Day: July 10, 2024

A new mixed-income affordable housing development dubbed Concern Pitkin opened its doors in East New York on July 9. 

The seven-story apartment building at the corner of Warwick Street and Pitkin Avenue offers 58 units of affordable and supportive housing for older adults and formerly homeless New Yorkers, along with on-site supportive services for residents. 

Elected leaders thanked Concern Housing, the non-profit agency that led the development team and oversaw the construction, for their commitment to helping Brooklynites live with dignity and creating equitable opportunities.

The six-story building offers 58 units. Photo courtesy of NYC Housing Connect

“This ribbon cutting sends a message to New Yorkers struggling with homelessness or mental health issues: you deserve safe, stable and affordable housing,” said Adolfo Carrion Jr., commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, in a statement. “Not only does this transformative project create much-needed affordable and supportive housing for seniors and those with mental health challenges, but it also revitalizes a once-contaminated property — uplifting the entire East New York community, while creating a healthy, vibrant residence for low-income and formerly homeless individuals.”

Roughly 71% of households in Brooklyn Community District 5, which includes East New York and Starrett City, earn less than 80% of Area Median Income, per city data. About 50% of households earn between 0-50% AMI, and are considered “extremely low income” or “very low income.” 

But fewer than half all available rental units in the area are affordable for those earning between 0-50% AMI, and nearly 90% of households spend between 30-50% of their monthly income on rent. 

A number of units at Concern Pitkin were leased out through the city’s affordable housing lottery last fall. Several, including studios and one and two-bedroom apartments, had rents between $730-$1,581 per month, per the NYC Housing Connect listing, and eight one-bedroom apartments were available completely free for those earning between $3,326-$69,900 per year. 

Concern Pitkin also includes a fitness room, laundry room, computer lounge, community room, and a landscaped, furnished backyard. The nonprofit also operates Surf Vets Place, an affordable housing development for homeless veterans in Coney Island, and celebrated the July 9 ribbon-cutting of Concern Pitkin with free treats from Cyclone Bagels – a veteran-run bagel shop on the ground floor of Surf Vets Place. 

State Sen. Roxanne J. Persaud, who represents the area and chairs the Senate Committee on Social Services said those amenities would better support New Yorkers who oft feel neglected by the housing industry. 

Amenities at Concern Pitkin include a laundry room, fitness room, and furnished back yard. Photo courtesy of NYC Housing Connect

“We don’t just need supportive housing, we need supportive housing that’s done right – that provides the right model with the wraparound services people need, and that’s what’s happening here,” Persaud said in a statement.

Other attendees spoke of the transformative nature of this project. One tenant said it was “uplifting” to now have a space where they feel included and cared for. 

“I just want to say, ‘thank you’ to everyone who was involved with this project; it was above my expectations when I got here,” said Willie Rountree, a Concern Pitkin tenant. “Coming from the shelter system, my expectations of this place weren’t that high. But it was totally different – way better than I thought. The unity [and] the closeness that we have is amazing. I couldn’t ask for anything more. We just continue to thrive together.”

Before it was purchased and developed by Concern Housing, the Warwick Street lot was empty and contaminated with harmful chemicals from years of commercial use. The developer cleaned up the site and installed several layers of protection between the contaminated ground and the building to ensure any remaining chemicals can’t enter the building, per city documents. 

Грядущий в этом месяце глобальный саммит высокого уровня подчеркивает факт углубления геополитических разногласий, которые все в большей степени определяют мировую политику и угрожают интересам США. СМИ и наблюдатели уделили пристальное внимание саммитам G7 и по Украине, но не состоявшемуся на той же неделе в России ключевому мероприятию, когда министры иностранных дел стран БРИКС встречались с коллегами из без малого двух десятков стран Глобального Юга. Эта встреча, равно как и западные саммиты, не обернулась появлением разоблачительных политических инициатив — но при этом показала, что политика США вызывает отторжение у все большего количества стран, ищущих альтернативы руководству Вашингтона и желающих дедолларизировать свою экономику.

Бразилия, Россия, Индия и Китай образовали БРИКС в 2006 году в стремлении реформировать международные финансовые институты вроде МВФ и Всемирного банка. Позже, в 2010-м, к блоку присоединилась Южная Африка. Спустя четыре года группа сформировала Новый банк развития, но до недавнего времени ее деятельность ни динамикой, ни слаженностью не отличалась.

В начале текущего года к ней официально присоединились важные региональные державы: Иран, Эфиопия, Египет и Объединенные Арабские Эмираты (ОАЭ). Перед июньской встречей посол российский посол в Китае заявил, что “количество государств, которые интересуются БРИКС, больше, чем объединение может подключить на нынешнем этапе”. Между тем, приглашения ждут около 30 стран, включаю Турцию, члена НАТО, который давно стремится к вступлению в Евросоюз, и Таиланд, всегда предпочитавший оставаться в стороне от геополитики.

