Since Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, one part of the electorate keeps coming up: the Black vote. Did Mamdani connect with Black voters, how did he win with a new coalition, can he deliver in November, and so on.
But as pundits talk in circles about our votes, rising costs push our friends and neighbors out of the city. According to the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, between 2010 and 2024, the population of Black New Yorkers decreased by 4% or nearly 100,000, while the total city population went up 5% or by 460,464. The main cause? Cost of living.
Bread and butter policies like raising the minimum wage and universal child care would curb this exodus and bolster a healthy Black middle class in NYC. Our next mayor must invest in policies that help Black families thrive, so that the New Yorkers who’ve built this city for generations can stay here, too.
Beginning last week, working in the retail industry or in a warehouse in New York has become safer.
The Retail Worker Safety Act and the Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act both took effect this week, affording workers across the state new labor protections guaranteed under the law.
At a time when the Trump Administration is threatening worker protections across the country, warehouse and delivery workers for companies like Amazon are demanding better safety rules in New York State.
