Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, jails and prisons have become hubs for infection, with crowded conditions that leave few opportunities for social distancing. The spread of the coronavirus in New York City jails has been well-documented, including at the city’s infamous Rikers Island jail complex, which has been called the “epicenter of the epicenter” of the pandemic.  More →

The city’s plans to reconstruct a 2.5-mile stretch of parkland along the East River on the Lower East Side have been pushed back to next year as nearby residents continue to call for access to outdoor space during the COVID-19 pandemic. More →

When Eman Rimawi needed to get to a meeting or run an errand, she used to have to schedule a ride to pick her up a day or two in advance — a blue-and-white van provided through the MTA’s Access-A-Ride program for people with disabilities. She experienced long waits for the vans to arrive and was often late as the vans stopped to pick up other passengers along the way. More →

On a cool Tuesday evening in mid-September, two dozen people sat in a forest glade in Prospect Park, perched on logs arranged in a rough square. Through masks that muffled their voices, one after another talked about how the pandemic had turned their lives upside down — job loss, isolation from friends and family, general anxiety about the state of the world. Some, however, had found solace in an interest the group shared — psychedelic and mind-altering substances.  More →

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit New York City in the spring, environmental concerns fell to the wayside. Thousands of people were dying from a deadly disease, and the state legislature had bigger things to worry about than enforcing its ban on plastic bags, which was supposed to take effect on March 1.  More →