Gotham Gazette

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Adrienne Adams

Adrienne Adams

  • How Trash Became a Top-of-the-Heap City Budget Issue

    Council Member Chi Ossé on a sanitation tour of his district (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)


    Trash has become among the most prominent issues in this year’s New York City budget negotiations, as well as the focus of larger policy debates about how the city handles its garbage and recycling.

    The infamous mountains of black bags that clutter sidewalks, the overflowing waste baskets at street corners, and the litter on city streets have all been the subject of significant attention from Mayor Eric Adams, Comptroller Brad Lander, and many members of the New York City Council,

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  • Max Politics Podcast: City Council Progressive Caucus Chairs Shahana Hanif & Lincoln Restler

    City Council Members Shahana Hanif, left, and Lincoln Restler are co-chairs of the Council's Progressive Caucus


    April 13, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: City Council Progressive Caucus Chairs Shahana Hanif & Lincoln Restler

    New York City Council Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Shahana Hanif and Lincoln Restler joined the show to discuss the formation of the caucus in the new class of City Council members, its membership and priorities, and their stances on a number of key issues. 

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter ...

  • In Budget Response, City Council Pushes Mayor on Spending Priorities

    Council Speaker Adams (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)


    The New York City Council wants Mayor Eric Adams to add billions in spending to the city budget for agency operations, city initiatives, and infrastructure to ensure a strong and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In issuing its official response to the mayor’s $98.5 billion preliminary budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year, which begins July 1, the Council has advanced city budget negotiations into their next phase.

    Adams’ budget reflects

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  • Max Politics Podcast: The City Council Responds to the Mayor's Budget Plan

    Council Member Justin Brannan (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)


    April 6, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: The City Council Responds to the Mayor's Budget Plan

    City Council Member Justin Brannan, a Brooklyn Democrat and chair of the Council's finance committee, joined the show to discuss the Council's response to Mayor Adams' preliminary budget.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the

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  • Will the New City Council Reform Its Rules?

    City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)


    With a new City Council class and new speaker leading the legislative body, there is another opportunity to change the Council’s internal rules, which haven't been formally revised since 2014.

    It's a relatively obscure corner of public policy because in a city of 8.8 million people the rules apply only to the 51 elected Council members and a few hundred Council staff. But Council members and advocates have for years pointed to measures that

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  • Questioning ‘Austerity,’ City Council Begins Examining Mayor Adams' $98.5 Billion Preliminary Budget

    Speaker Adams with Council Members Brannan & Brewer (photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council)


    The New York City Council on Wednesday kicked off the process of examining Mayor Eric Adams’ $98.5 billion preliminary budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year, which begins July 1. It was the first of many hearings that will take place over the next several weeks as the Council digs into the first spending plan of Adams’ four-year term.

    Last month, Adams proposed a somewhat cautious budget while stressing “fiscal discipline.”

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  • Speaker Adams Names City Council Leadership, New Committee Chairs and Members

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    Speaker Adams and several City Council members (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)


    City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced new members to her leadership team and chair appointments to the newly-seated Council’s three dozen committees on Thursday.

    Adams, a Democrat from Southeast Queens, had already named three members to key positions when she was elected speaker in an internal vote of the Council earlier this month. Council Member Diana Ayala of the Bronx and Manhattan was given the newly-created position of deputy speaker.

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  • Advice for Adrienne Adams from Her Predecessors as City Council Speaker

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    City Council chambers (photo: Emil Cohen/NYC Council)


    In a near-unanimous vote on Wednesday, Adrienne Adams, a Queens Democrat, was elected the new Speaker of the City Council, making history as the first ever Black leader of the 51-member legislative body. The Speakership gives her a citywide purview with all its incumbent challenges, made even more pressing by the covid pandemic and the city’s ongoing recovery attempts. Rates of both gun violence and unemployment remain high, and the city is facing a number of other crises related to housing, education, and

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  • Adrienne Adams Elected Speaker of the New York City Council

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    City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    Adrienne Adams, a Democrat from Queens, was officially elected as the Speaker of the New York City Council on Wednesday in a near-unanimous internal vote of the 51-member legislative body. Adams is the first Black person to lead the New York City Council and will lead the first-ever women-majority Council, with 31 seats held by women.

