The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 6hMayor Mamdani wants ICE out of NYC. But why are NYPD officers reportedly holding back protesters trying to stop ICE arrests? Peter Sterne and Alex Vitale examine the contradiction between City Hall’s promises and police actions on the streets. soundcloud.com/the-indypend... 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 8hA hearing for “people coming home from work, people coming back from picking up the kids.” @publicpowerny.bsky.social & @nycdsaecosoc.bsky.social organized a speak-out in Bed-Stuy’s Herbert Von King Park, where people railed against utility ripoffs, demanding a publicly owned energy system.indypendent.org‘Electricity Is Not a Luxury’: Ratepayers Speak Out at DSA-Backed Utility Ripoff HearingA half-dozen elected officials, most of them democratic socialists, joined Tuesday’s event which was held at the amphitheater at Bed-Stuy’s Herbert Von King Park. 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 9hDonald Trump isn't an aberration of American capitalism. He's its logical conclusion. In a blistering new essay, Marc Sapir argues that the "Destructo-Man" president is exposing a system built on deceit, exploitation and fraud.indypendent.orgDonald Trump Is The “Destructo-Man” President American Capitalism DeservesAfter Trump’s two election victories, America’s well-paid-for information purveyors grasped that he is exposing capitalism as a political, social and economic ponzi scheme. 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 10h“We are not here to assist ICE agents in their work,” @mayor.nyc.gov declared. Yet after ICE shot Oscar Belgal in Marble Hill, NYPD barricaded protesters to clear the way for ICE vehicles. What happened to NYC’s sanctuary city promise?indypendent.orgNYPD Barricades Protesters to Clear the Way for ICE Vehicles after ICE Agent shoots New Yorker in Upper ManhattanAfter the shooting of Oscar Belgal in Marble Hill, advocates and protesters renewed their demand that ICE leave New York City, and for Jessica Tisch to step down. 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 10h“Mass mobilization can bring labor along with it and, then, labor can further bolster those fights.” @socialists.nyc and @teamsters.bsky.social are testing that strategy in the streets, organizing for Amazon drivers and the Delivery Protection Act.indypendent.orgDSA, Teamsters, Amazon Workers Fight to Pass the Delivery Protection ActThe Delivery Protection Act would curb Amazon outsourcing hiring delivery drivers through contractors, and increase worker protections for these drivers. 020
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 11hTestosterone for soldiers who aren't masculine enough? Hegseth is all for it. Gender-affirming care for trans kids? NYC's biggest hospitals are retreating under federal pressure. Elsie Carson-Holt examines the contradiction.indypendent.orgTop NYC Hospitals Continue Capitulating on Gender-Affirming Care for Trans YouthIn the face of subpoenas and investigations by Trump's Department of Justice, Mount Sinai, NYU Langone, and NewYork-Presbyterian have suspended care for trans youth. 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 14/10/2026Who is Jessica Tisch? From NYC real estate dynasty heiress to NYPD commissioner, her record on “broken windows” policing is under fire. @petersterne.com and @alexvitale.bsky.social examine why critics want Mayor Mamdani to replace her. soundcloud.com/the-indypend... 020
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 13/10/2026We'll talk about Mayor Mamdani, the NYPD and whether he should fire Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on today's Indypendent News Hour from 5-6 pm on WBAI 99.5 FM and wbai.org. Our guests will be noted police critic @alexvitale.bsky.social and @petersterne.com of @cityandstateny.bsky.social 075
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 05/10/2026“I’m here to make sure that our children know they are not alone.” Aidan, a 23-year-old trans activist, joined more than 50 protesters outside NewYork-Presbyterian as LGBTQ+ activists fight to restore gender-affirming care for youth.indypendent.orgActivists Picket New-York Presbyterian as Hospitals Continue to Block Access to Gender-Affirming Care for YouthLGBTQ+ Activists are continuing to pressure hospitals to not give in to the Trump administration, in the wake of Mount Sinai’s settlement and agreement to suspend care for trans youth. 020
