News: City

A teenage boy—who was charged as a minor—was sentenced to 18 months in the custody of The New York City Administration for Children’s Services for his involvement in the robbery that led to the death of Barnard first-year Tess Majors in December 2019. He was 13 years old at the time of the incident.

New York provides free and low-cost emergency medical care for its low-income residents, but as of February, healthcare could cost noncitizen immigrants a green card or a visa.

Amid concerns over the coronavirus, New York City government officials canceled the Summer Youth Employment Program earlier last month, which engages thousands of youths in paid pre-professional work. But city advocates, including Manhattan Community Board 9—a local advisory board representing Morningside Heights and surrounding areas—expressed concerns and suggested that the program continue remotely to provide economic benefits for underprivileged youth.

As the United States leads the world in COVID-19 cases, its healthcare system has come under scrutiny. In urban areas like New York City, the inequities that low-income, Black, and brown populations face in seeking care have been highlighted as these populations find themselves disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

Financial support for small businesses dried up just weeks after it was announced, leaving West Harlem businesses in financial limbo as the COVID-19 pandemic continues without signs of cessation.

With U.S. unemployment rates at a record high in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising market rates in a low-supply market will place low-income West Harlem tenants at heightened risk of eviction and virus contraction, according to housing experts.

As the coronavirus outbreak has plunged New York City into a recession, Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed a 3 percent decrease in the city’s education budget for the 2020-2021 school year. With some of the most segregated districts in the city, West Harlem’s public schools are chronically underfunded and disproportionately vulnerable to budget cuts.

For decades, many “low-skilled” workers—including grocery and drugstore clerks, delivery drivers, and in-home care providers—saw their wages suppressed, positions cut to part-time or contracted work, and paid sick leave and health care benefits chipped away. Now, tens of millions of these workers have suddenly been recognized as “essential” and moved to the front lines of a global pandemic.