Our Latest

On June 26, 2017, we held a press conference with Public Advocate Tish James and officials from the NYC Commission on Civil Rights and NYC Department of Veterans' Services celebrating the unanimous passage of Intro. 1259, which will protect veterans and servicemembers from discrimination in housing, employment, and other facets of life in NYC. Our members took the stage to talk about their personal experiences with pervasive discrimination, and why this law will make a tremendous difference in their lives:

WE DID IT! Intro. 1259 is our FIRST BILL to originate with our membership--and it was passed today by NYC Council! 1259 was developed by our team, brought to introduction, pushed by our membership, opened to hearing, and finally voted to passage today thanks to the hard work of our members and team. We give our hearty thanks and congratulations to all of our members who gave input, took action, and supported our efforts with your dues and donations. This would not have been possible without you!

On June 20, 2017, the NYC Council Committee on General Welfare held a hearing on Int. 855-A, which proposes to automate access to services for the most vulnerable New Yorkers. 

Below is the testimony of our Director of Operations:

On June 20, 2017, the NYC Council held a hearing in consideration of the needs of veterans in small business. Below is the testimony of our Founding Director:

Our city protects New Yorkers from discrimination against their age, citizenship, color, disability, gender, gender identity, marital or partnership status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Our laws also prohibit employment discrimination based on arrest or incarceration record, caregiver status, or credit history. NYC government even has a new poster campaign showing that raccoons are also New Yorkers.

After negotiation with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, the NYC Council announced today that the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget is now finalized.

Earlier this year we set a Spring Agenda that included protecting and increasing NYC's budget for veterans, and adoption of a needed exemption from rising school taxes for veteran homeowners. We're both proud and grateful to our members and allies who helped us achieve results for our community.

Take a look at what's in the new budget for veterans, which will take effect on July 1, 2017:

A key piece of our Spring Policy Agenda was inclusion of the Alternative (School Tax) Exemption for Veterans in the city's budget for Fiscal Year 2018--and we're proud to announce that this was included in the final $85 billion budget deal reached by the Mayor and NYC Council last Friday evening!

Thanks to our member, Vietnam veteran, longtime advocate, and proud Staten Islander Lee Covino for leading the charge on this. Thanks to everyone who lobbied with us this spring, who rallied with us at the "Love Our Veterans" Rally on Valentine's Day, who testified and rallied and supported this legislative effort last December, who called and wrote letters to their representatives last fall, and who initially met with us at our stakeholder meeting on this important issue last July.

Special thanks to Council Member Steven Matteo for leading on this in NYC Council and his continuous advocacy for the more than 58,000 veteran homeowners who will now be entitled to long overdue tax relief. 

On April 29-30, we hosted more than 30 veterans and spouses at the first-ever NYC Veteran Candidate Workshop at Civic Hall, an intensive training event that included guest speakers, panels, and interactive conversations and activities with political and communications professionals and current and former elected officials. 

On Friday, April 28, 2017, the NYC Veterans Alliance, in partnership with Civic Hall and Veterans Campaign, hosted a Conversation on Service-Driven Political Leadership featuring Hon. Patrick Murphy, the first post-9/11 veteran elected to the U.S. Congress, and Hon. Charles Rangel, a decorated Korean War veteran who served 46 years in Congress.

Mr. Murphy talked with us about his service as a Solider in Iraq, followed by his service in the U.S. Congress from 2007 to 2011, as well as his work as Acting Secretary and then Undersecretary of the United States Army 2016-2017. Mr. Rangel told us some of his lesser-told stories of service in the Korean War, including his harrowing experience in the Battle of Kunu-ri and his actions as a private first class for which he was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor.

On April 29th and 30th, 2017, we will host the inaugural NYC Veteran Candidate Workshop in partnership with Veterans Campaign and Civic Hall. We will provide nonpartisan training for approximately 40 veterans and spouses from NYC and around the country to teach them the fundamentals of running for elected office.

CLICK HERE to help individual participants of our workshop as they "crowdraise" their tuition costs!

We've brought in a number of highly accomplished speakers, presenters, panelists, and distinguished visitors with diverse political and professional backgrounds to provide the highest quality training to our weekend participants: