Editor's Note
Editor’s note: When an arrest can help
Council Member Chi Ossé got roughed up by the cops this week, boosting awareness of deed theft – and his own profile.
Council Member Chi Ossé addressed the media after being released in Bed-Stuy. Holly Pretsky
It’s a funny truth of New York politics that sometimes getting arrested plummets you into peril, and sometimes getting arrested propels you into power.
It all depends on the context.
For New York City Council Member Chi Ossé, his Wednesday arrest seemed purely politically positive. Nevermind that the deed theft he was protesting maybe wasn’t technically deed theft. What most New Yorkers saw was an elected official fighting for a Black Brooklynite who didn’t want to lose their family brownstone.
Ossé had deliberately turned his attention to deed theft a couple months ago. It’s an important issue affecting his Bed-Stuy district, and one that has the added political benefit of helping defend against the charge that democratic socialists like him and Mayor Zohran Mamdani don’t care about homeowners.
The arrest for obstruction and disorderly conduct seems likely to boost his advocacy – and expand the influence of the already popular young politician who every Democrat has been haranguing for help shooting social media friendly videos.
“His public advocate campaign begins today,” one Democratic operative said to me. And my Twitter feed was filled with calls for him to run against Rep. Hakeem Jeffries in 2028.
It’s not a new political phenomenon. Some Brooklynites flocked to Council Member Susan Zhuang after she was arrested for biting a cop while protesting a homeless shelter. Bill de Blasio’s mayoral campaign was boosted by his planned arrest protesting the closure of Long Island College Hospital. And Mamdani got attention after getting arrested protesting Israel outside Sen. Chuck Schumer’s home.