
New York City Council Members Carmen De La Rosa, Shahana Hanif, and Sandy Nurse join over 150 young leaders and elected officials, including NYC Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, in launching the Livable Future Package on September 2.
New York City Is at a Crossroads, and Its Youth Are Ready to Lead
The New York City Council Progressive Caucus endorses a landmark legislative package of youth priorities: “a road map for our youth movements in cities everywhere.”
In New York City, things seem to be falling apart. Prospect Park and Van Cortland Park are on fire; 6-year-old students, high school seniors, and college students are being detained and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement; gender-affirming care remains out of reach for many, and trans hate is escalating.
This is our future under governments led by the likes of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and President Donald Trump. It’s one of fear, climate disaster, fascism, genocide, unaffordability, and violence. It’s not one we will accept.
That’s why this September, dozens of New York City youth organizations, New York City Council members, and 150 youth leaders came together to chart a new vision for our interconnected movements, unveiling the Livable Future Package. Now, the New York City Council Progressive Caucus, a 17-member bloc of elected officials, joins our campaign centered on the four most urgent crises facing New York City youth.
The priorities include 1) the NYC Trust Act, which will strengthen enforcement of our sanctuary city laws. 2) Intro 1180 to lower utility bills and hold ultra-wealthy landlords accountable by enforcing our landmark 2019 climate and energy efficiency law. 3) The Community Opportunity Purchase Act, which will give community organizations the first chance to purchase buildings, providing youth communities a pathway to stable housing over corporate speculation. Lastly, 4) City G.I.R.D.S. and a companion bill to make sure that young trans, non-binary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming New Yorkers in the jail and prison systems have access to housing decisions aligning with their identity and to gender-affirming medication and items.
“We grew up in New York. We want to stay here, and I want to be proud of the place I am from.”
This is a model for a city government that stands up for our generation in the face of fascism and won’t back down from the fight for a city we can afford.
The Livable Future coalition spans both traditional movement divides and the five boroughs. Our coalition, from middle schoolers to young adults newly entering the workforce to sitting NYC Council members, collectively shares in the belief that a livable future is possible. Our future is not just 100 years into the future; it’s 2026, 2030, and every minute in between.
'A Road Map for Our Youth Movements in Cities Across the Country'

Our campaign presents a road map for our youth movements in cities across the country. From New York City to Los Angeles, Chicago to DC, and Houston to Philadelphia, we can and we must organize our cities as fortresses against encroaching oligarchical fascism.
Leaders across New York City have already taken note of our organizing, joining us at our launch event in September and for rallies outside City Hall.
As youth-leader Emma Rehac of Youth Alliance for Housing said at one of these events, “We grew up in New York. We want to stay here, and I want to be proud of the place I am from.”
“The Livable Future Package is about ensuring New York is a city that stands up for all our communities. We deserve to afford to grow old in the neighborhoods we grew up in, to live in a place that defends against detention and deportation—somewhere that takes action to fight the climate crisis and for affordability, and ensures our basic human rights are protected no matter our gender identity.”
Our work on the package is just beginning. The Council, led by Speaker Adrienne Adams, and the mayor have a choice.
Will they stand by as our city capitulates to Trump? As ICE floods our schools, and our future disappears? Or, will they join us and pass the Livable Future Package by the end of the year?
We hope they will help us build a city that stands up, that fights back, and charts a livable, affordable future for the next generation.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just four days to go in our Spring Campaign, we are not even halfway to our goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
In New York City, things seem to be falling apart. Prospect Park and Van Cortland Park are on fire; 6-year-old students, high school seniors, and college students are being detained and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement; gender-affirming care remains out of reach for many, and trans hate is escalating.
This is our future under governments led by the likes of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and President Donald Trump. It’s one of fear, climate disaster, fascism, genocide, unaffordability, and violence. It’s not one we will accept.
That’s why this September, dozens of New York City youth organizations, New York City Council members, and 150 youth leaders came together to chart a new vision for our interconnected movements, unveiling the Livable Future Package. Now, the New York City Council Progressive Caucus, a 17-member bloc of elected officials, joins our campaign centered on the four most urgent crises facing New York City youth.
The priorities include 1) the NYC Trust Act, which will strengthen enforcement of our sanctuary city laws. 2) Intro 1180 to lower utility bills and hold ultra-wealthy landlords accountable by enforcing our landmark 2019 climate and energy efficiency law. 3) The Community Opportunity Purchase Act, which will give community organizations the first chance to purchase buildings, providing youth communities a pathway to stable housing over corporate speculation. Lastly, 4) City G.I.R.D.S. and a companion bill to make sure that young trans, non-binary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming New Yorkers in the jail and prison systems have access to housing decisions aligning with their identity and to gender-affirming medication and items.
“We grew up in New York. We want to stay here, and I want to be proud of the place I am from.”
This is a model for a city government that stands up for our generation in the face of fascism and won’t back down from the fight for a city we can afford.
The Livable Future coalition spans both traditional movement divides and the five boroughs. Our coalition, from middle schoolers to young adults newly entering the workforce to sitting NYC Council members, collectively shares in the belief that a livable future is possible. Our future is not just 100 years into the future; it’s 2026, 2030, and every minute in between.
'A Road Map for Our Youth Movements in Cities Across the Country'

