vote to proceed.

Target is in the process of selling its pharmacy business to CVS Health Corp.

"Because of the pending sale of the business, we don't believe it was appropriate for the NLRB to move forward with the petition," spokeswoman Molly Snyder told Reuters.

"We believe it should have been dismissed and made that argument at the hearing."

The National Labor Relations Board in 2011 ruled that so-called micro unions are appropriate within a company's operations when their members share "a community of interest."

That decision was upheld by a U.S. appeals court, spurring the board in 2014 to extend the standard to retail stores in a case involving fragrance and cosmetic department workers at Macy's Inc.

The National Retail Federation and other industry groups have said the decisions would wreak havoc on stores, pitting groups of employees against each other and forcing companies to negotiate with multiple unions that could have competing interests.

Union groups say the NLRB ruling in favor of microunions is appropriate to the modern-day workplace, where employees often are asked to staff multiple departments.

Target, which up until now has not had any unionized stores or microunions, said it twice previously has overcome serious attempts at unionization. The first occurred in Detroit in the 1990s, and the second came at its Valley Street store in New York City in 2011.

"It is a big win for us," said Lou Solicito, organizing director of the United Food and Commercial Workers union that supported the vote.

"We are ready to bargain a contract with Target," he said. Full Story

New Yorkers in favor of raising minimum wage to $15 per hour: poll

Feudalism!

(Reuters) - A solid majority of New York state residents are in favor of raising the minimum wage over the next several years to $15 an hour, according to a new poll released on Friday.

According to the survey conducted by Quinnipiac University, 62 percent of New York voters, across every gender, age and regional group, supported raising the minimum wage.

Republican voters surveyed were the sole exception, with 65 percent opposing the idea, while 85 percent of Democrats said they would support such an initiative.

Among voters overall, the poll found 35 percent were opposed while 3 percent did not know.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, proposed on Sept. 10 that the minimum wage be increased over the next six years to $15 an hour. In New York City, the proposal calls for that wage to reach its target by the end of 2018.

This would mirror a state order signed last week that applies only to the fast-food industry. However, an increase for all industries will require lawmakers' approval.

A Cuomo proposal for a more modest minimum-wage increase was opposed by the Republican-led state Senate earlier this year.

The current hourly minimum wage in New York State is $8.75 and will increase to $9 on Dec. 31.

The poll found 8 percent did not want any increase at all, while 41 percent wanted the increase to be less than $15 an hour. A further 37 percent thought it should be raised to $15 an hour while 11 percent thought it should go even higher.

Quinnipiac conducted the telephone poll from Sept. 10 through 15th, calling 1,366 New York State voters. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percent.

New York Plans $15-an-Hour Minimum Wage for Fast Food Workers

The Horror!

(nytimes) - 07/22/15 The labor protest movement that fast-food workers in New York City began nearly three years ago has led to higher wages for workers all across the union. On Wednesday, it paid off for the people who started it.

A panel appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recommended on Wednesday that the minimum wage be raised for employees of fast-food chain restaurants throughout the state to $15 an hour over the next few years. Wages would be raised faster in New York City than in the rest of the state to account for the higher cost of living there.

The panel’s recommendations, which are expected to be put into effect by an order of the state’s acting commissioner of labor, represent a major triumph for the advocates who have rallied burger-flippers and fry cooks to demand pay that covers their basic needs. They argued that taxpayers were subsidizing the workforces of some multinational corporations, like McDonald’s, that were not paying enough to keep their workers from relying on food stamps and other welfare benefits.

The $15 wage would represent a raise of more than 70 percent for workers earning the state’s current minimum wage of $8.75 an hour. Advocates for low-wage workers said they believed the mandate would quickly spur raises for employees in other industries across the state, and a jubilant Mr. Cuomo predicted that other states would follow his lead.

Related: Raising the Minimum Wage Is the “Free Market” Thing to Do

Answering Arguments against the Living Wage

Five facts about the minimum wage.

New York: Teen stabs to death bully in brief altercation.

Reverse hate crime?

- An altercation between two 14-year-old teens from Joseph Wade Middle School in Morris Heights, New York, led to a fatal incident where Noel Estevez was accused of stabbing fellow student and alleged bully Timothy Crump to death at around 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

After being constantly bullied and beaten, and even robbed, Estevez finally decided to fight back, but probably did not expect revenge to end up like this.

Awkward: Memorial Day Snow Covers Upstate New York In 3 Feet.

Nature gets drunk at BBQ, drops 3 feet of snow on upstate NY

- Ah, Memorial Day: barbecues, beach trips and … frolicking in the snow? We usually think of the holiday as the unofficial start of summer, but a weekend storm deposited 3 feet of snow on upstate New York's Whiteface Mountain, near Vermont. The unseasonable snowfall, which began Saturday and continued until late Sunday, prompted the closure of the popular ski slope's Veteran's Memorial Highway. The storm also coated Mount Mansfield in Stowe, Vt., with more than a foot of snow — the latest in the season that's ever happened. It’s really not a big deal, if you think about it: Snow cones totally go with burgers and dogs. [Source]

Divide & Conquer: A Mob Of 30 Blacks Shouting 'Honky' & 'Crackers' Wasn't A Hate Crime.

Shit like this is why people hate racial nationalism (or nationalism in general) - And all 'whitey' does is complain. Go figure.

(violenceagainstwhites) - Invoking the name “Martin Luther King” and screaming “Black Power!” a gang of up to 30 black teens attacked four white girls in Marine Park in what police are saying is not a bias crime.

The March 30 attack was a hot topic at state Senator Marty Golden’s recent public safety forum.

According to witnesses and parents of the victims, four young girls from St. Edmund’s had the day off from school due to Easter recess. They were playing basketball during dismissal from nearby Marine Park Junior High School, when several Marine Park students demanded to use the court.

After adults intervened and asked them to wait their turn, the teens left – but returned in a pack of up to 30, both boys and girls, and stormed into the park.

Witnesses say the attackers were all black and called their victims “white crackers” during the bloody melee, which raged for almost 20 minutes.

“This is not being looked at as a bias crime,” NYPD Deputy Inspector Kevin McGinn said at the meeting.

Source & full story: Brooklyn Skyline

The Brooklyn Skyline is now defunct but was a local paper which finally revealed the true nature of events after the white parents complained about the lack of investigation of the racial angle. Many other sources online corroborate the series of events, although most have the liberal cover-up “it wasn’t racist it was just kids misbehaving” slant the white parents complained about. Here it is on wikipedia:

The Marine Park Race Attack was an attack, suspected to be racially motivated, that took place in the Brooklyn, New York neighborhood of Marine Park on March 30, 2005. In the attack, a group of African-American teenaged girls from Marine Park High School chased six Caucasian girls off of a basketball court and through a park. The African-American girls reportedly physically harassed the girls while screaming such phrases as “honky bitches” and “white crackers.” Five of them were arrested[1] and given probationary sentences after the mothers of those attacked wrote to the judge and quotingNelson Mandela asked for compassion.[2]

Useful Idiot Arrested By FBI In Alleged Plot To Bomb N.Y Federal Reserve.

(AP) - Federal authorities in New York have arrested a Bangladeshi man with “overseas connections to al-Qaida” who planned to blow up the Federal Reserve.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis was provided with “inert explosives” by federal agents and closely monitored by the FBI as he tried to act out his plot, according to the Associated Press.