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The Week Ahead in New York Politics, August 27


New York City Hall

New York City Hall


What to watch for this week in New York politics:

This Thursday will mark just two weeks until primary election day, and this week will be full of dramatic debates, including the second of two scheduled televised debates in the Democratic primary for Attorney General, and the lone televised debates in the Democratic primaries for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. See below for details.

Along with the debates, we're watching this week for further endorsement news, such as whether Mayor Bill de Blasio will back Cynthia Nixon or not, and much more. We're also nearing the final campaign finance disclosures of the primary, and we're awaiting any new public polls of the statewide primaries.

Needless to say, between now and the September 13 primaries, there will be little beyond campaign activity in New York politics, though some government is still happening, especially on the city level (including around speed cameras near schools as the school year is close to starting). And even candidates who are not involved in primaries are on the trail, of course, such as gubernatorial candidates Marc Molinaro, Howie Hawkins, Stephanie Miner, and Larry Sharpe.

And there are a few other events to be aware of - 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
Mayor de Blasio will appear on NY1's Inside City Hall on Monday in the 7 and 11 p.m. hours, for his usual weekly segment.

At 1 p.m. Monday, "Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams will be joined by local elected officials, representatives from Brooklyn Community Boards (CBs) 6 and 7, and former New York University Wagner Graduate School of Public Service (NYU Wagner) students to announce the results of a year-long study to reimagine the Prospect Expressway corridor, in an effort to repair the mistakes of Robert Moses-era planning. They will publicly release a joint letter they sent last month to the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) calling on them to consider recommendations released in a report by students at NYU Wagner’s Capstone program as well as to issue a design competition to build off the vision outlined in the report. The report, entitled “PX Forward,” detailed proposed reforms for implementing greater community connectivity, increased green space, as well as cyclist and pedestrian safety improvements along the Prospect Expressway, which bifurcates the communities of South Slope and Windsor Terrace and impacts the quality of life of nearly 45,000 residents in the surrounding neighborhoods, as well as approximately 85,000 motorists who use the roadway daily. Borough President Adams and others, while gathered at Thomas J. Cuite Park in Windsor Terrace — an open space overlooking the Prospect Expressway, will liken this challenge to similar visionary urban redevelopment models across the country."

At 6 p.m. Monday, the Assembly Standing Committee on Environmental Conservation and the Assembly Long Island Task Force will meet jointly at the Manhasset Public Library for a public hearing discussing the water quality of the Long Island Sound.

"Candidates for the Democratic nomination for New York Attorney General will attend a forum hosted by the Democratic Rural Conference of New York State (DRC) at 7 pm on Monday, August 27, at Genesee Community College in Batavia. Leecia Eve, Tish James, Sean Patrick Maloney, and Zephyr Teachout have all confirmed their attendance at the event." The forum will be streamed on Facebook. "The DRC represents Democrats from New York counties with populations less than 250,000. Democrats from 47 of the 62 counties in the state belong to the organization, which has been a force in New York Democratic politics for over 20 years."

At 7 p.m. Monday, U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries will join Indivisible Nation BK at Brooklyn Commons to discuss the future of the Democratic Party.

Comptroller Scott Stringer will speak at two events in Queens Monday night: at 7:30 p.m. he'll speak at the Rockaway Point Association meeting and at 8:15 p.m. at the Point Breeze Association meeting.

Tuesday
At 9 a.m. Tuesday, Democratic Attorney General candidate Letitia James will join the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce to discuss her candidacy, as part of the Chamber’s “Attorney General Roundtable” series, open to Chamber members.

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

On Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., "A group of young women, Latina candidates running for office in New York will speak at a community forum about diversity, political participation of communities of color and LGBTQ issues...at the LGBT Center, in Manhattan. The event, organized by LGBT group Queeramisú, will be moderated by former Speaker of the City, Melissa Mark-Viverito, first Puerto Rican and Latina to hold a citywide office and a staunch LGBTQ advocate and currently Vice President at Latino Victory Fund. Among the panelists figure Jessica Ramos, candidate for NY Senate District 13; Genesis Aquino, candidate for District Leader, 51st AD; Assemblywomen Nathalia Fernandez, running for reelection in the 80th District, and Carmen de la Rosa running for reelection in the 72nd District. Josi Robinson’s campaign will also be present."

