PyTorch tensors, neural networks and Autograd: an introduction
Oct. 28th, 2025 04:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
tidelift_feedFor Python application developers looking to harness the power of machine learning, understanding the foundational tools is critical. Among those tools is PyTorch, a leading open-source machine learning framework renowned for its flexibility, Pythonic interface, and dynamic approach to computation.
This guide is designed to demystify PyTorch's core components, providing you with a solid understanding of how it empowers the creation and training of sophisticated machine learning models. We'll break down the essentials into three interconnected concepts:
- Tensors: The fundamental building blocks of data in PyTorch
- Neural networks: The architectural models that process this data
- Autograd: PyTorch's powerful engine that enables networks to learn from their experience
By understanding these pillars, you'll gain insight into how PyTorch facilitates the development of intelligent applications, from image classification to complex predictive systems.
What is PyTorch?
PyTorch is a foundational, open-source machine learning framework, primarily distinguished by its Pythonic interface and dynamic computation graphs. Unlike frameworks that build static graphs upfront, PyTorch's "define-by-run" approach constructs the computational graph dynamically as operations are executed, offering unparalleled flexibility for debugging and experimenting with complex or variable neural network architectures.
At a high level, a computational graph is a way to represent a sequence of calculations as a graph. In this graph, each node represents a mathematical operation (like addition, multiplication, or a more complex function), and the edges (or arrows) represent the data (usually numbers or tensors) that flow between these operations. You can think of it like a flowchart. When you define a neural network and feed data through it, PyTorch internally builds one of these graphs. It records every step taken to get from your input data to the final output. This graph is crucial because it's what allows frameworks like PyTorch to efficiently simulate and train systems like neural networks.
[Caption: An example of a simple computational graph.]
Typical neural network training is done using an algorithm called backpropagation. The idea is to compute the gradient of the error with respect to the parameters used in the network, starting from the end of the network and propagating them to the beginning. PyTorch uses this computational graph to calculate gradients of error during backpropagation. Autograd is a key feature of PyTorch, and it helps automate this process.
That’s kind of a lot to take in all at once – especially if deep-learning is new to you – so let’s look at tensors, neural networks, and Autograd more in depth.
What are tensors?
Tensors are multi-dimensional arrays (scalars, vectors, matrices, etc.) that hold numerical data. For PyTorch specifically, tensors are the framework’s fundamental data structure upon which everything else is built. If you’ve ever used NumPy `ndarrays`, tensors are like that, except computation can be offloaded to accelerators such as Graphics Processing Units (GPUs).
Here is an example of the creation of a tensor in PyTorch.
```
data = [[1, 2],[3, 4]] # Numerical data represented as a 2x2 matrix
x_data = torch.tensor(data) # Converts the 2x2 matrix into a tensor
```
The above code takes a 2x2 matrix of numerical data and converts it to a PyTorch Tensor. The result is a specialized data structure optimized for machine learning. Tensors are used to encode the inputs and outputs of a model, as well as the model’s parameters. All data (images, text, audio, numerical features) you feed into a neural network, and all the intermediate calculations, will be represented as tensors. They are also optimized for automatic differentiation (known as Autograd). Tensors form the building blocks of PyTorch, and almost every operation in PyTorch will act on them. (Refer to the documentation for more information.)
How to represent a neural network in PyTorch?
Inspired by the human brain, an artificial neural network (ANN) is a computational model that processes data through interconnected layers to transform inputs into desired outputs. Each layer is composed of artificial neurons that are connected to neurons in the previous and next layers. Each artificial neuron receives signals from connected neurons, then processes them and sends a signal to other connected neurons. The connection between the neurons is represented by a weight, a numerical value representing the strength of the connection. The signal and the output of each neuron are real numbers. The output is computed by a function of all its inputs and the connection’s strength, called the activation function. These networks learn to perform tasks by adjusting the weights on their internal connections during a training process, allowing them to make accurate inferences and predictions. To illustrate how ANNs learn, let’s look at a simplified example: Classifying images of clothing based on the Fashion-MNIST dataset, which is often used for ML benchmarking. Such a classification model would use images of different articles of clothing to train on to be able to accurately identify a dress as a dress or a sandal as a sandal.
[Caption: A portion of the Fashion-MNIST dataset.]
Let’s build a neural network to do this. One of the most typical and simple neural network is composed of three interconnected layers:
Input layer
This is the layer that consumes the raw input. For a Fashion-MNIST image, each image is typically a 28x28 pixel grayscale image. The input layer would have 784 nodes (28 * 28), with each node receiving the pixel intensity value (e.g., a number between 0 and 255) from one specific pixel in the image. Typically, each output signal of the neurons will be sent to each neuron of the hidden layer.
Hidden layer
This layer of nodes receives signals from the input layer and processes it further. For a Fashion-MNIST image, a hidden layer might take in groups of pixel values and start to detect rudimentary shapes, edges, or textures (e.g., identifying a vertical line, a curved edge, or a patch of rough texture). If there are multiple hidden layers, a deeper hidden layer might then combine these simpler features to recognize more complex patterns, such as a sleeve, a collar, or the shape of a shoe's sole. There can be many hidden layers, each one a network of nodes further refining and processing the data to extract increasingly abstract features.
Output layer
This layer is responsible for the final result of the processing that has occurred in the hidden layers. In the case of Fashion-MNIST, the goal is to classify the clothing item. Since there are 10 different categories of clothing, the output layer would typically have 10 nodes. Each of these nodes would represent one of the clothing categories, and the network's output would indicate the probability that the input image belongs to each of those categories, depending on the output signals from those 10 nodes (e.g., "95% chance it's a sneaker, 3% chance it's a sandal, 2% chance it's something else").
Neural Network in PyTorch
In PyTorch, `torch.nn.Module` is the foundational base class for all neural networks. You can think of it as an organized container for layers and other modules, defining the complete flow of data through your network. In essence,` torch.nn.Module` serves as the object-oriented blueprint for building neural networks.
So, if we were to build a neural network to classify Fashion-MNIST images, we would inherit from `nn.Module`. In our custom network's`__init__` method, we would set up the specific layers we intend to use. For Fashion-MNIST, this might involve an `nn.Linear` layer to handle the flattened 28x28 pixel input (784 features), followed by `nn.ReLU` for non-linearity, and ultimately another `nn.Linear` for the 10 output classes. Then, in the forward method, we would define the computational sequence, dictating how an input image (represented as a tensor) moves through these layers to produce a classification prediction. PyTorch’s built-in classes and methods for these complex computations mean that you can focus more on architecting and training powerful models rather than implementing the intricate mathematical operations yourself.
Below is an example of how we might do this with PyTorch. This example is derived from the PyTorch documentation, where you can see the details of this implementation.
```
# The following class defines the architecture of the model
class ClothingClassification(nn.Module): # Here is where we use PyTorch’s nn.Module class to inherit from
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.flatten = nn.Flatten()
# The following are all different layers that operate on the data in the order they are declared here
self.linear_relu_stack = nn.Sequential(
nn.Linear(28*28, 512),
nn.ReLU(),
nn.Linear(512, 512),
nn.ReLU(),
nn.Linear(512, 10)
)
# The following defines the computational flow of data as it’s passed
# from node to node and layer to layer
def forward(self, x):
x = self.flatten(x)
logits = self.linear_relu_stack(x)
return logits
```
How does the neural network learn, what is Autograd?
Initially, as data flows through the layers of an untrained neural network, the computations result in largely random and incorrect outputs. This is because the network has not yet learned how to accurately process the data. To enable the network to produce correct and expected outputs, we need to teach it by systematically adjusting the mathematical relationships (connection weights for example) within its hidden layers through a process called training. In other words, we need to retrace our steps through our calculations to see where we went wrong.
A common and very powerful algorithm used to train neural networks is backpropagation. This algorithm systematically adjusts the parameters within the network's layers to minimize the difference between its predictions and the correct answers. While backpropagation is essential, performing these intricate calculations by hand for every parameter in a large neural network would be incredibly arduous, tedious, and highly prone to errors. Fortunately, PyTorch provides Autograd – an automatic differentiation engine that lies at the heart of neural network training.
At a high level, Autograd keeps the dynamic computational graph to compute the function gradient. This graph precisely tracks all the mathematical operations and "steps" taken to reach the output. Because it's generated on the fly, you can even use standard Python control flow like if/else statements and for-loops within your network's logic, but be aware that this is not a good practice.
When the model produces an incorrect prediction (quantified as the loss function), Autograd enables it to efficiently move backward through this computational graph, from the output layer to the input. Using the gradients computed at each step, each parameter is updated to reduce the loss, effectively teaching the network to make more accurate predictions over time.
Conclusion
AI and ML are formidable new additions to our arsenal of tools. However, as this discussion has highlighted, a deep comprehension of these tools is essential. PyTorch's power is matched by its complexity, creating pitfalls for the unwary developer. To understand PyTorch complexity and writing flawless code, automated enforcement is a must have. In our next blog post, we'll dive into the practical application of this safeguard, exploring specific static analysis rules designed to verify your PyTorch usage, and ensure you're leveraging its power correctly and securely.
Introducing audit logs in SonarQube Cloud: Enhancing compliance and security
Oct. 27th, 2025 04:00 pmtidelift_feedIn today's fast-paced development environment, maintaining software security and compliance is more critical than ever. With the rise of AI-driven code development and increasing regulatory demands, the need for accountability and traceability within the software development lifecycle (SDLC) has never been greater.
At Sonar, we're committed to empowering developers to build better, more secure software with static code analysis. We're also dedicated to providing the tools necessary to ensure that this development is done in a secure and compliant manner. That's why we're excited to announce the initial release of audit logs for SonarQube Cloud.
The growing importance of audit logs in modern SDLC and DevSecOps
While once considered a niche requirement for highly regulated industries, audit logs have become an essential tool for any organization with a digital presence. They provide a chronological record of events, offering a clear answer to "who did what, and when?" This is crucial for:
- Security Incident Investigation: Quickly identify and investigate suspicious activity.
- Compliance: Meet the requirements of standards like GDPR, SOC 2, and ISO 27001.
- Accountability: Maintain a clear record of user and system actions.
