Ocasio-Cortez debates Crowley + NYCHA Mismanagement

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is challenging Joseph Crowley for the seat representing the 14th district. Illustration by Anna Niess

Local News

• Federal prosecutors accused the City of systematically mismanaging NYCHA, and negotiated a settlement with the de Blasio administration to substantially increase funding and oversight.

• The Assembly passed the remaining bills constituting a comprehensive package of criminal justice reform that was introduced this year. Included among these bills are critical legislation for the reform of the monetary bail system; the HALT Act, which would greatly curtail the use of solitary confinement; and a criminal discovery reform bill that protects the rights of people accused of crimes to have early and automatic access to the evidence in their cases.

• The City Council’s Committee on Public Safety, chaired by Donovan Richards (D-Queens), held hearings on the use of the NYPD “gang” database which, according to data given to The Intercept, has grown by 70% under Mayor De Blasio. Advocates for criminal justice reform point out that the broad, vague, and secretive nature of the database is an assault on civil liberties.

• Dante de Blasio, son of Mayor de Blasio, wrote an op-ed for the NY Daily News detailing the racism that occurred at Brooklyn Tech during his time at the high school. The Mayor is aiming to reform the specialized high school entrance exam to expand representation of Black and Latinx students at nine specialized public high schools including Brooklyn Tech.

• As a result of a NY Attorney General investigation into lead exposure, New York City reached a settlement with the federal government to spend over $2 billion on NYCHA, with the first $1 billion spent over the next four years, and $200 million per year after that.

• The NYC City Council passed the city budget on Monday, including funding for discounted MTA fares for residents below the federal poverty line.

Elections

• Senator Kirsten Gillibrand endorsed Rep. Joe Crowley for re-election over Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Gillibrand also endorsed Governor Cuomo over Cynthia Nixon in March.

• Glenn Greenwald of the Intercept interviewed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about her campaign ahead of the June 26 congressional primary.

• NY1 hosted a debate between Rep. Joe Crowley and his DSA-endorsed challenger Alexandria Ocasio Cortez on Friday.

• A Sienna College poll released last week shows Andrew Cuomo holding a 35 point lead over Cynthia Nixon.

• Mayor de Blasio’s Charter Revision Commission, tasked with finding ways to improve the city’s voting, election, and campaign finance processes, and presenting them to voters as a ballot initiative in the November General Election, convened this week. Among the those heard were five proposals from the city’s Campaign Finance Board to improve New York’s widely lauded campaign finance program.

• Housing activists marched from the New York Public Library’s main branch to an event where Cuomo was receiving a “master builder” award. Gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial candidates Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams joined the pre-march rally to call out Cuomo’s failures on affordable housing and the state’s homelessness crisis.