The next big challenge for the UFT and the nonprofit Eleanor’s Legacy is to make sure “the New York City Council accurately represents the 4 million women and girls who live in the city,” said Brette McSweeney, the executive director of Eleanor’s Legacy, at a pre-Women’s March breakfast forum on Jan. 19.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew and other union officers gathered at the Corning Tower Observation Deck in Albany on Jan. 28 to discuss the union’s 2019 legislative priorities with state lawmakers.

With the special election for New York City Public Advocate set for Tuesday, Feb. 26, nine of the candidates vying for the post attended a UFT forum at the union’s Brooklyn borough office on Jan. 10 in the last in a series of four town halls around the city.

It was a day of wonder and thrills, a chance to fist-bump with the mighty Bumble Bee Transformer and dance with the Black Panther. But it was Santa Claus who won the hearts of the 120 children from homeless shelters across the city who lined up to whisper in his ear at the UFT’s annual holiday party, organized with the help of the Coalition for the Homeless, on Dec. 15.


Teaching can be super stressful, especially for those just starting out. What better way to relieve some of that anxiety than a day devoted to health, wellness and creativity?

The UFT Teacher Center’s Dec. 1 citywide arts conference, entitled “The Artistic Processes: Creating, Presenting, Responding and Connecting,” gave participants an opportunity to flex their own creative muscles.