Audit logs in SonarQube Cloud: What you need to know
This initial release of audit logs is designed to provide our SonarQube Cloud Enterprise plan customers with the essential data they need to meet their immediate compliance and security needs. Here are the key details:
- Availability: Audit logs are available exclusively for customers on the SonarQube Cloud Enterprise plan, ensuring enterprise-grade governance and support.
- Access: Audit logs are accessible via a new API endpoint. This allows for seamless integration with your existing security information and event management (SIEM) tools.
- Permissions: Only enterprise admins have access to the audit logs endpoint.
- Data Retention: Audit logs are retained for a period of 180 days.
- Querying: In this initial version, you can query the audit logs by date range. We will be adding the ability to query by event type and actor in a future release.
A list of the logged events is available here.
Focus on what matters: Core IAM events
This first iteration of SonarQube Cloud audit logs focuses on capturing core authentication and administrative Identity and Access Management (IAM) events. This provides visibility into critical security-related activities, such as:
- User login and logout events
- User and token creation
- Changes to user permissions
Reducing risk and ensuring accountability
For compliance officers, CISOs, and C-suite executives, audit logs provide a powerful tool for risk reduction and governance. They enable you to:
- Verify Policy Adherence: Confirm that mandatory security checks are being enforced.
- Trace Configuration Changes: Track administrative actions, and user permission changes.
- Facilitate Regulatory Reporting: Generate the fine-grained data needed for compliance reports.
- Ensure Non-Repudiation: Create an immutable record of code security and quality decisions.
The future of audit logs in SonarQube Cloud
This is just the beginning for audit logs in SonarQube Cloud. We are committed to expanding the scope of logged events to provide even greater visibility into your development lifecycle. We want to hear from you! You can influence our roadmap and tell us which additional events you'd like to see by providing feedback on our roadmap.
Get started today
If you're a SonarQube Cloud Enterprise plan enterprise admin, you can start using the new audit logs API today. For more detailed information, please refer to our SonarQube Cloud documentation and the API endpoint documentation.
We're confident that the new audit logs feature will provide you with the traceability and control you need to ensure the security and regulatory compliance of your software development process.
Choosing the right SonarQube Server edition for your needs
Oct. 27th, 2025 04:00 pmtidelift_feedIn today's fast-paced software development landscape, ensuring code quality and security is paramount. SonarQube has emerged as a leading automated code review platform that empowers development teams to achieve a high level of code quality and code security. It excels at quickly analyzing code, identifying a wide range of issues from bugs and security vulnerabilities to technical debt, and offers valuable guidance on how to improve code as you develop.
For users who want to control where and how the platform is deployed and self-upgrade at their own pace, SonarQube is available in several distinct offerings, which are covered in this article. These separate offerings are designed to support individuals, small teams, growing businesses, and large enterprises with capability that meets the complexity and scale of each group. For users who don’t want to manage SonarQube deployment and prefer the ease of maintenance free use, SonarQube Cloud and its various plans are better suited for you.
If you’re not familiar with the different SonarQube offerings: Community Build and SonarQube Server Developer, Enterprise, and Data Center editions, we’ll cover each in this article. By understanding the features, benefits, target audience, and key differences of each, organizations and individuals can make an informed decision about which one best suits their specific needs.
SonarQube Community Build: the starting point for code quality
SonarQube Community Build serves as the foundational, free, and open-source offering of SonarQube for those who want to keep control over installation and upgrades themselves. It offers a powerful entry point for very small development teams and individuals looking to enhance their developer productivity and overall code quality and code security of small development projects. As an open-source tool, its source code is publicly accessible, fostering transparency and community involvement.
SonarQube Community Build boasts support for a significant number of popular and classic programming languages, frameworks, and web technologies. It includes coverage of widely used languages such as Java, C#, Python, JavaScript, and Typescript plus over 15 other languages and IaC technologies.
Refer to our official documentation to see the complete list of languages and frameworks supported for each language to ensure SonarQube Community Build has coverage for your specific needs. Languages such as C, C++, Obj-C, Dart/Flutter, Swift, ABAP, T-SQL, PL/SQL, YAML, JSON, Ansible, GitHub Actions, Apex, COBOL, JCL, PL/I, RPG and VB6 are only available in SonarQube Server, and the latest documentation should always be consulted to confirm the current status as Sonar regularly adds new languages and frameworks.
Furthermore, SonarQube Community Build offers robust integration capabilities with leading DevOps platforms, including GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, Bitbucket, and Jenkins, supporting integrating with both cloud and self-managed instances of each. This integration allows for the automation of regular code reviews, providing developers with immediate feedback on code health directly within their familiar development workflows.
A key feature of the Community Build is the "Sonar Quality Gate." This provides a clear and immediate indication of whether the new or modified code meets predefined quality standards. Beyond code quality and security, another important standard is a project's code coverage metrics, offering insights into the extent to which the codebase is covered by unit tests. By failing build pipelines when code quality doesn't meet these standards, it helps prevent problematic code from being released into production, thereby reducing risks and costs associated with late discovery of issues. The Community Build is also known for its fast analysis speed and accuracy and provides shared, unified configurations for consistent analysis across projects. Integration with SonarQube for IDE is another significant advantage, enabling developers to identify and fix coding issues in real-time as they write code within their integrated development environment. The "Connected Mode" feature further enhances this by linking the IDE to SonarQube, ensuring that developers are working with the same set of rules and configurations.
Despite its robust features and because it is geared for individual developers and very small teams, SonarQube Community Build does not contain features that are useful for larger teams. It lacks some advanced functionalities such as branch and pull request analysis and detailed quality gate information in the comments of the pull request, which are crucial for collaborative development workflows. Advanced security features like taint analysis, which helps in identifying potential security vulnerabilities by tracking data flow, and more comprehensive secrets detection for popular private web services are also absent. Additionally, it does not offer application or portfolio management capabilities for aggregating projects and providing executive oversight across projects. A notable performance consideration is larger teams tend to submit analysis requests at the same time and Community Build can only process a single analysis at a time which would slow down larger teams and organizations with multiple teams. Finally, Community Build does not include enterprise level reporting for compliance with common security standards or specific regulations.
The target audience for SonarQube Community Build typically includes individual developers who are keen on improving their coding practices and code quality, as well as small teams and startups that may have budget constraints. It is also an excellent choice for open-source projects that can leverage its free static code analysis capabilities. Furthermore, engineers interested in exploring the SonarQube API for custom integrations might also find Community Build suitable for initial experimentation.
Support for SonarQube Community Build is primarily provided through the active Sonar Community forum. Users can engage with other community members, ask questions, and share their experiences. It's important to note that commercial support with guaranteed response times and dedicated technical assistance is not available for our open source offering.
SonarQube Developer Edition: empowering development teams
SonarQube Developer Edition represents the first commercial tier, specifically designed to empower small to medium size development teams with enhanced collaboration and efficient development workflows to specifically support software development in a corporate setting. It includes capability crucial for teams working on projects that require a higher level of code quality and security checks and broader coverage of different languages and frameworks to ensure your software is ready for production and future proof.
A significant addition in the Developer Edition is the capability for branch and pull request analysis and pull request decoration. This allows teams to analyze code changes in isolated branches and within pull requests before they are merged into the main codebase. SonarQube then provides feedback directly within the comments of the pull request, highlighting any new issues that the changes might introduce directly within the DevOps platform. This proactive approach helps prevent the introduction of bugs and vulnerabilities into the main branch, ensuring a main is always in a production-ready state. This is important for DevOps teams to be able to trigger continuous integration at any moment and ensure the build is free of issues. SonarQube even identifies issues in the target branch that will be resolved by merging the pull request, providing a comprehensive view of the positive impact of the merge.
The Developer Edition also includes enhanced Static Application Security Testing (SAST). This involves more sophisticated analysis techniques, including taint analysis, which tracks the flow of data through the application to identify security vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection, where untrusted data might be used in a harmful way. Advanced dataflow bug detection finds more complex bugs other tools can’t find, preventing runtime errors and crashes. Another valuable feature is more powerful secrets detection, which identifies and prevents the accidental exposure of sensitive information like API keys and passwords used in over 200 common private, commercial, and enterprise cloud services and APIs.
The Developer Edition expands the language support to over 30 languages and frameworks. This includes more specialized languages used in commercial application development, catering to a broader range of development environments and more complete coverage of the types of software built by companies. Furthermore, the Developer Edition includes AI Code Assurance to help companies verify all AI generated code meets their code quality and code security standards. AI Code Assurance can be used to automatically detect and flag projects that contain AI-generated code and then it puts those projects through a more rigorous code review process to ensure the AI generated code passes strict standards.
The Developer Edition is recommended for codebases with 100K+ Lines of Code (LOC). The pricing for the commercial editions is based on the number of lines of code in each project marked for analysis. It's important to note that the LOC count excludes blank lines, comments, and test code. The target audience for the Developer Edition is small to medium size professional development teams working on projects that require a more comprehensive approach to code quality and security than what the free Community Build offers. DevOps teams that need to collaborate effectively on code changes through branches and pull requests will find this edition particularly beneficial. Commercial support is available for users of the Developer Edition, providing access to technical assistance and resources beyond simply asking questions in the Sonar Community.
SonarQube Enterprise Edition: code quality and security at scale
SonarQube Enterprise Edition is designed as the solution for organizations looking to scale their code quality and security initiatives across multiple teams and larger codebases. It includes everything in Developer Edition and additional capabilities focused on providing deeper insights, enhanced performance for enterprise-level usage, comprehensive reporting capabilities, and enterprise identity and access management (IAM).
This edition expands the language support to a total of 35+ languages and frameworks. This includes additional languages used in enterprise companies such as Apex, COBOL, JCL, PL/I, RPG, and VB6, catering to organizations that maintain legacy systems or use specialized technologies. Enterprise Edition boosts support for unlimited integrations with all DevOps platforms: GitHub, GitLab, Azure Devops, and Bitbucket. This means multiple teams within different business units with varying needs and development workflows can all be centrally supported by one SonarQube Server instance with governance of common standards across all teams.
For better oversight and management of code quality and security across large organizations, the Enterprise Edition includes aggregating projects into both applications and portfolios. Unified portfolio management, enables the consolidation of multiple projects and applications into a single view, providing a holistic perspective on code quality and security across your defined portfolio. Enterprise Edition also provides detailed project health insights with downloadable project, application, and portfolio PDF reports, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the overall status of code quality and security at the desired level. It also includes downloadable security compliance reports that can be used to demonstrate compliance with the top security standards: CWE, OWASP, PCI DSS, STIG, and CASA. To handle the demands of larger teams and codebases, the Enterprise Edition offers improved performance, ensuring efficient analysis even with a high volume of code changes. AI CodeFix further accelerates developer productivity by offering AI generated code solutions for issues at the click of a button to boost resolution at the speed of AI.