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Democratic candidates for Attorney General will take part in a debate on NY1, moderated by NY1’s Errol Louis and Spectrum’s Liz Benjamin, at John Jay College in Manhattan. The participating candidates will be Letitia James, Zephyr Teachout, Sean Patrick Maloney, and Leecia Eve. [Watch the first televised debate in the Democratic primary for AG here.]

On Tuesday, Democratic candidates for Senate District 22 will participate in a debate at the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn. The participating candidates will be Ross Barkan and Andrew Gounardes.

Wednesday
On Wednesday morning, the Manhattan Neighborhood Network will host a debate between Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul and her Democratic primary challenger, City Council Member Jumaane Williams, which will be moderated by Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max. The taping, at MNN’s 59th street studios, will be open to members of the media. The debate will first air on MNN and live-stream online at 6 p.m. Thursday evening, re-air at 9 p.m. Thursday, and will be available on YouTube thereafter.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Max & Murphy show on WBAI radio (99.5FM or wbai.org) -- later posted as a podcast -- will feature appearances by State Senator Jose Peralta and his Democratic primary challenger, Jessica Ramos. Ramos will appear from roughly 5:05 p.m. to 5:25 p.m., Peralta will appear from roughly 5:30 p.m. to 5:50 p.m.

On Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo and his Democratic primary challenger, Cynthia Nixon, will take part in a debate at Hofstra University, moderated by CBS-NY anchor Maurice DuBois and CBS-NY Chief Political Correspondent Marcia Kramer. The debate, the only face-to-face meeting between Cuomo and Nixon of the campaign, will tape at 5 p.m. and air at 7 p.m. on CBS TV (Channel 2), stream on CBSNewYork.com and Facebook, and be simulcast in Spanish on WLNY (Channel 55), and air on radio on 1010 WINS.

On Wednesday evening during NY1’s Inside City Hall, there will be a Democratic primary debate between state Senator Jeff Klein and his challenger, Alessandra Biaggi.

Thursday
A new episode of the What’s The [Data] Point? podcast from Gotham Gazette and Citizens Budget Commission, typically hosted by Ben Max and Maria Doulis, will tape and publish on Thursday, and will feature Liz Glazer, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, the debate between Kathy Hochul and Jumaane Williams will air on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network. The debate will air again at 9 p.m. Thursday.

On Thursday evening during NY1’s Inside City Hall, there will be a Democratic primary debate between state Senator Jesse Hamilton and his challenger, Zellnor Myrie.

On Thursday a a debate will be taped between the Democrats in State Senate District 38, State Senator David Carlucci and challenger Julie Goldberg, for FIOS1’s “NewsBreakers" moderated by Andrew Whitman. It will air over the weekend.

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

On Friday evening during NY1's Inside City Hall, there will be a debate among three Democrats running in the primary for state Assembly District 39 in Queens, including incumbent Aridia Espinal and challengers Catalina Cruz and Yonel Letellier Sosa.

Note: the upcoming weekend is Labor Day weekend, the next Week Ahead will publish on Monday evening, September 3.

***
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

Manhattan Senate Debate Offers Another Round of IDC Argument, Few Ideas to Fix NYCHA or the MTA


alcantara jackson leon

Sen. Alcántara, Jackson, & Leon (l-r) during the MNN debate


Roughly three weeks before the September 13 primary elections, three candidates running for the Democratic nomination in state Senate District 31 – an area that spans the west coast of Midtown and the Upper West Side before encompassing most of Northern Manhattan – debated the incumbent’s involvement with the now defunct Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) and discussed some of the district’s most pressing issues, including those regarding transit, public and affordable housing, and the recently-passed rezoning of a portion of Inwood by city officials.

The debate hosted by Manhattan Neighborhood Network -- which taped Wednesday, aired Thursday, and was moderated by Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max -- saw first-term Senator Marisol Alcántara continue to defend her IDC membership, reiterating that her break from the mainline Democratic conference did not affect her voting record while in Albany and resulted in benefits for her constituents. Meanwhile, Robert Jackson, a Democrat making his third straight bid for the seat, continued to criticize the senator, questioning her Democratic credibility given the IDC’s alignment with the Republican conference and that majority’s blockage of a multitude of progressive legislation, much of which both Alcántara and Jackson say they support.

