Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Chuck Schumer

Chuck Schumer

  • Schumer, James, DiNapoli Each Win Another Term in New York Statewide Offices

     

    Tom DiNapoli, Letitia James, and Chuck Schumer


    Beyond the top of the ticket governor's race that has gotten most of the attention, Democrats running for New York's other statewide offices on the ballot also prevailed Tuesday night.

    Though some of the races appear tighter than Democrats might have hoped in a state where they outnumber Republicans two to one, the wins come in an election year where many political dynamics favored the GOP.

    Incumbents U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, State Attorney General Letitia James, and State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli each won against their

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  • City’s Greenways Get Another Boost as Officials Plot Expansion

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    New York City’s greenways are getting another lift. Greenways, paths for pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles exclusively, are viewed by supporters as boons for safe, environmentally-friendly alternatives to traditional transportation and opportunities for quality-of-life-boosting recreation.

    Advocates stress that building these pathways, ideally in an expansive and connected network, has several benefits. Those include reducing car use and pressure on mass transit, offering venues for outdoor exercise, and creating green spaces that line the thoroughfares and prevent flooding and even

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  • Despite Tens of Billions Proposed, NYCHA Again Left Out of Major Federal Funding Packages

    NYCHA left out in the cold again (photo: Governor's Office)


    As the Democrat-led federal government moves toward passage of another massive spending package, billions of dollars in much-needed funding to repair crumbling public housing, particularly at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), has again been left out.

    The U.S. Senate on Sunday passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a major spending bill that will invest hundreds of billions in climate action and clean energy, cut health care costs and raise taxes, reducing the overall federal deficit. But the bill excluded investments in

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  • Senate Deal Could Mean Big Boost to New York Climate Efforts

    Senator Chuck Schumer (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    ***Update: The Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act in a party-line vote on Sunday, August 7, though with some changes since the original deal was announced by Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Senator Manchin. The final agreement included a narrower corporate minimum tax and dropped the closure of the carried interest loophole, at the urging of Senator Kyrsten Sinema, though Schumer added an excise tax on stock buybacks to the bill. Republicans, on the other hand, blocked a cap on the price of insulin under private

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  • City Council to Examine Adams Administration's Preparations for Spending Billions in Federal Infrastructure Funding

    Infrastructure in action (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    In November, Congress approved President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan, which is expected to deliver tens of billions of dollars to New York City for crucial needs. As the city prepares for the influx of federal funds, experts are pointing to several priorities that they believe Mayor Eric Adams should pursue, and the new Democratic mayor will no doubt be evaluating his priorities as he continues to map out his own infrastructure plans, including through budget negotiations with the

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  • Amid Federal Inaction, New York Democrats Look to Advance State Voting Rights Act

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    State Senator Zellnor Myrie of Brooklyn (photo: NY Senate)


    With the failure of federal voting rights legislation this month in the U.S. Senate, advocates in New York are redoubling a push to pass a sweeping state bill that would shore up voting protections for historically disenfranchised groups.

    Legislators introduced the John R. Lewis New York State Voting Rights Act in 2020 to fill at the state level some of the holes left in the federal Voting Rights Act after successive defangings by the U.S. Supreme Court in the past decade. The bill would enshrine a

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  • ‘We Need Historic Leadership from Biden and Schumer’: Jamaal Bowman on ‘Build Back Better’ Negotiations, Mayor-elect Adams, & More

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    Rep. Jamaal Bowman in Washington, D.C. (photo: @RepBowman)


    U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman says he is optimistic about the incoming mayoral administration, even going so far as to say Eric Adams has the potential to be “one of the best mayors in New York City history,” but he’s less bullish about the state of Build Back Better in Congress, owing to what he describes as donor-driven obstruction by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.

    Bowman, a freshman legislator who represents the Bronx and Westchester in Congress after defeating longtime incumbent Eliot Engel in a Democratic

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Rep. Jamaal Bowman on 'Build Back Better,' Democratic Compromise, & More

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    Rep. Bowman with top New York leaders (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    December 21, 2021 - Rep. Jamaal Bowman on 'Build Back Better,' Voting Rights, & More

    Congressional Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a first-term progressive representing New York's 16th Congressional District, which covers parts of the Bronx and Westchester, joined the show to discuss where things stand on 'Build Back Better' and other top items on his agenda, how Democrats can come to a compromise on the massive

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  • Majority Leader Schumer: Your Constituents Demand You Reconvene the Senate to Pass the Freedom to Vote Act and Build Back Better Now

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    Senate Majority Leader Schumer (photo: @SenSchumer)


    We volunteered for thousands of hours in 2020 to elect Democrats during a pandemic. After work, on weekends, we knocked on doors, made calls, fundraised and donated.

