The rumors are true. After 10 years as the Executive Director of NYCC, I am stepping down from the role. And I want to invite you to celebrate with me at our annual gala on May 26th!

I took over NYCC 10 years ago on the eve of the first fast food strikes for $15/hr. Our longtime founder and executive director, Jon Kest, had become severely ill and passed away not long after. It was a time of major upheaval within our organization, and within the broader progressive movement. We had just come out of the massive Occupy Wall Street protests that elevated issues of working people against the 1%. There was a lot of uncertainty as to where we and the movement would go next.

After months of organizing fast food workers at restaurants around NYC, a couple dozen workers went out on strike and began what would become the #FightFor15 movement. The rest is history. Over the next few years, we won $15/hr in NYC and raised the wages of millions of low-wage workers across the county. The vision of Jon Kest was brought to fruition. And I’ve had the privilege to build on that for the past 10 years.

In that time we’ve won the strongest rent laws in the country, protecting millions of tenants in NY. We survived a global pandemic and won billions for excluded workers and tenants, who lost work during the pandemic. We fought the fossil fuel industry and won a citywide gas ban, and pressured the city and state to divest billions from fossil fuel companies.

None of this would have been possible without thousands of our members taking the streets, getting arrested and putting everything on the line to put forward a vision of what is possible for working people when they are organized. Join us at our gala in TWO WEEKS to celebrate these victories and the members and allies that fought with us.

I’m so proud to hand the reins over to Olivia Leirer and Lucas Sanchez, who were an integral part of every single one of those fights as well. They will go forward with the unwavering tenacity that our members show everyday, to push forward an uncompromising vision that all of us deserve to live with dignity in our communities.

It will be a night to remember as we celebrate all that we have been able to achieve together.

In solidarity forever,

Jonathan Westin
Executive Director