Another Democratic challenger, Thomas Leon, struggled to answer questions during the debate and a fourth candidate, Tirso Pina, was absent from the event altogether. What Leon did make clear was his negative view of all the sniping back and forth between Alcántara and Jackson, but he largely did not provide concrete policy positions.

While Alcántara and Jackson seemed to agree on major policy problems and solutions, such as the crises facing the MTA and NYCHA, neither offered detailed proposals or radical new approaches to resolve the existential threats facing the two public authorities, even as the candidates were pressed for more information.

Alcántara was first elected in 2016 after a four-way race between her, Jackson, Micah Lasher, and Luis Tejada. She, Jackson, and Lasher each garnered about a third of the votes cast, with Alcántara, of course, coming in first, followed by Lasher, then Jackson. Lasher is not running again, he has endorsed Jackson’s candidacy, but there are questions about who will actually come out to vote this year, including the number of new voters, some possibly spurred by the extensive anti-IDC movement that has sprung up.

“So, the expectation [is] that all of the votes that he received are coming to me, give or take a few,” Jackson said of Lasher’s 2016 supporters during the debate, when the two candidates were asked about how they are reaching out to voters that did not vote for them last cycle. Jackson additionally has the support of many activist organizations, almost all of the district’s Democratic clubs, and many elected officials. Alcántara has much a great deal of support from organized labor, including several of the city’s most politically active unions.

When asked how she has been targeting new voters in her campaign, Alcántara said, “We send out mailers like every campaign to everybody...We have tried to reach out to everyone in our district and work with everybody in our district regardless of where they’re from, because we feel that’s the best way to represent.” Alcántara also repeatedly stressed that she has the advantage with labor, including the United Federation of Teachers, the New York State Nurses Association, and 1199SEIU, the health care workers.

MTA and NYCHA
The state of the MTA and NYCHA have been flashpoints in this year’s election cycle. Both authorities are badly in need of repairs, with rampant delays plaguing the subways and NYCHA developments falling apart and riddled with mold, lead paint, and heating issues. Both authorities need better management and tens of billions of dollars in funding for repairs and upgrades.

During the debate, both Alcántara and Jackson expressed support for congestion pricing, both to reduce traffic and raise revenue for the MTA.

“We need to get more cars off the streets,” Alcántara said. “We have a high asthma rate in the district. We can do two things by congestion pricing: we can fix our asthma and our environmental issues and we can bring in funding for our subway system.” Alcántara additionally suggested that legalizing recreational marijuana may aid the subway crisis if its tax revenue can be funneled into funding public transit.

While the senator avoided blaming anyone for the MTA crisis, Jackson placed the weight of the problem on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s shoulders. The governor has frequently come under fire for the deterioration of the city’s subway system, especially from his gubernatorial primary challenger, Cynthia Nixon, who has cross-endorsed with Jackson. The governor appoints a plurality of members to the MTA board and the leader of the authority, while also playing the largest role in determining how the MTA is funded and its top priorities. “The governor needs to be able to deal with that because he’s the primary one responsible for the MTA,” Jackson said. While he agrees with the importance of congestion pricing, Jackson also believes that “there needs to be a better working relationship between the governor and the mayor to work together to address the issues” and that “the primary responsibility is for the state of New York to provide the resources.”

As for Leon, his answer to repeated MTA questions including that there must be “a team” in place, but he did not discuss any details when given the opportunity.

Somewhat like with the MTA, it is estimated that around $30 billion is needed over the next five years in order to address the NYCHA crisis.

Asked about solutions for NYCHA, especially around new revenue, Alcántara discussed her work for NYCHA residents, which she said includes funding for tenant organizations, calling for an independent monitor for NYCHA, surveying over a thousand NYCHA residents, touring all NYCHA buildings in her district, and fighting to include $200 million for NYCHA in the state budget.