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    Who is Adrienne Adams, Presumptive Next New York City Council Speaker?

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    City Council Member Adrienne Adams, the likely next Speaker of the Council (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)


    City Council Member Adrienne Adams, a Democrat from Southeastern Queens, is poised to become the next Speaker of the City Council. Adams, who has represented District 28 since 2018, will be the first-ever Black Speaker of the 51-member legislative body and will lead the first-ever women-majority New York City Council.

    The Speaker is one of only four elected officials with citywide authority besides the Mayor, Public

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  • Announcing Majority Support, Adrienne Adams Declares Victory in City Council Speaker Race

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    Council Member and likely next Speaker Adrienne Adams (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    City Council Member Adrienne Adams, a Queens Democrat, declared victory on Friday in the race to become the next Speaker of the legislative body, issuing a list of supporters who will make up a majority in the next City Council.

    Announcing support from 33 members, including herself, well past the 26 required votes in the 51-seat Council, Adams is poised to be the first Black Speaker when the vote among the new City Council class is seated

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  • A Black Woman as the Next Leader of the New York City Council

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    Farah Louis, the author (middle, in green) with Adrienne Adams (second from left) & others (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    While tackling the global COVID-19 pandemic, New York City experienced a historic moment this year. We didn’t just break the proverbial glass ceiling; we demolished barriers that were created to leave marginalized communities out for generations. The next New York City Council is on track to be the most diverse in the city’s history, including the first Muslim woman; the first openly gay Black women; seven

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  • As Eric Adams Allies Push Francisco Moya, Coalition Forms Behind Adrienne Adams for Next City Council Speaker

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    Council Member Adrienne Adams (photo: Gerardo Romo/City Council)


    In response to an effort by allies of Mayor-elect Eric Adams to install City Council Member Francisco Moya as the next Council Speaker, a coalition is forming behind Council Member Adrienne Adams to win the legislative leadership post, several sources with direct knowledge have told Gotham Gazette.

    The movement behind Adrienne Adams is being led by powerful labor unions that have been allied with the mayor-elect but were among many interested parties taken aback by the push to anoint

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  • LISTEN: The Candidates for Speaker on Their City Council Work and Pitch to Colleagues

    Top (l-r) Adrienne Adams, Diana Ayala, Justin Brannan, Gale Brewer Bottom (l-r) Francisco Moya, Keith Powers, Carlina Rivera

    (l-r) Top: Adrienne Adams, Diana Ayala, Justin Brannan, Gale Brewer; Bottom: Francisco Moya, Keith Powers, Carlina Rivera


    The seven candidates to be the next City Council Speaker, all Democrats, have in recent months joined the Max Politics podcast from Gotham Gazette, discussing their government work and Speaker campaigns with host Ben Max. The candidates — Adrienne Adams, Diana Ayala, Justin Brannan, Gale Brewer, Francisco Moya, Keith Powers, and

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  • ‘The New Commissioner Really Has Her Work Cut Out For Her’: Adrienne Adams on Police Reform, Running for City Council Speaker, and More

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    City Council Member Adrienne Adams (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    The New York Police Department needs a major culture shift, according to City Council Member Adrienne Adams, a Queens Democrat who chairs the Council’s public safety committee, and incoming Mayor Eric Adams can lead the way.

    Speaking at length on a recent episode of the Max Politics podcast from Gotham Gazette, Adams outlined key takeaways from a series of oversight hearings she has chaired and

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  • Max Politics Podcast: City Council Member Adrienne Adams on NYPD Oversight, Running for Speaker, & More

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    City Council Member Adrienne Adams (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)


    October 26, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: City Council Member Adrienne Adams on NYPD Oversight & More

    City Council Member Adrienne Adams, a Queens Democrat, joined the show to discuss her work chairing the Council's public safety committee, including recent NYPD oversight hearings, her bid to become the next Speaker of the City Council, and more.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter ...

  • To Ensure Safety and Increase Participation, Let’s Allow Public Government Meetings to be Conducted Virtually

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    (photo: @CMFarahLouis)


    Whether we like it or not, COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the ways we work and gather. While there is no substitute for being in the same room as family, friends, and colleagues, for the past 18 months, this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic has taught us how to come together virtually and get things done.

