Governor’s Housing Plan Faces Opposition + Bloomberg Funds Pro-Hochul PAC
No. 315 | Monday, March 27, 2023
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Local News
The Governor's plan to ease New York's housing shortage by building 800,000 new homes is unclear, and faces stiff opposition in the state's suburbs.
UFT members are pushing back against the agreement, negotiated by UFT president Michael Mulgrew, to push city retirees to a cost-saving Medicare Advantage health care plan.
A PAC funded by Michael Bloomberg and with ties to the Democratic Governors Association is spending on ads and mailers urging support for Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget.
According to a new ethics complaint, ten current and former prosecutors allegedly screened jurors out based on their race or religion and did not face any punishment for it.
City Council questioned the NYPD’s expansive use of overtime, which cost $2.2 billion last year and was 93% over its projection.
A study out of Cornell University finds that an increase in evictions in a neighborhood correlates to an increase in violence, theft, and property crime.
The Correction Commissioner testified that it has been difficult for the department to reduce the Rikers population enough to close the facility by 2027. Several City Council members pushed back on this, questioning if the department was actually working to close the jail.
City & State released an extensive account of the organizing — led by DSA members and State Senators — that led to the collapse of Hector LaSalle's judicial nomination.
The Commission on Judicial Nomination released a new short list for the Court of Appeals' Chief Judge, following the rejection of Governor Hochul's first choice, Hector LaSalle, in January. The new list features seven names, only two of which were on the first list.
Election News
At least four members of the state legislature have still not submitted campaign finance disclosures that were due in January.
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