Amir Khafagy

Ida B. Wells Fellow, 2021

Amir Khafagy is an award-winning New York City-based freelance journalist. Much of Amir’s beat explores the intersections of labor, race, class, immigration, and urban policy. His reporting has been featured in The New Republic, Vice, Bloomberg, The Guardian, The Appeal, Jacobin, and In These Times. Amir has been awarded The International Center for Journalists COVID-19 Reporting Award, The New Economics Reporting Fellowship, The Economic Hardship Reporting Grant, The Talk Poverty Writer Workshop Fellowship, The Asian American Writers Workshop Open City Fellowship, and The AARP Freelance Fellowship. He holds a BA in Urban Studies and an MA in Urban Affairs from Queens College. He will be reporting on labor and the criminal justice system.

https://www.amirkhafagyjournalism.com/

Highlights

Pregnant, Sick, Homeless and Afraid: Bronx Fire Survivors Say the City is Not Doing Enough

NYC raised $2.5 million for survivors of the Bronx fire. Why has the Mayor’s Office only distributed 10% of that fund to families in need?

The Hidden Costs of Containerization

How the unsustainable growth of the container ship industry led to the supply chain crisis

Will the Nation’s Largest Urban University System Become Free?

After years of austerity and a crippling pandemic, City University of New York is struggling to get students the choice of classwork they want.

After Initial Setback, Amazon Workers on Staten Island Refile for Union Election

This time, workers are trying to unionize just one warehouse, where they say they’ve gotten a majority of workers to sign union authorization cards.

A Homeless Amazon Worker Tried to Organize a Union. Then Amazon Fired Him.

Daequan Smith loved working at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island. After he started organizing with the Amazon Labor Union, he found himself out of a job.

NYC Yellow Taxi Medallion Crisis, Explained

What is medallion debt and why were taxi drivers on strike? Here is how New York City manufactured the taxi medallion crisis.

Longshot Queens council candidate’s campaign ends in chaos

As City Councilmember-elect Shekar Krishnan celebrated his victory with family, friends and supporters at Friend’s Tavern in Jackson Heights on Election Day, a few blocks away, Krishnan’s opponent, independent City Council Candidate Fatima Baryab’s campaign descended into chaos.

NYC Taxi Drivers Celebrate Medallion Debt Relief at City Hall

NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission agreed to guarantee lower monthly payments of medallion owners giving relief to thousands of taxi drivers

New York Taxi Drivers Win Their Fight Against Medallion Debt

The taxi drivers hunger strike is successful as City Hall decided to ease their financial woes

How Two Innocent Brothers Landed in Brooklyn’s Guantanamo

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, nearly 1,000 Muslim immigrants were wrongfully imprisoned and deported. Two decades later, the victims are still in search of justice.

WebsiteGlitches and Problems Leave New York Immigrants Out of COVID Rental Assistance

As mass evictions loom, immigrants and advocates say the convoluted application process is excluding many eligible immigrants New Yorkers from receiving a much needed aid from the state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP).

Public Housing Is Going Private—and Residents Are Fighting Back

A small federal program has become a big federal program with no oversight of how it’s actually working.

Wage Theft Got Worse During Covid. A Stalled Bill Could Give Workers Leverage To Fight Back

Cuomo pledged to deal with rampant wage theft this year, then failed to deliver. Now, a bill to recover stolen wages is unlikely to pass the legislature.