Hello everyone! We're the union for MLex and we're expanding our fight for a fair contract to Bluesky! Today we delivered this letter to management demanding they stop misclassifying members of our unit, with 100% of our membership signing.

This is fantastic news for Patrick and NYC. Some of my favorite stories at City Limits were our collabs. This beat needs stars and Patrick is one!!

"We look forward to the opportunity to present to the jury... how OpenAI and Microsoft are profiting wildly and exorbitantly from stealing the original content of newspapers across the country." On today's order preserving copyright infringement claims: content.mlex.com#/content/164...

This week, I got a crash course in FERC and the power grid. So much to unpack here! content.mlex.com#/content/163... "It comes down to who profits from new data centers and who pays for the energy and infrastructure costs for data centers."

I wrote about what potential #HUD budget cuts and layoffs will mean for #housing programs around the country. With thanks to Mayor @melaniekebler.bsky.social, @mollygoodman.bsky.social , and others. #HousingCrisis

"That sounded more like a politician than a science guy, but OK." Coverage from Michael Kratsios' confirmation hearing to head Trump's Office of Science and Technology Policy: content.mlex.com#/content/163...

Much to mull in the Judge's nearly 70-page decision, but @mlexclusive.com's @eawhitford.bsky.social broke down the import of the Judge's key finding down nicely:

From my colleague @realchoonsik.bsky.social, who spoke with the director of South Korea's AI Safety Institute. Per their convo, US AISI did have a rep at the Paris action summit, though it wasn't widely advertised: content.mlex.com#/content/163...

From @frankhersey.bsky.social, on what he saw in Paris: "US Vice President JD Vance summed it up in his speech: 'I'm not here this morning to talk about AI safety, which was the title of the conference a couple of years ago. I'm here to talk about AI opportunity.'"

@markey.senate.gov at State of the Net, talking about tech's "walled garden": "Big Tech threatens to become Big AI" and "AI should stand for All Included. That's not going to be the goal of these Big Tech CEOs." He also gives a shoutout to Bluesky, gives props to decentralized platforms

MLex is keeping up with the DOGE-related data privacy lawsuits flooding in. Here's a new one:

"The use of AI inside the Department of Education... shows how Musk’s group, which includes former employees from his tech empire, is tapping the favorite tool of Silicon Valley as part of its mission to drastically slash the size and functions of the federal government."

🚨NEWS: A temporary order has been issued blocking the Labor Dept. from sharing any data with DOGE, after a group of unions, including AFGE, sued DOGE and held a major protest outside DOL yesterday. Here's the union's email:

From my colleagues @alexwilts.bsky.social & @amyailaw.bsky.social, covering Musk's suit against OpenAI: US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said it was “a stretch to claim irreparable harm in this case,” characterizing the matter before her as “billionaires versus billionaires.”

Us in one place:

The release of DeepSeek's AI product has the US government eager to guard both the computing and intellectual property behind its technology, but there are limitations to how it can be done using export controls. With @emmawhitford.bsky.social: www.mlex.com/mlex/artific...

NYC (Central Park) recorded 1.8" of snow overnight and this morning. This is NYC's first measurable snowfall in December since 2021.

This looks to be the story Penny's team referenced. It's an AI-written article by "The Pinnacle Gazette," a site run by a popular Turkish science company. The jury is anonymous, but "Martin Beck" is not one of their names, according to Penny's lawyers. AI in journalism, folks.

TRICKI WOO

First fried turkey

First flakes of snow in DC area Friday morning? Possible. But they won't accumulate with temps well above freezing. But if you go to the mountains 150 miles to the west, some peaks could see more than a foot. Read more: www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024...

The legal crux of Daniel Penny's trial is whether he caused Jordan Neely's death, and if he knew or should have known that he risked doing so. Video of his interview with detectives that afternoon sheds light on a different subject: How he regarded Neely.

New hobby:

A budget housing deal will temporarily extend new eviction defenses to certain renters, depending on factors like location, age, ownership and cost. It also allows larger rent increases for stabilized landlords following renovations. via @eawhitford.bsky.social: bit.ly/4d2MzsT

Rent stabilization has allowed these grandmothers to affordably live in their Crown Heights building for decades as the neighborhood gentrifies around them Now, they face eviction by demolition. But by standing their ground, they're delaying their landlord's application to knock the building down.

Very happy to see Emma Whitford's always fabulous reporting for City Limits getting attention Follow Emma everywhere: Bsky: @eawhitford.bsky.social Twitter: @emma_a_whitford Follow and give $ to brill nonprofit newsroom City Limits Bsky: @citylimitsnews.bsky.social Twitter: @CityLimitsNews

Meet the last tenants standing at the Lillianette, who've lived there for decades as Crown Heights gentrified—and could now face eviction via demolition, one of the few legal pathways to remove an entire building from rent regulation. via @eawhitford.bsky.social: bit.ly/49sY7mb

ICYM: The Callahan settlement is about more than just shelter limits. There are also eligibility screenings upon entry, and allowances for the city to place folks in hotel rooms outside NYC & even NY One source described it as "organized abandonment" citylimits.org/2024/03/19/r...