    Now a year later, many are asking, what was the point?

    Our democracy, planet and people are in crisis. Democracy experts are warning this is our last chance to prevent full on fascism in America. Republicans have already laid the groundwork to steal the 2022 and 2024 elections; Without intervention by Senate Democrats they

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  • Eric Adams Launches General Election Campaign With De Blasio’s Endorsement

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    (Photo: @kallos)


    Eric Adams, the two-term Brooklyn borough president and Democratic mayoral nominee, kicked off his general election campaign on Monday with a rally at City Hall Park where he was endorsed by dozens of Democratic elected officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio.

    “I'm going to work harder, intentional, determined," Adams said, standing with members of Congress, the state Legislature, the City Council and labor leaders. “I'm going to give New Yorkers the spirit that just as they get up every morning and fight for this city, you're going to have a

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  • To Save Democracy and the Planet, Chuck Schumer Must End the Filibuster

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    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (photo: Senate Democrats)


    It’s 2024. Democrats have lost the House and Senate thanks to gerrymandering and voter suppression. Although Joe Biden won reelection, Republican Secretaries of State are throwing out millions of ballots in order to change the results. White nationalists storm the capital, and Republican House and Senate leadership welcome them in with open arms. The far right Supreme Court upholds their actions. A Q-Anon believing, white nationalist, climate denier is installed as president. Once again,

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  • Schumer Says Big Infrastructure Package is on Deck; What's on New York City's List?

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    Senator Chuck Schumer at City Hall (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    As Mayor Bill de Blasio celebrated the passage of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which will deliver $6 billion in direct aid to New York City government and many additional billions to New Yorkers, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer had more good tidings to offer as he promised that a massive infrastructure program is next on the agenda. 

    Biden has proposed a $2 trillion “Build Back Better” plan to invest in infrastructure and combat climate change. It’s

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  • After Overstating Budget Deficits, Cuomo and De Blasio Get Big Federal Bailout

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    Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have spent many months warning New Yorkers about cratering tax revenues because of the coronavirus pandemic, outlining yawning budget gaps that could force them to make drastic spending cuts to state and city services and lay off thousands of government workers. But while the fiscal future remains uncertain, their worst predictions did not come to pass — revenues were higher than expected and significant federal aid has flowed to New

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  • We Need Joe Biden to Become the Climate President, and for Chuck Schumer to Help Get Him There

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    Joe Biden with solar panels (photo: Christopher Dilts/Biden for President)


    Climate change poses an existential threat to humanity. Global warming and extreme weather are accelerating.

    We need Joe Biden to be the Climate President, especially after the four lost years under  climate-denier Donald Trump. This begins with Biden taking comprehensive executive action on climate change on day one.

    A number of large coalitions (e.g., ClimatePresident.org) have outlined a comprehensive list of executive actions

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  • Chuck Schumer's Moment

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    U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (photo: governor's office)


    With Democrats poised to win both seats in the Georgia United States Senate runoffs, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is poised to be one of the most influential elected officials in the country, with enormous implications for his home state and city. After four years leading the minority conference, Schumer is on the verge of being able to set the agenda in the Senate under Democratic President-elect Joe Biden and in partnership with a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives under Speaker Nancy

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  • New York Looks to Georgia with Senate Control and Much More on the Line

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    Senator Schumer and Governro Cuomo (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election brought the collective nightmare of the Democratic Party to an end after four years. But the celebration was muted given the party’s majority in the House of Representatives diminished and, more importantly, the fate of the U.S. Senate remained undecided despite grand Democratic hopes for taking the chamber. The near- and long-term implications for New York are immense given the size of the federal aid package that it -- including state and

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  • New York Advocates Launch $1 Million Campaign for Federal Immigration Reform

