Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Penny Abeywardena

Penny Abeywardena

  • New York City is Ready for Biden-Harris Diplomacy at Home and Abroad

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    Then-Vice President Joe Biden (photo: governor's office)


    Over the last four years, our city and nation have watched as the Trump administration targeted immigrant communities with punitive policies and lashed out at local leadership who disagreed with his politics. With unprecedented climate events and a pandemic that has upended our lives, cities like ours have been left to fend for themselves. Indeed, this abdication of responsibility on the national and global stage has been a recurring theme.

    That is about to change. 

    The incoming Biden-Harris administration has

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  • Hosting the United Nations Brings Real Value to New Yorkers

    mayor bdb un

    (photo: Rob Bennett/Mayor's Office)


    For many New Yorkers, the annual wave of United Nations events, set to start again this week, can be a nightmare: jam-packed subways, bottlenecks on the FDR Drive, and crowded sidewalks that slow our steady gait to a maddening crawl.

    What most New Yorkers may not realize, however, is that hosting the UN boosts our economy, draws desirable traffic to local businesses, and elevates city diplomacy on the world stage — and that’s a boon for all of us.

    Since 1946, New York City has been the proud, permanent home to the UN and its

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