Чтобы понять их мотивы, к гадалке ходить не нужно. Высокопоставленные дипломаты из стран БРИКС и Глобального Юга говорят о необходимости создания новых структур безопасности, управления и финансов, которые заменят нынешние возглавляемые США системы, поскольку последние, по их мнению, служат исключительно интересам Запада. В рамках БРИКС приоритет отдается проблемам и жалобам Глобального Юга, тогда как на проводимых под руководством Запада международных форумах такое случается редко. По факту, именно антизападные настроения стали политической основой для объединения стран-членов БРИКС с государствами Глобального Юга.

На долю блока приходится более 40% мирового населения, 28% экономического производства и 47% объемов добычи сырой нефти. Расширение БРИКС за счет новых нефтедобывающих и региональных держав не может не вызывать у США особую обеспокоенность ввиду рисков дедолларизации.

Одним из способов подрыва господства доллара стало поощрение “более широкого использования национальных валют в торговых и финансовых операциях между странами БРИКС” — как гласит совместное заявление группы по итогам июньской встречи. На острие атаки в этом плане находится жаждущий интернационализировать свою валюту Китай. После начала конфликта на Украине в 2022 году Пекин расширил использование юаня для покупки российских товаров — и в частности нефти — и тот вытеснил доллар США с позиции основной валюты торговых сделок двух стран. Переговоры об использовании юаня для оплаты нефтяных счетов КНР ведет и с другими крупными производителями в лице Ирана, Ирака и Саудовской Аравии.

По оценкам, в 2023 году 20% мировой нефти закупалось и продавалось не в долларах США. Причем находящиеся под жесткими американскими санкциями Иран и Россия — не единственные, кто стремится к диверсификации. Бразилия, ОАЭ и Саудовская Аравия хотят защититься от влияния западных рестрикций на торговлю нефтью и другими сырьевыми товарами, а Китай распродает долларовые активы и в последние годы закупает рекордные объемы золота, как и Россия.

Попытка подорвать позиции доллара будет иметь серьезные последствия для Соединенных Штатов и их экономики, особенно на волне нынешней инфляции. Еще с 1970-х для операций с нефтью основной валютой был именно доллар, он же — нефтедоллар. Это стимулировало спрос на него и помогало сохранять ценность и статус мировой резервной валюты. В результате затраты по займам для США были ниже, они могли позволить себе иметь дефицит бюджета и печатать деньги по своему усмотрению, поддерживая уровень жизни граждан на определенном уровне.

Но выбранный Штатами курс, особенно политика санкций, саботирует доллар, а вместе с ним — экономику и авторитет США в мире. Санкции охватывают 29% мировой экономики и 40% мировых запасов нефти. Рефлекторное и масштабное применение Вашингтоном этого инструмента обернулось полным провалом. Часто его используют, чтобы заставлять государства менять свое поведение, но срабатывает это редко — отличным примером здесь служит Куба.

Санкции не только не возымели ожидаемого эффекта, но и “непреднамеренно создали “Ось уклонения” в составе России, Ирана, Венесуэлы, Северной Кореи и Китая, сплотившихся, чтобы смягчить последствия ограничений доступа к западным рынкам.

Долгое время американцы считали себя “незаменимой нацией”. Однако многие страны сегодняшнего многополярного мира считают, что их гегемония существует за счет запугивания и лицемерия. Последнее прослеживается в том числе в непримиримой позиции Вашингтона по отношению к конфликтам в Газе и на Украине, а порядок, основанный на правилах, применяется только к противникам Запада.

Новости о скором падении доллара, несомненно, преувеличены, и в ближайшее время ждать появления единой валюты БРИКС не следует. Тем не менее, тенденция к дедолларизации и ее влияние на суждения Вашингтона должны заставить его задуматься о том, что стоит за стремлением стран БРИКС и Глобального Юга объединиться и найти доллару замену. Пока не поздно, США должны пересмотреть непоколебимую приверженность идее мирового лидерства, автоматическое применение санкций и лицемерную позицию в отношении “порядка, основанного на правилах”. Необходимо проявлять сдержанность на фоне объединения крупнейших стран планеты ради вытеснения доллара и Америки с позиции лидера.

Автор: Адам Галлахер (Adam Gallagher).

Dmitri Mehlhorn is among the most powerful Democratic funders and operatives working inside what can roughly be called the party’s establishment. He’s also been one of the most ardent defenders of Joe Biden as the best Democratic nominee to beat Donald Trump in November. This week on Deconstructed, Ryan Grim speaks to Mehlhorn about why he’s committed to Biden at a moment when more are calling for him to abandon his candidacy.

