NY City Council Makes GOOD NEWS
(Article published in HWW April 2008)
HEALTHY FOOD COMING YOUR WAY
Supermarkets may not like it. The man on the ice cream truck may not be thrilled either. But the New York City Council members aren’t worried about that.
They want New Yorkers to eat healthy foods. Studies show people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables are less likely to die of stroke and heart attack. Yet in many low income neighborhoods fresh produce is hard to find. So the Council voted to create 1,000 new permits for street vendors who sell only fruits and vegetables. And these permits can only be used in neighborhoods where 15% of the people said they had eaten NO fruits and vegetables in the previous 24 hours.
“The communities in our city where obesity and diabetes continue to skyrocket are the same communities that lack even the most basic access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. “By putting green carts into neighborhoods with the lowest access to healthy foods, our bill will make fresh produce more available and help to save lives.”
WANT A JOB THAT PAYS WELL?
Recently NY1 interviewed single mom Susana Escalante who is learning to operate a bus. “I have three children” she said, “and I want to get more money.”
The job of commercial driver pays well. So do jobs in carpentry, certified nursing, computer repair, accounting, sheet metal working and other fields you might not have considered. But they require training which can cost a lot.
That’s why the NY City Council earmarked $20 million to pay for free job training for the unemployed and under-employed in the five boroughs. The city asked the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE) to administer the program which is called Jobs to Build On. CWE, in turn, has lined up 11 non-profit community organizations to recruit trainees and help them get started on the free training that will prepare them for the better paying jobs they want. Trainings take place in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens and usually last 3 to 6 months.
If you are interested, you should apply at one of the CWE Jobs to Build On groups listed below.
CWE Jobs to Build On Project Outreach & Recruitment Groups
1 -- St. Nicholas Preservation Corp. -- 11 Catherine Street -- Brooklyn, NY 11211 -- 718 302-2057
2 -- Black Veterans for Social Justice -- 665 Willoughby Street -- Brooklyn, NY 11206 -- 718 852-6004
3 -- Unity in the Community Sports Foundation -- 441 Marcus Garvey Blvd. -- Brooklyn, NY 11216 -- 718 452-1207
4 -- Brooklyn United for Innovation in Local Development (BUILD) -- 485 Hudson Ave. -- Brooklyn, NY 11201 -- 718 230-7095
5 -- New York Urban League (Bklyn. & Man. Sites) -- 204 West 136th Street -- New York, NY 10030 -- 212 926-8000
6 -- Northeast Bronx Redevelopment Corp. -- 1530 East 222nd Street -- Bronx, NY 10469 -- 718 944-3734
7 -- Bronx African-American Chamber of Commerce -- 3687-B White Plains Road -- Bronx, NY 10467 -- 718 515-3570
8 -- Business Leaders of Tomorrow -- 104-65 142nd Street -- Jamaica, NY 11435 -- 718 225-4716
9 -- Henry Street Settlement -- 509 Essex Street -- New York, NY 10002 -- 212 478-5400
10 -- Per Scholas -- 1231 Lafayette Avenue -- Bronx, NY 10474 -- 718 772-0625
11 -- SOBRO -- 555 Bergen Avenue -- Bronx, NY 10455 -- 718 732-7268
12 -- The SKILL Center -- 349 East 149th Street -- Bronx, NY 10451 -- 718 928-2069
13 -- CWE Job Training Center @ Long Island City -- 36-36 37th Street -- LI City, NY 11102 -- 718 392-0025
14 -- Brooklyn Workforce Innovations -- 621 DeGraw St, 1st Fl -- Brooklyn, NY 11217 -- 718 237-2017
15 -- Northern Manhattan Improvement Corp. -- 76 Wadsworth Avenue -- New York, NY 10033 -- 212 822-8300