    Most of us had never even heard of Zoom before offices started closing, but it and other platforms like Webex and Microsoft Teams have become part of our daily lives as we adjusted to this new

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  • Advocates, Electeds and Candidates Celebrate Historic Gains for Women Heading to the New York City Council

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    A celebration of women heading to City Hall (photo: @21in21NYC)


    Triumphant speeches and words of solidarity filled the air at City Hall Park on Tuesday morning. A historic expected majority of women likely to fill City Council seats in January gathered at a press conference, pledging to bring a culture of mutual support and a commitment to underrepresented constituents to the legislative body. They were joined by current and former elected officials, advocates, and others who had been part of the yearslong effort to bring the 51-seat Council, where there are

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  • The Race to be the Next City Council Speaker is in Full Swing

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    (l-r) Council Members Keith Powers, Adrienne Adams, Justin Brannan, Carlina Rivera


    The New York City Council is set for seismic change, as new members will be elected to more than two-thirds of the 51 seats this year. With those new members will come the election of a new Council speaker to preside over the legislative body and exert control of its agenda, and four Democrats are already vying for the powerful position.

    Council Member Justin Brannan from Brooklyn, Council Members Carlina Rivera and Keith Powers from Manhattan, and Council Member Adrienne Adams of

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  • A Resounding No to Deadly No-Knock Warrants

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    NYPD (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    As a City Council Member and Chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee, I understand that people need to feel safe, particularly in their homes. One aspect of this safety is an assurance that authorities will not haphazardly burst in. This is enshrined in the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which grants everyone freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. That means there must be probable cause to raid a home.

    However, the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies seem to think

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  • Council Member Seeking Reelection and the Speakership Faces Exonerated Ex-Rep Pursuing Redemption

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    Adrienne Adams and Ruben Wills


    City Council Member Adrienne Adams, a first-term Democrat, is among the several candidates seeking to become the next Speaker of the City Council. But her first hurdle will be defeating two challengers in the imminent June primary to win a second term representing Council District 28 in Southeast Queens. Among those challengers is her predecessor, Ruben Wills, who was expelled from the Council following a corruption conviction but was recently exonerated and is seeking a political comeback.

    District 28 includes

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  • City Council Jumps Into Police Reform Action Amid De Blasio Delay in Meeting Cuomo Mandate

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    Mayor de Blasio & NYPD officials (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    When Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order in June mandating that localities set blueprints for broad police reform or risk losing state funding, he tasked mayors and other municipal leaders to engage the public and local legislatures in a collaborative reform process. Now, in response to delays and limited communication from Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, the New York City Council has signaled that it will move ahead with its own police reform agenda to meet

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  • Why Didn't New York's Hardest Hit Communities Receive Covid Vaccine Priority?

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    The covid vaccine (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic devastated Black, Latino, and immigrant communities across New York City at disproportionate levels last spring and since. Some lawmakers are now asking why the same populations were not included in vaccine priority plans crafted by the state and city.

    At a January 12 City Council oversight hearing on the de Blasio administration's roll-out of the first batches of the covid vaccine, members of the Council’s committees on hospitals and health asked the city's top

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  • Elected Officials Present Broad Proposals to 2019 Charter Revision Commission

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    Comptroller Stringer testifies at the 2019 Charter Revision Commission (photo: @NYCComptroller)


    The charter revision commission created through New York City Council legislation concluded its first round of public hearings last month, receiving dozens of suggestions about improving the functions and structure of city government. Unlike the commission established by Mayor Bill de Blasio, which has three proposals on this November’s ballot, the Council-created commission is set to propose changes to the city’s central governing document via the 2019

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  • Johnson Makes Series of City Council Changes, But Sidelines Formal Rules Reforms

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    Speaker Johnson, middle, and Council members (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    In December, several City Council members jostling to become the powerful next speaker of the 51-member legislative body signed on to a broad platform of reforms to the Council’s rules and procedures, which can have a significant impact on city law-making and funding for communities. Both returning and newly-elected Council members, 33 of them in total,

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