Ossé and Hanif officially join DSA’s City Council bloc

The New York City Democratic Socialists of America just doubled its official presence in the New York City Council. On Friday, the group formally admitted Council Members Chi Ossé and Shahana Hanif to its City Socialist in Office bloc, which already included Council Members Tiffany Cabán and Alexa Avilés.

“With these new additions, our city socialists in office committee has now doubled in size and power,” NYC-DSA Cochair Gustavo Gordillo said in a statement to City & State. “With Zohran as Mayor and with our elected officials organized and working together, we can deliver on a true affordability agenda for working people in New York City.”

As City & State previously reported, Ossé and Hanif attended a DSA forum on Feb. 10 at First Unitarian Church in Brooklyn where they took questions from members. In the 10 days following the forum, members of relevant NYC-DSA branches (North Brooklyn and Central Brooklyn for Ossé, and Central Brooklyn, South Brooklyn and Flatbush for Hanif) voted overwhelmingly in favor of letting them join City SIO: 620 members voted in favor of Ossé, while 18 voted against, and 511 voted in favor of Hanif, while 62 voted against. On Friday, NYC-DSA’s Citywide Leadership Committee also voted in favor of letting the two Council members join: Ossé received 59 yes votes and zero no votes, while Hanif received 52 yes votes and seven no votes.

Ossé and Hanif were already members of DSA – membership is open to anyone who pays monthly dues – but as city SIOs, they will now have a formal relationship with the socialist organization and will be expected to meet weekly with DSA representatives and coordinate on legislative strategy and messaging with both DSA and their fellow SIOs Cabán and Avilés.

Ossé and Hanif both have complicated histories with the organization. 

When he first ran for office, Ossé joined DSA and applied for an endorsement, but left in frustration after he did not receive it – only to rejoin last year, during Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. He applied for another endorsement as he mulled a congressional primary against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries but did not receive it and ultimately abandoned his congressional bid. This time, though, he stuck with the organization.

Hanif also sought the DSA endorsement when she first ran for office in 2021, only for the socialist group to endorse another candidate in her race. She ultimately beat the DSA-endorsed candidate and acted as an ally of the group once in office.