“I have a seniors building that is NYCHA that has six apartments that are vacant. Why are they vacant?,” the senator said. “Because the roof is not working and it leaks into the apartment.” When confronted with such building damages, Alcántara said the first thing she does is snap a picture send it to NYCHA. “I say, ‘Look, you have six apartments empty. We have a homeless crisis in the city. We could house six different families in these apartments,’” she said.

In terms of funding NYCHA’s repairs, Alcántara suggested the possibility of renting out NYCHA-owned parking spaces and appeared somewhat open to new development on NYCHA land that includes some market-rate housing.

Jackson expressed more clear and full opposition to market-rate housing on NYCHA land, though he provided few ideas about how to bring in new revenue for NYCHA, mostly referencing the idea of winning more federal funding, though he acknowledged that is unlikely given current federal leadership.

While they did not articulate clear ideas for addressing NYCHA funding requirements, both candidates emphasized the need to include NYCHA residents in the conversations that may precipitate new programs.

“We need to get together with the residents of NYCHA and come up with a plan that works for everybody,” Alcántara said.

“I wanna hold hearings in order to get the input from the government officials and from advocates in the field and from the public,” Jackson said. “And, I’m open to considering everything. But, the end result should be where the residents are involved.”

Leon, who didn’t speak of specific policy details to resolve the NYCHA funding crisis, suggested that the funds were not being allocated properly. “We don’t have the funds and the state has the money,” he said.

None of the candidates mentioned raising taxes on high earners to fund the MTA, as Mayor Bill de Blasio has called for, or to add dedicated revenue for NYCHA.

Affordable Housing and Rezoning Inwood
All three candidates agreed that affordable housing is a major issue afflicting the 31st Senate District. The three additionally oppose the Inwood Neighborhood Rezoning, a plan of new neighborhood land use rules developed by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration and local City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, which was officially approved by the City Council earlier this month.

“To have the opportunity to get an apartment for rezoning, we need to have a very high salary,” Leon said of the plan. “More than 40,000 [dollars]. And our workers, they hardly make 20,000 a year.”

“I remember when my neighborhood [West Harlem] was rezoned in 2014,” Alcántara said, recalling “the number of people that have moved out of our neighborhood because of rezoning and what that means for real estate. So, seeing the Inwood rezoning is like playing the same movie again.”

The rezoning is aimed at allowing more housing to be built in the area, with certain affordability guidelines on some units, and will provide a variety of new city investments into the community.

The senator, who has been endorsed again by Rodriguez, criticized the city for not properly addressing infrastructure and labor issues. “What does that mean when you’re gonna have an additional 20,000 people taking the A and 1 train in Upper Manhattan without building any additional space?” she said. “There’s no labor agreement, so we are seeing the number of construction workers that have died in the city over 30, most of them immigrants from Latin America, and I am afraid that if we’re gonna start construction on Inwood, how come we didn’t address any of the labor issues?”

Jobs should go to people within the community, the community must have access to all of the new services, and small businesses need the opportunity to move into any new real estate space, Alcántara said.

Jackson’s opposition to the plan stems from the notion that rezoning Inwood will expel those already living within the neighborhood due to higher costs of living. “It’s gonna have a negative impact on the people that lived there and it’s gonna accelerate gentrification,” said Jackson. “It should’ve been voted down, but, in fact, it’s moving forward. And people are looking at what the options [are].”

The IDC Debate
The debate over Alcántara’s membership in the IDC – the conference of eight breakaway Democrats that caucused with Republicans in the state Senate, and was dissolved in April whereby its members joined the mainline Democratic conference – is a well-worn one, especially as all the former IDC members continue to defend their defection as they face-off against challengers of their own this primary season. In her own defense, Alcántara argued that a unified Democratic minority conference in the Senate still brought no progress on key Democratic legislation, that joining the IDC did not sway her voting record away from progressivism, and that she has accomplished a lot for her district.

“I believe my record speaks for itself,” the senator said. “I brought in a record of investment in our community. That’s why I have been endorsed by the teachers union, because of the work that I have done in education.” She cited three teacher centers built within the district and funding she allocated for a CUNY campus.

