It’s Friday — yay! That means it’s time for another edition to The Weekly Wrap, our round up of stories that explain the problems oppressing people in cities and elevate the solutions bringing us closer to economic, environmental and social justice.

ICYMI: We co-published our first story in our disability justice series, “Disability Justice For All,” which will cover how people of color are leading a disability justice movement in American cities, making strides toward equity in housing, mobility, labor, health care and beyond. Shout out to our partners at Prism for collaborating with us on this project!

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New York City Is Rejecting More ‘One-Shot’ Rent Assistance Claims

Gothamist reports that New York City has been denying “one-shot deal” rent payments to tenants in arrears at a higher rate than in years past. According to the outlet, “During the first nine months of 2022, the city’s Department of Social Services rejected two-thirds of the 50,585 applications it received” for one-shot deals, twice the rate at which they were denied in 2018. The decrease in approvals comes as the city says it has over 100,000 people in the shelter system, driven in part by an influx of asylum seekers.

And Mayor Eric Adams is currently in a back and forth with the city council over his decision to veto a set of bills that would have expanded voucher eligibility. The mayor penned a New York Daily News op-ed explaining his opposition, leading the city council to publicly fact-check the mayor’s reasoning and his stated track record on housing.

Amazon Labor Union Rift Results In Legal Complaint

Members of the Amazon Labor Union, or ALU, have filed a federal complaint asking the court to force the ALU to hold new elections for leadership, the New York Times reports. A group within the ALU calling themselves the ALU Democratic Reform caucus is taking issue with union leader Christian Smalls, who they say is refusing to hold elections for union officers. Smalls told the Times that the complaint was “a ridiculous claim with zero facts or merit.” The plaintiffs filing the complaint include a co-founder of the union, the union’s former organizing director and dozens of other active union members.

At issue is a union constitution that was initially presented to workers that would have called for elections to be held immediately and a later constitution presented to workers calling for elections only after the ALU ratified a contract with Amazon. The former document was never voted on by the union, and the introduction of the latter led to a rift that developed last fall. Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Amazon for refusing to bargain with the ALU.

A Public Bank In New York City Would Boost Jobs, Report Says

A new report from the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs looked at the potential impact of a public bank on the city’s finances. It found that with a deposit of $6.5 billion, the bank could have an impact of 70,600 new jobs, 24,900 of which would be permanent. It would also lead to 17,000 new or rehabilitated housing units and would result in $5.8 billion in lending to local credit unions and community banks.

A public bank would hold municipal deposits rather than personal or business deposits and, ideally, there would be more community input on how to invest the city’s money than there is through the private banks where the city currently keeps its money. The New York Public Banking Act, currently sitting in a committee of the state legislature, would set up a regulatory framework for cities to set up their own public banks.

Utah To Pilot Per Mile Driver Fee

Streetsblog reports that Utah will pilot a program for a system that could eventually charge drivers fees based on granular, individualized data on where they drive, how far they drive, what roads they take and more. The process relies on a GPS dongle installed in cars that will track their driving habits, relaying the information back to local governments who would then provide each driver with a fee that would be used to subsidize roads, bridges or other transit infrastructure. The technology for the pilot was developed by a Brooklyn-based company called ClearRoad, which told the outlet that it anticipates governments will eventually be able to provide a daily usage fee that could replace bridge tolls or gas taxes.

According to the Utah Department of Transportation, the pilot is currently optional and only for electric or hybrid vehicles, and would replace the annual fee that drivers in the state already pay when they renew their license. The pilot charges drivers per mile and the amount would never exceed the amount they already pay for the aforementioned driver fee. The pilot was enabled through $3.245 million in federal grants.

Biden Administration Makes $660 Million Available To Plug Oil Wells

Grist reports that the Biden administration will make $660 million from the 2021 infrastructure bill available to plug abandoned oil wells. If the wells aren’t filled in, they can leak hazardous materials. According to Grist, “A growing body of research has shown that orphaned oil wells are a major source of planet-warming emissions, since the steel and concrete walls that reinforce them are prone to cracking over time and releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas.”

A Reuters investigation found that in 2018 alone abandoned wells leaked 280,000 tons of methane into the atmosphere. While fossil fuel companies are required to plug these wells, many do not or file for bankruptcy before doing so, according to Grist, leading to an estimated 2 to 3 million abandoned oil wells across the country.

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Curated by Deonna Anderson

MORE NEWS AND RESOURCES

• For people experiencing homelessness, exposure to dangerous air is an everyday occurrence. “As the climate crisis intensifies, unhoused people could be exposed to even more dangerous conditions with long-term effects.” Grist

• The San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee released its final recommendations to the city’s Board of Supervisors and Mayor London Breed last Friday. The board plans to hold a public meeting on Sept. 19 to discuss the final plan’s ideas. San Francisco Public Press

• The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust announced a call for contributors for Detours: A Decolonial Guide to the Indigenous Bay Area, a co-edited volume in the Detours series of decolonial guidebooks at Duke University Press. Learn more about what they’re looking for here.

EVENTS

• The Urban Institute is hosting a conversation about how local leaders are using its upward mobility framework to make progress on economic equity in communities. Wednesday, July 19 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. Learn more and register here.

• Also, don’t forget to check out Next City’s upcoming events here.