When your era is ETPA

“We can certainly be pleased with them meeting their deadlines and also simultaneously concerned that more people are being denied and that they’re not maintaining a phone system that’s accessible,” one public benefits attorney said. via @eawhitford.bsky.social: bit.ly/49FexJ6

“Whoever is funding this work... you need the unionized workforce to accomplish that. By withholding our labor, we force the issue.” New @citylimitsnews.bsky.social from the @mfjunion.bsky.social picket line: citylimits.org/2024/02/29/l...

"Akchin warned that tenants should know that just because they find overcharges in their rent history documents, that doesn’t automatically mean they’ll see cash in their pocket, or a new lease with a lower rent. Often, ... landlords are obstinate about giving tenants what they are legally owed."

The Supreme Court said it will not take up two lingering challenges to rent stabilization from NYC landlords. But in a brief accompanying statement, Justice Clarence Thomas hinted at an interest in future challenges. The latest, & reactions to the news, via @eawhitford.bsky.social: bit.ly/3T4I0q5

A lawsuit on behalf of tenants at risk of eviction highlights a population in the crosshairs of a policy fight between the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams. @eawhitford.bsky.social: bit.ly/42BG0bM

citylimits.org/2024/01/05/a... From @citylimitsnews.bsky.social @eawhitford.bsky.social

While NYC must propose a balanced budget in January for the coming fiscal year, some say Adams’ approach to closing the gap—multiple rounds of budget cuts across most agencies—is a blunt instrument, and not the only option. via @eawhitford.bsky.social: bit.ly/3RBO5JS

“Every time you try to look at a piece of what’s being said here, it opens up a Pandora's box of questions,” said Beth Haroules, director of disability justice litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union. via @eawhitford.bsky.social: bit.ly/3N5BUCo

The Adams administration doesn't plan to fully implement a package of bills, passed by the City Council this spring, to expand the city's main rental assistance program to more New Yorkers—despite the Council overriding the mayor's veto. via @eawhitford.bsky.social: bit.ly/46gtoaw

Political calculus around a City Council race in the East Bronx has slowed the approval process for a plan to house seriously ill people leaving jail, and could cue up a test: whether the Council is willing to override opposition from one of their own.  New by @eawhitford.bsky.social bit.ly/3MFErD6

A public hearing on a contentious plan for housing sick and formerly incarcerated New Yorkers in the Bronx was delayed this month to avoid a heated negotiations during Election season. What happens now? New @citylimitsnews.bsky.social: citylimits.org/2023/11/13/h...

“They are trying to persuade people to get out of New York” A recently-opened “reticketing” facility has sown confusion, emerging as one of the only options—along with new “waiting areas”—for recently-arrived immigrants forced to leave their shelter placements as the cold sets in. bit.ly/3QIf45Y

“He… says to me, ‘Friend, calm down.’ No friend, first [tell me]—is there shelter or no shelter?” citylimits.org/2023/11/02/u...

truly infuriating piece from @eawhitford.bsky.social:

In the spring, I learned about a small supportive housing program for people who have bounced b/w jail & shelter. In 2019, the city put out an RFP to more than 4x it, but the existing providers haven't bitten. What's going on? New @citylimitsnews.bsky.social: citylimits.org/2023/10/31/n...

Under the updated rules, if a landlord cuts into a regulated apartment to expand an unregulated one, the new, larger apartment will be regulated, subject to annual adjustments set by the Rent Guidelines Board. via @eawhitford.bsky.social: bit.ly/3tNTXWY

“The parties have agreed that for now there should not be a war of legal papers,” NY State Supreme Court Judge Gerald Lebovits said Thursday. “That for now, the solution is to try to settle the matter if possible.” bit.ly/45EtiZG The latest from @eawhitford.bsky.social:

New @citylimitsnews.bsky.social: As Mayor Adams moves ahead with shelter limits for families with minor kids, we check in on another program shuffling families that's been going on for months, and is quietly expanding: citylimits.org/2023/10/18/t...

take time w/ this @tatyanat.bsky.social piece, on the history of NYCHA demolition in Brooklyn. among other things, she talked to Assemblymember Latrice Walker about the upheaval her family experienced. we also got to hit the @citylimitsnews.bsky.social archives 🤓 citylimits.org/2023/10/12/a...

"The older adult community is slowly coming back, for lack of a better term here, to resume their life." bit.ly/46L6vwp