GPNY Statement on Cuomo's 2020 State of the State Address

The Governor of the State of New York has yet again completely ignored the planetary climate emergency at a time when strong leadership is desperately needed. Not one of his 30+ proposals directly addressed the climate crisis, and they barely touched on other pressing issues facing New Yorkers (like the need for single-payer healthcare or progressive taxation to close the $6 billion budget gap). Governor Cuomo prefers small-bore, low-stakes reforms because they pose no threat to his wealthy donors. Continue reading

New York’s public campaign finance commission

Read the November 1, 2019 op-ed in The New York Daily News from GPNY co-chair Peter LaVenia taking issue with specious claims by Governor Cuomo, former Governor Paterson, and Public Finance Commission member Jay Jacobs, that campaign finance and third-parties can't co-exist. Continue reading

Early Voting Comes to New York State 10/23-11/03

For the first time, New York voters will be able to vote at designated polling sites in advance of Election Day. So how does this work? Continue reading

2019 Legislative Report Card: Marijuana Bill Still Leaves Many Vulnerable to Overpolicing

It's the Penultimate Edition of our 2019 Legislative Report Card Series, brought to you by GPNY Summer Intern Dylan Lynch! We've been breaking down what Democrats in Albany achieved (or failed to achieve) in the legislative session, with control of both houses and the governor's mansion. This week: Cuomo and the Leg decriminalized marijuana...OR DID THEY? (Spoiler: Only sort-of!) New York, over the past twenty years, has become what the Drug Policy Alliance calls the “marijuana arrest capital of the world.” During this time, in lamentable depths of the so-called “tough on crime” era, there were over 800,000 arrests for small scale marijuana possession with, on average, sixty people being arrested statewide per day for the offense. Despite the fact that marijuana consumption is rather equally balanced amongst race and ethnicity, Latino and African-American individuals consistently made up roughly 80% of those arrested on marijuana charges in New York City. And in 2016 that percentage was 85%, the highest since 2006 when it reached 89% under Michael Bloomberg. These arrests, no matter how minor the offense, leave longstanding records that hinder the formerly arrested/incarcerated from gaining or re-gaining employment and housing, thus further exacerbating the racial wealth gap structurally maintained by our “New Jim Crow”: the drug war and mass incarceration. Continue reading

2019 Legislative Report Card: Solid Steps For Farm Workers and Immigrant Rights

Welcome to the third post in our series breaking down what Democrats in Albany achieved (or failed to achieve) in the legislative session, having gained control of both houses and the governor's mansion. We've been pretty blunt about the half-measures (or no-measures) the Dems have squandered their majority on, this year, but we want to show some appreciation for two bills that labor and community activists fought hard to get passed that will improve working conditions for farm workers and restore mobility and autonomy to undocumented immigrants in New York. GPNY 2019 Summer Intern Dylan Lynch explains. We speak of the United States’ rich history of militant labor struggle perhaps less often than we should, enjoying its hard-earned fruits without the perspective needed to continue to foster its vital legacy. We must pay close attention not only to this courageous history, but to how this movement continues to fight for justice into the present day. Fortunately, this past legislative session, New York added one more significant achievement to this longstanding workers’ tradition by passing Assembly bill A8419, the Farm Laborers Fair Protection Act, signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo on July 17th.  Continue reading

2019 NY Legislative Report Card: Healthcare Justice

Welcome to the second post in our series breaking down what Democrats in Albany achieved (or failed to achieve) in the legislative session, having gained control of both houses and the governor's mansion. Cuomo says they achieved "99.9%" of what they wanted. So...what explains the New York Health Act for single payer going MIA? GPNY 2019 Summer Intern Dylan Lynch explains. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given our penchant for fostering violence, death, and religiously upholding the “infallible” market wherever we leave a trail, the United States willfully and irresponsibly persists as the only “major” nation on the planet to refuse guaranteed healthcare to all its residents through some form of single payer system. To this day, 30,000-45,000 people across the nation die annually from a lack of healthcare – more than the casualty equivalent of a “domestic” Vietnam War every two years. Nearly one million people remain uninsured in New York state alone, while countless more are woefully underinsured, incapable of affording skyrocketing deductibles and prescription drug prices (in fact, fifty-seven-percent of Americans cannot afford a five-hundred-dollar emergency without going into debt, and when we speak of crippling debt we’re really talking about a form of bondage to a system of predatory institutions). Continue reading