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    A march to end family separation at the border (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    After four years of the Trump administration’s cruel and hard-line policies intended to slow immigration to a crawl, immigration advocates in New York and beyond were overjoyed that Democrat Joe Biden will become the next President of the United States. Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, ran on a promise to immediately overturn Donald Trump’s many punitive and limiting administrative actions on immigration and to pursue comprehensive

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  • New Yorkers Celebrate Biden Victory, Defeat of Trump

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    Brooklynites celebrate Biden's win, Trump's loss (photo: Ethan Geringer-Sameth/Gotham Gazette)


    It was a great day for the Doppler effect Saturday in Brooklyn as a near constant stream of car horns trumpeted elation after it became clear Joe Biden had won Pennsylvania and clinched the 2020 presidential election. Throngs of New Yorkers took to the streets, plazas, and parks to breathe a collective, mostly masked, sigh of relief.

    In New York, that sigh took the form of spontaneous dancing on sidewalks and in streets, clanging pots and pans, and uncorking

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  • This is Chuck Schumer’s Moment; Why is He Blowing it?

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    Senator Schumer calling out Senator McConnell (photo: @SenSchumer)


    As New York-based activists, we’ve worked consistently to push Chuck Schumer to take a bolder stance against Trumpism, both as our senator and as the Senate minority leader. We’ve talked to him in person, we’ve protested at his house and his office, and we’ve flooded his phone lines. But we have never been so mystified by his lack of leadership as we have been during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. 

    Everything about Judge Barrett’s record and writings

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  • Where Did Hudson Yards Come From? This Little-Known Report Helped Start It All

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    (photo: Hudson Yards)


    Today Hudson Yards is largely described as a billionaires’ fantasy, but in fact it’s a rare instance of the city, state and federal governments partnering to create a strategy to help ensure New York City’s position as the world’s commercial capital. And it has an interesting origin story few may be aware of.

    Three months to the day before planes were flown into the World Trade Center, a little-known, but important report was issued by a group convened by New York

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  • Amid Health Care Funding Fights, Cuomo Explores Special Session

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    Gov. Cuomo with top health and budget aides (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo has been floating the idea of a special legislative session to address federal cuts to the state’s health care programs, as well as other concerns that have developed, since the state budget was agreed to in April.

    In that budget, Cuomo pushed to include and won a provision granting him nearly unilateral power to adjust the state’s financial plan mid-year in the event of at least $800 million in federal cuts to the state. In April, the governor

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  • What To Do When The L Train Closes

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    Out of service (photo: MTA/Patrick Cashin)


    The denizens of Williamsburg and Bushwick have responded to news of potential multiyear L train closures with a mix of shock, despair, and irritation. People are talking through the alternatives: taking the G, J, and M trains; boarding the East River Ferry; or even (gasp!) riding the bus. Quite likely Williamsburgers will also summon a swarm of UberPools and Lyft Lines unlike any seen in our time.

    Hysterics aside, it’s unlikely that the MTA would do a full, year-long

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  • Concerns of ‘Voter Fatigue’ as New York Schedules Four 2016 Election Days

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    Mayor de Blasio votes (photo via @BilldeBlasio) 


    As New Yorkers begin a year of many voting opportunities, there are important questions that elections will help answer - like who the next U.S. President will be and which party will control the state Senate - but also concern about voter fatigue and thus, turnout.

    There will be at least four chances for New Yorkers to cast votes in 2016, with three different primary election days leading up to November’s general election. There will be a presidential primary vote in April;

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  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, January 4

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    Happy New Year!

    So far, New York politics in 2016 looks a lot like 2015. On Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a new Executive Order related to homelessness that appears to be the opening salvo in his plan to take aim at the issue, most pressingly in New York City, where he's criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio's handling of the crisis that includes about 60,000 homeless people. Cuomo's order notes that homelessness is a problem around the state and says that when

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  • No Fly Zone: Council Members Push Helicopter, Drone Regulations

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    Council members introduce drone legislation (photo: William Alatriste)


    Pointing to insufficient efforts on the part of the Federal Aviation Administration, New York City Council members are taking regulation of the city’s skies into their own hands.

    In asserting their authority with respect to helicopters and drones on a turf traditionally maintained by the federal government, council members may find themselves in ambiguous legal territory. But they tell Gotham Gazette that they are

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