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'We're in a New Era’: Inside the Crowded Race to Elect the Next Queens District Attorney and Reset the Borough’s Prosecutorial Agenda


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Queens Borough President Katz swears-in community board members (photo: @QueensBPKatz)


Uncontested for seven terms spanning more than a quarter-century, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown has hung back while his counterparts in Brooklyn and Manhattan join a growing national conversation about criminal justice reform and the power of prosecutors to decarcerate jails. While the retiring Brown is a “dear friend,” former New York Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman told Gotham Gazette recently, “it’s time for a new prosecutor with new, up-to-date modern views.”

Answering that call, six of seven announced candidates in the upcoming Democratic primary are campaigning as the best progressive reformer for the job. Even the exception, self-described “middle of the road” attorney Betty Lugo, has aligned herself with the pack in promising fewer low-level prosecutions and condemning a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests outside Queens courts.

The June 25 election will almost certainly determine Brown’s successor and reset the prosecutorial tone in a vast, diverse borough of more than two million residents. “We’re really looking for someone who works with the community and understands that we’re in a new era. We’re no longer in a tough-on-crime, war on drugs era,” said 18-year-old Andrea Colon, a member of the Rockaway Youth Task Force, one of several criminal justice and immigrant rights groups demanding change in the office.

But Queens is an ideological patchwork. “It's an older voter, especially out east where it's more suburban,” said one party insider, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely. “They don't like people who jump turnstiles. They don’t want people smoking [marijuana] on the streets.” Former Queens Supreme Court judge and county prosecutor Greg Lasak, who’s pitching himself as the only candidate who can properly balance public safety with reform, has endorsements and donations from a number of law enforcement unions, including court clerks and officers. He's leading in funds raised for this race, with more than $800,000 to date, but trails Borough President Melinda Katz and City Council Member Rory Lancman in money available given their resources from prior campaign accounts.

Conversations with each candidate -- prosecutors Jose Nieves and Mina Malik and public defender Tiffany Cabán round out the field -- reveal real differences: on prosecutorial priorities and experience, as well as how they view the scope of the job. Now that the term progressive has wide application, says Steve Zeidman, director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at CUNY School of Law, “we have to push and get into the fine print.”

Prosecutorial Differences
Katz and Lancman are both established politicians with law degrees, strong name recognition in the borough, and early fundraising success. Both formerly served in the state Assembly. “I think there needs to be a change in focus in the DA’s Office,” Katz told Gotham Gazette, outlining her plan for new bureaus focused on immigrant rights, housing fraud, and worker rights.

But Katz -- who recently won the endorsement of the Queens County Democratic Party -- has proposed narrower prosecutorial reforms than most of the pack, pledging along with Lasak only to decline to prosecute marijuana possession cases. By contrast Lancman, Cabán, Malik, and Nieves have all outlined do-not-prosecute lists including fare evasion, drug possession, and prostitution -- in the style of recently-elected reform district attorneys like Larry Krasner in Philadelphia and Rachael Rollins Boston.

Judge Lippman told Gotham Gazette that though he doesn’t typically endorse candidates, Lancman, the first candidate to enter the race, “was always the first one to be there to generate support for a new view for criminal justice.” But the City Council member has lots of company now. He, Cabán, and Nieves have all pledged to never request cash bail, on the grounds that it perpetuates racial- and class-based inequities.

Four of the candidates -- Malik, Nieves, Lasak, and Lugo -- tout their prosecutorial experience. Malik, who is originally from Queens, served most recently as a deputy for the District of Columbia Attorney General. She also helped the late Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson implement a policy for fewer marijuana prosecutions. Like Lasak, she’s served in the very office she’s running to lead. “Queens deserves someone who can come into the DA’s office, know from day one how it operates,” Malik told Gotham Gazette.

Nieves, meanwhile, emphasizes his recent experience prosecuting police officers at the state attorney general’s office and holding “the system itself accountable.”

Cabán’s status as the only public defender in the race, most recently with New York County Defender Services, has won her endorsements from ascendant groups on the left. “Her ultimate responsibility is to the public and that's what it's always been,” said Zohran Mamdani, an electoral organizer with the Queens branch of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Addressing a crowd of supporters in Jackson Heights this month, Cabán said she’ll fight for defendants, not convictions. As a queer Latina from a low-income family, she relates to the challenges her clients face. “For me, my decision to run in this race very much so feels like the natural progression of my advocacy for my clients,” she said.