The Enterprise Edition further enhances security capabilities with security engine customization, allowing organizations to tailor the security analysis engine to understand your internal APIS for performing more powerful taint analysis and to detect private secret patterns specific to your internal services. The Enterprise Edition also includes an extra license for a staging environment, facilitating testing and validation of SonarQube configurations before deployment in production. It also provides enhanced monorepo support, including guided setup of a mono repo and showing code health status in the comments of a monorepo pull request, making it easier to manage and analyze code within large monolithic, multi-project repositories.
The Enterprise Edition is recommended for organizations with 1M+ Lines of Code (LOC). The primary target audience is larger enterprise companies with numerous development teams and larger, more complex projects, as well as organizations with stringent security and compliance requirements that necessitate comprehensive reporting and centralized management of code quality and security. Standard commercial support is included for Enterprise Edition instances with 30M+ LOC, and 24/7 white glove premium support is also available for enhanced assistance.
SonarQube Data Center Edition: performance, high availability, and scalability
SonarQube Data Center Edition represents the pinnacle of the SonarQube Server offerings, designed for the largest and most critical deployments that demand maximum performance, high availability, and scalability. It is engineered to handle extreme loads and ensure business continuity through its robust architecture.
Building upon the features of the Enterprise Edition, the Data Center Edition introduces several key enhancements focused on resilience and performance. It offers Kubernetes autoscaling based on demand, allowing the system to automatically adjust resources to handle fluctuating workloads, ensuring consistent performance while optimizing cost. It also has improved high performance for distributed teams, providing efficient analysis even under extreme loads and in geographically dispersed development environments. To ensure high availability for service integrity, the Data Center Edition features component redundancy, eliminating single points of failure and guaranteeing continuous operation for mission-critical code quality and security analysis. The data resiliency for business continuity is a core aspect, ensuring that data is protected and can be recovered in the event of failures, safeguarding business operations. It includes all the capability of Enterprise Edition such as unlimited DevOps integrations and the expanded language support for over 35 languages.
The Data Center Edition is recommended for organizations with 20M+ Lines of Code (LOC), and its licensing follows the same LOC-based model per instance per year. The target audience for this edition comprises very large enterprises with massive codebases and a high volume of analysis. Organizations that require mission-critical code quality and security analysis with guaranteed uptime and performance, and companies with globally distributed development teams that need a highly scalable and available solution will find it suitable. Standard commercial support is included with the Data Center Edition, along with 24/7 white glove premium support for immediate and expert assistance.
SonarQube Server Feature Comparison
This table lists some of the key features important to companies evaluating what’s right for them:
| Feature | Community Build | Developer Edition | Enterprise Edition | Data Center Edition |
| Base Cost | Free | Commercial (Starts at $500 annually) | Commercial (Contact Sales) | Commercial (Contact Sales) |
| Open Source | Yes | No | No | No |
| Recommended Lines of Code | N/A | 100K+ | 1M+ | 20M+ |
| Number of Supported Languages | 20+ | 30+ | 35+ | 35+ |
| DevOps Integrations | 1 per platform | 1 per platform | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Branch & Pull Request Analysis and Decoration | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Injection Vulnerabilities Detection & Advanced Bug Detection | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Basic Secrets Detection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Comprehensive Secrets Detection | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI-Code Assurance | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI-CodeFix | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Combine Several Projects Into A Single Application | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Portfolio Management | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Regulatory Reports and Audit Logs | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Monorepo Support | Basic | Basic | Enhanced | Enhanced |
| Parallel Processing | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Component Redundancy | No | No | No | Yes |
| Autoscaling | No | No | No | Yes |
| Commercial Support | No | Yes | Yes (Standard included for 30M+ LOC) | Yes (Standard included) |
| 24/7 Premium Support | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Note: Pricing details for commercial editions may vary and require contacting SonarSource sales.
Choosing the right SonarQube Server edition
Selecting the most suitable SonarQube Server edition depends on a multitude of factors specific to an organization's or individual's needs. Team size and structure play a significant role. For individual developers or very small teams just starting with code quality analysis, the Community Build offers a robust and free foundation. As development teams grow and require more collaborative features, the Developer Edition becomes a valuable upgrade. Larger organizations with multiple teams and complex projects will likely find the Enterprise Edition better suited to their needs, offering centralized management and comprehensive reporting. For very large enterprises with massive codebases and mission-critical applications, the Data Center Edition provides the performance, scalability, and high availability required.
The complexity and size of projects are also crucial considerations. While the Community Build can handle smaller projects effectively, the Developer Edition is recommended for medium-sized projects. Enterprise Edition is designed for large and complex projects, and the Data Center Edition is tailored for very large projects with extensive codebases.
Security requirements are another key differentiator. The Community Build offers basic security checks, while the Developer Edition enhances these with advanced SAST and advanced secrets detection. Organizations with strict security and compliance requirements will benefit from the Enterprise and Data Center Editions, which provide comprehensive security reporting and customization options.
Scalability needs are paramount for growing organizations. The Community Build has inherent limitations due to its single-threaded nature. The Developer Edition offers some scalability improvements, but the Enterprise Edition is better equipped to handle larger teams and codebases. The Data Center Edition provides the highest level of scalability and high availability through features like autoscaling and component redundancy.
Budget is always a significant factor. The Community Build is free but has limited capabilities. The Developer, Enterprise, and Data Center Editions are commercial offerings with increasing costs and features. The pricing for these commercial editions is based on the number of lines of code in the projects to be analyzed and requires contacting SonarSource sales for specific quotes. Organizations should carefully estimate their current and future codebase size to choose an edition that aligns with their budget and growth plans.
Support requirements should be considered. The Community Build relies on community support, while the commercial editions offer varying levels of commercial support, with the Enterprise and Data Center Editions providing premium support options.
As teams and organizations evolve and their needs become more sophisticated, upgrading from the Community Build to a commercial edition unlocks significant benefits. Features like branch and pull request analysis, code health status in the the comments of pull requests, advanced security analysis, and enhanced scalability become crucial for maintaining code quality and security at scale.
Conclusion
SonarQube offers a range of Server editions designed to meet the diverse needs of the software development community. The Community Build provides a solid, free foundation for improving code quality. The Developer Edition empowers development teams with essential collaboration features and deeper analysis capabilities. The Enterprise Edition enables organizations to scale code quality initiatives across multiple teams with comprehensive reporting and management tools. Finally, the Data Center Edition delivers the ultimate in performance, high availability, and scalability for the largest and most critical deployments.
Choosing the right SonarQube Server edition is a critical decision that should be based on a careful assessment of an organization's or individual's specific requirements, including team size, project complexity, security needs, scalability demands, and budget. Readers are encouraged to visit the official SonarSource website for the most up-to-date information on features and pricing and to consider requesting a demo or free trial of the commercial editions to experience their benefits firsthand. By selecting the appropriate SonarQube Server edition, development teams significantly enhance their code quality, improve security, and ultimately deliver better software.
Bare Bones Convention Accessibility Timeline
Oct. 28th, 2025 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppet posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
access_fandomBetween a friend contacting me a couple of weeks ago for help setting up Accessibility at the new con he joined, and just tonight hearing about the absolute bullshit that's been going on at TwitchCon (no ramp for their Guest of Honor wheelchair user to get up to the raised stage to receive an award, third year in a row with no ramps for him as a GoH), I figure I may as well share this here.
It's far from perfect, since I'm still almost entirely self-taught, and I built it on the convention I used to run Accessibility for, so there's some stuff that's not exactly universal, but hopefully it'll help someone out there!
( Convention Accessibility Timeline and Jobs )
This is far from perfect and from comprehensive both, but if you work on Accessibility for a convention, or are looking to get started doing so, hopefully you can use this as a sort of template to build around or tweak to your needs. Suggestions in the comments are very welcome, though I don't know if I'll be up to incorporating them into the post. Questions are also very welcome; I'll do my best to answer how I dealt with things, but anyone who wants to is free to chime in!
I've got more info to share as well, but I'm going to hold off on that for another post or two, as this one wore me out a bit already 😂
Edit: For clarity, since I was just overthinking it: This isn't a comprehensive list of services that were provided at the convention I worked; it's just a behind-the-scenes look at how I was involved in setting up some of the services we provided. (Plus some that I never got around to, like the ASL interpreters and Braille documents 🤦♀️) If you want inspiration for that, I suggest looking around for convention Accessibility Policies. Those should list out the various accessibility measures that a given convention has in place.
It's far from perfect, since I'm still almost entirely self-taught, and I built it on the convention I used to run Accessibility for, so there's some stuff that's not exactly universal, but hopefully it'll help someone out there!
( Convention Accessibility Timeline and Jobs )
This is far from perfect and from comprehensive both, but if you work on Accessibility for a convention, or are looking to get started doing so, hopefully you can use this as a sort of template to build around or tweak to your needs. Suggestions in the comments are very welcome, though I don't know if I'll be up to incorporating them into the post. Questions are also very welcome; I'll do my best to answer how I dealt with things, but anyone who wants to is free to chime in!
I've got more info to share as well, but I'm going to hold off on that for another post or two, as this one wore me out a bit already 😂
Edit: For clarity, since I was just overthinking it: This isn't a comprehensive list of services that were provided at the convention I worked; it's just a behind-the-scenes look at how I was involved in setting up some of the services we provided. (Plus some that I never got around to, like the ASL interpreters and Braille documents 🤦♀️) If you want inspiration for that, I suggest looking around for convention Accessibility Policies. Those should list out the various accessibility measures that a given convention has in place.
(no subject)
Oct. 28th, 2025 06:40 pmechanI have spent the last week reading up on in-car technologies. I thought I had been paying attention the past 15 some odd years, but apparently I managed to miss the majority of the details. So here's a somewhat opinionated summary of what I've learned.
CarPlay (iPhone) and Android Auto (Android) let you use your smartphone on the car's infotainment screen. In the stone age you'd use a RAM mount on the dash to look at your actual smartphone screen. Now that cars have cameras and massive infotainment screens built-in, I guess it seems like a waste to not use that screen for your phone.
