New York City Council member Vickie Paladino (R) told NY1 she’ll never disclose if she’s vaccinated against Covid-19 even though she’s been barred from the city council chambers.
Said Paladino: “It’s just nobody’s business whether I am or not. See, it’s called medical freedom. I don’t need to show you my papers. This is not Nazi Germany.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has tapped his younger brother to serve as a deputy New York police commissioner, the New York Post reports.
“Eric Leroy Adams was sworn in as the 110th mayor of New York City early Saturday in a festive but pared-down Times Square ceremony, a signal of the formidable task before him as he begins his term while coronavirus cases are surging anew,” the New York Times reports.
Meanwhile, Andy Cohen unleashed a drunken rant against outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio just after Adams was sworn in.
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The Economist: “Mr. Adams inherits a reeling city. The economic fallout on New York from the September 11th attacks was largely confined to lower Manhattan; the pandemic, by contrast, has shuttered businesses across all five boroughs. New York lost 630,000 jobs in 2020 and has an unemployment rate, 9%, that is more than double the national average. Tourists are staying away. The city has 100,000 fewer restaurant jobs than it did in early 2020, and hotel occupancy rates hover around 50%, compared with 90% before the pandemic.”
“Subway ridership is only just over half its pre-pandemic levels. Only 28% of Manhattan’s office workers are at their desks on any given day, and just 8% come in every day. Midtown is dead. Employment is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2024.”
“Fortunately, Mr. Adams has a better relationship with the city’s businesses than did his predecessor, though that is a low bar.”
“The mayor of San Francisco on Friday declared a state of emergency in one of the most crime-ridden and drug infested parts of the city,” the New York Times reports.
“That area, the Tenderloin neighborhood, is just steps from city hall, but it has been ground zero for drug dealing, overdose deaths and homelessness for years.”
New York magazine has some choice quotes about New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) from current and former staffers:
San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) blasted the rash of crime that has swept through her city in recent months, KPIX reports.
Said breed: “It’s time the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it to come to an end. And it comes to an end when we take the steps to more aggressive with law enforcement. More aggressive with the changes in our policies and less tolerant of all the bullshit that has destroyed our city.”
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson (R) admitted he turned off the fluoridation of the city’s water supply for around five hours before discovering that he wasn’t actually allowed to do that, Alaska Public Media reports.
New York Times: “Members of the Proud Boys, the far-right nationalist group, have increasingly appeared in recent months at town council gatherings, school board presentations and health department question-and-answer sessions across the country. Their presence at the events is part of a strategy shift by the militia organization toward a larger goal: to bring their brand of menacing politics to the local level.”
“For years, the group was known for its national profile. The Proud Boys were prominent at the rallies of Donald Trump, at one point offering to serve as the former president’s private militia. On Jan. 6, some Proud Boys members filmed themselves storming the U.S. Capitol to protest what they falsely said was an election that had been stolen from Mr. Trump.”
“But since federal authorities have cracked down on the group for the Jan. 6 attack, including arresting more than a dozen of its members, the organization has been more muted. Or at least that was how it appeared.”
The New York City Council approved a measure “that will allow immigrants who are not U.S. citizens to vote for mayor and other key municipal positions, a historic move that is igniting threats of legal challenges from Republicans and hopes from Democrats that other cities will follow suit,” the Washington Post reports.
“At least 12 major U.S. cities have broken annual homicide records in 2021 — and there’s still three weeks to go in the year,” ABC News reports.
Said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney: “It’s terrible to every morning get up and have to go look at the numbers and then look at the news and see the stories. It’s just crazy. It’s just crazy and this needs to stop.”
As the campaign to recall Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant draws to a close, financial contributions and endorsements help shed light on city and outside forces influencing the recall,” the Seattle Times reports.
“Both sides of the recall were closing in on $1 million in contributions on Tuesday, one week before the end of voting.”
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) is threatening a $25,000 fine for the state’s capital of Montgomery after the city changed a street’s name from that of the president of the Confederacy, the AP reports.
New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams revealed Saturday that he’s trying to convince Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) to join his administration as a deputy mayor, the New York Post reports.
Said Suozzi: “I am very flattered that the mayor-elect would like me to help him in a big way to tackle the challenges in New York City. It’s a testament to our great friendship and his confidence that I know how to help run a big government, get things done and solve problems. Lots to think about over Thanksgiving.”
“Night after night, hundreds of people marched the streets of Oregon’s largest city, demanding racial justice following the murder of George Floyd by a white officer,” the AP reports.
“Among the rallying cries were ‘defund the police’ — a call for elected officials to reallocate some law enforcement funding elsewhere. In June 2020, Portland City Council and the mayor answered by cutting millions from the police budget.”
“Now, a year and a half later, officials are poised to partially restore those cuts. Portland City Council is considering around $5.2 million in police investments — adding to the approximately $230 million budget — amid a record number of homicides.”
“Andrew Bradshaw, the mayor of Cambridge on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, has been charged with 50 counts of distributing explicit images of a former romantic partner without her consent on social media site Reddit,” the Baltimore Sun reports.
“Political leaders in D.C. successfully scrambled on Tuesday to prevent one of their own — a D.C. elected official who holds his position while incarcerated in the city’s jail — from being transferred to a federal prison more than 100 miles outside the District,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Joel Castón: “It really puts me at a complete disadvantage to be able to carry out my job as an elected official, to advocate on behalf of my constituents here, if I am not at my post.”
“Minneapolis voters on Tuesday soundly rejected a proposal to replace the Minneapolis Police Department, crushing the hopes of supporters that outrage over the killing of George Floyd would translate into one of the nation’s most far reaching experiments in transforming public safety,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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