How the candidates approach the prosecution of violent crimes, from murder to burglary, is another useful differentiator. Most say that fewer misdemeanor cases will free up resources to prosecute violent crimes. In endorsing Lasak, Glen Damato, president of the New York State Court Clerks Association, praised “his work putting away Queens’ most violent criminals and his compassion in exonerating the wrongfully convicted.”

When Katz was a child, a drunk driver struck and killed her mother. She said that if she’s elected district attorney cases involving intoxicated driving are going to be prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law, in my administration.” She said life sentences can be justified “on a case by case basis” while Lancman, Nieves, and Cabán say they’ll never request such a sentence.

Cabán has been most vocal about a less punitive approach to violent crime. She says her father, a retired elevator mechanic, has struggled with alcoholism and that her grandfather, a veteran with PTSD, was abusive. Incarcerating people for repeat violent behavior “is not changing the behavior,” Cabán said, calling for a shift in funding towards alternatives such as mental health services. "Sometimes that means showing compassion for someone who does harm."

Race Strategy
Increasingly, district attorney candidates are expected to weigh in on political debates outside the courtroom. Lancman and Cabán, for example, have promised not to join the statewide district attorney association, which has recently lobbied against pretrial reforms currently up for consideration in Albany, like open file discovery and the elimination of cash bail.

Everyone but Lasak, who declined to weigh in, told Gotham Gazette they support the city’s commitment to close the jails on Rikers Island. Cabán and Nieves have taken this a step further, saying they oppose replacing them with new or revamped jails across the city. “I don't think we need 40-story super structures to house more people,” Nevies said. “I think we need less people incarcerated.”

Cabán is also refusing corporate donations: a position that aligns her with other DSA-endorsed New York candidates like Congressional Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cynthia Nixon, who ran an unsuccessful 2018 Democratic primary challenge to Governor Andrew Cuomo. Doing so, Cabán says, will reassure Queens residents that she’s not afraid to prosecute landlords or employers accused of wage theft.

Lancman is dismissive of the stance. “I am not bringing a knife to this gun fight,” he scoffed. “I am not in this race to lose but claim a moral victory and then see black and brown people terrorized.”

Voters are also considering candidates’ proximity to the Queens County Democratic Party. Its endorsement of Katz is bad optics for both, according to Jesse Rose, founder of the New Queens Democrats, a progressive civic engagement group that has endorsed Cabán. “It was just absurd to me,” he said. “They didn’t have a forum. They didn’t have a vetting process. They didn’t ensure that there was transparency in any way.” (The party did not respond to a request for comment, but has defended its process to the Queens Daily Eagle.)

The dynamic isn’t a major concern for Lugo. A singer by hobby, she says she even performed the traditional Irish ballad Danny Boy at a recent county party dinner. “I think had they interviewed me they would have found me the most qualified, but it is what it is,” she said.

But Katz, who has won two borough-wide elections, seems to be downplaying her endorsement. She plans to implement a grassroots strategy with “a volunteer army knocking on doors,” according to Doug Forand, a campaign advisor with Red Horse Strategies. “She'll be reaching out broadly, and engaging the newer voters who are bringing new energy into Democratic primaries, and we look forward to earning their support."

The groups already rallying around Cabán have proven formidable in this realm, knocking on doors for Ocasio-Cortez and, more recently, protesting the ill-fated Amazon campus in Queens. “I wouldn’t be surprised if their activity [and] endorsement means something considerable, even in Queens, which still has conservative areas,” said Baruch College political scientist Doug Muzzio.

Regardless of who wins in June, advocates are hopeful that this election will increase awareness across the borough that district attorneys are powerful, and elected by their constituents.

“This not about winning an election,” explained Alyssa Aguilera, co-executive director of VOCAL-NY, a nonprofit that works on criminal justice reform, among other issues. “It's about, how do you get into the public narrative and get people in Queens talking about criminal justice reform, the power of prosecutors, and how you hold them accountable?”

Gotham Gazette is cosponsoring a candidate debate on March 12 at 6 p.m. RSVP here.

