Adams’ Approval Rating Hits New Low + Suozzi Tapped to Run in NY-3
No. 352 | Monday, December 11, 2023
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Local News
A new Quinnipiac poll returned Mayor Adams' approval rating at 28%, the lowest approval rating for a sitting mayor in the polling firm's history. The poll also reported pluralities of New Yorkers opposing Israel's actions in Gaza and majorities supporting raising taxes on the rich.
A report by the Fiscal Policy Institute revealed that there has been a net gain of millionaires in New York State, while New Yorkers making between $32,000 and $65,000 are leaving the state at the fastest rate of any income group.
Belleville Hospital is performing nearly 10 bariatric surgeries a day, many on vulnerable patients who don't qualify for the procedure under standard medical guidelines and aren't adequately informed about its risks, in part because bariatric surgeries are lucrative for the doctors and institutions that perform them.
Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill, passed in response to this year's fight over her nomination of Hector LaSalle to the New York Court of Appeals, that would require organizations to disclose their spending in regards to lobbying gubernatorial nominees.
In the ongoing FBI investigation into Mayor Eric Adams and Turkish donors, a donor to his mayoral campaign admitted that he was reimbursed for a donation, making it an illegal straw donation.
NYPD commissioner Edward Caban agreed with an NYPD administrative trial judge’s decision not to discipline two officers who drove their SUV into protesters during the George Floyd protests in May of 2020.
NYCHA tenants at Nostrand Houses voted to support a plan to issue public bonds to pay for repairs.
The New York City Council passed a bill to speed up installation of bike lanes, repealing an old law that imposed additional requirements on bike lanes compared to other street improvement projects.
Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest (District 57, Crown Heights) and State Senator Julia Salazar (District 18, North Brooklyn) have proposed a significant prison reform bill that would improve rights and conditions for incarcerated people across the state.
City Council passed a bill that would enable tenants to report vacant apartments, in an effort to combat landlords “warehousing” vacant units amid the city’s housing crisis.
Elections
In the special election to replace ousted House Representative George Santos, scheduled for February 13, nominees will be selected by party leaders. Democrats have chosen Tom Suozzi, who represented the district before running for Governor in 2022, while Republicans have not yet found a candidate.
NYC-DSA announced its full 2024 state election slate, including three insurgent candidates: Clarie Valdez in (District 37, Queens), Jonathan Soto (District 82, Bronx), and Eon Tyrell Huntley (District 56, Brooklyn).
George Latimer, a conservative, AIPAC-funded candidate long rumored to be challenging Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-Westchester), officially filed to run in the Democratic Primary. Latimer's campaign is likely to depend largely on how the new district lines are drawn, and his campaign deputy chairs the redistricting committee.
The NYC Local
We're excited to say that last month, Alex Chan, David Kim, and David Turner revived our chapter's labor newsletter The Local. It arrives every other week with a focus on labor organizing, bargaining, and local legislation that impacts NYC's workers. Give them a follow and thoughts about what you'd like to see from a socialist labor newsletter.
Revolutions Per Minute
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