FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 16, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
Queens leaders to Hochul: Restore the Excluded Workers Fund
BY JULIA MORO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Elected offi cials and community organizers
NYC’s man in demand: Mayor-elect Eric Adams
BY SKYE OSTREICHER
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
New Yorkers 50-plus helped build our
city and make it the great place that it
is: and city leaders must be dedicated to
addressing the challenges this population
experiences.
Visit PoliticsNY.com and learn how
Mayor-elect Adams will raise the issue
of ageism and make sure his administration
confronts it head on. As a leader in
Age Friendly policies, how will Mayorelect
Adams broaden this work throughout
NYC?
Beth Finkel, State Director of AARP
New York, shared with Mayor-elect
Adams, “one of our thoughts is actually
renaming NYC’s Dept of the Aging – not
a very forward-thinking name – and I’m
thinking it’d be right up your alley to come
up with a stronger, better name.”
To which Adams replied, “we’re looking
for Seniors to come up with the best name
for it… We are open. Th e name should
be more active than the Department of
Aging. I say it’s the Department of Living.
Whatever name our seniors come up with,
we’re gonna put it out to you.”
Adams is known for making Brooklyn
the fi rst age-friendly borough, and now
will be able to orchestrate an age-friendly
NYC. Part of this plan will off er restaurant,
theater and transportation discounts
for seniors, he shared.
Adams will be rolling out his 100-day
plan and at the heart of it is how NYC
becomes more inclusive, especially of its
seniors. AARP New York will also be delivering
a plan to the new administration
with some ideas from its membership.
Th is video interview is sponsored
by AARP New York, which represents
750,000 members in New York City.
Watch the full video at PoliticsNY.com.
are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul
to immediately invest an additional $3
billion to the New York State Excluded
Workers Fund to aid countless immigrant
families previously left out of crucial
fi nancial support.
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards sent a letter to Hochul on
Wednesday, Dec. 8, urging the governor
to replenish the fund that quickly ran out
of funds to dispense.
“Th ere is no doubt that our excluded
workers still face severe economic
hardship,” Richards said. “Even aft er this
week’s announcement that the $2 billion
fund has been fully exhausted, it is clear
that a pressing need for additional fi nancial
assistance still exists here in Queens.”
Aft er over a year of civil disobedience
in hunger strikes and marches, activists
were able to secure $2.1 billion from the
state for excluded workers. Since online
applications opened in early August, over
$2 billion has gone out the door to families
in need.
Now that there is no money left in the
fund, activists have taken to the streets
once again to make sure all excluded
workers who needed this aid can still
get it.
Workers chanted, “Who feeds us while
we feed you” and “All I want for Christmas
is to not get left behind,” as they marched
down the streets near Bryant Park on
Friday, Dec. 10.
Jackson Heights state Senator Jessica
Ramos, the original sponsor of the bill
that established the fund, joined activists
groups, including Make the Road New
York and others, to call for additional
funding before the holidays.
Ramos said the excluded workers fund
has been a tremendous success, and it desperately
needs to be extended.
“We saw how this fund pumped important
money into our small business,”
Ramos said. “We helped our immigrants
catch up on their bills, pay their rent, buy
school supplies for their kids, put food
on the table. We didn’t just hold this city
down during the pandemic; we built this
city. It is the immigrant workforce that has
always made this city happen.”
Advocates have estimated that around
50,000 applicants were left out of aid due
to a lack of funds. However, that number
doesn’t include the hundreds of thousands
they say face barriers to applying on time.
Guillermo Campos, a vendor at Corona
Plaza, said when he got laid off during the
pandemic, he wasn’t able to receive unemployment.
“When I found out about the fi rst round
of the Excluded Workers Fund, I was too
ill to apply,” Campos said. “I wasn’t physically
capable of applying. I’m here because
I’m asking Governor Hochul to earmark
$3 billion this coming year because $2.1
billion wasn’t enough. Th ere were many
like me who weren’t able to apply to the
Excluded Workers Fund the fi rst time
around. But we’re going to win this time
and we’re going to win $3 billion dollars.”
More than 350,000 New Yorkers applied
for aid, nearly all receiving the highest
tier of benefi ts — a one-time payment of
$15,600.
Ramos pointed out how excluded workers
could not receive unemployment or
other government benefi ts during the
height of the pandemic, yet still paid and
pay taxes.
“Ninety-nine percent of the applications
approved all paid their taxes the
last three years. What does that tell you?”
Ramos said. “It tells you that the excluded
fund is our money, we put that money in
there, and we deserve it back. We’re simply
asking Hochul to give us what’s ours.
Recognize our labor and bring justice to
our communities.”
Photo courtesy of Make the Road New York
Hundreds marched in Manhattan on Dec. 10 to call on Gov. Kathy Hochul to invest in the Excluded
Workers Fund.
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