Note: soon after this article was published, DA Brown announced that due to health issues he would be stepping down as district attorney effective June 1. His chief assistant, John M. Ryan, will run the office in his absence.

***
by Emma Whitford, Gotham Gazette
@emma_a_whitford

Read more by this writer.

Correction: this article has been updated to clarify that Lasak leads in funds raised for this race, though he does trail Katz and Lancman in funds available.

Johnson's State of the City, Heastie's State of Play, Council Budget Hearings & More: The Week Ahead in New York Politics, March 4


New York City Hall

New York City Hall


What to watch for this week in New York politics:

As the week begins, school is closed in New York City and much of the city and state will be focused on the Sunday-into-Monday snowstorm that is expected, and the government response to it. Keep in mind that some if not all Monday events may be canceled.

We’re less than a month from the date, April 1, when a new state budget is due. As the State Legislature looks to continue moving bills over the next few weeks on issues like criminal justice reform, budget negotiations will begin to heat up as the two Democratic majorities in the Senate and Assembly look to get on the same page and work with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration on a budget deal that will not only come to spending agreements on key issues like local school aid, but also on controversial policies like marijuana legalization and congestion pricing for New York City. 

There are four days of legislative session this week in Albany. They come after the Legislature and Governor were unable to agree on a revenue forecast to use for budget negotiations, meaning the state comptroller’s office will set the number. Also at hand are issues like bail reform that appear to have hit a roadblock in negotiations. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie will make a public appearance on Friday morning to discuss his chamber's priorities and where things stand in Albany.

Also this week: City Council Speaker Corey Johnson will give his first State of the City address. Johnson has said a main focus of the speech will be a new, detailed plan for city control of the subways and buses -- otherwise known as the MTA’s New York City Transit division. Expect other new proposals and plans from Johnson, who has not yet set out his own policy vision since taking over Council leadership a little more than a year ago. Johnson has advanced a variety of priorities for himself and his colleagues, and has taken a clear interest in transit issues, but the speech will be the first time he fully lays out an agenda of his own.

Johnson’s City Council will start its month of hearings this week on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s preliminary budget plan -- see below for details.

The speaker continues to be the Acting Public Advocate until Public Advocate-Elect Jumaane Williams is sworn in. Williams said he expects that to happen this week, though we don't yet have a day.

And we’re continuing to watch the next steps in the Amazon saga and the L-train repair work saga. City and state Census preparations are also on the agenda this week.

There's a lot to be aware of this week -- see our day-by-day rundown below.

***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics?
e-mail Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.***

The run of the week in detail:

Monday
NOTE: New York City schools are closed on Monday and some of the events below may be canceled.

The New York State Legislature will be in session on Monday in Albany.

Also at the Legislature on Monday: At 11 a.m. the Senate Standing Committees on Banks and Consumer Protection will hold a joint public hearing in Albany regarding “the proposed Student Loan Consumer Assistance Program.”

At 8 a.m. Monday, Senator Chuck Schumer and Regional Plan President Tom Wright will give speeches on infrastructure, specifically the Gateway Tunnel project. The event, which will take place at the Mezzanine at 55 Broadway, is co-sponsored by the Association for a Better New York, the Regional Plan Association, and the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management.

At the City Council on Monday:
--The Committee on Health will meet at 10 a.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “accessing the state’s medical marijuana program and its intersection with a recreational marijuana program,” as well as to discuss two resolutions calling on the state to expand the state’s legal medicinal marijuana program and to pass legislation “rectifying any conflicts between the state's medical marijuana regulations and recreational marijuana regulations.”
--The Committees on Public Housing and Oversight & Investigations will meet jointly at 10 a.m. for an oversight hearing “examining the DOI report on NYCHA mismanagement at the Throggs Neck Houses,” as well as to discuss two proposed laws requiring agency heads to publicly disclose false statements made by their agency in an official capacity and requiring the Department of Investigation to report bimonthly to the Council on NYCHA employee overtime. The committees will also discuss a resolution calling on the state to pass a law requiring NYCHA “conduct annual evaluations of agency property employees.”
--The Committees on General Welfare and Hospitals will meet jointly at 1 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding the “impact of marijuana policies on child welfare,” as well as to discuss laws requiring ACS to report additional information on allegations in child abuse cases and requiring ACS to report on investigations initiated by the city for positive drug screenings. The committee will also discuss two resolutions calling on ACS to stop classifying the possession of marijuana as creating an imminent risk to children and calling on the state to create “clear and fair regulations” for hospitals to inform pregnant patients of their rights before drug testing.
--The Committee on Housing and Buildings will meet at 2 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding loft laws, and to discuss a resolution calling on the state to pass an expansion of the loft law.

