Gotham Gazette

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Joe Borelli

Joe Borelli

  • Promising Projects Faster and Cheaper, Adams Administration Pursues Capital Construction Reforms

    Mayor Adams hails housing construction (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    New York City’s infrastructure construction process is broken and Mayor Eric Adams wants to fix it. 

    The city’s capital budget funds infrastructure projects across the five boroughs, including new construction, maintenance, and repairs to everything from parks, schools, hospitals, and libraries to mass transit, sewers, courts, jails, police precincts, and more. But as New York City is in desperate need of sweeping infrastructure upgrades,

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  • Could 2023 Finally See Movement on New York City Property Tax Reform?

    Housing (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photography Office)


    It’s been well over a year since Mayor Eric Adams promised, on the campaign trail, to “immediately” form a committee to "come up with real solutions" to make New York's property tax system more fair and equitable. But Adams never formed the committee and he has not made property tax reform a priority in his first 13 months as mayor.

    After 40 years of lawsuits, commissions, and half-hearted efforts at property tax reform, there is limited optimism for wholesale change,

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  • Mayor Adams Misses Campaign Promise to ‘Immediately' Take On Property Tax Inequities

    Mayor Adams with Budget Director Jiha & Chief of Staff Varlack (photo: Benny Polatseck/Mayor's Office)


    When he was running for mayor in 2021, then-Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams promised that, if elected, in his first year he would "finally" tackle a particularly thorny area of city finance that impacts all New Yorkers: property taxes. As he takes the stage to deliver his second State of the City address on Thursday, the mayor has made no apparent progress on this significant campaign promise.

    Virtually everyone agrees New York City's property tax system is irrational and unfair,

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Joe Borelli on New York Republicans' Strong 2022 Election and What Comes Next

    City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council)


    November 17, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Why Republicans Had Such a Good Election in New York

    Republican Joe Borelli, City Council minority leader and a major booster of Lee Zeldin for Governor, joined the show to discuss the New York GOP's strong showing in the 2022 elections — how it happened, what it means, and what comes next.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show

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  • City Council Redistricting Drama Underscores Dropped Commission Ethics Policy

    The NYC Districting Commission at a hearing (photo: @DistrictingNYC)


    [Update: On October 6, the Districting Commission passed, by near-unanimous vote, a new City Council map very similar to the one it previously voted down, as discussed in the story below. That map now goes to the City Council for review.]

    New York City's redistricting process

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  • Redistricting Commission Votes Down Latest City Council Draft Map

    Districting Commission Chair Dennis Walcott (photo: New York City Council)


    In an 8-7 vote, the New York City Districting Commission on Thursday rejected its latest proposal to redraw the city’s 51 Council districts, sending the electoral map back to the drawing board.

    After months of analysis and more than 9,000 submissions from the public, the 15-member commission could not find consensus on redefining City Council district lines to accommodate population shifts shown in the 2020

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  • New York City Council Redistricting Process Set to Kick Off

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    City Council chambers (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    The New York City Council is set to kick off the process of redrawing the boundaries of the city’s 51 Council districts on Monday with Council members appointing eight members to an redistricting commission. The new districts, reflective of data from the 2020 Census and other factors, will be at play for the 2023 elections when all 51 seats of the City Council will again be on the ballot, as well as the subsequent 2025 and 2029 elections.

    Under the city Charter, the new

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  • De Blasio Leaves Adams a City Budget Mess

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    Mayor de Blasio at a budget briefing (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography)


    Some of us in government are old enough to remember when Mayor Bill de Blasio took office almost eight years ago, fulminating to any reporter in earshot about how his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, left him with expired labor contracts that presented the city with an “unprecedented” fiscal challenge.

    “The future should not have been mortgaged in this way. But it was by the previous administration and we will have to grapple with it,” he told The Observer at the

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  • Republican City Council Conference Confirms GOP Half of Board of Elections

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    Election happenings (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    The Republican conference of the New York City Council quietly confirmed all five GOP commissioners to the New York City Board of Elections on November 17 in a hearing with little public notice or scrutiny.

    In a six-minute hearing just six weeks before the end of this Council term, the body's three-member minority conference voted to officially install the slate of Republican commissioners for the remainder of a four-year term ending in 2024.