Android Automotive is a version of Android that IS a car's infotainment software. Considering how much people want to replace the car's native infotainment software, I guess it's not surprise that some car makers go for this option. Its got the usual android app permissions model. There's even an app store; only specific apps are supported, but that support extends pretty far, and includes "I swear I'll only use this in a parking lot" games like Candy Crush.
Android Automotive has multiuser support, via profiles. There's also a guest user profile, which seems like just another profile, but settings changes made to the guest user don't seem to persist, and get reset when the car is turned off. The active user profile can be changed at (mostly?) anytime; there's some lockscreen-style security options for auth when switching profiles that I haven't tried out yet.
It seems like profiles should be able to manage a whole bunch of settings. But actually... I have no f'ing idea what they manage because all I seem to find is exceptions. Ex: my car has an audio app, that combines AM/FM radio with SiriusXM and playing from USB. Every time I get in the car it forgets what I was listening to, and one time even forgot I had turned it off. Additionally, most (but not all!) of the settings that directly affect how the car drives are not even accessible from the infotainment screen's settings menu, they're only available from the speedometer screen's settings menu, and (AFAICT...) don't care about user profiles at all. So far the only setting I'm positive the user profile manages is the choice of animated background wallpaper for the speedometer screen. (WTH to every part of that sentence.)
I fully expect to spend at least another two months figuring out how to work everything in this car.
CarPlay (iPhone) and Android Auto (Android) let you use your smartphone on the car's infotainment screen. In the stone age you'd use a RAM mount on the dash to look at your actual smartphone screen. Now that cars have cameras and massive infotainment screens built-in, I guess it seems like a waste to not use that screen for your phone.
Android Automotive is a version of Android that IS a car's infotainment software. Considering how much people want to replace the car's native infotainment software, I guess it's not surprise that some car makers go for this option. Its got the usual android app permissions model. There's even an app store; only specific apps are supported, but that support extends pretty far, and includes "I swear I'll only use this in a parking lot" games like Candy Crush.
Android Automotive has multiuser support, via profiles. There's also a guest user profile, which seems like just another profile, but settings changes made to the guest user don't seem to persist, and get reset when the car is turned off. The active user profile can be changed at (mostly?) anytime; there's some lockscreen-style security options for auth when switching profiles that I haven't tried out yet.
It seems like profiles should be able to manage a whole bunch of settings. But actually... I have no f'ing idea what they manage because all I seem to find is exceptions. Ex: my car has an audio app, that combines AM/FM radio with SiriusXM and playing from USB. Every time I get in the car it forgets what I was listening to, and one time even forgot I had turned it off. Additionally, most (but not all!) of the settings that directly affect how the car drives are not even accessible from the infotainment screen's settings menu, they're only available from the speedometer screen's settings menu, and (AFAICT...) don't care about user profiles at all. So far the only setting I'm positive the user profile manages is the choice of animated background wallpaper for the speedometer screen. (WTH to every part of that sentence.)
I fully expect to spend at least another two months figuring out how to work everything in this car.
One more possible birthday gift
Oct. 28th, 2025 04:40 pmrachelmanijaIf by any chance you read my book Traitor, the final book in The Change series, a review anywhere would be fantastic. It doesn't have to be positive or appear literally on my birthday.
Sherwood and I managed to release it on possibly the second-worst date we could have, which was October 2024. (The worst would have been November 2024). So a little belated publicity would be nice. I'd be happy to provide a review copy if you'd like.
Sherwood and I managed to release it on possibly the second-worst date we could have, which was October 2024. (The worst would have been November 2024). So a little belated publicity would be nice. I'd be happy to provide a review copy if you'd like.
Fate of OneLIC uncertain hours before key Council vote
Oct. 28th, 2025 11:05 pmqueens_eagle_feed
The fate of the OneLIC rezoning plan is uncertain hours before a City Council vote. Rendering via DCP
By Ryan Schwach
The fate of a plan to rezone and reshape 54-blocks of Long Island City is uncertain just hours before it’s scheduled to come before a key vote in the City Council.
Negotiations over OneLIC – the city’s plan to encourage 15,000 new units of housing in a neighborhood whose growth has far outpaced the rest of the city in the last decade – are ongoing hours before the plan is expected to come before the Council’s zoning committees.
Local City Councilmember Julie Won has threatened to veto the project if her concerns over affordability, infrastructure, public space and other issues are not addressed in the plan’s final draft.
The progressive legislator holds a fair amount of leverage in the negotiations as the resident councilmember. Should she choose to derail the project, it would mark the end of the multi-year effort, one that Won has stewarded through since the start.
Won’s potential withholding of support for OneLIC also comes just as New Yorkers begin to cast their vote on a series of ballot proposals that, in part, aim to cut back on the power the City Council has over the fate of housing projects.
In a press advisory sent Tuesday afternoon, Won’s office doubled down on comments she’s made in recent days, threatening to withhold her support unless the city commits to meeting her demands, which include increased affordability, school construction, more park space and a connected waterfront in the Western Queens neighborhood.
The councilmember, as well as the Department of City Planning, declined to comment to the Eagle on specifics of the negotiations and where they stand, but said they are ongoing.
“This plan reflects priorities we’ve heard from residents on the importance of schools and open space,” a DCP spokesperson said in a statement. “We are encouraged by the plan's broad support — including the local community board’s approval — and look forward to getting all parties to a yes.”
DCP said that the plan’s goals, including the promise of 4,300 permanently affordable homes, are key to addressing the city’s housing crisis, and that many of Won’s demands, including a new school, are at the “forefront of our minds as we continue productive conversations with the councilmember.”
OneLIC will, at the very least, come before the Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises and the Committee on Land Use on Wednesday.
What’s unclear is if it will come for a vote before the entire Council. In order for the plan to make it to the legislature’s floor, it would need to clear the committees without enough substantial changes as not to warrant getting sent back to the DCP for another round of approval.
While Won has long said that meeting her conditions are required for getting her approval, troubles began to bubble up on Monday when Won called out Con Edison, claiming the utility company was pulling back on a commitment to pay for a connected waterfront in LIC.
She said Con Ed’s move alone could "tank" the OneLIC project.
“Despite nearly two years of good-faith engagement, Con Ed has rejected the community’s vision of a connected LIC waterfront from Gantry Park to Queensbridge Park,” Won said in a statement. “Con Ed, as a $72 billion dollar company, refuses to pay their share of design costs for a public waterfront esplanade in LIC. Con Ed's refusal to participate, two days before the Council's vote on OneLIC, is going to tank this project.”
Con Ed vehemently denied that they had backtracked on the plan and submitted paper work to the state to make it happen.
Queens Councilmember Julie Won is threatening to kill OneLIC if her list of demands aren’t met by the city. File photo by Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit
“Con Edison supports the goals of the rezoning, and we welcome the opportunity to continue working with Councilmember Won,” a spokesperson said. “As a regulated utility, any land transfer must follow established state regulatory processes. We have already initiated this process.”
In response, Won’s office said that ConEd has not made such commitments to pay for the design costs on their portion of the connected waterfront.
‘Not perfect’
The residents of Long Island City and Astoria that will be affected by the rezoning appear to be split on it.
Some locals and housing advocates see the plan as an opportunity to address overdevelopment in LIC, and bring affordability and other benefits to the Western Queens community.
Others worry it will bring more of the same type of development seen in the neighborhood over the past decade, further displacing longtime residents.
Dating back to 2010, LIC has grown faster than any other neighborhood in the city, outpacing the rest of New York by nearly ten fold in population, according to a report from the state comptroller.
During that time, LIC in particular became the destination for developers looking to build luxury high rise apartments in the neighborhood that’s just a quick train ride over to Manhattan.
Some locals say that this inundation of new development priced them out, and that the influx of housing was not met with an equal measure of infrastructure, school seats and open space.
OneLIC’s main tenant is to reverse those trends. But locals are not convinced it will achieve that goal.
Many of Won’s demands, namely her call for an increased mandate for housing affordability, are in lock step with the local community boards and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
Queens Community Boards 1 and 2, and the BP approved the project when it came before them earlier this year, but all did so with a laundry list of conditions and stipulations.
“All of us voted for the promise that we see and the opportunity to bake in and incorporate as much as possible from our conditions,” said Anatole Ashraf, the chair of CB2, which contains the majority of the rezoning area.
Ashraf told the Eagle that he has hope that councilmember will get the plan across the finish line, but said it would be less than ideal if a good amount of CB2’s conditions aren’t met.
“It would be very disappointing if none of our plans are met,” he said. “Some of us would prefer something over nothing, but if it's along the lines of table scraps, then that's unacceptable.”
His counterpart at CB1, Evie Hantzopolous, has been more vocally critical of the OneLIC plan.
She organizes with the Western Queens Community Land Trust, an organization that has continued to call on Won to kill OneLIC outright.
“I don't know how much the city is giving, that's the whole thing,” she told the Eagle in Astoria last week.
“I genuinely believe [Won] is pushing for these things,” she added. “She tells us she is fighting for these investments in the community, and it's the city that has to come up with them. There's only so much that she can do.”
At a rally last week near the Queensbridge Houses in LIC, which, alongside the nearby Ravenswood Houses, is the largest public housing community in the country, NYCHA residents spoke out against the OneLIC Plan.
“We've been neglected for so long,” said Christina Chase, who has lived in both developments. “The audacity for the Department of the City Planning to come over here saying we're going to invest all around you, but not in you, it's disgusting. We've been waiting years for these repairs. We've been waiting years just to live in dignity, and it ain't right.”
“We need truly, deeply affordable housing, and OneLIC is not it,” she added.
Locals in Astoria and Long Island City are skeptical about the massive plan to rezone a swath of their Western Queens community. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
Still, others in Queens and housing advocates say that the project will do wonders to address the housing crisis and increase economic growth.
“This is an area that is prime to be developed and to be rezoned because of the proximity to Manhattan, the closeness, especially all the different transportation options,” said Queens Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Grech.
Grech argued in a recent op-ed and to the Eagle last week that Won shouldn't kill the project, even if it's not “perfect.”
"There's no particular land deal or rezoning that's going to make every party happy,” he said. “If you want to get nirvana or perfection, it probably doesn't exist. But this is pretty darn good.”
