Freedom to Thrive
Our vision is a city where we’re empowered to define safety for ourselves, right-wing police unions don’t set the agenda and starve the city for resources, and we all have what we need to thrive.
Our Freedom to Thrive Campaigns:
The People's Budget: Fighting for #CareNotCuts
All New Yorkers should have access to housing, livelihood, and resources to thrive. There are no “deserving” and “undeserving” New Yorkers. But New York City Mayor Eric Adams is set on implementing a ruthless austerity agenda, gutting the city’s workforce and slashing funding for schools, libraries, and essential social services at a time when we most need them. We're fighting for a different future for our city: where every district, every neighborhood, and every block, is a nurturing, stable home for all of its residents. As a voting member of both the New York Working Families Party (NYWFP) and Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), and as a coalition member and the fiscal sponsor of People's Plan NYC, JFREJ plays a key role in NYC grassroots coalitions working to defeat the mayor's agenda and pass a People's Budget that fully funds essential city agencies & services. Learn more here.
Ending Police Violence: #Jews4BlackLives, Communities United for Police Reform, and safety beyond policing
JFREJ has been fighting for police accountability for over twenty years. As a core member of Communities United for Police Reform, we have worked to protect all New Yorkers’ civil rights and to win transparency, oversight and community control of the NYPD. As an ally to the Justice Committee and the families of New Yorkers killed by the NYPD, our #Jews4BlackLives mobilizations have demanded (1) the firing of the NYPD officers responsible for these crimes, and (2) significantly reducing the bloated NYPD budget in favor of resourcing our communities. Learn more here.
NYC Against Hate: Joining with our neighbors to stop hate violence of all kinds
NYC Against Hate is a diverse coalition of community-based organizations working across identities to make New York safer for our communities. Convened by Jews For Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ) and the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP), NYC Against Hate includes AAPI, Jewish, Arab-American, Muslim, LGBTQ, and Black and Brown New Yorkers, uniting to create safety for our communities and to build a stronger New York City. We believe that we can’t arrest our way out of bigotry — the only effective solution to hate violence and bias incidents is held in our communities, not in more policing and prosecution. We also know that a small, but organized and growing, far-right exists in our city that increasingly targets queer and trans New Yorkers. Whether it's community safety canvassing or joining anti-fascist groups of autonomous New Yorkers taking action to defend Drag Story Hour, this approach is more important than ever. Learn more here.
Together with our allies, we are fighting to:
- Divest from the punitive systems that only perpetuate harm and suffering.
- Reduce the overall size and scope of the NYPD.
- Reduce the role of NYPD and prosecutors in responding to hate violence.
- Ban NYPD use of surveillance technologies.
- Remove police as first responders for people in emotional distress or crisis.
- End multi-billion dollar contracts between ICE and tech companies like Amazon and Palantir.
- Win justice for New Yorkers who have lost their lives or suffered abuse at the hands of NYPD and ICE.
- Invest in solutions that support our communities’ safety and ability to thrive. Build and sustain a neighborhood-based deportation defense network.
- Invest in community-based restorative solutions to prevent, respond to, and heal instances of hate violence.
- Create safety and security protocols for synagogues and Jewish communal spaces that reduce reliance on police.
- Develop an alternative 911 system for people in emotional distress or crisis.
We share the name Freedom to Thrive with an ally organization: Freedom to Thrive, the organization, works to build a world where safety means investment in people and planet and end the punishment-based criminal and immigration systems. Check out their powerful work here!