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Thousands of protesters marched through Midtown to the UN as Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly, while around 100 people were arrested earlier at a @jvp.bsky.social-led sit-in. Nuriel Vera-DeGraff reports from the streetsindypendent.orgThousands of Diverse Pro-Palestine Protesters March to the UN as Netanyahu Speaks to GAIsrael’s notorious Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stayed in New York City for less than eight hours while 100 protesters were arrested at a sit-in and thousands marched to the UN in solidarity… 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Judith Malina spent a lifetime making theater inseparable from resistance. Karen Malpede looks back on the Living Theatre co-founder, a fearless artist, committed pacifist and revolutionary whose work helped shape radical theater for generations.indypendent.orgJudith Malina, In Her Own WordsThe co-founder of the The Living Theatre, Karen Malpede writes, was a 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Could single-payer healthcare actually work in New York? @alexabiancadang.bsky.social looks at the research, the economics and the political obstacles surrounding the New York Health Act—and argues against treating the status quo as inevitable.indypendent.orgNew York Can Do Anything, Including Single-Payer Universal HealthcareThe main obstacle is a lack of political will and imagination. 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 30/09/2026“Today it’s 30 schools, tomorrow, it will be every high school across New York City.” Thirty NYC public high schools will receive $5,000 grants to launch or strengthen student news outlets, part of nearly $300,000 in new City Council funding.indypendent.orgNYC High School Journalism Programs to Receive Almost $300,000 in New City Council FundingStudents and teachers gathered on City Hall steps to promote high school journalism — and advocate for its expansion. 021
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 30/09/2026What happens when taxpayer dollars subsidize a public good instead of a private corporation? Public-grocery expert Erion Malasi says NYC’s municipal grocery stores could help keep food affordable when larger crises hit.indypendent.orgHow Mamdani Is Remaking a Little-Known Entity to Finance Public Grocery Stores – And Potentially a Lot MoreThe New York City Economic Development Corporation, described by an expert as “the mayor’s private company,” could be a source of public good. 030
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 24/09/2026“There sure is an awful lot of commentary from Michael Bloomberg’s acolytes, which is often echoed in the narration.” Theodore Hamm looks at what Ric Burns’s new New York episodes emphasize — and what they leave out of the city’s recent history.indypendent.orgNew Additions to Ric Burns’s New York Documentary Series Could Have Been Scripted by the Manhattan InstituteNYPD data nerd Jack Maple and billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg are featured in this selective retelling of the past half-century of NYC’s history. 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 24/09/2026A Washington Heights family would rather split one apple among three children than risk standing in a food pantry line. Lourdes Martin reports, as fear of ICE keeps some immigrant New Yorkers home, mobile food programs are trying to reach them.indypendent.orgMobile Food Pantries Reach New Yorkers Afraid of ICE, But Hochul Won’t Fund ThemOne family in Washington Heights would rather share a single apple among three children than risk standing in a… 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 24/09/2026NYC paraprofessionals start at just $33K a year. Now a $10K “Respect Check” has become the center of a political fight between City Hall, the City Council and the @uft.org. @dannykatch.bsky.social reports the paras who organized around low pay say a one-time bonus isn’t the same as lasting change.indypendent.orgThe Strange Politics of Giving Paraprofessionals More MoneyNYC’s most under-paid educators got organized – and are now caught in a complicated political crossfire. 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 24/09/20264/4 Jay Walker of @riseandresist.bsky.social led protesters in songs and chants as the demonstration continued outside Google. Signs targeted the expansion of AI infrastructure and data centers: “AI DATA CENTERS SUCK US DRY” and “DATA CENTERS TRACK, TARGET, KILL.” 📷 Rachel Cobb 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 24/09/20263/4 Children joined the demonstration outside Google, with signs reading “Our water is more important than Chatbots” & “Kids need NATURE not Noise Pollution.” As workers left the building, one man whipped out his phone to video record protesters, including children holding signs. 📷 Rachel Cobb 110
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 24/09/20262/4 Organized by @climatedefenders.bsky.social, @riseandresist.bsky.social, @codepink.bsky.social, AIM 4 NYC Schools and others, the action focused on AI’s impact on children, schools, water, and the environment. 📷 Rachel Cobb 100