Housing advocacy group Open New York, is also in support of the plan’s housing measures.
“New York City is facing a dire affordability crisis that's directly driven by a housing shortage, and that Queens in particular is facing housing increasingly unaffordable,” said Open NY’s Political Director Logan Phares. “Every new home helps reduce housing pressure on existing renters. All New Yorkers will feel the benefits of the rezoning, but especially Queens renters across the borough, who are feeling that intense pressure.”
On Wednesday, the full City Council will vote to approve another massive rezoning project in Jamaica.
The Jamaica Neighborhood Plan, which will rezone over 200-blocks of busy Downtown Jamaica, has already cleared the committees with the blessing of its local councilmembers, who had many of their demands met during negotiations.
But still, just hours before the vote, the fate of OneLIC is unclear.
"There's a lot of uncertainty,” said Ashraf. “What gives me hope is the fact that I'm sure negotiations are ongoing. This is a stage where these final plans take shape.”
ridership and density
Oct. 28th, 2025 06:41 pmmindstalkI was re-reading old transit links (reminder: if someone says replacing buses with microtransit will improve ridership, you're being scammed), and specifically this post on ridership basics (or archive.org for a missing scatterplot.) It's worth reading, but a passage I don't remember from before notes that ridership can have super-linear response to density. Higher density means more potential riders, and makes driving less attractive, and may attract people who don't want to drive.
( Read more... )
Sliwa Charges Batteries Threaten New Yorkers. The FDNY Begs to Differ.
Oct. 28th, 2025 10:05 pmthecityny_feed
Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa has made railing against battery energy storage systems a key part of his campaign.
He rallied with residents of Hollis, Queens, Marine Park, Brooklyn and Eastchester, The Bronx to oppose proposed battery projects in their neighborhoods. On Monday evening, he traveled to the Staten Island neighborhood of Travis to celebrate the cancellation of a battery storage project along Victory Boulevard.
Sliwa spoke against battery storage before casting his ballot on the first day of early voting Saturday and in both mayoral debates, warning that a fire or an explosion of such a system could be “like mini Chernobyl.”
Batteries that store energy are a key part of New York City’s strategy to become more resilient, cut air pollution and transition from fossil fuels to renewable power sources. But they’ve also become a source of fear in some residential neighborhoods that are slated to receive them, with locals pointing to battery storage fires in New York State and California.
During a more than three-hour oversight hearing before the City Council Committee on Fire and Emergency Management, Councilmember Joann Ariola (R-Queens), the committee chair, argued that the batteries should be located in industrial areas, not residential neighborhoods. Fire Department officials, meanwhile, made the case as to how they were minimizing the risk of the battery storage systems and why they would benefit communities.
“We at the FDNY represent a multi-step safety gateway, ensuring a high-level protective performance of a battery energy storage system installed at any location,” said Thomas Currao, chief of fire prevention. “There are many safeguards, fire prevention and risk-mitigation measures.”
Asked for comment, Sliwa underscored his record of standing “with countless communities to stop these sites,” and promised to “keep fighting to protect New Yorkers from this reckless agenda.”
Batteries pose a fire risk but are subject to rigorous safety checks and standards at the point of manufacturing and before and after installation.
Unlike many of the lithium-ion e-bike batteries that have resulted in deadly fires throughout the boroughs, the batteries in energy storage systems are made to safety specifications by the UL Standards & Engagement, the product testing and safety company.
The Fire Department also mandates that battery systems adhere to stringent local testing and safety requirements before developers can install them. The systems must have remote monitoring capacities, ventilation and fire-extinguishing and fire-suppression systems, among other elements.
Even after installation, FDNY performs regular inspections.
Battery storage systems help stabilize the electric grid, storing power when there’s low demand and discharging it in times of high demand. Overall, there are about 91 megawatts of battery storage across 80 projects in the five boroughs, according to state data through August. Most are on private property.
A part of Mayor Eric Adams’ citywide zoning update, City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality, made it easier to install battery storage systems in residential areas. Sliwa has said battery storage should be built only in industrial areas, a point that Ariola, a staunch Sliwa supporter, underscored during the hearing.
“Why are you targeting residential communities?” Ariola asked at one point.
Kathleen Schmid, deputy executive director at the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, touted the positive effects of battery storage systems: that they can prevent power outages and help lower utility bills because customers won’t pay for power when it’s most expensive.
“They can provide those benefits more directly and more effectively the closer they are to a community, so putting these battery energy storage systems into neighborhoods can get the benefits closer to those who can use them,” she said.
Battery storage can offer more reliable power and support clean energy. Paired with renewable sources like solar, for instance, batteries can provide energy even when the sun doesn’t shine.
And battery systems can help avoid reliance on gas-fired peaker plants, which turn on during times of high energy demand, polluting the neighborhoods in which they are located. Utilities pay for the energy from peaker plants to be available, whether or not it’s actually used.
“Every time those peaker plants click on, nitrous oxide, sulfur oxide, PM 2.5 gets belched into the air. Those are agents that cause asthma,” said former Council environmental committee chair Costa Constantinides, now CEO of the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens.
Constantinides added that local battery storage projects, despite the risks, offer “good tradeoffs for our neighborhoods.”
Jasmine Lawrence, a homeowner in St. Albans, Queens, stated her opposition to a battery storage system planned near her home.
“They say these battery farms are safe, but safe for how long?” she said.
Asked if he would feel comfortable living next to a battery storage system, Fire Department Deputy Chief Joe Loftus, who oversees hazardous materials, said he would.
“As for safety reasons, yes, I would be very confident in the Fire Department, the technology that’s allowed in there, what tech management does and our response,” he said. “Yes, I would be confident that the Fire Department could handle a situation or an emergency or a fire.”
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jacksonheights_post_feedMore than a quarter-million New Yorkers have already cast ballots in the 2025 NYC mayoral general election — and most of them appear to be Democrats and/or older, according to an amNewYork analysis of unofficial early voting data.
That would seem to provide good news for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a 67-year-old registered Democrat now running an independent campaign, who has consistently led among older voters in recent polls. The frontrunner in the race — Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old Democratic party nominee — has had younger voters firmly in his corner in those same surveys.
Of the roughly 223,268 New Yorkers who have voted early between Oct. 25-27, 74% were registered Democrats, according to preliminary data from the New York City Board of Elections (BOE). Nearly 13% are registered Republicans, and 11% did not list a party affiliation.
Both Cuomo and Mamdani, as Democrats, are targeting Democratic voters; Cuomo has also attempted to appeal to Republicans and independents.
Voters over 55 made up the plurality of those who have voted early so far, with a combined 41% of those who cast ballots either qualifying as a Baby Boomer or a member of the "Greatest Generation" and "Silent Generation" — as defined by the Pew Research Center. "Generation X" — those aged 39 to 54 — made up 24% of early voters.
Younger voters, including "Millennials" and "Generation Z" — those aged 18-38, accounted for the remaining 34% of voters.
amNewYork's findings would seem to confirm data analysis in a Gothamist report on Monday, which found that most of the early voters during the weekend were skewing older.
On Tuesday, Cuomo said he was encouraged by the early turnout of older voters. "I think as long as the voters are smart, I'm in very good shape," he said during an event where he received the endorsement of former Gov. David Paterson.
Turnout will be the ultimate factor in the mayor's race. Mamdani has consistently led in the polls, but the race has tightened as Election Day, Nov. 4, draws nearer.
The Mamdani campaign has boasted of having more than 85,000 volunteers, and indicated it is using the entire operation to get out the vote through Election Day. The candidate said he remains "confident in our campaign."
Across the five boroughs, Brooklyn leads in the number of early votes cast so far with 67,608. Manhattan comes second with 67,075, then Queens with 52,062, the Bronx with 19,094, and Staten Island with 17,059.
Early voting continues through Sunday, Nov. 2, at select sites across the five boroughs. Regular polling sites are open on Election Day, Nov. 4, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. To find your early voting site or regular polling place, visit vote.nyc.
New York Joins Coalition of States Suing Trump Administration Over SNAP
Oct. 28th, 2025 09:01 pmthecityny_feed
A bipartisan coalition of state officials, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, sued the Department of Agriculture on Tuesday to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program partially funded through November.
In a press release obtained by NOTUS ahead of the lawsuit being filed, James argued that the administration is unlawfully allowing SNAP to run out of funding when it has “access to billions of dollars in contingency funds that Congress specifically appropriated to keep benefits flowing during funding lapses.”
The coalition of state officials, which includes attorneys general and governors, filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Massachusetts. They are asking for a court to immediately intervene to keep funding, which is set to run out at the end of the month, flowing. The program is facing the possibility of its first-ever pause in funding because of the government shutdown.
“SNAP is one of our nation’s most effective tools to fight hunger, and the USDA has the money to keep it running. There is no excuse for this administration to abandon families who rely on SNAP, or food stamps, as a lifeline. The federal government must do its job to protect families,” James said in the release.
Politico first reported that dozens of Democratic attorneys general and governors were considering legal action. The coalition includes officials from New York, Nevada, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and California.
Nevada’s and Vermont’s attorneys general are part of the lawsuit, the only states listed that have Republican governors. In all, more than 24 states and the District of Columbia are involved.
“We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for the Far-Left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments,” a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture said in a statement in response to the lawsuit.
In a memo Axios reported last week, the Department of Agriculture took the position that it would not tap into contingency funds, and also argued that states that picked up the tab in the meantime could not be legally reimbursed.
James and the coalition of state officials areasking the court to issue a temporary restraining order mandating USDA to use all of the “available contingency funds toward November SNAP benefits for all plaintiff states.”
It’s one of several steps state officials are trying to take to preserve SNAP benefits, which nearly 42 million people across the country rely on. Outside of legal action, state officials have sought to tap emergency funding in their own states — though some have protested the lack of assurance that the federal government will reimburse their states and have argued that it’s the federal government’s responsibility.
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DA Katz hosts first-ever Queens Missing Persons Day to assist families with lost loved ones
Oct. 28th, 2025 09:00 pmjacksonheights_post_feedDistrict Attorney Melinda Katz hosted the first Queens Missing Persons Day in partnership with U.S. Rep. Grace Meng and the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) on Oct. 24.
