Election Day Results + FBI Seizes Adams’s Phone
No. 348 | Monday, November 13, 2023
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Eric Adams Scandal News
The FBI seized Mayor Eric Adams’s phone and other devices in connection to the same corruption investigation that led to a previous raid on his former fundraising chief. While Adams is not currently a target of the investigation, according to the FBI, the case relates to potentially illegal campaign donations from Turkish nationals.
The investigation into Adams’s campaign is leading to calls for a strong primary challenger to run against him in 2025.
Election News
In a relatively uneventful New York City Election Day, Kristy Marmorato became the first Bronx Republican to win a seat in the City Council since 1983, defeating incumbent Marjorie Velázquez (District 13, Throggs Neck).
Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn's decision to abandon Council Member Justin Brannan's re-election campaign and provide tacit support for his Republican challenger appeared to backfire, as Brannan won a commanding victory on Tuesday.
In a speech at Somos, a political convention in Puerto Rico, Governor Kathy Hochul seemed unconcerned about further Republican inroads on Long Island.
After Council Member Keith Powers (District 4, Upper East Side) easily won reelection, his Republican opponent posted on Twitter to call the City "irredeemable," saying it has "chosen its own suicide" and urging Jews to "get out while you can."
Local News
NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks sent a letter to teachers ahead of last week’s student walkout to demand a ceasefire cautioning teachers to keep their "personal political views" to themselves.
City Limits produced a video explaining the votes at NYCHA's Nostrand Houses over proposed PACT and Preservation Trust funding changes.
A report by New York Focus found that overdose deaths in New York State prisons have tripled, even as the overall prison population has declined by half.
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.
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