The vast majority of New Yorkers believe their city is in crisis.
Electing a new mayor won't solve it. The crisis is largely due to the lunatic-left policies enacted by the City Council -- even over the opposition of the mayor. Truth is, the council treats the mayor like a pinata. New Yorkers need to go into the coming election with a new mindset, that their choice for council is every bit as important as for mayor. The council controls the city's budget and is also to blame for the anti-cop laws that have destroyed New York Police Department morale and given criminals free rein on our streets.
Most of the council members will be chosen in the Democratic primary, June 25. Democrats need to do their homework about who the council candidates are. There are clear choices.
For example, in District 1, which includes the Financial District, Chinatown, City Hall and SoHo, incumbent Chris Marte (D) has three challengers, including Elizabeth Lewinsohn, former policy head at the NYPD's Counterterrorism Bureau, who is vowing to focus on public safety. That's a voice that's needed.
In District 30, which includes Queens neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and parts of Glendale, Ridgewood, Elmhurst and Rego Park, council member Bob Holden is term-limited and vacating his seat. Though a Democrat, Holden votes with Republicans and chairs the council's eight-member Common Sense Caucus. His departure could be a real loss for moderation, unless voters choose wisely.
Three Democrats are vying. Holden is backing Phil Wong, an educational activist who has fought for the city's gifted and talented programs and protecting the specialized high schools' competitive admissions test. One of his opponents, Dermot Smyth, is a United Federation of Teachers operative with a large fundraising lead. Wong is the clear choice for voters concerned about public education standards.
The action isn't only in the Democratic primary. District 30 will also have a Republican primary, with Holden backing Alicia Vaichunas, his deputy chief of staff, against anti-vaxxer Jonathan Rinaldi.
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Unfortunately, several council seats will be uncontested. There will be no Democratic primary contest in some. In quite a few others there will be no Republican candidate on the ballot in November.
Republican voter registration is in the single digits in some districts, but GOP leaders are also at fault. They don't encourage candidates or show first-timers how to run. Republican voters say it's demoralizing to go to vote and see no one from their party on the ballot.
Failing to offer a Republican candidate is especially a lost opportunity this year. In November 2024, 573,000 New York City Democrats who had voted for Joe Biden in 2020 didn't vote for Kamala Harris in 2024. Some may have left the city, but most simply refused to follow the leftward lurch of their party. They are persuadable purples, open to voting for a Republican. Currently, the six Republicans serving are vastly outnumbered. Voices of moderation are needed there.
The stakes are high. The council's anti-cop legislation is to blame for the low morale and dwindling ranks of the NYPD. Likewise, the council is behind the billions of taxpayer dollars funneled into the nonprofit migrant industrial complex. The council controls the city's budget.
Gotham's woes will get worse unless voters get with it. Here's a sample of extreme ideas the current council is planning:
1. Abolishing the NYPD gang database, an investigative tool that allows the police to solve gang shootings and prevent retaliatory shootings. The proposal has 25 council supporters, only one short of passing.
2. Unconditional "guaranteed income." In 2023, Speaker Adrienne Adams announced the council's plan to fight poverty through guaranteed income programs -- making no-strings regular payments to the poor with your tax dollars. In 2024, the council launched a pilot project for pregnant women. New York joins Marxist paradises in California such as Stockton, Oakland and Los Angeles, which have also piloted guaranteed income giveaway programs.
The council's proposals for the coming year, announced this month, don't even pay lip service to public safety even though the city has the lowest NYPD headcount in three decades.
New Yorkers need to make electing a sane City Council their priority, or they'll be dealing with the dangerous consequences.
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