A bevy of youth organizations are pressing lawmakers to pass the “Livable Futures” package—five bills focused on immigration, climate change, housing and transgender rights, crafted in part to push back against Trump administration policies.

Members of several youth organizations with elected officials at the launch of their “Livable Futures” campaign earlier this fall. (Ayman Siam/Office of NYC Comptroller)

This story was produced by an alum of City Limits’ youth journalism training program, CLARIFY (City Limits Accountability Program for Youth)

This fall, 150 New York City youth gathered with elected officials in Brooklyn advocating for lawmakers to pass the “Livable Future” package before the end of this year.

Consisting of five bills focused on immigration, climate change, housing and transgender rights, the group—members of several youth-run organizations, including Fridays For Future NYC and the Youth Alliance for Housing—are pressing for action from the City Council, in part to push back against policies being carried out by President Donald Trump’s administration. 

“The fascists are here. They’re invading our cities, crashing our economy and stealing our futures to sell them to the first bidder,” City Councilmember Chi Ossé said in a short social media video regarding The Livable Future Package. 

Ossé, who was 23 when he was elected three years ago as the Council’s youngest member, said his office worked with the participating youth organizations this summer to help craft the legislation. He described the bills as “municipal solutions to national problems.”

The package has also been championed by other elected officials, including Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and the City Council’s Progressive Caucus voted in October to prioritize the bills for the reminder of this legislative session.

One of the bills, which aims to make it easier for tenant groups and nonprofits to buy distressed buildings, is expected to pass in the coming weeks, as City Limits reported Monday. Another is slated for a Council committee hearing next week. 

But with just two full City Council stated meetings left in 2025, lawmakers have limited time left to act this year.  

Here’s a look at the bills in question, and why young New Yorkers say they’re supporting them. 

Federal immigration officers in The Bronx in January 2025. (Department of Homeland Security photo by Tia Dufour)

Strengthening sanctuary city protections

The first bill introduced by the Livable Future Package is Intro. 214, The New York City Trust Act, which aims to protect New York City’s immigrant population from having their information shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Under President Trump, ICE has aggressively ramped up raids throughout the country, targeting both documented and undocumented people.

New York City’s sanctuary laws restrict how city agencies can share information with ICE, which supporters say ensures that immigrant New Yorkers don’t have to live in the shadows, particularly when it comes to reporting crimes and other abuses. 

However, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and Department of Corrections (DOC)—both law enforcement city agencies, the DOC being responsible for management of those in custody—have been previously accused of violating the laws.  

“New York City has scared people in my community off the streets,” said Hadia Ali, a senior in high school and organizer with the YA-YA Network, a youth organization empowering young people to fight for social and economic justice. “God forbid somebody gets detained or deported.”

Intro. 214 would create a “private right of action,” allowing individuals to file legal complaints, and potentially lawsuits, against any city agency violating their rights under sanctuary rules.

“We have a mayor that’s in the pockets of the federal government, and he’s not interested in upholding the sanctuary city laws that make New York the city that it is,” said Ali, referring to outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, who was facing federal corruption charges until the Trump administration dropped them earlier this year, saying the case interfered with the mayor’s cooperation on the president’s immigration crackdown. 

Adams has also called for reforming the city’s existing sanctuary city laws to allow for more cooperation with ICE, citing concerns about public safety.

“This bill would ensure that under any mayor, not just Adams, that the laws that we have in place are being properly and effectively enforced,” Ali said.

Closing building pollution loopholes

Next in the Livable Futures package is Intro. 1180, which strengthens New York City’s Green New Deal for buildings, Local Law 97. 

Youth organizers with the Livable Futures coalition painting
a sign. (Courtesy of Livable Futures NYC)

The law, passed in 2019, sets increasingly stricter limits on how much pollution large buildings can produce—requiring property owners to green their buildings and lower their emissions, or pay penalties. 

