House Democrats on Tuesday will unveil a new task force that party leaders hope will reboot their messaging strategy ahead of 2016. Democrats lost 13 seats on Election Day, and there has been strong criticism from within the Democratic Caucus that the party’s message was badly out of step with the American public.   Minority […]

Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) and Yvette Clarke (NY-09)– both co-chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus Immigration Reform Task Force — held a press conference on Friday at the Shirley Chisholm State Office Building to convey words of support and praise for the executive order passed by President Obama on Thursday that will now allow millions […]

CITY HALL — Police Commissioner William Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio heaped praise Wednesday on Benjamin Tucker, the new pick as the NYPD’s First Deputy Commissioner following Friday’s abrupt resignation of Philip Banks III. But the response from politicians and community leaders has been lukewarm at best. Banks, the chief of department and a […]

Not long after Philip Banks III, the New York Police Department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, abruptly resigned on Friday, Mayor Bill de Blasio phoned several black elected officials to convey his disappointment. By then, Mr. Banks, who is African-American, was already telling people that he resigned because he believed the police commissioner, William J. Bratton, was […]

For all the rebuilding since Superstorm Sandy, damaged houses of worship have been left out in the cold due to federal prohibitions on direct aid to religious institutions. An attempt to amend the law and allow for such assistance in the case of natural disasters passed in the House but died in the Senate, and […]

Community leaders in Brooklyn say a church there has been ignored in the two years since Sandy damaged it. The pastor of the United Community Baptist Church in Coney Island says he needs about $2.5 million to repair the building. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries sent letters to the four biggest banks in the country asking for […]

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is considering a request to investigate whether the NYPD’s controversial “broken windows” crime-fighting strategy violates the civil rights of black and Hispanic New Yorkers, the Daily News has learned. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Peter J. Kadzik said the matter had been referred to the division in […]

The issues of Black folks only take center stage a few times a year in any substantive and collective way: the annual NAACP convention, the National Action Network convention, maybe a fraternity or sorority event, (R.I.P. to Tavis’ “State of Black America”)…Alas, for the most part, our needs as a collective don’t merit a lot of large […]

Twelve House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Wednesday demanding “the highest level of transparency” concerning how the league investigated the Ray Rice domestic violence incident. Goodell made clear in interviews Tuesday night with USA TODAY Sports and CBS that he does not feel his job is in […]

For some New Yorkers, there are broken windows wherever they go. Critics of the NYPD’s aggressive policing of quality-of-life offenses to prevent more serious ones — a strategy known as “broken windows” — say it has created a tale of two cities, one primarily populated by whites, where minor infractions like drinking on a stoop […]