Tuesday night we went to a meet-and-greet with New York City’s comptroller Brad Lander.
The event was pulled together by a group of affordable housing activists in my neighborhood and held at a Park Slope Columbian restaurant.
Lander is one of a number of progressives who have announced or may announce that they will challenge the incumbent indicted mayor of New York, Eric Adams.
Lander himself comes out of the actual movement for affordable housing in Brooklyn.
I think it is good that right now - the primary election for mayor is not until June of next year - that there are so many progressive choices challenging the current mayor.
Meanwhile, when voters go to the polls next month, we will vote on five ballot measures that the current indicted mayor has on the ballot.
All five ballot measures are intended to strengthen the powers of the mayor and the NYPD.
Two of them would curb the council's ability to pass legislation, in particular public safety legislation targeting the NYPD, and one would give the Department of Sanitation the power to ticket street vendors on City property.
To learn more about the proposals, check out this handy guide.
By the way, the five ballot proposals intended to give more power to the mayor and the NYPD should not be confused with Ballot Proposal 1, a statewide measure which prohibits “discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, origin, age, disability and sex - including sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes. It would also protect New Yorkers who seek access to reproductive healthcare from discrimination on that basis.”
I will be voting yes on Ballot Proposal 1 and no on indicted Mayor Adam’s five charter revisions.