But under program rules set out by Mayor Adams’ administration, building owners can purchase Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset annual building emissions that go over their limits—a response to complaints from real estate groups who said the new rules were too onerous for many landlords to comply with.

But environmental critics say the current REC options are too lax, allowing owners to buy their way out of compliance for up to 50 percent of the pollution they’d otherwise have to clean up.  

Intro. 1180 closes this loophole by further limiting REC purchases, meaning building owners could use them to offset no more than 10 percent of emissions over their property’s limits. Supporters say this would compel more landlords to undertake green retrofits, as Local Law 97 intended. 

“Basically what that means is making sure that we’re still enforcing the law, making sure that buildings are improving their energy efficiency,” said Keanu Arpels-Josiah, an organizer with Fridays For Future (FFF) NYC, a youth-led climate justice organization started in 2018 by Greta Thunberg. 

Expanding community ownership models

The third bill in the package is Intro. 902, The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), which is similar to policies implemented in cities like Washington D.C. and San Francisco.

Under COPA, landlords of certain buildings who wish to sell would be required to notify the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development. It would then give nonprofits, including Community Land Trusts (CLTs)—land-owning nonprofits run by representatives and community members—opportunities to bid on those buildings before they’re available on the wider market. 

In response to concerns from city housing officials, a recently updated version of the bill specifically targets buildings in financial or physical distress or with expiring affordability requirements, and would give the community groups a 45-day head-start to make an offer. 

Buildings owned by a community land trust in the East Village. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Real estate groups oppose the legislation, saying it unfairly advantages nonprofits and would disrupt the local housing market. But supporters say real estate transactions in the city are already deeply skewed in favor of deep-pocketed developers and investors, and that COPA would level the playing field.

“We are seeing landlords who no longer want their ‘investment property’ and [who are] selling it to large corporate landlords that begin demolishing it and putting up luxury high rises,” said Kasey McNaughton, director of Organizing for the Youth Alliance for Housing (YAH), a community organization fighting for affordable housing and tenants’ rights.

McNaughton has been with YAH for two and a half years, but has been organizing since she was in high school. “A good portion of our city, our neighbors and our community are rent burdened, and I believe that is fully caused by a system, and a history of a country, that has allowed real estate to continuously put profits over people,” she said.

“[Qualified nonprofits and CLTs] want to be able to purchase these buildings from landlords before big corporations or big real estate conglomerates do, and COPA gives them the first chance to do so.”

Shoring up protections for transgender New Yorkers in jail

The final bills—Intro. 625 and Intro. 1027—secure the rights of Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, Nonbinary and Intersex (TGNCNBI) individuals in New York City jails overseen by the Department of Correction. A similar bill introduced by lawmakers in Albany would apply to New York State prisons, if passed.  

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), transgender inmates are at higher risk for sexual and physical abuses while incarcerated. 

Intro. 625 ensures that TGNCNBI people in city jails are housed safely in accordance with their gender identity and where they feel most safe, while Intro. 1027 ensures they can access gender affirming care and commissary while behind bars. 

These bills also create a private right to action, allowing those harmed by a correctional institution’s failure to comply with these laws to more easily seek justice. 

“In the past eight months we have been constantly under attack. While yes, over time, the queer community has gained more acceptance and progress; we have regressed so far in terms of our rights and safety since Trump’s first term just because of the amount of legislation being passed targeting us,” stated Lorelei Crean, an internationally recognized transgender activist. 

Crean is a lead political organizer for NYC Youth for Trans Rights, a nonprofit started in 2023 after the murder of Brianna Ghey, a transgender teen from the United Kingdom. They have been an activist since childhood, joining the organization in 2024 after Trump’s re-election. 

“We the youth are saying that we want a livable future, that we want to feel safe and protected in our future,” said Crean.

Arpels-Josiah, with FFF NYC, said the legislative package as a whole, “is about understanding the future we are fighting for as a generation, as a youth movement.”

“It’s also a future where all these basic human rights are guaranteed, where we’re able to go home and study and afford the rent,” he said. 

