The Thorn

Local News

Governor Cuomo delivered his annual State of the State address in which he proposed guarenting workers 5 days of paid sick leave, suggested banning serial sexual harassers from the subway, and again endorsed legalizing marijuana and implementing automatic voter registration. Notably, he did not discuss his executive budget or how he plans to address the State’s $6.1 billion budget deficit. Cuomo commissioned this …interesting poster to go with the speech.
Despite the State’s budget deficit, Governor Cuomo said he does not plan to raise taxes. Mayor de Blasio and budget experts expect this means the Governor may soon look to cut services and spending in New York City.
Amid continued declines in overall crime, hate crimes in New York City increased 20% in 2019, driven in part by a significant increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced that NYPD will start publicly releasing hate crime statistics for the first time.
Centrist Republicans and Democrats, including Governor Cuomo, are using the increase in anti-Semitic attacks to justify new proposals that would roll back the bail reform package that went into effect on January 1.
Governor Cuomo unveiled a plan to expand and renovate Penn Station by adding 125,000 square feet and 8 new tracks to the twenty-one existing ones. This would mean physically expanding the building and may entail the State invoking imminent domain to seize nearby land.

State Senator Velmanette Montgomery (District 25, Central Brooklyn) officially retired, and Assembly Member Tremaine Wright (District 56, Bed Stuy) announced her intention to run for her vacated seat against DSA’s Jabari Brisport and former Montgomery staffer Jason Salmon. Wright was immediately endorsed by the outgoing Montgomery and a handful of other Democratic electeds in New York.
Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Frank Seddio will retire this week after serving as party boss for eight years.
Council Member Mark Levine (Council District 7, Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights) announced that he will run for Manhattan Borough President.
State Senator Kenneth LaValle (District 1, Port Jefferson) is the latest Republican member of the New York Senate to announce his retirement.
After taking money from real estate over the course of his political career, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer is planning to stop accepting real estate donations ahead of his 2021 mayoral run. The move echoes that of Council Speaker Corey Johnson, also running for mayor in 2021.