by Katherine Warren | May 17, 2017 | No audio profile
Sandra Cortez starts her 10-hour shift at Metro Star Coffee Shop in Jackson Heights at 6 a.m. Cortez, 22, one of about two million minimum wage workers in New York State earns $11 an hour, working six days a week. “The key is to be organized and plan out what you’ll...
by Christine Mckenna | May 16, 2017 | No audio profile
Vijay Alimchandani, 56, the manager at La Quinta Inn on the Upper West Side, remembers what it’s like to get by on minimum wage with a family to support. “For us, McDonald’s was a treat,” Alimchandani recalled. “No summer camps. And going out to the movies? Forget...
by Christine Mckenna | May 14, 2017 | No audio profile
As a cashier at American NY Bagel in Jackson Heights, Queens, Sarah Camano’s hourly wage rose from $9 to $10.50 when the new law took effect at the end of 2016.The 22-year-old also brings home about $100 extra in tips most weeks. While Camano’s work week is kept...
by Christine Mckenna | May 13, 2017 | No audio profile
Nicole Rodriguez, 19, a fast-food worker at McDonald’s, works 40 hours a week. She’s also a full-time student at Borough of Manhattan Community College. She says she finds it hard to pay her phone bill, transportation costs, and help her parents out on the $12...