Hochul Halts Congestion Pricing, Causes MTA Funding Crisis + Zionist Donors Flood State Legislative Races
No. 378 | Monday, June 10, 2024
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Local News
In a last-minute reversal, Governor Kathy Hochul halted congestion pricing in lower and midtown Manhattan, which had been due to take effect on June 30. The decision was a shock to most in Albany and created a major budget shortfall at the MTA, triggering waves of protest.
Hochul's proposals to fill the shortfall with a payroll tax increase and a raid of the State’s general fund were rejected by State lawmakers, and the 2024 legislative session ended until next January without any alternatives identified.
The MTA confirmed that congestion pricing would not begin on June 30 and that they will likely have to cut programs if it does not go into effect.
State Senator Joseph Addabbo (District 15, Queens) introduced legislation to speed up the state's casino licensing in a way that would benefit the Resorts World racino in Addabbo's district. The language of the bill was lifted directly from a lobbying firm employed by Resorts World.
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) opened up the Section 8 waitlist and received over 400,000 applications in the first two days, more than twice as many as NYCHA will take on the waitlist.
A federal grand jury is reviewing Mayor Eric Adams’s 2021 campaign’s potentially illegal connections to the Turkish government, and at least one individual connected to Mayor Adams has been subpoenaed in recent weeks.
Election News
Pro-Israel fundraising group Solidarity PAC has flooded races against DSA-endorsed and other progressive Democratic primary candidates, in some cases doubling the fundraising totals of establishment candidates in Assembly races.
Reporting by City & State revealed that Mondaire Jones turned down the opportunity to run in his old Congressional district (Rockland County) two years ago, when Sean Patrick Maloney offered to drop out of that seat's primary in deference to him. Jones instead ran, and lost, in the 10th district, splitting the progressive vote in the race against Dan Goldman. Now Jones has endorsed George Latimer in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee–funded primary against Rep. Jamaal Bowman (Bronx/Westchester), which Jones's former allies in the progressive movement called "disgusting." The Congressional Progressive Caucus withdrew their own endorsement of Jones in his current race.
George Latimer did not release legally required personal financial disclosures within the required 30 days.
News 12 spoke to Assembly Member Michael Benedetto (District 82, East Bronx) and DSA-endorsed challenger Jonathan Soto about issues affecting their district.
The Queens Chronicle spoke to establishment candidate Johanna Carmona (Assembly District 37, Western Queens) and DSA-endorsed Claire Valdez about issues affecting their district. A debate is planned in Sunnyside on Tuesday.
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