Brownsville Town Hall 

On Saturday, September 20th, we held a Brownsville Town Hall at the Brownsville Public Library. The town hall followed a summer organizing and canvassing intensive in Brownsville, where we door-knocked, distributed flyers, and participated in community events in the neighborhood.  It was a great conversation about our Shut Rikers campaign and investing resources into Brownsville. People discussed increasing basic income, affordable housing, addressing the mental health crisis, programs for the youth, and much more.

Our organizing director, Melanie Dominguez, speaking at the Brownsville public library on 9.20.25 

During the town hall, we also discussed the importance of voting in the  General Election on November 4th for Mayor, City Council, and other elected positions that will impact the fight to Shut Rikers. The voter registration deadline is on Saturday, October 25, 2025. Click here to register to vote. If you’re already registered, you can find your poll site here.

We’re planning to hold a follow-up community conversation in Brownsville on Saturday, October 25th. Stay tuned for more details soon.                                                                                

If you have any questions or would like to join our Shut Rikers campaign, please reach out to Melaine at Melaine@katalcenter.org.


New York Focus Exposes the State Commission of Correction

Last week, the State Commission of Correction (SCOC) held its monthly meeting for September. Once again, the SCOC failed to address the crisis unfolding in local jails and state prisons across the state. The public portion of the meeting lasted less than five minutes and only included approving construction plans and variance requests for exemptions from state regulations. It is shameful. 

Following the meeting, Chris Gelardi from the New York Focus wrote an excellent piece about how the SCOC is utterly failing to meet its responsibility of keeping incarcerated people safe.  Here’s an excerpt:

“The state prison system is struggling to recover from a guard strike; a lack of officers has left many incarcerated people confined to their cells for upwards of 20 hours a day. That crisis has led to a backlog in local jails, with some operating dangerously close to capacity. Others are starting to take in more federal immigration detainees, one of whom died in Nassau County’s jail last week. Three people died in a recent two-week span at New York City’s Rikers Island, the ever-embattled jail complex in the process of coming under federal receivership. Prison guards just received years-long sentences for killing an incarcerated man, and a recent report found that the suicide rate in state facilities doubled last year. None of those things made it onto the meeting agenda.”

Our advocacy director, Yonah Zeitz, is quoted discussing how the SCOC addresses the crises unfolding in correctional facilities across the state.

This commission has such wide-ranging power to hold jails and prisons in compliance, to make sure correctional facilities are ‘safe, stable, and humane’ for all incarcerated people.” Instead, the Commissioners “assume the role of approving variances and construction and have fully failed at their other responsibilities.

Right now, the Corrections Oversight Omnibus bill, which would overhaul the State Commission of Correction, sits on Governor Hochul’s desk. She has until December 31 to sign the bill into law. With incarcerated people’s lives at stake, there is no time to waste.  

Take action here to email Gov. Hochul and demand that she immediately sign the corrections omnibus bill into law!

We currently have over 120 community, advocacy, and faith-based organizations from across the state calling for Gov. Hochul to sign this bill into law. If your organization is not this list,  please sign on here

If you have any questions or would like to get involved in efforts to overhaul the SCOC, please contact Yonah at Yonah@katalcenter.org.


 Weekly Pro-Democracy Phone Zaps

Join us on Wednesday, October 15th, for our next Pro-Democracy Phone Zaps! On Wednesdays from 12-12:45 pm (EST), we’re gathering on Zoom to call our elected officials in Washington and demand that they fight back against Trump’s authoritarian takeover.

This week, the government shut down as Republicans in Congress push a funding bill that does not address the health care crisis or prevent Trump from continuing to freeze and withhold billions of approved funding for our communities. We’re fighting back. If you’ve been looking for a starting point to take action against Trump’s authoritarianism, this is a great place to jump in.

Register here for our Pro-Democracy Phone Zap next Wednesday, October 15th!

If you have any questions, please contact Ricky at ricky@katalcenter.org. We hope to see you there.


October NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call

Our next NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call is next Thursday, October 9th, at noon! On this month’s call, we’ll discuss which criminal justice bills are still awaiting the Governor’s signature, the upcoming 2026 legislative session, and various campaigns to reform New York’s criminal legal system. We’ll be joined by organizers, advocates, and community members working on every aspect of justice reform in the state. 

Register to join us on Thursday, October 9th, from noon to 1 p.m.

If you have any questions about the statewide call or would like to be a presenter, please contact Yonah at Yonah@katalcenter.org


Inspiring Resistance This Week

– In Chicago, a man doing food deliveries on his bike outran nearly a dozen ICE agents as they tried to arrest him. See the video here.

– In Portland, activists were baiting ICE agents with donuts in a hilarious act of resistance. See the video here.

For more examples of resistance, check out Choose Democracy’s Resist List


Quotes of the Week 

“I made a choice to deal with the pain of discipline, not regret.” – Che Noir, “Ego Trips”

“Facing the question of the base is often what separates organizers from activists and advocates.” – Wade Rathke, Nuts & Bolts, page 3


For printing and distribution, download the Katal Weekly Update PDF version.

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Email: info@katalcenter.org
Phone: 646.875.8822.