On April 25th, VOCAL-NY joined ACT UP for a march marking their 25th anniversary that called for a Financial Speculation Tax, also known as the “Robin Hood Tax,” to fund domestic and global healthcare, including universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment. A Robin Hood Tax would raise revenue to save lives while discouraging speculative activity that helped [...]

VOCAL-NY Board member Wayne Starks spoke about living with HIV/AIDS in an age of austerity and called on the top 1% to pay their fair share during our tax day protestin April. Watch the speech below.    

Progressive groups question CEO lobby for Cuomo April 23, 2012 Albany, NY — Two of New York’s growing progressive groups said Monday that a committee of CEOs lobbying on behalf of Gov. Andrew Cuomo is really a “Super PAC” for wealthy interests that a state regulatory board has failed to investigate. Community Voices Heard and [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 16, 2012 Contact: Jeremy Saunders, (917) 676-8041, jeremy@vocal-ny.org | Chris Keeley, (917) 847-3625, chris@CVHaction.org ‘99% Spring’ Holds April 16 Rush Hour Rally to Demand Fair Economy, Passage of the ‘Buffet Rule’ on Eve of Major Tax Day Actions For more photos, visit VOCAL-NY’s Flickr here. For video coverage, visit VOCAL-NY’s YouTube [...]

VOCAL, CVH and 99% Spring Allies march to 1%er Bruce Kovner’s Home For more photos, visit VOCAL-NY’s Flickr album here. For video coverage, visit VOCAL-NY’s YouTube page here. New York – More than 150 New Yorkers marched to the home of a Wall Street 1%er, Bruce Kovner, to demand he pay his fair share of [...]

Ramon Velasquez crossed over on March 27th at a nursing home in Staten Island. He was a longterm survivor of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C and a fierce community activist. A service will be held on March 29th from 6pm – 8pm at Brooklyn Funeral home at 2380 Pacific Street. Ramon is survived by his brother, daughter, [...]

On March 20th, Occupy Albany and VOCAL-NY directed their frustration over corruption in the capitol at one of Albany’s great enablers this morning, protesting longtime conservative talk show host and News Corp. employee Fred Dicker for his continued parroting of Governor Cuomo’s pro-corporate agenda favoring the 1%. State police held back the protestors while Governor 1% [...]

Ethics Complaint Against Governor Cuomo & Committee to Scam New York Today, on March 14, 2012, as reports indicate that the “big ugly” nears (the huge negotiated agreement among the leaders in Albany), Community Voices Heard and VOCAL-NY submit a request to the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, or JCOPE, regarding the relationship between [...]

Indypendent – Occupy 2.0: Movement to Occupy Vacant Houses Spreads BY: JAISAL NOOR | JANUARY 10, 2012 JAISAL NOOR, JOURNALIST: In New York, Occupy Wall Street is continuing to shift its focus away from occupying parks and squares to other actions, such as occupying homes. In Brooklyn, New York, an occupation of a vacant home has [...]

VOCAL-NY joined a large coalition of community, labor, student, faith and Occupy organizations on January 9th to launch a new campaign that will raise $1 billion in revenue for jobs and safety net programs by closing corporate tax loopholes. View a list of New York’s worst corporate tax dodgers here. Media coverage included YNN Capitol Region [...]

They may lack heat and a consistent water supply, but the vacant dwellings aren’t as ‘depressing,’ as one New York mother puts it. Advocates say the number of squatters nationwide is rising. By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times | December 21, 2011, 4:09 p.m. Reporting from New York— Slips of paper are pasted to the broken door of the [...]

 MSNBC’s Up With Chris Hayes Story Of the Week: The Foreclosure Tsunami MSNBC host Chris Hayes interviewed VOCAL-NY community organizer Alfredo Carrasquillo about the national Occupy Our Homes campaign to defend foreclosed homeowners from eviction and fill vacant bank-owned properties with homeless families. Alfredo is currently occupying a vacant home at 702 Vermont St. in East [...]