The free event provided one-on-one assistance for families of loved ones who have been missing for 60 days or more. Participants were able to file reports, update records, and submit DNA samples to be uploaded to a national database in the hope of locating and identifying their missing person.
“My office’s Cold Case Unit is investigating approximately 47 unidentified homicide victims,” Katz said. “While these cases may have grown cold, they are never forgotten — nor are the families still searching for answers.”
A total of 16 attendees, representing nine different families, were assisted during the event. Five additional interviews were scheduled for families who heard about the event but were unable to travel to Queens.
“Updating records and collecting DNA from relatives of missing persons can be the key to identifying some of these victims, and that is why we never give up,” Katz said. “I thank Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham and U.S. Rep. Grace Meng for partnering with us on this important effort to help bring answers and justice to those who deserve it most.”
Last year, the District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit office received a $500,000 grant, secured by Congresswoman Meng, for advanced DNA testing and genealogical investigations on unidentified homicide cases. Since that time, the unit has initiated genealogy investigations for 21 cases involving unidentified human remains.
“This Missing Persons Day helped to ensure that families have the resources and support they need, and it gave them a chance to update records, file reports and submit DNA samples to assist with finding and identifying their loved ones,” Meng said. “I am proud to have secured $500,000 to help District Attorney Katz’s Cold Case Unit investigate and prosecute cold cases in our borough. I thank D.A. Katz and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner for working to find the answers they deserve.”
According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, nearly 400 individuals are officially reported as missing across New York City, and 73 of those cases were reported in Queens County. You can view active cold cases currently being handled by the District Attorney’s office at queensda.org/cold-cases.
OCME has hosted these events in the past , but Friday was the first time the event was hosted in Queens.
“Missing Persons Day exemplifies the unwavering commitment of OCME to provide answers for families and alleviate uncertainty about what happened to their loved ones,” Graham said. “This signature initiative combines compassionate service and scientific innovation to address a widespread if often unspoken challenge. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with D.A. Katz and Rep. Meng to reach the diverse communities of Queens in person with this effort.”
New York City Missing Persons Day has served hundreds of families and is credited with contributing to dozens of identifications of missing persons in the New York metropolitan area since its launch in 2014. Any family member with a loved one missing for 60 days or more can reach out to the OCME for further assistance by calling (212) 323-1201.
[link] EXPASS best practice guidelines published!
Oct. 28th, 2025 09:26 pmkaberettSarah Russell of The Ostomy Studio, the person who made such an enormous difference to my general State Of Being just over a year ago via the medium of a private Pilates lesson pre-surgery, has just announced publication of the new Exercise and Physical Activity after Stoma Surgery best practice guidelines that she's been working on for literal years along with some amazing collaborators!
The principles here are the bedrock for the private lesson I had before surgery, and are also what I used as my foundation for rehab despite not after all needing to work with a stoma; I've not read them in full, but if you know folk they might be of interest to then please do pass the link on <3
Opinion: Funding Infrastructure That New Yorkers Deserve
Oct. 28th, 2025 09:10 pmcitylimits_feed“Unless we embrace the full potential of flexible, cost-effective collaborations between the city and civic-oriented non-profits, moments like the QueensWay setback will become the norm, not the exception.“
Earlier this summer, New York City lost out on $112 million in federal funding for the QueensWay, a project championed by a community-driven partnership that is working to transform an abandoned rail corridor in Queens into a vibrant new greenway. It was a devastating setback for a project that promised health, mobility and environmental benefits in one of the city’s most park-starved boroughs.
But the damage goes beyond the project itself and extends to the urgency and need we face in fostering and funding more partnerships that bring together the city and community-based non-profits. No matter who wins this fall’s mayoral election, we must address a housing crisis, modernize failing infrastructure, expand our parkland and build a more resilient, equitable city.
It’s a lot to get done, but unless we embrace the full potential of flexible, cost-effective collaborations between the city and civic-oriented non-profits, moments like the QueensWay setback will become the norm, not the exception.
The Central Park Conservancy was a pioneer in this space more than 40 years ago, when the organization was founded to address decades of public disinvestment in Central Park, one of the most treasured public spaces in the world. The Great Lawn had become a dustbowl, the Harlem Meer a trash-strewn mud puddle, while graffiti marred virtually every structure and rock outcropping.
Over the years, the Conservancy has slowly restored the Park to its current, glorious state, culminating with the opening last spring of the Davis Center—a new pool and rink in Harlem that the Conservancy managed and delivered on time and on budget, thanks to a $60 million investment by the city and $100 million in private funding.
Others have followed a similar path over the decades—from the High Line to Moynihan Train Hall and the new LaGuardia Airport. These new icons of our cityscape show what’s possible when the public sector sets priorities and the private sector helps deliver them. We can transform long-stalled plans into lasting civic assets.
To be sure, partnerships must be structured with transparency and accountability, and never in a way that elevates private interests over the public good. This is not about “privatizing” the public resources; it’s about harnessing private resources to enhance the public realm.
The private sector can bring creative solutions, technical expertise, flexibility and long-term commitment that are often difficult to marshal within traditional public systems. But it’s the partnership—the alignment of public mission and private ingenuity—that enables these projects to succeed at the scale New Yorkers need.
It’s an approach that can be just as effectively applied to some of the city’s most pressing challenges—from housing to transit to climate infrastructure. Investing in 500,000 new units of housing, realizing a modernized Penn Station, and preparing communities to withstand intensifying storms all require imaginative thinking and funding well beyond what the city alone can muster, especially at a time when federal funding for urban projects is becoming less reliable and more erratic.
We also must not lose sight of forward-looking opportunities, such as the Interborough Express (IBX)—a transformative project that would connect transit deserts across Brooklyn and Queens. RPA has championed this project for years because it would reduce commute times, expand job access, and better connect millions of New Yorkers. To bring it to life, we’ll need serious investment—and creative partnerships to match.
New York is not alone in developing this approach. Los Angeles has leveraged partnerships to expand its Metro system. Chicago rebuilt and activated its Riverwalk through blended financing. Cities from London to Sydney are building the future through collaborations that align public interest with private capacity.
This is one of the most critical inflection points in our city’s modern history. The next mayor has a rare opportunity to turn bold plans into lasting progress. But that will only happen if we use every tool at our disposal and build a city that works for all.
New York’s infrastructure is not just about roads, rails or parks. It’s about people, possibility and the kind of city we choose to be. If we want to leave future generations with a more livable, just and connected New York, we must be bold enough to build it together.
That means embracing new models, removing unnecessary barriers and seizing every opportunity to align civic vision with collective investment. Our greatest moments of transformation have always come from this kind of partnership. The next administration has the opportunity to lead in that tradition—and to leave a legacy worthy of this city’s promise.
Tom Wright is president and CEO of Regional Plan Association (RPA). Betsy Smith is the president and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy.
The post Opinion: Funding Infrastructure That New Yorkers Deserve appeared first on City Limits.
Where The Mayoral Candidates Stand On Housing Issues
Oct. 28th, 2025 08:04 pmcitylimits_feedEarly voting is underway. City Limits has the details on where the candidates stand on rent stabilization, affordable housing production, zoning reform, and NYCHA.
After months of campaigning and two heated debates, early voting for New York City mayor is underway.
Housing has taken a central role in the campaign since the primary. Renters, who make up a majority of New Yorkers, have been at the center of the policy debate. Over half of New York renters are rent-burdened, meaning they pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent.
“We see that, especially in the lowest income households, that is where the rent burden is the heaviest,” said Chris Walters, senior land use policy associate at the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development. “But I think this is something that transcends a lot of voters’ and people’s experiences in New York.”
City Limits reviewed the candidates’ plans and watched the debates to tell you where they stand on four key issues: freezing the rent, housing production, zoning reform, and public housing.
Freezing the rent
The mayor appoints nine members of the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (RBG). Each year, its members take into account costs for landlords and incomes for renters and set the allowable rent increases for the city’s 2 million rent stabilized tenants.
The mayoral candidates disagree about how they would use the RGB:
- Zohran Mamdani captured the issue early in the campaign, promising a four year rent freeze for rent-stabilized apartments—a move he said will provide relief to millions of New Yorkers who have a median income of $60,000, while finding other ways to help some rent stabilized buildings in distress because of high insurance costs and high property taxes. He says he can appoint a Rent Guidelines Board that will freeze the rent, saying that the data has justified rent freezes in the past. Critics have said that the RGB is an independent body, and the New York Post reported Friday that Mayor Eric Adams can still appoint members to new terms before he leaves office, which could jeopardize Mamdani’s chances of making a rent freeze happen in year one.
- Andrew Cuomo has said that Mamdani’s rent freeze proposal is not possible, and that it will defund buildings that need higher rents in order to keep up with repairs. He’s also campaigned on a proposal to means-test rent stabilized housing, which would require new rent stabilized leaseholders to have annual incomes so that they are paying at least 30 percent of their earnings in rent.
- Curtis Sliwa wants to get empty rent stabilized units back in use, calling for a vacancy tax on large landlords who he says are holding units off the market (which some building owners say is due to costly repair needs that too-low regulated rents don’t cover). The number of vacant rent stabilized units is disputed, but one recent estimate puts it at 26,000. Sliwa’s website also calls for repealing the 2019 rent laws that increased tenant protections and limited the ways landlords could increase rent or deregulate rent stabilized units (though that’s something state lawmakers would have to take on).
Tenants have been raising the alarm for years about how their income can’t keep up with rising rents, but advocacy groups have also begun to draw attention to significant financial distress in the city’s affordable housing stock.
“We know that people are rent burdened in New York. It’s not very different in the rent stabilized stock,” said the New York Housing Conference’s Executive Director Rachel Fee. “We need to think about additional solutions for these buildings that are in distress.”
Building new affordable housing
With available apartments at a record low, there isn’t enough housing to go around in New York. At the lowest income, there are even fewer options: just 0.4 percent of apartments priced below $1,100 were vacant in 2023.
“If we want to bring rents down, we need to build more. We need to build more at every income level,” said Fee.
- Mamdani wants to triple affordable housing production and build 200,000 “truly affordable,” union-built apartments. At Thursday’s debate he said he wants those units “built with the median household income in mind, which is $70,000 for a family of four.” He has also called for fully funding the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development (HPD), to build housing faster and take advantage of programs that create low income apartments for seniors and extremely low income New Yorkers. His plan would require more funding for housing development, which he hopes to get from raising taxes, which would require collaborating with the state legislature and the governor.