When asked if she justified her IDC membership by the potential to obtain greater resources for her district, Alcántara offered a different rationale. “When I ran for office [in 2016], I reached out to all the Democratic establishment in the city of New York...No one from the entire establishment supported or were interested in bringing some label of diversity to the state Senate. I had a prior relationship with Diane Savino [a co-founder of the IDC], who came out of the labor movement like I did, and thus how I came in contact and thus how I joined the IDC.”

The IDC was well-established and growing when Alcántara joined after taking office in early 2017, after he narrow 2016 primary was funded by more than $500,000 through IDC accounts.

Jackson, whose campaign is centered on Alcántara’s IDC membership and what he calls betrayal of her constituents, countered that the 2016 election “was an open seat. The establishment really does not support an open seat.”

Alcántara said that despite major donations from real estate and charter school and education reform interests, her votes in Albany still aligned with her own moral compass as a long-time progressive.

“For example, I voted for charter schools to be cut. I have voted for transparency in the way charter schools operate,” Alcántara said, responding to a question of how she reconciles her involvement with IDC and those sources of money that she says she is opposed to. “Just because they gave money, it has not stopped my vote or how I feel and what I think is the best for students of my district.”

Still, Jackson distinguishes himself from Alcántara based on her alliance with Republicans on the Senate floor. “I will always be a Democrat, a true blue Democrat, and never swim across the river in order to sleep with the Republicans,” he said.

Watch the full debate:

***
by Chelsey Sanchez, Gotham Gazette
@chelseynsanchez  @GothamGazette

Read more by this writer.

'Speaker Heastie PAC' Brings in Big Money from Special Interests, Starts Giving to Candidates


heastie morelle assembly

Carl Heastie, right, with Joe Morelle (photo: @JoeMorelle)


New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who rose to lead the chamber following the fall from grace of his predecessor, Sheldon Silver, on charges of corruption, has been in at least one way followed in Silver’s footsteps by establishing a political action committee, which he is using to support allies in this year’s state elections.  

Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, is in no danger of being unseated himself as he seeks another two-year term in the Assembly, but Democrats are hoping to flip enough seats to take control of the upper house of the state Legislature, the state Senate. Heastie’s political committee, titled “Speaker Heastie PAC,” was registered in January and has raised and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thus far, those funds have gone to fellow Assembly members seeking reelection, two state Senators, and local Democratic clubs and county committees. A few of the contributions also suggest that Heastie hopes to influence the political sphere beyond the legislative branch and the State of New York.

Since January, the PAC has raised a total of $318,600 and spent about $254,000, leaving a balance of about $65,000, according to mid-August campaign finance filings with the state Board of Elections. The largest donors to Heastie’s PAC have significant dealings with the Assembly, broader Legislature, and state government in general.

The PAC received large donations from several prominent labor unions and PACs representing legal professionals, real estate, law enforcement, and other industries.

Three PACs -- 32BJ United ADF, affiliated with the property services workers union; Charter Communications PAC, which represents the communications company of the same name; and Law PAC of New York, affiliated with the New York State Trial Lawyers Association -- each gave $25,000 to Heastie’s PAC. The state teachers union, New York State United Teachers, donated $22,500. “Speaker Heastie is a true champion for public education,” said NYSUT spokesperson Carl Korn. “New York's public schools and colleges -- and the students who attend them -- are better off thanks to his steadfast leadership. We are proud to offer him our support.”

Among other donors were political committees associated with the Corrections Officers Benevolent Association, the Real Estate Board of New York, the Hotel Trades Council, the New York Gaming Association, the Transit Workers Union, the New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, Communications Workers of America, to name a few. Even billionaire supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis, a prominent Republican donor who has also given to many Democrats in the past, gave a $5,000 contribution to the PAC.

Heastie has been generous in distributing the money he has raised so far.

His PAC has contributed $21,000 to the Attorney General campaign of New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, whom Heastie endorsed soon after she announced her campaign in May. James has also been endorsed by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the State Democratic Party, leading to criticism from opponents that she is too connected to the party establishment to be a necessarily independent and effective attorney general, especially as it relates to investigated and rooting out public corruption.

“The Speaker supports candidates he believes in and who share his values,” a Heastie spokesperson told Gotham Gazette in a brief email.

