The Thorn

Local News

State Senator Zellnor Myrie has proposed legislation that would prohibit evictions and foreclosures for a year following the lifting of the COVID state of emergency.
State Sen. Julia Salazar introduced a bill to eliminate the testing requirements for the City’s Specialized High School, which many blame for keeping Black and Latino students out of those schools. The bill would allow the City to set its own admissions requirements starting in 2022.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a preliminary report on the NYPD’s handling of protests in May and June, refusing to conclude that police acted inappropriately. Even her calls for a tepid oversight commission were dismissed by Mayor De Blasio.
Privacy advocates are pushing for legislation to ensure that data collected for purposes of contact tracing cannot be used by any law enforcement agencies, including ICE.

The City has finally begun counting its absentee ballots, a process that is expected to take weeks. Over 400,000 ballots were returned citywide (by comparison, roughly 500,000 people voted in person on Election Day), but some ballots may be invalidated for improper postmarks. Gotham Gazette has a breakdown of where competitive races stand going into the count.
Gotham Gazette interviewed Jabari Brisport, who is on the verge of victory in the State Senate District 25 race.
Queens Chronicle covered the apparent victory of 24-year-old Khaleel Anderson’s insurgent campaign for Assembly District 31 (Southeast Queens).
Demond Meeks (no apparent relation to Gregory) and Sarah Clark won two WFP-backed Assembly races against the local Democratic machine in the Rochester area.