Transcript coming soon.

The post Why Biden’s Still In: Insights From Democratic Insider Dmitri Mehlhorn appeared first on The Intercept.

On June 8, Republicans adopted a new party platform ahead of a possible second term for former President Donald Trump. Buried among the updated policy positions on abortion, immigration, and crime, the document contains a provision that has some artificial intelligence experts worried: it vows to scrap President Joe Biden’s executive order on AI.

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“We will repeal Joe Biden’s dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology,” the platform reads.

Biden’s executive order on AI, signed last October, sought to tackle threats the new technology could pose to civil rights, privacy, and national security, while promoting innovation and competition and the use of AI for public services. It requires developers of the most powerful AI systems to share their safety test results with the U.S. government and calls on federal agencies to develop guidelines for the responsible use of AI domains such as criminal justice and federal benefits programs.

Read More: Why Biden’s AI Executive Order Only Goes So Far

Carl Szabo, vice president of industry group NetChoice, which counts Google, Meta, and Amazon among its members, welcomes the possibility of the executive order’s repeal, saying, “It would be good for Americans and innovators.”

“Rather than enforcing existing rules that can be applied to AI tech, Biden’s Executive Order merely forces bureaucrats to create new, complex burdens on small businesses and innovators trying to enter the marketplace. Over-regulating like this risks derailing AI’s incredible potential for progress and ceding America’s technological edge to competitors like China,” said Szabo in a statement.

However, recent polling shared exclusively with TIME indicates that Americans on both sides of the political aisle are skeptical that the U.S. should avoid regulating AI in an effort to outcompete China. According to the poll conducted in late June by the AI Policy Institute (AIPI), 75% of Democrats and 75% of Republicans believe that “taking a careful controlled approach” to AI is preferable to “moving forward on AI as fast as possible to be the first country to get extremely powerful AI.”

Dan Hendrycks, director of the Center for Safe AI, says, “AI safety and risks to national security are bipartisan issues. Poll after poll shows Democrats and Republicans want AI safety legislation.”

Read more: U.S. Voters Value Safe AI Development Over Racing Against China, Poll Shows

The proposal to remove the guardrails put in place by Biden’s executive order runs counter to the public’s broad support for a measured approach to AI, and it has prompted concern among experts. Amba Kak, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute and former senior advisor on AI at the Federal Trade Commission, says Biden’s order was “one of the biggest achievements in the last decade in AI policy,” and that scrapping the order would “feel like going back to ground zero.” Kak says that Trump’s pledge to support AI development rooted in “human flourishing” is a subtle but pernicious departure from more established frameworks like human rights and civil liberties.

Ami Fields-Meyer, a former White House senior policy advisor on AI who worked on Biden’s executive order, says, “I think the Trump message on AI is, ‘You’re on your own,’” referring to how repealing the executive order would end provisions aimed at protecting people from bias or unfair decision-making from AI.

TechNet and a number of think tanks and tech lobbyists have railed against the executive order since its introduction, arguing it could stifle innovation. In December, venture capitalist and prominent AI investor Ben Horowitz criticized efforts to regulate “math, FLOPs and R&D,” alluding to the compute thresholds set by Biden’s executive order. Horowitz said his firm would “support like-minded candidates and oppose candidates who aim to kill America’s advanced technological future.”

While Trump has previously accused tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Twitter of working against him, in June, speaking on Logan Paul’s podcast, Trump said that the “tech guys” in California gave him $12 million for his campaign. “They gave me a lot of money. They’ve never been into doing that,” Trump said.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Even if Trump is re-elected and does repeal Biden’s executive order, some changes wouldn’t be felt right away. Most of the leading AI companies agreed to voluntarily share safety testing information with governments at an international summit on AI in Seoul last May, meaning that removing the requirements to share information under the executive order may not have an immediate effect on national security. But Field-Meyer says, “If the Trump campaign believes that the rigorous national security safeguards proposed in the executive order are radical liberal ideas, that should be concerning to every American.”

Field-Meyer says the back and forth over the executive order underscores the importance of passing federal legislation on AI, which “would bring a lot more stability to AI policy.” There are currently over 80 bills relating to AI in Congress, but it seems unlikely any of them will become law in the near future.

Sandra Wachter, a professor of technology regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute says Biden’s executive order was “a seminal step towards ensuring ethical AI and is very much on par with global developments in the UK, the EU, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and the rest of the world.” She says she worries it will be repealed before it has had a chance to have a lasting impact. “It would be a very big loss and a big missed opportunity if the framework was to be scrapped and AI governance to be reduced to a partisan issue,” she says. “This is not a political problem, this is a human problem—and a global one at that.”