2019 NY Legislative Report Card: The Climate Crisis

This post is the first in a series that will break down what Democrats in Albany achieved in the legislative session with their control of both houses and the governor's mansion. Cuomo and other leading Democrats promised "historic" results. Did they deliver? When it comes to the climate crisis, the answer is a resounding "No", as GPNY 2019 Summer Intern Dylan Lynch explains. The response to New York’s passage of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) should not be an unquestioning victory party, but rather a skeptical postmortem. The “landmark” legislation, which promises to cut carbon emissions by 85% of 1990 levels (the further 15% will be covered by carbon offset projects) by 2050, and the Democrats supporting it, practice and promote their own form of odious climate change denial. Theirs is driven by a neoliberal obsession with political “maturity” and “feasibility,” given credence by a political class determined to maintain current socioeconomic power structures into a “greener future” rather than fundamentally alter the relations that have led us into oligarchy and to the brink of climate catastrophe. The CLCPA is the type of milquetoast legislation that offends no one, does just enough to warrant calling it a victory, and changes nothing fundamentally significant about our political realities, present and future alike — leaving us perfectly set up for a “milder” climate catastrophe and potential civilizational collapse than the Republicans would deliver. Continue reading

Participate in Renewing the GPNY Platform

The Green Party of New York will adopt a new platform at our State Committee meeting on May 11, 2019 and the GPNY Platform Committee needs your help to create it! We are inviting all registered Greens in New York State, and GPNY Supporting Members not legally allowed to register, to contribute proposed planks and amendments to the draft platform revision on the topics you know and care about most. This is a great opportunity for you to help sharpen our message with a statement that speaks to the issues that concern you. We also encourage Green Party locals and affiliated counties to discuss and submit their ideas for the new platform. The current platform can be viewed and downloaded at www.gpny.org/our_platform. To facilitate our discussions, GPNY is using an online message board where users can submit and discuss platform ideas. To participate, please fill out the enrollment verification form. Upon verification of your enrollment (or eligibility to participate as a Supporting Member), we'll send you the forum registration link.  Continue reading

It's Howie's Birthday, Let's Celebrate! 🎉

By Michael O'Neil This year I had the honor of managing Howie Hawkin's campaign for Governor of NY. I've worked on Howie's past campaigns, but this was my first opportunity to collaborate with him on a daily basis. I learned so much from Howie, and over the campaign my admiration for his dedication and courage only grew. Today is Howie's birthday, and I hope you'll help me honor Howie by supporting something he cares very deeply about. Howie Hawkins, perhaps more than any other Green in the history of our party, has been a staunch advocate for funding the campaigns and organizing we all care about so much through grassroots methods such as our Supporting Member Dues Program for registered GPNY voters, and sustaining donations from grassroots allies. I hope you will commit to giving through one of those methods today. How much would that matter to Howie? Let me tell you a quick story. Continue reading

Vote Green Party on Tuesday, November 6th

Vote Green Party on Tuesday, November 6th Row or Column D Howie Hawkins and Jia Lee, the Green Party Gubernatorial ticket are the only progressive choice. The only candidates will address the climate crisis and the economy with a Green New Deal for New York. Eliminate high stakes testing, fairly and fully fund our public schools and enact universal single-payer health care. Mark Dunlea, Comptroller candidate is a leader in the fossil fuel divestment campaign and is endorsed by 350.org NYC and Food & Water Watch Action. Michael Sussman, Attorney General candidate is an experienced and dedicated civil rights lawyer. Continue reading