Senate and State of New York Recognize Juneteenth as Official Holiday

June 19, 2020

Juneteenth

Juneteeth graphic

The Senate joined Governor Andrew Cuomo in recognizing Juneteeth as an official holiday, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The day has been celebrated on June 19th by African-Americans and others since the late Nineteeth Century. The date originated on June 19, 1865, when enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, heard the news that they were free.

Kavanagh Joins Krueger, Colleagues Calling for Denial of Permits for New Fossil Fuel Power Plants

September 13, 2021

Astoria Power Plant

NY Times: 800,000 New Yorkers Just Lost Federal Unemployment Benefits

September 7, 2021

“To just cut people off, it’s ridiculous and it’s unethical and it’s evil,” said Travis Curry, 34, a freelance photographer who will lose roughly $482 in weekly assistance. Credit: Rosem Morton for the NY Times.

NY1: Fighting to Keep New Yorkers in Their Homes, New York State Signs a New Eviction Moratorium into Law

September 5, 2021

New York Sen. Brian Kavanagh, D- New York, Manhattan debates legislation in the Senate chamber during a special legislative session to extend pandemic era eviction protections in the wake of a Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium at the state Capitol, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

New Yorker Magazine: Andrew Cuomo Left Behind a Rent-Relief Debacle

September 4, 2021

The #CancelRent movement was born out of activists’ fear that rent debts would be allowed to accrue for however long it took the economy to rebound. Photograph by Spencer Platt / Getty