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 24/09/20261/4 During #ClimateWeekNYC, protesters gathered outside Google’s Chelsea offices for the #UnplugAI Week of Action, calling for a moratorium on new data centers and opposing the use of AI in schools. “KEEP AI OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS!” 📷 Rachel Cobb 181
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 17/09/2026For Black New Yorkers in the 1820s and ’30s, freedom was being made in the streets: in dance halls, theaters, newspapers, oyster houses—and even the underground economy. Theodore Hamm talks with historian Shane White about the world of "A Moment in the Sun"indypendent.orgA Moment in the Sun: How Black New Yorkers Sought to Redefine Freedom in Pre-Civil War NYCIn his new book, Historian Shane White tells the story of a vibrant community of Black Americans and of integration in the years before the Civil War. 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Today marks 15 years since Occupy Wall Street took over Zuccotti Park. In this 2021 essay, John Tarleton looks at two events that unfolded within a block of each other—9/11 and Occupy—and the radically different futures they came to represent.indypendent.orgContested Ground: 9/11, Occupy Wall Street and the Future of America9/11 and Occupy Wall Street took place within a block of each other at the center of American Empire. Their legacies couldn’t be more different, nor the futures they point to. 022
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Capitalism didn’t arrive fully formed. It took centuries of empire, trade, dispossession, slavery, wage labor and industrialization to build the system we know today. Bennett Baumer reviews @svenbeckert.bsky.social’s sweeping 600-year history of capitalism.indypendent.org600 Years of CapitalismA Free Paper for Free People 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 17/09/2026#OccupyWallStreet began 15 years ago today. Two years after the first tents went up at Zuccotti Park, David Callahan traced seven ways the movement was already reshaping American political and economic life—and asked which parts of its legacy would endure.indypendent.orgSeven Ways Occupy Changed America — and Is Still Changing It1. Putting Inequality on the Agenda Before Occupy came along, the Tea Party narrative was dominant in American politics.… 043
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 17/09/2026David Morales was outspent by Providence’s incumbent mayor. He answered with what John Tarleton describes as the largest field operation in the city’s history—and an organizing model partly imported from @socialists.nyc. The view from 200 miles away.indypendent.orgNYC’s Ties to a Big Socialist Win in Providence, Rhode IslandThe Mamdani Effect plus some valuable assistance from NYC-DSA helped a charismatic underdog knock off an incumbent mayor 200 miles from New York City. 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 17/09/202615 years ago today, @sandynurse.bsky.social joined #OccupyWallStreet on its first day. Today, she’s a three-term NYC Council member representing District 37. In 2021, John Tarleton traced her path from Zuccotti Park to City Hall.indypendent.orgSandy Nurse’s Journey from Occupy Wall Street to City CouncilOccupy Wall St. alum vows to bring her social movement values with her when she joins the New York City Council on January 1. 031
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 17/09/2026In September 2001, The Indy was a one-year-old, all-volunteer newspaper working out of a donated Manhattan loft. Days after 9/11, it published four pages questioning the rush to war. John Tarleton revisits that issue 25 years later.indypendent.orgHow “The Indy” Covered 9/11 & The Lessons LearnedWhen the unthinkable happened, The Indypendent was there to cover it. Editor-in-chief John Tarleton reflects on the 25th anniversary of 9/11. 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Five years ago, Addison Martin says hardly anyone knew what Kratom was. Now she sees it everywhere & a growing number of people struggling with addiction. A former Kratom user and harm reduction advocate shares her story and a warning about the drug’s easy availability. Video by Luce Miyar Mullan 030
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Tomorrow marks 15 years since Occupy Wall Street began. Published in 2011, @melaniebutler.bsky.social’s dispatch from the movement’s first days captures Liberty Plaza filling with signs, food, working groups, arrests—and a message spreading through the crowd: “JOIN US.”indypendent.orgThe 99 Percent Demand: Occupy Wall Street! Bring Our War Money Home!-Edited to add: this morning (Tuesday, September 20th) several protesters, including members of the Occupy Wall Street media team… 041