At 11:30 a.m. Monday, the Center for an Urban Future will host “Preparing New York State’s Workforce for Automation,” discussing what officials and policymakers should be doing to prepare for the changes to come with automation, at the Hilton Albany. Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul will deliver keynote remarks. After, there will be a panel discussion consisting of Assemblymember Marcos Crespo; Lois Johnson, Director of Workforce Strategies at the Workforce Development Institute; Annmarie Lanesey, CEO of Albany Can Code; Melinda Mack, Executive Director of NYATEP; and Todd Mack, Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development at Monroe Community College.

At 1 p.m. Monday, "Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner O’Neill will hold a media availability on crime statistics." At 4 p.m., "the Mayor will sign Intro.1004-A which will establish the basement apartment legalization pilot in East New York." In the evening, "the Mayor will deliver remarks at the Legion of Honor Medal Ceremony for Charles Cohen." And in the 7 and 11 p.m. hours, "the Mayor will appear on NY1’s Inside City Hall."

At 1 p.m. "Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul Kicks Off Women's History Month with Elected Officials and NYS Women's Suffrage Commission Members" at the state Capitol in Albany. At 5:15 p.m., "Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul Attends the NYS Farm Bureau's 2019 Taste of New York Reception."

At 2 p.m. Monday, the state’s Census commission will hold the first of six public hearings to discuss the upcoming 2020 U.S. Census and the myriad related issues. The hearing will take place at Rochester City Hall.

Tuesday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Tuesday in Albany.

At noon Tuesday, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson will deliver his State of the City address at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City.

At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the New York City Board of Elections will hold a commissioners’ meeting.

Wednesday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Wednesday in Albany.

Wednesday marks the beginning of the City Council’s preliminary budget hearing season. The first hearing is on the mayor’s preliminary budget in general, with the Committee on Finance and Subcommittee on the Capital Budget, jointly at 10 a.m., and featuring testimony from the Office of Management and Budget, Comptroller Scott Stringer, and the Independent Budget Office.

Also at the City Council on Wednesday:
--The Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will meet at 9:30 a.m.
--The Subcommittee on Landmarks will meet at noon.
--The Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions, and Concessions will meet at 1 p.m.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dare to Run will host “#WomenLead: How to Diversify the Pipeline of Women Leaders in New York” at the University Settlement House on the Lower East Side, featuring a panel of women who have run for office in New York discussing their experiences. Panelists will include City Council Members Carlina Rivera and Helen Rosenthal, recent Public Advocate candidate Nomiki Konst, former Assembly candidate Ashley Zanatta, former Senate candidate Jasi Robinson, State Democratic Party women’s vote director Ny Whitaker, and attorney Monique Cardial.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, City Council Member Eric Ulrich will hold a town hall meeting to discuss the issue of property taxes at the Knights of Columbus’ Rockaway location.

Thursday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Thursday in Albany.

The following City Council committees will hold preliminary budget hearings on Thursday:
--Fire and Emergency Management at 10 a.m., regarding fire/emergency medical service and the Office of Emergency Management.
--Higher Education at 10 a.m., regarding CUNY.
--Land Use at 1 p.m., regarding the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Department of City Planning.
--Technology and Land Use jointly at 3 p.m., regarding DoITT.

Also at the City Council on Thursday: the Committee on Land Use will meet at 11 a.m.

At 2 p.m. Thursday, New York City Census Director Julie Menin will appear at the Newmark School of Journalism with professor and NY1 anchor Errol Louis for a Q&A session on her office’s work to ensure all New Yorkers are counted in the 2020 Census. The event is hosted specifically by the journalism school’s Center for Community and Ethnic Media.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, the 2019 Charter Revision Commission will hold its second of six “issues forums” at City Hall to discuss potential charter revisions. This forum will focus on revisions regarding police accountability.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, the MTA will host the first of four open houses for community members regarding the “revised” L-train project. The first of these will take place at Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard Church in the West Village.