    The ten-commissioner New

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  • De Blasio Pledges Last Gasp Property Tax Reform Effort

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    New York City (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    After getting "derailed" by the pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio is reviving one of his earliest and most delayed mayoral commitments: to reform an out-of-date and unequal property tax system. The city's Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform will begin holding public hearings, originally scheduled for last March, on its preliminary recommendations and will produce a final report by the time de Blasio leaves office at the end of the year, he said Thursday

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  • Dermot Shea's Rocky First Year as NYPD Commissioner

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    Mayo de Blasio & NYPD Commissioner Shea (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    This past Wednesday, December 2, marked one year since Dermot Shea was sworn in as the 44th commissioner of the New York Police Department, the third commissioner to serve in the role under Mayor Bill de Blasio. Shea’s first year in the top-cop job has been tumultuous and punctuated with controversy; a trial by fire in unprecedented times, and he often came up short, as judged by critics on both his left and his right and those simply frustrated by police brutality and rising

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  • As Gun Violence Increases, So Does Disagreement Over De Blasio's Response

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    Mayor de Blasio & NYPD Commissioner Shea (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    As New York City continues to see an increase in gun violence, concentrated largely in Brooklyn and the Bronx, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his police department have gone with a familiar playbook of shifting resources to hot spots, holding gun buy-backs, and coordinating with community groups that seek to prevent shootings in vulnerable neighborhoods. But as shootings and murders have jumped by especially large numbers amid the pandemic, its resulting mass unemployment, and a

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  • Republicans Eye 2021 Mayoral Race with Optimism, But Wary of a Primary

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    City Hall (photo: Benjamin Kanter, Mayor's Office)


    With the 2021 party primary elections less than a year away, more than a dozen candidates have either declared or are openly exploring a campaign to become the next Mayor of New York City. But while that long list includes some prominent current elected officials, a few former public servants and several lesser known contenders, it contains few Republicans.

    By all indications, there will be a fiercely fought Democratic mayoral primary as a crowded slate vies to replace outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, a

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  • Electeds, Advocates Rally Behind New Bill to Expand Municipal Voting Rights to Some Non-Citizen Residents

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    Thursday's rally (photo: Samar Khurshid)


    About 1 million foreign-born New York City residents who have permanent residency status or are legally authorized to work in the United States could become eligible to vote in municipal elections under a new bill introduced before the New York City Council on Thursday.

    Sponsored by Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, a Manhattan Democrat, the bill (Intro. 1867) would extend the franchise to green card and work permit holders who can show they have lived in the five boroughs for at least 30 days. The bill is the latest

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  • Predictions! Experts Look Ahead to 2020 in New York Politics

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    (photo: Kristen Artz/Mayoral Photo Office)


    As we usually do around this time of year, Gotham Gazette asked New York politicos to look into their crystal balls for predictions for the year ahead. Below you'll find insights from elected officials, advocates, analysts, and others who are tuned in to New York politics.

    We know that 2020 will be interesting given that lawmakers in Albany must close a massive budget gap while the entire Legislature is on the

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  • City's Property Tax Reform Delay Threatens Promise to Pursue Essential Changes in Albany

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    It is taking more time than promised for the city’s property tax reform commission to come out with its initial and final reports with recommendations for changes to the antiquated and unfair system, a delay that threatens to undermine the de Blasio administration’s footing in Albany, where many of the changes would need to be made.

    The Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform, created by Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson in 2018, was expected to issue a preliminary report with

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  • Securing Two More Years as Public Advocate, Williams to Keep Pushing De Blasio on Housing, Policing

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    Jumaane Williams (photo: @nycpa)


    Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, a Democrat, easily won his reelection bid on Tuesday, beating Republican Joseph Borelli, a City Council member from Staten Island, and Libertarian Party nominee Devin Balkind. With about 723,000 votes counted and 90% of election precincts reporting at midnight, Williams had received 78% of the vote (563,000 votes) to Borelli's 20% (144,400) and Balkind's 2% (14,500).

