Adams Advisor Gets Into Altercations + Bay Ridge Council Race Heating Up
No. 345 | Monday, October 23, 2023
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Local News
Retired police officer Tim Pearson, a top advisor to Mayor Eric Adams, got into physical altercations at multiple migrant shelters on the same day, demanding access and threatening to arrest guards who would not let him in without a warrant.
The Adams Administration is holding off on proceeding with a legal request to suspend the City's right-to-shelter laws.
During a call with Muslim leaders around the city to discuss the war in Gaza, Adams muted a Palestinian-American lawyer and "lectured" participants on the importance of supporting Israel.
The New York Court of Appeals is hearing multiple cases regarding police discipline, thanks to a series of lawsuits by police unions against regulations like the chokehold ban signed by Mayor De Blasio.
Jacqueline Sherman, a critic of the Department of Correction whom the Adams Administration had hoped to replace on the Board of Correction, was instead reappointed to her seat.
More than 15,000 jail video visits have been canceled by the Department of Correction since the program began in 2020.
The Department of Correction failed to show up to an oversight hearing that had been scheduled months in advance by the Board of Correction.
Tenants are teaming up to expose landlords engaging in housing voucher discrimination.
Mayor Adams lifted the for-hire vehicle cap for electric cars, which will allow companies like Uber and Lyft to add new cars to NYC streets. The cap had been in place since 2018.
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella is launching a new study to explore the borough's secession from the rest of New York City.
The City announced draft regulations for the new outdoor dining program.
Election News
The City published a rundown of what's on the ballot for New York City in 2023.
In Bay Ridge, where redrawn district lines put two incumbent Council Members in the same district, labor is spending big to defend Democrat Justin Brannan against Republican Ari Kagan.
Although Tom Suozzi entered the crowded race against controversial Republican Congressman George Santos (NY-3, Queens), not all Democrats are excited about him pursuing his old seat.
A judge has thrown out Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs’s lawsuit against the Manhattan Democratic Party, clearing the way for newly elected district leaders to be seated in East Harlem.
The NYC Local
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