City Council Projects Budget Surplus + State Legislature Votes on New Congressional Map
No. 364 | Monday, March 4, 2024
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Local News
The City Council is projecting a budget surplus of over $1.3 billion this year, based on growth numbers that slightly exceeded projections from the Independent Budget Office. Both the IBO projections and the Council’s number far exceed the projections used by the Eric Adams Administration to justify last year’s brutal spending cuts.
The FBI raided two homes belonging to Winnie Greco, a former top mayoral aide and fundraiser for Mayor Adams in the 2021 election.
MTA officials blamed recent subway delays and service interruptions on union officials ordering a slowdown, but union leaders deny calling for any work stoppage and say the delays are the result of agency cutbacks.
State Attorney General Tish James ordered the Nassau County executive to rescind an order he issued banning trans girls from playing sports, calling the order “blatantly illegal.”
Robert Mujica, the former budget chief to ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo, is now advising the Greater New York Hospital Association, one of the state’s most powerful lobbying groups, possibly in violation of a state law meant to prevent public employees from cashing in on government knowledge.
The City Council held a hearing with New York City Housing Authority officials to address a bribery scandal that led to millions of dollars worth of overcharging for basic repairs in public housing.
Requesting your apartment’s rent history is the latest TikTok trend.
Election News
The State Legislature rejected the new congressional district map proposed by the Independent Redistricting Commission last month and adopted their own map, which is less tilted towards the Democratic Party than the one first proposed by the Legislature last year.
State Senator Zellnor Myrie (Crown Heights) did not rule out challenging Mayor Eric Adams in next year’s Democratic primary.
Chris McCreight, the chief of staff for City Council Member Justin Branna (Bay Ridge), will challenge Assembly Member Alec Brook-Krasny in the 46th Assembly District (Brighton Beach). Brook-Krasny, who first served as a Democrat from 2006-2015, switched parties and was elected again in 2022 as a Republican.
State Senator Tim Kennedy (D-Buffalo) is expected to easily win next month’s special election to replace Rep. Brian Higgins in Congress.
Hell Gate profiled Eon Huntley’s DSA-endorsed race for Assembly District 56 (Bedford Stuyvesant).
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