With additional reporting by Jeanmarie Evelly.

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org. Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post 5 Bills NYC Youth Want the City Council to Pass Before the Year Ends appeared first on City Limits.

By Jarrell Dillard, Bloomberg News

U.S. companies shed payrolls in November by the most since early 2023, adding to concerns about a more pronounced weakening in the labor market.

Private-sector payrolls decreased by 32,000, according to ADP Research data released Wednesday. Payrolls have now fallen four times in the last six months. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 10,000 gain.

Wednesday’s weak ADP report risks heightening concerns of a more rapid deterioration in the labor market ahead of the Federal Reserve’s final policy meeting of the year next week. It could hold more sway than usual as one of the few up-to-date reports officials will have by then, as the shutdown delayed the government’s November jobs report.

Policymakers have been torn as to whether they’ll cut interest rates for a third straight meeting as they attempt to balance the slowdown in the job market with still-elevated inflation. Investors, however, widely expect the Fed to lower borrowing costs next week.

“I think it’s still probably going to be a pretty divided decision,” said Veronica Clark, an economist at Citigroup Inc. The expectation is there will be a rate cut, but the guidance will be more hawkish, she said, as the Fed will also provide fresh quarterly economic projections at the meeting.

The S&P 500 opened down and Treasury yields remained lower.

“Hiring has been choppy of late as employers weather cautious consumers and an uncertain macroeconomic environment,” Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP and a contributor to Bloomberg Television, said in a statement. “And while November’s slowdown was broad-based, it was led by a pullback among small businesses.”

Companies with fewer than 50 employees shed 120,000 jobs, the report showed. That’s the largest one-month decline since May 2020. Establishments with 50 or more employees increased headcount.

Professional and business services led the decline in payrolls, followed by information and manufacturing. Hiring in education and health services increased.

Until recently, economists have largely said the labor market is in a state of low hiring and low firing. But a number of large companies like Apple Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. have recently cut workers or announced plans to do so, which risks driving unemployment higher.

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Wage growth

The ADP report, published in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, showed wage growth cooled. Workers who changed jobs saw a 6.3% increase in pay, the lowest since February 2021. Those who stayed put saw a 4.4% gain. ADP bases its findings on payrolls covering more than 26 million U.S. private-sector employees.

With the labor market top of mind for Fed officials, policymakers will also be keenly paying attention to other data sources. Initial applications for unemployment benefits are still relatively low, while employment declined slightly in the Fed’s latest Beige Book survey of regional business contacts.

The November jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, originally due Dec. 5, will now come out Dec. 16 as data collection was halted during the record-long shutdown. That report will also include nonfarm payrolls for October since BLS is skipping a full release for that month, as it couldn’t collect certain data retroactively.

In addition to the monthly reports, ADP recently started releasing separate data on a weekly basis. Payrolls declined in each of the last three readings.

With assistance from Julia Fanzeres and Chris Middleton.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press

Plans to stay and soak in the wintry wonderland at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim? You will have to wait.

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Visitors won’t be able to stay overnight in the national park’s oldest hotel or its lodges starting Saturday because of multiple breaks in the park’s only water line. With no water being pumped to the South Rim, park officials say the limited resources need to be conserved.

This marks only the second time the park has had to halt overnight stays because of water supply issues, although the pipeline has experienced frequent failures over the years as it has long exceeded its expected life span. In August 2024, park officials took unprecedented action and imposed water restrictions that forced the sudden shutdown of overnight hotel stays during one of the busiest times of the year.

Under the current restrictions, visitors can’t stay at places that include El Tovar Hotel, Bright Angel Lodge and Maswik Lodge, and water is unavailable at campgrounds. For park staff and the 2,500 year-round residents of Grand Canyon Village, it means short showers, less toilet flushing and turning off faucets while shaving or brushing teeth.

How long will the wait be? Park officials hope not long.

