Results tagged “aid”

After an earthquake in central Italy has left over 200 dead, injured hundreds, and made thousands homeless, New York's Italian-American community is mobilizing to lend a hand. Queens College's Maria Fosco told NY1, "The towns there are very old towns, medieval towns. These are old Roman cities, they're not equipped to handle earthquakes," which is why Italian-American Museum president Dr. Joseph Scelsa said, "They will be devastated. The housing will not hold up. We know that people will be homeless as they were in 1980. I worked on the relief fund with Mario Cuomo at the time when he was lieutenant governor. We sent aid over to Italy and we know we're going to have to do that again." (NY1 has details on donations to the IAM.) According to the American Red Cross, it is "ready to provide further assistance if requested. The Italian Red Cross has not yet asked for international assistance."

Mayor Bloomberg is bringing his bottom-line approach to governance to the issue of poverty; specifically, where is the poverty line and who is below it? The Mayor is dissatisfied with the current federal standard for judging who is poor and who is not, which is based on the cost of groceries to feed a family. The current federal standard is 42 years old and criticized by many as totally off-base and outdated, especially since it discounts other costs of living, such as rent, utilities, and childcare.