- Cuomo has called for building 500,000 units of housing over 10 years, two thirds of which he says will be affordable to low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. He has championed his experience as U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary and building infrastructure, saying that he wants to work with private developers, nonprofits, and unions to start a building boom on thousands of sites right away, including city-owned properties. He has also called for shakeups at HPD to make the organization more efficient and get housing built faster.
- Sliwa’s plan calls for prioritizing housing for seniors and working families instead of “corporate developments.” He has also called for reforming New York City’s property tax system to lower the burden on multi-family housing, and for protecting homeownership and tax increases on working class and senior homeowners. He wants to convert more office spaces to residential, arguing that development should not overburden existing infrastructure, particularly in the outer boroughs. He has not set a housing production goal.
On HPD, Fee added: “I agree that we need reforms at the agency, and I also think we need to add staff if we’re increasing production.”
Changing zoning
Mayor Eric Adams’ City of Yes zoning reform, passed in December 2024, was designed to build “a little more housing in every neighborhood,” by increasing residential density across the city, especially near transit. While it faced pushback in many neighborhoods, experts suggest it will help boost the supply of housing and temper rising rents. This election, voters are also being asked to weigh in on four ballot measures that seek to modify the process for permitting new housing. You can read more about the ballot measures here.
- Mamdani has called for comprehensive planning that would increase zoning capacity, eliminate parking minimums, build near transit, and fast-track review for affordable housing. He has not taken a position on the ballot measures, which would reduce some of the City Council’s power over land use decisions. But in a June candidate questionnaire from the Citizens Budget Commission, he said he wants to “move away from member deference”—when the Council defers to the vote of the local member on projects in their district—in favor of citywide planning that “will allow Council Members to set long term goals for their districts instead of only weighing in” when specific projects trigger public review.
- Cuomo has called for accelerated residential development in Midtown South (which was recently rezoned to allow for it), manufacturing districts, and other places. He has also called for the expansion of transfer of development rights, which lets owners sell off excess zoning floor area to neighboring lots. He has said that he supports the ballot measures that will fast track affordable housing and create a new review board that can override the Council’s decisions on development projects.
- Sliwa has called for repealing the City of Yes and focusing on local control over development. He does not support the housing-related ballot measures. He has called for increasing office to residential conversions in Manhattan to create new housing, an approach that he says will not overburden the residential neighborhoods in the outer boroughs.
New York’s housing groups are split on the housing ballot proposals. The City Council is firmly opposed, with lawmakers saying it would limit their ability to negotiate neighborhood benefits from developers. NY Tenants PAC said in a statement Monday that the ballot measures will “disempower working class tenants and will accelerate displacement.”
But other housing advocacy groups say it will help empower the next mayor to tackle the housing crisis by making it easier for city agencies to build affordable housing, particularly in neighborhoods where local opposition makes it politically impossible.
“Voters now have a unique opportunity to leverage the power in their own hands to equip the city government with the tools we need to actually solve this problem,” said Amit Singh Bagga who heads the Yes on Affordable Housing campaign and PAC supporting the measures.
Some, like the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development have taken a middle road, endorsing ballot measure two, which creates a fast track for 100 percent affordable housing projects and affordable housing projects in areas of the city that have produced the least. They declined to weigh in on the others.
“For our interest of increasing the supply of affordable housing and the equitable distribution, we feel like two is the one that speaks most directly to that,” said Walters.
Helping NYCHA
NYCHA, home to almost 400,000 New Yorkers, has a $78 billion backlog of repairs after decades of federal disinvestment.
Some developments are undergoing comprehensive repairs by converting them from the federal Section 9 program to Section 8 through the city’s PACT and Preservation Trust programs, which you can read more about here.
- Mamdani has pledged to double the city’s capital investment in major renovations for NYCHA, and he wants to push Albany to invest more. He has also called for activating underutilized storage areas on NYCHA campuses, like parking lots, for affordable housing development. He has not weighed in on converting NYCHA to private management under the PACT program.
- Cuomo has called for an additional $500 million in city capital funding for NYCHA (a 75 percent increase). He called for identifying sites suitable for redevelopment for more affordable and workforce housing, or retail and mixed use development. He also proposed investing in management changes to improve safety, governance, and open space. He wants to accelerate conversion projects through PACT and the Trust, while calling for increased resources for Section 9 at campuses where conversion is not a good fit.
- Curtis Sliwa has called for filling NYCHA’s 6,000 vacant units. He has not weighed in on new development on NYCHA land or converting public housing under the PACT or Trust.
Even after a NYCHA building partially collapsed in the Bronx earlier this month, NYCHA has gotten little attention in the mayoral race.
“I actually think it’s really deplorable,” Sharon Stergis, a resident at NYCHA’s Riis Houses on the Lower East Side, said of the scant focus on public housing. “I also think that it’s the way it is basically, you know—that’s how it’s been.”
To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Patrick@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org
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The post Where The Mayoral Candidates Stand On Housing Issues appeared first on City Limits.
SNAP Shutdown Pause and New Work Rules: What You Need to Know
Oct. 28th, 2025 07:49 pmthecityny_feed
As the government shutdown stretches on, more than 1.7 million New York City residents who rely on SNAP benefits will not receive them as soon as Nov. 1.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), once known as food stamps, is funding sent out monthly by the federal government to low-income people to help them buy food.
Most SNAP recipients in New York State are children, elderly or disabled, according to the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College. And now, they are imminently at risk of losing those crucial funds — with no end to the shutdown in sight.
The Senate has voted at least a dozen times on a funding bill that could end the shutdown, to no avail. It will continue to convene this week. And a coalition of states, including New York, plan to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency that oversees SNAP, to release funds that would keep SNAP at least partially funded through November, but it’s unclear what the outcome of that may be.
As the impasse continues, SNAP recipients face another key challenge. Nov. 1 is also the date the city’s Human Resources Administration (HRA) will be required by the federal government to implement new SNAP eligibility requirements for hundreds of thousands of recipients known as ABAWDs: able-bodied adults without dependents.
Here’s what to know about the double whammy on the horizon for New Yorkers on SNAP:
Jump to…
- What is going to happen to SNAP benefits and when?
- What are the new work requirements and what do I need to do to meet them?
- What is the likelihood I’ll receive my SNAP benefits in November?
- What can I do if I don’t receive my SNAP benefits in November?
- Can food pantries make up the difference?
- Can I still use my SNAP benefits in November?
- Will the special supplemental nutritional program for women, infants and children ( WIC) be impacted at all?
What is going to happen to SNAP benefits and when?
The USDA has announced there will be no benefits issued as of Nov. 1. It’s a somewhat delayed effect. Even though the federal government shutdown started on Oct. 1, benefits had already been approved for that month, so Nov. 1 is the first day recipients will start to feel the loss.
Not everyone will feel the loss on the first of the month. SNAP benefits are administered through scattered issuance — meaning they’re sprinkled throughout the month, mostly between the first and the 15th, to prevent grocery stores from becoming overwhelmed with SNAP customers. Each day the government shut down continues, more people will lose their benefits.
Dennis O’Neil, a retired postal worker who survives on Social Security and SNAP, is trying to stretch his benefits, given the impending shutdown. A Harlem resident, he likes shopping at the Uptown Grand Central Farmstead because for every $2 of SNAP benefits spent, customers get $2 coupons for fresh produce, up to $10 each day.
“I was stressed out for a while before I figured out how to get on top of this,” O’Neil said. “I’m poor. You got to think more about what and when and how you’re going to eat than you normally would.”
O’Neil fanned a stack of coupons out in his hand while he ate a free meal at a food bank on West 116th Street.
He said the farmstead doesn’t have meat or fish, so he eats “a lot of salads.” He’s been receiving SNAP for about two years.
“I’m sort of advanced — I now know what I’m doing, I’ve got a stockpile,” he said. ”But this won’t keep up forever,” O’Neil said.
What are the new work requirements and what do I need to do to meet them?
HRA estimates 231,600 people in New York City will be affected by the new work requirements. They apply to adults between the ages of 18 and 64 who:
- Do not live with a child under 14
- Are not pregnant or caring for a person who cannot care for themselves
- Do not have any mental or physical barriers to employment
To keep getting SNAP benefits, people who fall under the new requirements will need to prove they spend at least 80 hours every month doing one or more of the following:
- Working (including “in-kind” work);
- Participating in a qualifying work or training program approved by HRA;
- Participating in an employment and training program for veterans operated by the Department of Labor or the Department of Veterans Affairs;
- Participating in a program under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) or Trade Act, which may include job search, job readiness, occupational skills training and education activities; or
- Participating in a combination of work or qualifying work programs.
- Participating in a work experience activity approved by HRA or volunteering in a community service activity for a minimum number of hours per household.
If the new requirements apply to you, HRA will contact you by the preferred communication method listed in your HRA portal, which the agency started doing on Oct. 20. If you don’t receive any communication from HRA, it means the agency has not found you to be an ABAWD — again, that stands for “able-bodied adults without dependents” — and you don’t need to do anything.
HRA will also send people who receive benefits a notice with an appointment where they can work with someone in their borough who is trained to help gather paperwork or connect them with qualifying activities or employment.
December is the first month beneficiaries must show proof — paystubs, timesheets, employer letters or other documentation — that they meet the new requirements, though they will still receive benefits for a short time even if they don’t comply. Recipients are allowed up to three months of non-compliance within a 36-month period — meaning the first potential loss of benefits could come in March if they don’t comply in December, January and February.
What is the likelihood I’ll receive my SNAP benefits in November?
With each passing day, your chances of seeing benefits next month are getting worse.
Even if the government shutdown ends soon, delays in benefits are still likely in November. The process of issuing benefits usually starts the month before. Because of the shutdown, it hasn’t started for November yet, meaning once the government opens back up, people won’t automatically get their benefits.
Experts on hunger and food policy say the effect will be enormous.
“Most of them [SNAP beneficiaries] are working, they’re just not making enough and come November, their food budget is gone,” said Gina Plata-Nino, the interim director for SNAP at the Food Research & Action Center, a national nonprofit that works to end hunger in America. “SNAP is supposed to be supplemental. For many families, it’s not. It’s their whole source of funding and they’re going to have to make really incredibly tough choices — and I don’t want to even call it a choice, because they don’t have a choice.”
