Tish James Drops Out of Governor’s Race + Good News for Good Cause Eviction

Local News:

• Housing advocates feel growing momentum behind the potential passage of statewide Good Cause Eviction in the coming legislative session.
• ​​A coalition of education activists, students, professors, and lawmakers rallied in Queens to return CUNY to its tuition free roots.
• Hundreds of thousands of commuter railroad riders unwittingly overpaid for peak fares during the pandemic, even as cheaper off-peak prices remained in effect for 20 months.
• SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras resigned amidst growing public pressure regarding his profanity-laced text messages and emails to Lindsay Boylan before she went public with her allegations of harassment by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
• As part of WNYC/Gothamist’s “Grading De Blasio” series examining de Blasio’s record, reporters fanned across the city for an assessment from NYC residents of his mayoral tenure. It is a breakdown of some New Yorkers’ thoughts on de Blasio’s successes, failures, and hopes for his successor, Mayor-elect Eric Adams.
• The New York City Council voted to allow the Civilian Complaint Review Board to launch its own investigations into police misconduct.
• With government benefits set to expire in January, experts are anticipating a rise in food insecurity in NYC.
• New York will be implementing a statewide mask mandate as of Monday, with exceptions for establishments & workplaces with vaccine requirements.
• Representative Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11, Staten Island) has introduced legislation to “defund” safe injection sites. The bill would prevent any city, state, tribal or private entities from obtaining federal funding to operate the sites.

Elections: 

• Letitia James announced that she is ending her high-profile campaign for Governor and running instead for re-election as Attorney General, an unexpected move that some say improves Governor Kathy Hochul’s chances at re-election.
• Zephyr Teachout has suspended her campaign for State Attorney General in light of Letitia James’ decision to seek re-election.
• Mayor-elect Eric Adams appears to be throwing his support behind Councilmember Francisco Moya (CD 21, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights) in the race for City Council Speaker, going against the straw poll preferences of the bloc of incoming progressive legislators.
• Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou (District 65, Lower Manhattan) will challenge State Senator Brian Kavanagh (District 26) in next year’s primary. Kavanagh is already facing multiple primary challengers, including Illapa Sairitupac, who was recently endorsed by NYC-DSA.