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 16/09/2026After 9/11, New Yorkers called for affordable housing, public space and a rebuilt Lower Manhattan that served the city. Instead, billions in public resources helped create luxury towers and what Todd Fine called a World Trade Center “not built for New Yorkers.”indypendent.orgTwenty Years Later: How the New World Trade Center Became a Monument to Greed and PowerTwenty years after September 11, the World Trade Center redevelopment story encapsulates the political, economic, and cultural forces that… 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 15/09/2026The Twin Towers rose as New York was remaking itself—leaving behind much of its manufacturing economy and embracing finance and real estate. In 2011, historian Eric Darton traced that transformation and the forces behind it. Worth revisiting after last week’s 9/11 anniversary.indypendent.orgHow the Twin Towers Transformed New YorkAs New Yorkers mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11, it’s hard to imagine that the 16 acres in Lower… 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Last week’s 9/11 anniversary is also a reminder of the battles over what came after. In 2004, Lower Manhattan residents argued post-9/11 aid should go to housing and jobs—not a multibillion-dollar rail project backed by real estate interests. 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 14/09/2026In 2021, Rico Cleffi looked back at the political landscape before and after 9/11: tens of thousands had shut down the WTO in Seattle, anti-capitalist organizing was gaining momentum and activists were planning to target Wall Street.indypendent.orgHow 9/11 Kneecapped a MovementThe smell of the “Pile,” the media elevation of Rudy Giuliani to near-sainthood and the sudden disappearance of the global justice movement are memories I would like to forget but can’t. 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Last week marked 25 years since 9/11. In this 2019 essay, Nicholas Powers argues that its memory became a political weapon—one that helped turn Muslims, immigrants and others into an imagined enemy.indypendent.orgAfter the Christchurch Massacre: Reexamining the Roots of TerrorUnder the exploding Twin Towers, you see her face. In early March Republicans displayed a poster in the West… 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Twenty-five years after 9/11, conspiracy theories remain woven into American political life. Back in 2005, Nicholas Powers asked what the belief in an all-powerful hidden “puppetmaster” tells us about our relationship to power itself.indypendent.orgBehold the Pale White Lie: Why Conspiracy Theories are PatrioticHaven’t you heard the whispers? In the background, hands cup a tunnel between ear and mouth. A secret map… 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Last week marked 25 years since 9/11. In this 2015 essay, lifelong New Yorker Tanya Thurman wrote about how that day transformed her family, politicized her and reshaped the city she knew. “What we still have not learned” remains worth revisiting.indypendent.org9/11 Changed My Life: Here’s What We Still Have Not LearnedI know. 9/11 stuff. It's a complicated historical event. I've lived in NYC all my life and should speak… 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 11/09/2026The Indypendent began in 2000, but 9/11 pushed the fledgling newspaper into a new phase. Ana Nogueira tells the story: of how its post-9/11 issues were handed out at Union Square as New Yorkers searched for answers beyond the dominant media narrative.indypendent.orgHow the Paper Got StartedThe impact we made by distributing our post-9/11 special issues at Union Square, where ordinary people were asking extraordinary questions, is what truly ignited the passion for independent reporting… 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Writing in 2021, Rico Cleffi remembered not only the towers and the “Pile,” but a political movement suddenly thrown off course by 9/11. The global justice movement had been gaining strength. After the attacks, much of the Left’s energy shifted toward resisting the wars to come.indypendent.orgHow 9/11 Kneecapped a MovementThe smell of the “Pile,” the media elevation of Rudy Giuliani to near-sainthood and the sudden disappearance of the global justice movement are memories I would like to forget but can’t. 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 11/09/2026On Sept. 11, 2001, Mike Burke watched Lower Manhattan disappear into dust after the South Tower collapsed. The next day, The Indypendent published a special issue on the attacks, rising anti-Arab racism, civil liberties and the rush to war.indypendent.orgCovering 9/11Within 24 hours the paper was published. 000
