Join us on this Thursday, April 15, at 9:30 AM located at the Rochester Hall of Justice to kick off Compassionate NY and defend the Glasgow 18! RSVP below and share our Facebook event linked here. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep wealth and racial inequality in New York State. Working class and poor communities of color have been disproportionately harmed by a public health crisis that continues to wreak havoc. But the economic and racial injustices made worse by COVID-19 are not new. Long before the pandemic 1 million New Yorkers were without healthcare, 92,000 were experiencing homelessness, and over 50,000 were behind bars in jail or prison each day -- with each of these injustices disproportionately impacting Black and brown communities.

The New York of the near future can be a better, more just, and more compassionate place for everyone to live. Our statewide Compassionate New York agenda outlines immediate actions the state legislature can take to save lives and billions of dollars:
1. Right to Renew our Tenancy (Good Cause Eviction Protections)
2. Guarantee healthcare for every New Yorker (New York Health Act)
3. Mass Decarceration (Justice Roadmap 2021)

The intersection of the housing, healthcare, and mass incarceration crisis was clearly on display on December 18th, 2020 when -- in the midst of a pandemic -- Clianda Florence-Yarde was publicly evicted and arrested while fighting a no fault eviction along with 16 other housing justice activists and Assemblymember Demond Meeks. Meanwhile COVID-19 was running rampant in the Monroe County Jail. This Thursday, the Glasgow 18 are being arraigned by Judge Ellen Yacknin. The demands are simple: drop all of the charges and pass the Compassionate NY Package to make our state one that works for everyone.