Plata-Nino added that food retailers, especially smaller ones that accept EBT — the card used to pay with SNAP benefits — will also feel the effects of the SNAP pause. The loss of SNAP dollars could ripple across local economies.
Scott French, HRA administrator, said he will be waiting for a USDA directive that tells states that they can submit their roster of November SNAP recipients. Then, EBT contractors ensure benefits are distributed on people’s cards. French added that this process can’t happen overnight because of the volume of SNAP beneficiaries.
“It’ll really depend on when the shutdown ends and how that fits on a calendar as to when that would be — because obviously we would want to take action to get the November benefits to people as soon as possible given the delays that they would’ve experienced,” French said.
What can I do if I don’t receive my SNAP benefits in November?
If you need help finding meals in New York City, check out these guides and maps from local food access organizations that keep track of food pantries, soup kitchens and more:
- Free food map from Food Help, run by the city government
- Map from the Food Bank for NYC
- Map from City Harvest
You can also apply for cash assistance, which is still available during the shutdown, and which is determined on a case-to-case basis. Cash assistance, while federally funded, is provided to states in block grants, which is why it can still be administered during the shutdown.
Can food pantries make up the difference?
No, food assistance experts told THE CITY. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek help locally.
Nicole Hunt, director at Food Bank NYC, said she’s seen an increase in people seeking food assistance since the shutdown, particularly among federal workers, some of whom have missed more than one paycheck at this point. She said many SNAP beneficiaries already eat meals at food banks, but she is expecting to see an uptick in November when they miss benefits.
“People get SNAP benefits, but for a lot of them, that doesn’t take them all the way through the month already,” Hunt said. “Nothing can prepare us for 1.7 million people losing SNAP. That’s not a scale that the food-assistance network can grow to accommodate.”
Dr. Melony Samuels, founder of The Campaign Against Hunger advised to “go to your nearest anti-hunger organization.”
“We don’t want you to stay at home and be anxious or worried … The Campaign Against Hunger is always in a position to help families,” she said. “We stretch our budget, the best way we know because we understand the community we serve, so they can come alongside as much as they want.”
Can I still use my SNAP benefits in November?
Yes. Your SNAP benefits will not expire and your EBT card will still work during the shutdown. If you don’t use your benefits all in a month, they will rollover to the next month.
Will the special supplemental nutritional program for women, infants and children (WIC) be impacted at all?
The answer right now is no. The New York State Department of Health has said the government shutdown will not impact WIC in New York State — yet guidance is subject to change.
Additional reporting by Samantha Maldonado.
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The post SNAP Shutdown Pause and New Work Rules: What You Need to Know appeared first on THE CITY - NYC News.
Local artists rally to demand protections for arts and culture in final OneLIC plan
Oct. 28th, 2025 08:20 pmjacksonheights_post_feedA group of around two dozen artists and art organizations held a "Rally for the Arts" at Long Island City's Gordon Triangle last week to demand that art and culture protections are included in the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, which is set to go before the City Council on Wednesday.
The rally, which took place at Gordon Triangle at the intersection of 10th Street and 44th Drive on Oct. 22, aimed to highlight three core demands of LIC's arts and culture community in the rezoning plan, including incentives for developers to create free and permanently affordable arts and culture spaces.
The group has also called for any final OneLIC plan to include an LIC Arts Fund to support local public programming and public art projects. The rally further called for OneLIC to include partnerships between developers, city agencies and the arts community to ensure long-term investment in local culture, including arts and culture representation in a recommended Community Oversight Committee.
The OneLIC proposal covers 54 full or partial blocks from Gantry Plaza State Park to the Queensbridge Houses and north to the Long Island City Industrial Business Zone. The eastern boundary extends to Court Square and 23rd Street.
The plan aims to revise outdated zoning regulations to allow for more mixed-use development, increase housing supply and improve neighborhood infrastructure and resiliency.
The city has estimated that the rezoning proposal will create around 14,700 new housing units, 4,300 of which will be affordable, in addition to 14,400 new jobs and over 3.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial space.
The City Council is set to vote on the neighborhood rezoning on Oct. 29 as part of the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), but dozens of artists have called on the final plan include protections for arts and culture within the proposed rezoning area.
They argued that more than 100 artists and arts organizations operated within the 54 blocks covered by OneLIC and said the rezoning could displace artists and group that contribute to LIC culture unless there are specific provisions included in the final proposals.
Groups including Queensboro Dance Festival, Culture Lab LIC, MoMA PS1 and New Yorkers 4 Culture and Arts gathered at Gordon Triangle last week to rally for those provisions.
An Ecuadorian dance display and a performance from local brass musicians framed the rally, attended by a number of prominent artists and art organizations in the neighborhood.
Culture Lab Executive Director Edjo Wheeler remarked that the organization welcomes more than 60,000 visitors every year and described the arts as a critical part of the local economy.
[caption id="attachment_588550" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Culture Lab LIC Executive Director Edjo Wheeler. Photo courtesy of Karesia Batan[/caption]
"Culture Lab alone brings over 60,000 people to the area each year and contributes more than $2.5 million to the local economy," Wheeler said. "What if there was more of this? And yet, the current plan does not mention arts and culture at all."
A Culture Lab spokesperson also warned that failure to include specific provisions for the arts could devastate smaller and underfunded arts organizations, leading to a "neighborhood stripped of the very vibrant culture that made it a destination."
Karesia Batan, founding executive director of Queensboro Dance Festival, called on the city to include such provisions in the final OneLIC plan.
"We urge the city, developers and our elected officials to have the will to include arts and culture in the future plans of our neighborhood," Batan said in a statement. "Arts and culture is a value of this neighborhood and it must be represented."
Lucy Sexton, executive director of New Yorkers 4 Culture and Arts, said arts and culture can help improve local mental health, education and public safety.
"Culture and art are not extras, they are the anchor for the building of strong connected communities," Sexton said.
Council Member Julie Won, who represents the area covered by the rezoning proposal, has consistently stated that she will vote against the OneLIC plan unless the city agrees to include a number of specific community priorities, including commitment to provide deeply affordable housing, over 1,300 new school seats, a substantial increase in open space and a comprehensive plan to improve resiliency in the neighborhood.
Her priorities, announced in April shortly after OneLIC entered the ULURP process, did not specifically mention arts or culture. However, Won encouraged all residents to make their voices heard at a OneLIC community hearing held at LaGuardia Community College in May, where a number of artists advocated for dedicated spaces for the arts.
Organizers of last week's rally said Won and other elected officials were invited to the rally but did not attend. QNS has reached out to Won's office for comment and is waiting for a response.
The Department of City Planning has also not yet returned QNS' request for comment.
The rally, which took place at Gordon Triangle at the intersection of 10th Street and 44th Drive on Oct. 22, aimed to highlight three core demands of LIC's arts and culture community in the rezoning plan, including incentives for developers to create free and permanently affordable arts and culture spaces.
The group has also called for any final OneLIC plan to include an LIC Arts Fund to support local public programming and public art projects. The rally further called for OneLIC to include partnerships between developers, city agencies and the arts community to ensure long-term investment in local culture, including arts and culture representation in a recommended Community Oversight Committee.
The OneLIC proposal covers 54 full or partial blocks from Gantry Plaza State Park to the Queensbridge Houses and north to the Long Island City Industrial Business Zone. The eastern boundary extends to Court Square and 23rd Street.
The plan aims to revise outdated zoning regulations to allow for more mixed-use development, increase housing supply and improve neighborhood infrastructure and resiliency.
The city has estimated that the rezoning proposal will create around 14,700 new housing units, 4,300 of which will be affordable, in addition to 14,400 new jobs and over 3.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial space.
The City Council is set to vote on the neighborhood rezoning on Oct. 29 as part of the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), but dozens of artists have called on the final plan include protections for arts and culture within the proposed rezoning area.
They argued that more than 100 artists and arts organizations operated within the 54 blocks covered by OneLIC and said the rezoning could displace artists and group that contribute to LIC culture unless there are specific provisions included in the final proposals.
Groups including Queensboro Dance Festival, Culture Lab LIC, MoMA PS1 and New Yorkers 4 Culture and Arts gathered at Gordon Triangle last week to rally for those provisions.
An Ecuadorian dance display and a performance from local brass musicians framed the rally, attended by a number of prominent artists and art organizations in the neighborhood.
Culture Lab Executive Director Edjo Wheeler remarked that the organization welcomes more than 60,000 visitors every year and described the arts as a critical part of the local economy.
[caption id="attachment_588550" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Culture Lab LIC Executive Director Edjo Wheeler. Photo courtesy of Karesia Batan[/caption]"Culture Lab alone brings over 60,000 people to the area each year and contributes more than $2.5 million to the local economy," Wheeler said. "What if there was more of this? And yet, the current plan does not mention arts and culture at all."
A Culture Lab spokesperson also warned that failure to include specific provisions for the arts could devastate smaller and underfunded arts organizations, leading to a "neighborhood stripped of the very vibrant culture that made it a destination."
Karesia Batan, founding executive director of Queensboro Dance Festival, called on the city to include such provisions in the final OneLIC plan.
"We urge the city, developers and our elected officials to have the will to include arts and culture in the future plans of our neighborhood," Batan said in a statement. "Arts and culture is a value of this neighborhood and it must be represented."
Lucy Sexton, executive director of New Yorkers 4 Culture and Arts, said arts and culture can help improve local mental health, education and public safety.
"Culture and art are not extras, they are the anchor for the building of strong connected communities," Sexton said.
Council Member Julie Won, who represents the area covered by the rezoning proposal, has consistently stated that she will vote against the OneLIC plan unless the city agrees to include a number of specific community priorities, including commitment to provide deeply affordable housing, over 1,300 new school seats, a substantial increase in open space and a comprehensive plan to improve resiliency in the neighborhood.
Her priorities, announced in April shortly after OneLIC entered the ULURP process, did not specifically mention arts or culture. However, Won encouraged all residents to make their voices heard at a OneLIC community hearing held at LaGuardia Community College in May, where a number of artists advocated for dedicated spaces for the arts.
Organizers of last week's rally said Won and other elected officials were invited to the rally but did not attend. QNS has reached out to Won's office for comment and is waiting for a response.
The Department of City Planning has also not yet returned QNS' request for comment.