Bill de Blasio

Cabán’s likely upset and de Blasio’s big debate

Rounding up the week’s political news.

Queens District Attorney candidate Tiffany Caban speaks with civil rights activist Tamika Mallory, following a press conference calling for an investigation into the false conviction of the Central Park Five.

Queens District Attorney candidate Tiffany Caban speaks with civil rights activist Tamika Mallory, following a press conference calling for an investigation into the false conviction of the Central Park Five. Bebeto Matthews/AP/Shutterstock

Did anyone feel the earthquake in Queens? A minor quake was reported in Long Island City on Tuesday evening, only 0.9 on the Richter scale.

If you didn’t feel it, maybe it’s because it was the smaller of two earthquakes to hit Queens that evening – and the aftershocks of the other one will reverberate through the borough, the state and possibly the nation for years to come.

Cabán declares victory

After a hard-fought and contentious campaign, progressive insurgent Tiffany Cabán declared victory in the Queens district attorney race against five other candidates, including Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, who has not yet conceded. About 1,000 votes separate Cabán and Katz, and there are more than 6,300 paper ballots that won’t be counted for several more days. The contest had a last-minute twist when New York City Councilman Rory Lancman dropped out and endorsed Katz, but the move was not enough to put Katz over the top. Cabán promises major changes, like decriminlizing sex work and drugs, and cracking down on bad landlords.

More sexual harassment in Albany

After a landmark state legislative session ushered in stronger protections for victims of sexual harassment, another accusation rocked Albany. Robert Freeman, the longtime head of the state Committee on Open Government, was fired after a journalist reported him for sexually harassing her. Freeman had been an invaluable source for reporters for his knowledge on transparency and open records laws. After the news broke of his firing, other journalists and public officials came forward to say that they had also experienced harassment when working with him.

De Blasio on the debate stage

Bill de Blasio, Tim Ryan and Julian Castro were among 10 to face off during the first presidential debate Wednesday!
Michele Eve Sandberg/Shutterstock

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio participated in the first Democratic presidential primary debate, towering above the nine other candidates on the stage. Although he had fewer chances to speak than his competitors, he nonetheless made an impression. He was the first to interrupt another candidate and initiate debate, hammered home his anti-corruption message and distinguished himself as one of only two people on the stage who would eliminate private insurance in favor of “Medicare for all.”

Rent increases in NYC

Pleasing nobody, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board decided to approve a modest increase in rents for rent-stabilized apartments – 1.5% for one-year leases and 2.5% for two-year leases. This is the same increase the board approved last year. Tenant advocates wanted another rent freeze, like in 2015 and 2016, while landlords called for a higher increase to account for inflating costs of maintenance and upkeep. The decision came shortly after the enactment of new rent regulation laws statewide that added significant new tenant protections.

Citizenship question on 2020 census 

Demonstrators gathered at the Supreme Court as justices finish the term with key decisions on gerrymandering and a census case involving an attempt by the Trump administration to ask everyone about their citizenship status in the 2020 census, on Capitol H
J Scott Applewhite/AP/Shutterstock

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s reasoning for including a question about citizenship on the 2020 census is inadequate, and the court removed the question – for now. The court did not find the question itself unconstitutional and did not completely rule out the possibility that the question could still appear on the census form. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. left the door open for the Trump administration to offer a better reason for why it should be included.

Alphonso David leaves Albany

After spending years with Gov. Andrew Cuomo in both the executive mansion and the state attorney general’s office, Alphonso David is departing to become the new president of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ civil rights group. During his tenure with Cuomo, David worked on a number of key LGBTQ issues. In 2015, he was appointed counsel to the governor, making him one of the most powerful people in the state. David will now become the first person of color to head the Human Rights Campaign.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.