Politics

Update: AOC Backs Wiley for Mayor, Abreu in CD14, Velázquez in CD13; PAC Backs Lora in CD11 & Sanchez in CD14

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
  District 14 City Council candidate and tenants’ advocate, Adolfo Abreu, picked up his most high-profile endorsement to date when Bronx Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) personally endorsed him during an event held just a few steps from Manhattan’s City Hall on Saturday, June 5. During the event, the congresswoman also announced her much coveted seal of approval of mayoral candidate, Maya Wiley, while District Leader in A.D. 82, Majorie Velázquez, also received a personal endorsement from the congresswoman in the District 13 City Council race.   Meanwhile, in the District 11 race, candidate, Mino Lora, founder and executive director of


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Super PACs Spend $18.6 M on NYC Candidates so far, including Abreu, Bravo & Pierina Sanchez

By SÍLE MOLONEY
The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) announced that “independent expenditure committees,” sometimes referred to as IEs or Super PACs, reported a new collective spending total in the 2021 New York City elections of over $18.6 million, as of Friday, June 11. This was mostly spent on mayoral candidates but also includes cumulative spending on other candidates like District 14 City Council candidates, Adolfo Abreu and Pierina Sanchez, and District 15 City Council candidate and Bronx Community Board 7 District Manager, Ischia Bravo.   A Super PAC is a political campaign that advocates for the election or defeat of


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Brooklyn BP & Mayoral Candidate, Eric Adams, Stakes Claim in The Bronx

By MIRIAM QUIÑONES & SÍLE MOLONEY
  Brooklyn borough president and mayoral candidate, Eric Adams, has staked a claim in The Bronx, visiting the Northwestern section of the borough on two recent visits within days of each other, and opening a Bronx campaign office with less than two weeks remaining before the June 22 primary election.   In a race that will decide who will run the 11th largest city in the world, and the largest city in the country, many regard the upcoming mayoral election as one of the most consequential in decades, with some saying it has the possibility to bring about a much


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Inquiring Photographer: Thoughts on the Deciding Factor when Choosing a New Mayor

By DAVID GREENE
  This week, we asked readers what is the main factor that will decide their choice of candidate for New York City mayor – crime, civil rights, housing, other?   “Crime is up in every aspect, as I’m sure you’ve seen all the shootings that have taken place, and I just think Eric Adams is the right man to address the violence, the crime in the subways and also the hate crimes that are taking place.” Rev. Oswald Denis, Mott Haven   “The issues that are most important to me in this election [are] specifically safety in the community, and the


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Biaggi Addresses Victim-Blaming of Female Rape Survivors as Poll Finds Men Twice as Likely to Binge Drink

A majority of women, when under the influence of alcohol, are more likely to be raped. The data has been out there since 2004 when a study published by the National College of Medicine found that roughly one in 20 women surveyed reported being raped, and nearly three quarters of the victims were raped while intoxicated.   Despite this, almost twenty years later, New York State law still stigmatizes victims of sexual crimes, protecting only those victims who become mentally incapacitated through intoxication at the hands of a third party e.g. through a date-rape drug. Some Albany lawmakers are aiming


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Bronx BP Race: Vanessa Gibson Backed by Statewide Tenants PAC

Tenants PAC, a leading advocate for tenants’ rights in New York State, has endorsed District 16 City Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson, in her campaign to become the Bronx borough president. According to its website, the PAC’s mission is to give a strong public voice to tenants, and to make tenants a viable electoral force.   Michael McKee is treasurer of the PAC and said the group was proud to support Gibson because of her proven record protecting tenants’ rights. “Vanessa’s work sponsoring the Right to Counsel law in the City Council is truly groundbreaking, and has already helped lower evictions across


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Bronx BP Race: Cabrera Backed by LGBTQ veteran and former mayoral candidate, Loree Sutton

District 14 City Councilman and majority whip, Fernando Cabrera, secured an important endorsement in his bid to win the Bronx borough presidency, on Monday, June 7, when he was formally backed by former Commissioner of Veterans Services and former mayoral candidate, Loree Sutton. The endorsement is both timely, given Pride Month coincides with the upcoming June primaries, and noteworthy since Sutton is, according to Cabrera’s campaign, a leader in the LGBTQ+ community, a community the councilman has alienated in the past due to his stance on homosexuality.   As previously reported by Norwood News, Cabrera courted controversy in 2014, while serving his


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NYC Campaign Finance Board Approves $19.9 Million in Public Funds Payments 

By SÍLE MOLONEY
The NYC Campaign Finance Board (CFB) approved $19,903,652 in public matching funds payments to 162 candidates in the 2021 primary elections during a public meeting held on May 27. With these payments, the Board approved more than $32.3 million to seven candidates running for mayor.   The CFB has now issued nearly $96 million to candidates participating in the 2021 elections — the most in the history of New York City’s campaign finance program — and more than the candidates have reported raising in private contributions (nearly $60.3 million as of May 21). Public funds dwarf the amount spent thus


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NYC will Pay Youth $1,200 to Take Online Courses This Summer, Application Deadline June 15

By SÍLE MOLONEY
New York City will pay youth from designated city areas $1,200 to take online courses this summer, following the success of the NeON Summer initiative which was launched in 2020. Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced the 2021 initiative will enroll 2,700 youth in six weeks of online instruction. It is hoped the program will help the city’s youth build skills, focus their career goals and express their creativity.   According to City officials, participating eligible New Yorkers will receive a stipend, and could earn up to $1,200. NeON Summer is open to three groups: young people aged 14 to


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