New York Public Interest Research Group

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NYPIRG, Inc.
Type Non-Profit
Founded 1973
Headquarters New York State, United States
Key people Rebecca Weber, Gene Russianoff
Industry Non-Profit & Activism
Website NYPIRG

The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) is a New York State-wide non-partisan political organization. It has existed since 1973.[1] Its current executive director is Rebecca Weber and its founding director was Donald K. Ross. Blair Horner had been its Legislative Director for many years.[2]

NYPIRG is controlled by a student board of directors. Any issue that NYPIRG works on, or stance it takes, must be approved by its student board of directors. [1]

NYPIRG is one of the largest of the Public Interest Research Groups, which were innovated by Ralph Nader in the 1970s,[3] operate at the state level, and are members of the umbrella organization USPIRG. (The state PIRGs are today autonomous of Nader and have no partisan political affiliation.) NYPIRG tends to operate autonomous of USPIRG (Citation needed).

Contents

[edit] Infrastructure

NYPIRG has two main offices.(Citation needed) Its main office is at 9 Murray Street in Manhattan, New York City. The NYPIRG legislative office is located in Albany. NYPIRG also operates in dozens of campus and regional offices statewide.

[edit] Campus program

The focus of NYPIRG's program is the campus chapters.[2] Campus chapters exist at schools in the State University of New York (SUNY) City University of New York (CUNY), and two private colleges (Pratt Institute and Syracuse University). The chapters are funded by activity fees which are voted on by students.

[edit] NYPIRG Chapter Locations [3]

  • University at Albany
  • Binghamton University
  • Borough of Manhattan Community College
  • Bronx Community College
  • Brooklyn College
  • Buffalo State College
  • City College of New York
  • SUNY Cortland
  • Hunter College
  • Nassau Community College
  • New Paltz
  • New York City College of Technology
  • College at Old Westbury
  • SUNY Oswego
  • Pratt Institute
  • SUNY Purchase
  • Queens College
  • Queensborough Community College
  • College of Staten Island
  • Stony Brook University
  • Syracuse University
  • SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

[edit] Fundraising

In addition to fees paid by students at participating schools, NYPIRG is supported by citizen members throughout the state, whose contributions are often contributed through door-to-door canvassing or telephone fund raising.

[edit] External links & Further Reading

[edit] References

  1. ^ About Us. NYPIRG Financial Information. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
  2. ^ Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Appoints Blair Horner As New Special Adviser On Policy And Public Integrity. New York Department of Law. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
  3. ^ Nader, Ralph & Ross, Donald. Action for Change. Penguin Books, 1973 (rev. ed.)