    Williams previously represented Brooklyn in the New York City Council and was first elected to the public advocate’s office

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  • WATCH: 15 Minutes with Public Advocate Candidate Joe Borelli

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    Public Advocate candidate Joe Borelli talks with Ben Max on MNN


    The race for New York City Public Advocate is one of the few elections on the ballot this fall, and it's only happening because former Public Advocate Letitia James was elected New York Attorney General, leading to a special election in February to replace her for the duration of this year, followed by an election this fall to see who will hold the citywide position for 2020 and 2021. Then-City Council Member Jumaane Williams, a Brooklyn Democrat like James, won the February election by a wide margin in a crowded field.

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  • WATCH: 15 Minutes with Public Advocate Candidate Devin Balkind

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    Public Advocate candidate Devin Balkind talks with Ben Max on MNN (photo: @MNN59)


    The race for New York City Public Advocate is one of the few elections on the ballot this fall, and it's only happening because former Public Advocate Letitia James was elected New York Attorney General, leading to a special election in February to replace her for the duration of this year, followed by an election this fall to see who will hold the citywide position for 2020 and 2021. Then-City Council Member Jumaane Williams, a Brooklyn Democrat like James, won the February election by a wide margin in a

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: The Candidates for Public Advocate

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    l-r: Jumaane Williams, Joe Borelli, and Devin Balkind (photo: William Alatriste & John McCarten/City Council)


    October 21, 2019 - Max & Murphy Podcast: The Candidates for Public Advocate

    Jumaane Williams, Joseph Borelli, Devin Balkind

    There's an election for New York City Public Advocate this fall, and just ahead of the October 26 start of early voting and Election Day,

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  • In Public Advocate Race, Three Very Different Visions for the Office

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    l-r: Devin Balkind, Jumaane Williams & Joseph Borelli


    One of the few seats on the ballot this fall involves a citywide race, with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams defending his seat against two challengers in order to serve the remainder of the term, which runs through 2021, after he won a February special election. While the three candidates running have very different backgrounds and visions for the job of public advocate, Williams’ opponents, Republican City Council Member Joe Borelli and Libertarian Party nominee Devin Balkind, both concede that their chances of victory are slim and seem

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  • There are NYPD Oversight Measures on the Ballot - How Significant are They?

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    New York City may soon take several steps toward strengthening the power of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, or CCRB, the agency responsible for investigating misconduct allegations against police officers.

    Voters have the opportunity to approve or reject a package of CCRB-related measures on this fall’s ballot, just months after the Board played a consequential role in the high-profile trial of Officer Daniel Pantaleo, resulting in his firing by NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill.

    The 2019 New York

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  • Williams Challengers Fail to Qualify for Official Public Advocate Debate, But Candidates May Spar Anyway

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    l-r: Devin Balkind, Jumaane Williams and Joe Borelli (photo: William Alatriste & John McCarten/City Council)


    Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, one of three citywide elected officials, is up for reelection this fall, but it looks like the Brooklyn Democrat won’t have to defend his (albeit short) tenure so far in a public forum with his two challengers. Neither Staten Island City Council Member Joe Borelli nor nonprofit leader Devin Balkind, the Republican and Libertarian nominees, respectively, seeking to unseat Williams, has qualified for the first of two official,

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  • How Vulnerable is Max Rose?

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    Rep. Max Rose (photo: @MaxRose4NY)


    Max Rose calls himself a “centrist populist.” The first-term Democrat who represents New York’s 11th congressional district, which spans across Staten Island and along the shore of Southern Brooklyn, appears set on trying to make that label stick, and in doing so earn a second term when voters head to the polls next year.

    Rose’s pitch and politics seem to match the district well: he’s a moderate, center-left politician and military veteran with a no-nonsense but affable and energetic personality. His mantra is serving constituents above political

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  • City Government’s Most Outspoken Republican on De Blasio, Trump, and the Future of the GOP in New York

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    Joe Borelli, center (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    Joe Borelli, the Republican City Council Member from Staten Island’s South Shore, has made a name for himself as one of the most vociferous pro-Donald Trump supporters in the president’s home city. But, Borelli is a realist and knows that Trump is unpopular in very-Democratic New York, and that the Republican Party has a lot of work to do to regain a foothold in city or state government after several disappointing elections.

    During ...