Friday and the weekend
At 8 a.m. Friday, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie will join Crain’s for a “Business Breakfast Forum” at the New York Athletic Club, discussing “the state budget, other pressing topics facing lawmakers and his long-term goals for the newly constituted legislature.”

Mayor de Blasio may make his weekly appearance on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show at 10 a.m. Friday.

The following City Council committees will hold preliminary budget hearings on Friday:
--Environmental Protection at 10 a.m., regarding the Department of Environmental Protection.
--Sanitation at 2 p.m., regarding the Department of Sanitation and the Business Integrity Commission.
--Parks & Recreation and Capital Budget jointly at 2 p.m., regarding the Department of Parks & Recreation.

***
Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

***
by Ben Brachfeld and Ben Max
@GothamGazette

Public Advocate Election, Busy Legislatures & More: The Week Ahead in New York Politics, Feb. 25


New York City Hall

New York City Hall


What to watch for this week in New York politics:

The Public Advocate special election is Tuesday!

The election is open to all registered voters across the city. Very low turnout is expected. Make a plan and be ready to vote!
-Find all of Gotham Gazette's coverage of the election here.
-Watch one/some/all of the 15-minute interviews our Ben Max did with 14 of the candidates.
-Use the City Limits voter guide.
-Check your polling place.

The Public Advocate is one of just three citywide elected positions and while its annual budget is relatively small at about $3.5 million, it comes with a lot of responsibility and opportunity. The last two public advocates are now New York City mayor and New York State attorney general.

Speaking of former Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, the mayor was in Iowa this weekend, stoking talk of a possible run for president, of which he has repeatedly said he’s “not ruling it out.” De Blasio sought to promote his brand of progressive politics and outlining how he believes Democrats can better appeal to voters, intermittently criticizing the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign for not speaking enough to the needs of “working people.”

We’ll see what this week brings in terms of how de Blasio talks about 2020.

We’re also watching for the next steps in the fallout over the Amazon-to-Queens deal collapsing and how it has led to fighting between Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state Senate Democrats. Though is spokespeople had already done so in various formats, Cuomo took to the radio airwaves on Friday and launched a blistering attack against Senate Democrats for allowing one of their own, Senator Michael Gianaris, to throw up such a significant roadblock to the deal that the company changed its mind. The two sides have been publicly arguing since the deal fell apart, with Cuomo saying the Senate Democrats committed a grave error in governmental judgement, letting down the entire state, and Senate Democrats saying that the governor should not have orchestrated a secretive, flawed deal.

After its usual mid-February week off, the City Council and State Legislature are back in session this week; the Council has very busy week of hearings. As for the state, the clock is ticking for a new budget, which is due by April 1.

There's a lot on the calendar already for this week - see our day-by-day rundown below.

***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics?
e-mail Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.***

The run of the week in detail:

Monday
At 9 a.m. Monday, “The day before the Public Advocate special election, Let NY Vote advocates, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and others will rally against the NYC Board of Elections' (NYCBOE) recent lawsuit preventing city interpreters from being inside polling locations. The City will be providing expanded interpretation services at poll sites with the largest numbers of Limited English proficient voters for the special election on Tuesday. The NYCBOE sued the City on Friday to prevent the interpreters from entering poll site locations, once again standing in the way of making voting easier for New Yorkers. The hearing on the lawsuit will take place after the rally at 9:30am at Kings County Supreme Court.”

