City Worker Union Enrollment Declines + Early Voting Begins
No. 346 | Monday, October 30, 2023
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Local News
NYC city worker union enrollment has declined at a faster rate than the size of the city's workforce, suggesting that the 2018 Janus Supreme Court decision to force public sector workers to opt into union dues is having an effect.
After ethical concerns were raised about the UJA-Federation paying for Governor Hochul's recent trip to Israel, Hochul announced that the trip would be paid for by taxpayers.
The NYPD is using drones extensively to track and incriminate participants in recent pro-Palestine protests across the city. There is evidence that the NYPD’s handling of recent protests violates its recent federal settlement of lawsuits related to its response to 2020’s George Floyd protests.
The Indypendent covered the emerging strategy from the state's Democratic Party establishment to target NYC-DSA's position on Israel/Palestine.
Tim Pearson, a top aide to Mayor Adams who started a physical altercation with guards at a migrant shelter last week, is now facing a probe from the NYC Department of Investigation.
Two donors to Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign plead guilty to participating in an illegal straw donor that led the campaign to receive unwarranted matching funds from the city.
The state’s renewable wind goals are imperiled after Hochul vetoed a bill that allowed wind contractors to bypass community opposition, and after the state’s regulators refused to let contractors charge customers more for electricity so that their profit margins keep up with inflation.
Election News
Early voting has begun in NYC, lasting until Sunday November 5.
This year’s general election ballot contains two statewide ballot initiatives related to the ability of local governments to incur debt, and a handful of judge seats.
While most city council general election races are expected to be uncompetitive, The City recently highlighted seven races that may be close, including Justin Brannan (D) vs Ari Kagan (R) in Southern Brooklyn (District 47) and Majorie Velazquez (D) vs Kirsty Mamorato (R) in the East Bronx (District 13).
A Republican town supervisor from Brookhaven is favored to win the Suffolk County executive seat in next week’s election.
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
Listen to NYC-DSA's weekly radio show Revolutions Per Minute. Check out the show here.
Thanks for reading The NYC Thorn! Subscribe for free to receive weekly updates.