Rent Guidelines Board Plans Biggest Rent Increases in a Decade + Hochul Appoints Delgado as LG
No. 269 | Monday, May 9
The NYC Thorn is a weekly roundup of local political news compiled by members of NYC-DSA.
Local News:
New York City's Rent Guidelines Board took a preliminary vote to increase rents by the highest margin in more than a decade, between 2 and 4 percent for one-year leases and between 4 and 6 percent for two-year leases.
A new poll shows that Mayor Adams's approval ratings have dropped significantly in New York City, likely due to perceptions that he is not managing crime well.
Following intensified anti-union efforts by Amazon, the second Staten Island warehouse in Staten Island to vote on unionizing lost their union vote to management.
The New York Police Department has developed a secret database of individuals suspected of gun violence, similar to its secret gang database, whcih drew lawsuits and criticism from advocates for civil liberties.
Sarena Townsend, a Deputy Commissioner for Investigations at NYC Department of Corrections who was fired upon Adams's inauguration, described extensive corruption at the city's jails in an interview.
Mayor Adams has made at least ten political allies in high-paying senior administration roles, including Republican former Council Member Eric Ulrich as his commissioner of the Department of Buildings.
More than two years after Attorney General Letitia James announced an investigation into racial disparities in subway arrests, she has not announced any update on the investigation even as arrests surge.
The New York State Court of Appeals, which recently nullified the State's district maps for Congress and State Senate, is dominated by conservative Democrats and Republicans.
Five former journalists from Gothamist, Village Voice, and Jezebel have launched a new worker-owned City-focused news website called Hell Gate.
Elections:
After Governor Hochul successfully pushed for the state legislature to allow former Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin to be removed from the Democratic primary ballot and replaced with another candidate, Hochul announced that Congressman Antonio Delgado (NY-19, mid-Hudson Valley) will become her new Lieutenant Governor and running mate in the Democratic primary. Meanwhile, Representative Nydia Velazquez (NY-7, Bushwick) endorsed Ana Maria Archila for Lieutenant Governor over her US House colleague Delgado. Archila also picked up endorsements from State Senators Michael Gianaris (District 12, Astoria), James Sanders (District 10, South Ozone Park, Rosedale), and Gustavo Rivera (District 33, Kingsbridge).
The Brooklyn Democratic Party submitted names of at least twenty candidates for county committee without their proposed candidates’ knowledge, part of an effort by party bosses to keep control of the party's internal affairs.
David Alexis, DSA-endorsed candidate for State Senate District 21 (Flatbush), wrote an op-ed for the Daily News about his family’s experiences with the state’s segregated maternal healthcare system.
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