At the City Council on Monday:
--The Committee on Environmental Protection will meet at 10 a.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “sustainability and resilience of New York City wastewater treatment plants,” as well as to discuss two proposed laws requiring solidly enclosed containers for the transport of sewage sludge and requiring an “air quality monitoring program” for wastewater treatment plants.
--The Committees on Women, Cultural Affairs, and Parks & Recreation will meet jointly at 10 a.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “improving the gender and cultural diversity of monuments located in city parks,” as well as to discuss the creation of a task force to study the city’s statues, monuments, and public art installations, and to discuss a proposed law requiring 50 percent of newly erected monuments, statues, and public art depict women.
--The Committees on Public Safety and Justice System will meet jointly at 10 a.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “family separation in criminal cases,” as well as to discuss proposed laws creating a task force to study and make recommendations regarding the “obstacles faced by children of incarcerated children” and to require the NYPD to implement “child sensitive arrest policies.”
--The Committee on Health will meet at 1 p.m. to discuss several proposed laws relating to sugar, including requiring signage at restaurants on the dangers of sugar, require beverages served with children’s meals to not contain added sugar, requiring sugar content be displayed on menus, and requiring the health department to report on the incidence of diabetes and how to reduce it.
--The Committee on Hospitals will meet at 1 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “access to specialty care at NYC’s Health + Hospitals.”
--The Committee on Education will meet at 1 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “DOE’s provision of special education services,” as well as to discuss proposed laws requiring DOE to provide data on school-level IEP compliance rates, report on its provision of special education services, tuition-payment requests for special ed, and preschool special ed, and to discuss a resolution for DOE to establish a “czar position” to ensure compliance with IEPs.
--The Committee on Governmental Operations will meet at 1 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “community board operations and needs,” as well as to discuss a proposed law requiring “notification of expiration of variances and special permits granted by the board of standards and appeals.”

At 8:30 a.m. Monday, the New York City Bar Association will host “New York State Environmental Year in Review,” discussing “the past year’s most significant developments in New York State and New York City environmental law.” Amy Turner of the NYC Climate Action Alliance will moderate a panel consisting of Adriana Espinoza, New York City program director for NYLCV; Patrick Foster, regional attorney for region 2 for the state Department of Environmental Conservation; attorney Scott Fein; Columbia law professor Michael Gerrard; and St. John’s Law professor Philip Weinberg.

At 11 a.m. Monday, the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance will rally at the Broadway Junction station to bring attention to the transit crisis as a racial and economic justice issue, and call on Albany to pass congestion pricing. Elected officials in attendance will include State Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymembers Felix Ortiz, Robert Rodriguez, and Michael Blake, who is a candidate for public advocate. Also in attendance will be public advocate candidates Melissa Mark-Viverito and Dawn Smalls.

At 3 p.m. Monday, City Council Members Margaret Chin and Mark Levine, State Senator Brad Hoylman, and Assemblymember Deborah Glick will rally at the City Hall steps in support of Chin’s and Levine’s resolution calling for the implementation of a pied-a-terre tax in New York City, which would need to be passed at the state level and has the support of a variety of other elected officials.

On Monday at 3 p.m. in Washington, D.C., U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, along with “9/11 first responders, survivors, and their families will join with Jon Stewart” and several other elected officials from New York and elsewhere “to introduce the bipartisan Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act and call for its swift passage. The bipartisan legislation would ensure that all 9/11 first responders and survivors who have been injured by the toxins at Ground Zero and have certified 9/11 illnesses would receive their full compensation through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) now and into the future as more become ill with 9/11 cancers. The bill would also close the funding gap recently announced by the VCF Special Master.”

At 6 p.m. Monday, the 2019 Charter Revision Commission will meet in the City Council Chambers at City Hall for an “issues forum” discussing instant runoff voting and other electoral reforms, the redistricting process, the structure of the Campaign Finance Board, and “alternative campaign finance mechanisms.” (This hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday, February 20, but was rescheduled due to inclement weather.)

At 6:30 p.m. Monday, State Senators Alessandra Biaggi, Andrew Gounardes, Jessica Ramos, and Julia Salazar will join the Tri-State Transportation Campaign at its February happy hour at the Black Door in Chelsea, discussing congestion pricing.

Mayor de Blasio will appear Monday evening on NY1's Inside City Hall with Errol Louis in the 7 and 11 p.m. hours.

Tuesday
The special election for Public Advocate will be held on Tuesday. Polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m.

The New York State Legislature will be in session on Tuesday in Albany.

At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics will hold a meeting in Albany.

At the City Council on Tuesday:
--The Committee on Housing and Buildings will meet at 10 a.m. to discuss proposed laws allowing DOB to issue stop work orders along with “notices to revoke work permits,” allowing HPD “discretion” in choosing whether to work with a community land trust, and allowing individuals to sign up for email updates for whenever construction status changes on specific projects.
--The Committee on Criminal Justice will meet at 10 a.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “Department of Correction programming,” as well as to discuss proposed laws requiring DOC to conduct an annual survey of inmates at city jails regarding quality of life and treatment by corrections officers and requiring DOC to maintain libraries for inmates in city jails.
--The Committee on Land Use will meet at 11 a.m.
--The Committees on Mental Health and Veterans will meet jointly at 1 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “veteran suicide and mental health.”
--The Committee on Fire and Emergency Management will meet at 1 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “protecting EMS workers from job related violence.”