A 32BJ union spokesperson said in an email that the union donated to Heastie to push for more Democratic seats in the state Senate. “We have always supported efforts to make New York a progressive state,” the spokesperson said. “This includes having a Democrat-led Senate. Heastie’s PAC is focused on flipping the Senate to the Democrats, so this effort is another step to ensure a truly blue New York.”

But so far Heastie’s PAC hasn’t spent much along those lines. Heastie did direct $11,000 to the state Senate campaign of Shelley Mayer, who successfully ran in an April special election to replace George Latimer, who stepped down after being elected Westchester county executive. But other than that and a $7,000 contribution to state Senator Jamaal Bailey, a close Heastie friend, the PAC has steered clear of state Senate races, particularly those in districts represented by members of the former Independent Democratic Conference, a breakaway group of eight Democrats who caucused with Republicans for more than seven years and recently returned to the mainline Democratic conference, or swing districts around the state.

Responding to this fact in a subsequent email, the 32BJ spokesperson said, “It’s early in the election cycle and we expect that the focus on many of the Senate races will happen after the primaries. Our contribution is intended to help in Senate races.”

Primary elections, including the challenges to the eight former IDC members, will take place September 13. Heastie signed on to the unity agreement brokered by Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is facing his own spirited primary from Cynthia Nixon but is not wanting for funds, whereby he pledged not to support primaries against sitting Democrats. The former leader of the IDC, Senator Jeff Klein, represents part of Heastie’s native Bronx.

As a representative from the Bronx, it isn’t necessarily surprising that Heastie also chose to contribute $10,000 from his PAC to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, even though she is not up for reelection until next year. Clark sailed through the election in 2015 after being nominated for the position in a controversial move by the Bronx Democratic County Committee -- which Heastie used to chair and is still influential with -- when her predecessor Robert Johnson dropped out after winning the Democratic primary to accept a nomination for a state judgeship offered by the county party leadership.

Heastie’s PAC also gave $40,000 to the Bronx Democratic County Committee (one of the four $10,000 donations seems to have been mislabelled as given to Bronx County PAC, which doesn’t exist but was listed with the same address.) Heastie’s PAC also directed $35,000 to the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee, of which Heastie is the honorary chair as speaker.  

All 150 seats in the overwhelmingly Democratic state Assembly are on the ballot this year and several members of the Democratic conference benefited from the speaker’s largesse. Chief among them was Ari Espinal, the first-term incumbent from Queens facing a competitive challenge from Catalina Cruz, a “dreamer” running on a progressive platform. Heastie’s PAC gave Espinal $5,400 for her reelection.

Additionally, Assemblymember James Skoufis got $4,750 from the PAC; Assemblymembers Carmen Arroyo, Carmen De La Rosa, Al Taylor, and Jeffrion Aubry each received $4,400; Assemblymember Latoya Joyner received $2,000; and Assemblymembers Nathalia Fernandez, Kimberly Jean-Pierre, and Harvey Epstein each got a $1,000 contribution.

An Bronx Assembly candidate, Karines Reyes, got a $2,000 contribution. Reyes is running for an open seat left vacant after Luis Sepulveda was elected to the state Senate in the April special election.

The PAC donated $1,000 to the congressional campaign of Anthony Brindisi, a Democrat attempting to unseat Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney in New York’s 22nd district upstate. Another $1,000 went to Assemblymember Joe Morelle, who is running for Congress in the 25th district against Republican Jim Maxwell. The seat has been vacant since the death of Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat, in March. Morelle is a close friend of Heastie’s and is the Assembly majority leader.

Heastie also made another early donation to a candidate in New York City, doling out $4,784 to Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., the first candidate to officially declare he is running for mayor in 2021, when Mayor Bill de Blasio is term-limited out of office. Diaz Jr. has just over $600,000 in cash on hand already for the campaign.  

But Heastie’s contributions also leave the borders of the state. His PAC donated $1,000 to Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for Georgia governor. If elected, Abrams stands to be the first African-American woman elected governor of any state in the country.

***
by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
     

Read more by this writer.

Ben Brachfeld contributed to this story.



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