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 11/09/2026“Everything old seems to shake and fall apart. The future, the one we want but have only glimpsed, is close enough to touch.” Twenty-five years after 9/11, Nicholas Powers writes about what New York has survived—and what might still be possible.indypendent.orgOur Summer of BlissIt feels so good to be a New Yorker. But… why now exactly? Why is this our moment? 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Twenty-five years after 9/11, @reneefeltz.bsky.social looks at the immigration detention system that expanded in the post-9/11 era—and at three decades of organizing to shut detention centers down. #September11indypendent.orgEnding the ICE AgeTwo new books shed light on 30 years of struggle to end immigrant detention in New Jersey and beyond. 012
Reposted by The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free PeoplePeter Sterne @petersterne.com · 08/09/2026I'll be on @theindypendent.bsky.social News Hour on @wbai.org at 5 p.m. to talk about Mayor Mamdani's new Office of Worker Power, his support for Amazon delivery workers and the manufactured controversy over his attendance at the 9/11 memorial. Tune in here: wbai.org/listen-live/wbai.orgWBAI-FM Live Radio Player 073
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Alianza Islámica opened NYC’s first Spanish-speaking mosque and organized GED and ESL programs, public health workshops and addiction recovery support. Adrita Talukder reports on a new exhibition tracing its roots in the Young Lords and Muslim Nuyorican organizing.indypendent.orgFor the Culture: “One Ummah, One Barrio” Explores the Radical History of New York’s Latine MuslimsThe exhibit at El Barrio’s Artspace PS109 tells the story of Alianza Islámica and its revolutionary contributions to Latine Muslim culture and community development. 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 08/09/2026“I didn’t go to law school to make rich people richer.” The People’s Law Office grew out of the radical movements of the late 1960s, representing Black Panthers, Young Lords, and antiwar protesters; and later helping expose the assassination of Fred Hampton.indypendent.orgMeet the Radical Legal Collective That Won Justice for Fred Hampton and Continues Fighting to This DayLongtime attorney Flint Taylor’s new book tells the story of the People’s Law Collective which grew out of the radical movements of the late 1960s. 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 08/09/2026A key witness in John Giuca’s 2005 murder trial has recanted his testimony, saying he lied on the stand. Then, 20 minutes into the hearing, Theodore Hamm reports, the judge abruptly halted proceedings—and later recused himself.indypendent.orgKey Witness Recants Testimony 21 Years Later in John Giuca Murder CaseMeanwhile, the judge in the long-running case has recused himself due to past ties to disgraced attorney who encouraged perjury against the defendant. 010
Reposted by The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free PeopleW Johnson @exhauster.bsky.social · 11/08/2026I wrote about the campaign to boycott "Birthright" at MCC Theater for @theindypendent.bsky.socialindypendent.orgHow to Normalize a Genocide: Off-Broadway “Birthright” Play Sparks Boycott CampaignOrganizers with TW4C (a coalition of theater workers in solidarity with Palestine) and the BDS campaign determined that the play violated BDS' anti-normalization guidelines. 021
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Fourteen tons of nitrocellulose passed through JFK on its way to Israel, part of a larger pipeline moving munitions through New York’s busiest airport. @sanderx.bsky.social reports on @socialists.nyc’s Break the Chain campaign, aiming to shut it down.indypendent.org“Not In Our Skies”: DSA Steps Up Campaign to Stop Israel Arms Shipments from JFK AirportNYC’s busiest airport has emerged as a key hub for shipping munitions to Israel. 010
The Indypendent: A Free Paper for Free People @theindypendent.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Brooklyn’s Democratic Party machine has long controlled judicial nominations and used corporate and real estate money to support establishment candidates. John Teufel reports that after reformers won a majority of district leader races, party leaders changed the rules.indypendent.orgMachiavelli in Mill Basin: The Brooklyn Democratic Party’s Old Guard Fights to Remain in PowerKings County Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and her allies rewrote the rules at the last minute to keep themselves in power. Will it stick? 030