Like a shape-shifting specter lurking just out of frame, the title of “scream queen” has been trailing in Maika Monroe’s wake since her star-making turn in the 2015 breakout horror hit It Follows. As Jay, the unassuming teenage protagonist of filmmaker David Robert Mitchell’s indie cult sensation, Monroe cemented her place in the horror pantheon playing a young woman pursued by a lethal supernatural entity after contracting a sexually-transmitted curse. It’s a bizarre premise that initially gave Monroe pause. “This can’t be good,” she remembers thinking after reading the script.

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And she was right—in a sense. It wasn’t just good. It was a commercial and critical smash, grossing $23.2 million worldwide against a $1.3 million budget and earning acclaim as a highly original genre gem. “I don’t think any of us expected It Follows to blow up the way it did,” Monroe says. “Never in a million years.”

Nearly a decade later, Monroe, 31, is again in the limelight as the lead in one of the year’s most anticipated horror films, Longlegs, in theaters July 12. With early reviews praising it as “a disturbing descent into hell” and “the scariest film of the decade,” the new feature from writer-director Osgood Perkins (I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House) debuted with a perfect 100 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its U.S. release—a rare feat for any film, but especially a horror movie.

Starring opposite Nicolas Cage, who is Longlegs’ titular menace—a disfigured, rasping serial killer with mysterious means to his ends—Monroe plays Lee Harker, a talented and reserved FBI recruit whose cryptic psychic abilities give her strange insight into her target’s methods. “It was one of those scripts where I was like, ‘I need to be a part of this,’” she says. “I was obsessed with the world that it’s set in.”

That sinister setting, built around a series of occult murders, reminded Monroe of two iconic ‘90s titles she came to love when she was old enough to start watching horror herself, The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Se7en (1995). She recalls the visceral reaction she had watching that type of truly terrifying film for the first time. “I would close my eyes a lot, but I just love that feeling,” she says. “You don’t really get it from anything else.”

Despite her early admiration for the power of cinema, Monroe didn’t grow up wanting to be an actor. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Calif., she spent her preteen years pursuing dance and learning how to kiteboard with her dad. It wasn’t until a local film production reached out to her dance company looking for extras that a then-13-year-old Monroe took an interest. “Funnily enough, it was a really terrible horror movie,” she says. “I just fell in love with being on set.”

From there, Monroe got a manager and an agent and began to audition. But her attention was divided. Even as she pursued acting, she was proving to be an unusually talented kiteboarder. When she was 17, she moved with her mom to the Dominican Republic to train in the sport professionally (ultimately ranking as high as 32nd in the world). But she kept up with auditions here and there. “I probably sent in four tapes during that nine-month period, and I ended up booking one of them,” she says in reference to her debut feature, the 2013 family drama At Any Price, which brought her back to Los Angeles.

Within the year, she had appeared in both Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring and Jason Reitman’s Labor Day. But it was the one-two punch of Adam Wingard’s 2014 horror-thriller The Guest and It Follows the subsequent year that linked her to the genre and carved a path forward. While Monroe has since taken on studio blockbusters like Independence Day: Resurgence, it’s her enduring success in the indie horror world—think 2019’s Villains and 2022’s Watcher—that’s built the foundation of a career.

Thanks to its somewhat reductive history, the scream queen label isn’t always a welcome one—‘80s gore-fest icon Barbara Crampton notably derided the term as implying “that you’re good at two things: howling at the top of your lungs and being a woman.” Still, Monroe says she feels “incredibly grateful” to be playing a part in the moniker’s evolution.

“I think back to some of the horror movies I would watch [as a kid] and it would be hot, blonde girls with half their clothes falling off covered in blood and running and screaming,” she says. “Then all these movies like It Follows, The Babadook, The Witch started coming out and completely changed the genre. Now those are some of the best roles out there.”

Monroe is slated to star next in Maxime Giroux’s crime thriller In Cold Light before reuniting with Mitchell for They Follow, a long-awaited sequel to It Follows that Monroe promises is going to deliver “what people want and more.”

Then, she says, she’d love to do something more lighthearted, like a rom-com. “There’s a lack of great rom-coms right now,” she says. “It’s time for another When Harry Met Sally.”

But as the buzz surrounding Longlegs builds to a crescendo, Monroe’s main (spoiler-free) takeaway from the film speaks to why she’ll always be able to return to her roots in horror: For better or worse, the pool of inspiration is bottomless. “Evil isn’t going anywhere,” she says. “That’s just the reality. There really is no end.”

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— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) July 10, 2024

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— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) July 10, 2024

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