“If all planned work proceeds without additional issues, we anticipate being able to restore water service and begin reopening overnight lodging as early as next week,” park spokesperson Joëlle Baird said in an email.

Despite fresh snowfall Wednesday, welding repairs were underway, and the repair schedule called for flushing and recharging the system over the coming days.

In the meantime, day visitors are still welcome, and there is lodging available outside the park.

While winter is a slower season, more than 41,000 people used overnight lodging in the park last December. In all, the Grand Canyon saw nearly 5 million visitors in 2024, with about 90% of them going to the South Rim.

The 12.5 mile-long Transcanyon Waterline is the primary water source for park residents, staff and tourists. Originally built in the 1960s, it has been a maintenance priority for years, and a portion of park entrance fees is set aside to help with costs.

A $208 million rehabilitation of the pipeline and upgrades to the associated water delivery system started in 2023, with the National Park Service calling it a crucial investment to ensure the park can meet the needs of residents and visitors. The project is expected to be completed in 2027.

The city of Rosemount and its police chief have severed ties, two months after he was put on leave amid complaints city officials say were levied against him in an anonymous employee engagement survey.

The city council on Tuesday approved Mikael Dahlstrom’s resignation and a separation agreement, which includes severance and benefits pay totaling just over $164,000.

Mikael Dahlstrom (Courtesy of the City of Rosemount)

Dahlstrom, a 20-year Rosemount police veteran, was put on paid administrative leave Oct. 1, with the city announcing the move two days later on its website in a brief statement that gave no explanation as to why it was made.

The city in a second brief statement on Oct. 21 said that it “received several internal complaints” about Dahlstrom and that it was reviewing them. The statement said that per the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, the existence and status of the complaints are public, but complainants’ names, the nature of the complaints and other related information are not.

The separation agreement was approved as part of the city council’s consent agenda, so it wasn’t discussed on the record prior to its approval.

However, Mayor Jeff Weisensel read a prepared statement, explaining “the city received several complaints via an employee engagement survey. We understand that our community is highly aware of this situation and I want to assure you that our city council here takes this issue very seriously.”

City spokeswoman Lee Stoffel said Wednesday the survey was sent to all city employees in August through the civic engagement online platform Polco, and that it was voluntary and anonymous. She said the survey won’t be made public.

“Our legal counsel has confirmed through the state that we won’t be required to release the survey results,” she said. “And because the survey was given on the basis of anonymity, we’ll stand by that promise to our employees.”

The survey, which closed on Aug. 17, included asking employees to rate several aspects of their jobs and their supervisor’s performance. It also asked in which department they worked and if they had “additional comments, concerns or suggestions to help improve your experience” with the city.

‘City takes workplace culture seriously’

Dahlstrom was promoted to chief in June 2019, following 13 years with the department. He’d been a patrol officer, South Metro SWAT team leader, investigations sergeant and commander.

Attempts to reach Dahlstrom on Wednesday for comment were unsuccessful.

Regarding the payout, City Administrator Logan Martin said in a city council memo prepared before Tuesday’s meeting that “the terms agreed to are common practice in municipal government.”

Dahlstrom will receive six months’ salary of about $96,600, a year of health and dental insurance of $14,100, unused vacation pay of $19,700, and unused sick time, which will be put into his state health care savings account, totaling about $33,500.

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“We trust our staff and our leadership on this matter,” Weisensel, the city’s mayor, said in his statement. “Supporting a culture of high performance is a core pillar of our strategic plan. Morale, teamwork and personal accountability are just as important to our mission as the results that we deliver.”

Deputy Chief Carson Thomas was appointed interim chief upon Dahlstrom’s leave and will remain in the role until a permanent chief is chosen, the city said in a statement following Monday’s council action.

“The city takes our workplace culture seriously,” city administrator Martin said in the statement. “Our focus now is on supporting staff, maintaining stability and continuing to provide the high level of public safety our community expects. We are committed to fostering a positive and healthy work environment as we move forward.”