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg will moderate a debate on whether to implement congestion pricing to address issues with transit, hosted by the Century Foundation and NYU Wagner at the Puck Building on Houston St. Manhattan Institute senior fellow Nicole Gelinas will argue in favor of congestion pricing, and former Assemblymember Richard Brodsky will argue against.

Wednesday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Wednesday in Albany.

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, the MTA will hold a board meeting.

Starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Vocal-NY will hold a lobbying day in Albany to call on state legislators to end mass incarceration.

On Wednesday at noon at the state Capitol, the FREEnewyork Campaign will rally and meet with legislators “to demand the speedy passage of urgent reforms to the criminal legal system” including “three separate bills – S1716 (Open Discovery), S2101 (End Money Bail), S1738 (Speedy Trial).” Members of the coalition include “Citizen Action New York, JustLeadershipUSA, New York Communities for Change, New York Civil Liberties Union, Legal Aid Society, VOCAL-NY, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State, Religious leaders and more.”

At the City Council on Wednesday:
--The Committees on Justice System, Civil and Human Rights, Consumer Affairs, and Public Safety will meet jointly at 10 a.m. for an oversight hearing regarding the potential for marijuana legalization in New York, specifically on “equity and justice.” The committees will discuss proposed laws banning the Department of Probation from conducting drug tests for marijuana and ban employers from requiring employees to submit to tests for THC as a condition of employment. The committees will also discuss several resolutions, including ones calling for legalization of marijuana at the state and federal levels, calling for the expungement of all misdemeanor marijuana offenses, calling for the reinvestment of revenues from marijuana in communities most impacted by the war on drugs, calling for those with marijuana convictions to be prioritized in both the issuance of licenses for selling and in hiring in the marijuana industry, and encouraging small business growth in the industry, among others.
--The Committee on Aging will meet at 10 a.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “senior center model food budgets.”
--The Committee on Sanitation will meet at noon to discuss proposed laws requiring the Business Integrity Commission establish standards for union registration in the private carting industry, require the BIC to post workers’ rights information on its website, require private carters to provide workers’ rights information to employees, and for the BIC to hand over labor and wage violation cases to state or federal authorities.
--The Committee on Mental Health will meet at 1 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding a three-year update on ThriveNYC.

This week's Max & Murphy on WBAI radio will air at 5 p.m. Wednesday and will break down the results of the Public Advocate special election and more. Listen at 99.5FM or wbai.org.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, the Panel for Educational Policy will hold a public meeting at MS 131 in Chinatown.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, BRIC TV will host a “#BHeard Town Hall” on economic inequality in New York City. Panelists will include Deputy Mayor J. Phillip Thompson, Student Debt Crisis Executive Director Natalia Abrams, NYU sociology professor Guillermina Jasso, former SEIU Chair Toni Lewis, Washington Post journalist Helaine Olen, and Fiscal Policy Institute chief economist Jonas Shaende.

Thursday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Thursday in Albany.

The City Council will hold a stated meeting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Speaker Corey Johnson will host the usual pre-Stated press conference at 12:30 p.m.

Also at the City Council on Thursday: the Committee on Finance will meet at 9:30 a.m.

At 11:30 a.m. Thursday, City & State will hold a reception for its “NYC Power 100,” its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the city. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams will deliver keynote remarks.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, Citizens Budget Commission will hold its 87th annual awards dinner at the Pierre Hotel on the Upper East Side. Awards will be presented to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, investor Stanley Shuman, and the City of New York for its Vision Zero initiative, and there will also be a special tribute to recently retired CBC President Carol Kellermann.

Friday and the weekend
Mayor de Blasio may make his weekly appearance on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show on Friday at 10 a.m.

At 3 p.m. Friday, the Senate Standing Committees on Transportation and Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions will meet jointly at the Nassau County Legislative Building in Mineola for a public oversight hearing regarding the LIRR.

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Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

***
by Ben Brachfeld and Ben Max
@GothamGazette



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