Phyllis Eckhaus

Trained as a lawyer and social scientist, Phyllis Eckhaus has written for numerous publications, including Newsday, The Nation, Alternet, and In These Times, where she was a contributing editor. She lives in New York City.

Dealing with the First Presbyterian Church’s slaveholding legacy

1 Comment / Features /

If nations were born with original sin, America’s would be slavery. When Thomas Jefferson penned our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, declaring it “self-evident” that “all men are created equal,” he was, like George Washington and other founders, a slave owner. Indeed, during the Revolutionary War, while American revolutionaries waxed eloquent about freedom from […]

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CB 2 advises on ICE enforcement at schools

Leave a Comment / News /

“Get a warrant.” That’s still official policy if agents from Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) show up at the school house door, District 2 Schools Superintendent Kelly McGuire assured the Community Board 2 (CB 2) Schools and Education Committee at its February 24th meeting. Alarmed by Mayor Adams’ January 13, 2025 memo to city workers—which

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Saying NO to the city of Yes: Council Member Chris Marte on truly affordable housing

1 Comment / Land Use, News /

When the City of Yes—a voluminous 1,386 page set of zoning text amendments—was approved by the City Council 31-20 in December, all but one of the 20 dissenting votes against the proposal came from council members from the outer boroughs. They voiced fears the Mayoral initiative, which was marketed as an affordable housing proposal, would

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New map to detail history of slavery in our neighborhoods

Historical /

Slavery in New York? For many New Yorkers, accustomed to associating slavery with Southern plantations, the fact that slavery existed in our city is a shocking surprise. Yet for much of the 17th and 18th centuries, New York boasted the largest urban slave population in mainland North America. Enslaved people made up one-fifth the population.

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