Our campaign presents a road map for our youth movements in cities across the country. From New York City to Los Angeles, Chicago to DC, and Houston to Philadelphia, we can and we must organize our cities as fortresses against encroaching oligarchical fascism.
Leaders across New York City have already taken note of our organizing, joining us at our launch event in September and for rallies outside City Hall.
As youth-leader Emma Rehac of Youth Alliance for Housing said at one of these events, “We grew up in New York. We want to stay here, and I want to be proud of the place I am from.”
“The Livable Future Package is about ensuring New York is a city that stands up for all our communities. We deserve to afford to grow old in the neighborhoods we grew up in, to live in a place that defends against detention and deportation—somewhere that takes action to fight the climate crisis and for affordability, and ensures our basic human rights are protected no matter our gender identity.”
Our work on the package is just beginning. The Council, led by Speaker Adrienne Adams, and the mayor have a choice.
Will they stand by as our city capitulates to Trump? As ICE floods our schools, and our future disappears? Or, will they join us and pass the Livable Future Package by the end of the year?
We hope they will help us build a city that stands up, that fights back, and charts a livable, affordable future for the next generation.
- Democratic Civil War: NYC Mayor's Race Will Define Who Runs the Party in 2026 ›
- Climate Experts Urge Democrats to Embrace 'Green Economic Populism' for 2028 ›
- 'Fighting for a Livable Future': Amazon Workers at Minnesota Warehouse Organize Strike for Next Week's #PrimeDay ›
- 'Ready to Fight' for Climate, Students Walk Out Over Trump ›
- Calling for End of "War Against Nature," Greta Thunberg's Arrival in US Brings Swell of Attention to Global Climate Strike ›
In New York City, things seem to be falling apart. Prospect Park and Van Cortland Park are on fire; 6-year-old students, high school seniors, and college students are being detained and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement; gender-affirming care remains out of reach for many, and trans hate is escalating.
This is our future under governments led by the likes of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and President Donald Trump. It’s one of fear, climate disaster, fascism, genocide, unaffordability, and violence. It’s not one we will accept.
That’s why this September, dozens of New York City youth organizations, New York City Council members, and 150 youth leaders came together to chart a new vision for our interconnected movements, unveiling the Livable Future Package. Now, the New York City Council Progressive Caucus, a 17-member bloc of elected officials, joins our campaign centered on the four most urgent crises facing New York City youth.
The priorities include 1) the NYC Trust Act, which will strengthen enforcement of our sanctuary city laws. 2) Intro 1180 to lower utility bills and hold ultra-wealthy landlords accountable by enforcing our landmark 2019 climate and energy efficiency law. 3) The Community Opportunity Purchase Act, which will give community organizations the first chance to purchase buildings, providing youth communities a pathway to stable housing over corporate speculation. Lastly, 4) City G.I.R.D.S. and a companion bill to make sure that young trans, non-binary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming New Yorkers in the jail and prison systems have access to housing decisions aligning with their identity and to gender-affirming medication and items.
“We grew up in New York. We want to stay here, and I want to be proud of the place I am from.”
This is a model for a city government that stands up for our generation in the face of fascism and won’t back down from the fight for a city we can afford.
The Livable Future coalition spans both traditional movement divides and the five boroughs. Our coalition, from middle schoolers to young adults newly entering the workforce to sitting NYC Council members, collectively shares in the belief that a livable future is possible. Our future is not just 100 years into the future; it’s 2026, 2030, and every minute in between.
'A Road Map for Our Youth Movements in Cities Across the Country'

Our campaign presents a road map for our youth movements in cities across the country. From New York City to Los Angeles, Chicago to DC, and Houston to Philadelphia, we can and we must organize our cities as fortresses against encroaching oligarchical fascism.
Leaders across New York City have already taken note of our organizing, joining us at our launch event in September and for rallies outside City Hall.
As youth-leader Emma Rehac of Youth Alliance for Housing said at one of these events, “We grew up in New York. We want to stay here, and I want to be proud of the place I am from.”
“The Livable Future Package is about ensuring New York is a city that stands up for all our communities. We deserve to afford to grow old in the neighborhoods we grew up in, to live in a place that defends against detention and deportation—somewhere that takes action to fight the climate crisis and for affordability, and ensures our basic human rights are protected no matter our gender identity.”
Our work on the package is just beginning. The Council, led by Speaker Adrienne Adams, and the mayor have a choice.
Will they stand by as our city capitulates to Trump? As ICE floods our schools, and our future disappears? Or, will they join us and pass the Livable Future Package by the end of the year?
We hope they will help us build a city that stands up, that fights back, and charts a livable, affordable future for the next generation.
- Democratic Civil War: NYC Mayor's Race Will Define Who Runs the Party in 2026 ›
- Climate Experts Urge Democrats to Embrace 'Green Economic Populism' for 2028 ›
- 'Fighting for a Livable Future': Amazon Workers at Minnesota Warehouse Organize Strike for Next Week's #PrimeDay ›
- 'Ready to Fight' for Climate, Students Walk Out Over Trump ›
- Calling for End of "War Against Nature," Greta Thunberg's Arrival in US Brings Swell of Attention to Global Climate Strike ›

