Tag: Simcha Felder

New York politics can be confusing. For years, the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference helped Republicans maintain control of the state Senate. Another Democrat, state Sen. Simcha Felder, still caucuses with the GOP. In the Assembly, Democrat Erik Bohen ran and won as a Republican and now can’t caucus with either conference. Actress Cynthia Nixon, who shares a last name with (but is not related to) former Republican President Richard Nixon, is challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary. And everyone and their mother wants to run for state attorney general. City & State is here to help with a handy-dandy guide to some of New York’s difficult to pronounce political names so you can seamlessly discuss state politics with friends, loved ones and strangers on the subway. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (KEER-sten JILL-ih-brand) note: NOT Kristen Rep. Adriano Espaillat (ay-dree-AH-no ehs-pie-YAHT) Rep. Elise Stefanik (eh-LEASE ste-FAHN-ick) Rep. Thomas Suozzi (TOM-iss SWAH-zee) Rep. Nydia Velázquez (NIH-dee-ah vell-AZ-kez) Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (KATH-ee HO-kuhl) Dutchess County Executive and GOP gubernatorial candidate Marcus Molinaro (MAR-kiss moe-lin-AIR-oh) State Sen. Michael Gianaris (MY-kuhl gee-ann-ARE-iss) State Sen. Marisol Alcantara (marry-SOLE al-CAN-tar-ah) State Sen. John Bonacic (JAHN BON-ah-sick) State Sen. Thomas Croci (TOM-iss CROW-chee) State Sen. Simcha Felder (SIM-kah FELL-der) State Sen. Rich Funke (RICH FUN-key) State Sen. Kathy Marchione (KATH-ee mar-SHOWN) State Sen. Shelley Mayer (SHELL-ee MAY-er) State Sen. Roxanne Persaud (rocks-ANN per-SAWD) State Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer (MY-kuhl RAN-zen-hoff-er) State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda (loo-EES seh-PULL-vee-duh) Assemblyman Dov Hikind (DOHV HI-kehnd) Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (nih-COLE mal-ee-oh-TAH-kiss) Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (ME-kai-ale so-LAHJ) Assemblyman Joseph Morelle (JOE-sehf more-EHL-ee) New York City Councilwoman Alicka Ampry-Samuel (ah-LEE-kah AM-pree-SAM-yoo-ehl) New York City Councilman Costa Constantinides (COST-ah con-stan-tih-NEE-dees) New York City Councilman Robert Cornegy Jr. (RAH-berht CORN-egg-ee) New York City Councilman Mark Gjonaj (MARK JOE-nigh) New York City Councilman Ben Kallos (BEN KAY-lows) New York City Councilman Mark Levine (MARK leh-VEEN) New York City Councilman Steve Levin (STEEV LEH-vin) New York City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez (ee-DAHN-iss rod-REE-gez) New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams (joo-MAH-nee WIHL-yuhms) New York City Councilman Chaim Deutsch (khEYEm dietch) Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini (TIHM SEE-nee) Former New York City Housing Authority Chairwoman Shola Olatoye (SHOW-lah oh-LAH-toy-yay) Former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (DEEN SKEH-lows) State Senate candidate Andrew Gounardes (ANN-drew guh-NAR-dez) U.S. Senate candidate Chele Chiavacci Farley (SHELL kee-ah-VAH-chee FAR-lee) Billionaire John Catsimatidis (JAHN cats-eh-mah-TEE-dees) Gristedes (griss-TEE-dees) note: above billionaire’s grocery store chain Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch (ED KAHTCH) Billionaire Republican donors Charles and David Koch (CHAHRLZ and DAY-vid COKE)

Proponents argue that more measures need to be taken to make the city’s streets safer — in the first five months of this year, 37 pedestrians were killed by vehicles. With a little over a month left in session, it’s time for Albany to do what they know works and renew and expand protection of N.Y.C. Image During the first month of the program at P.S. About two years after the installation of the cameras, that number had dropped to 54 summonses every day, a nearly 80 percent decline, making it clear that the electronic monitoring was having its intended effect of slowing drivers down. The results seem to have been borne out citywide, with the number of speeding tickets issued by the cameras plunging on average, by 63 percent and in some areas by as much as 85 percent in the 18-month period since the program began in 2014. One bill in the state Legislature, supported by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, would double the number of schools with cameras to 290 and widen the area that they would cover from the street in front of a school’s entrance to the surrounding streets, up to a quarter-mile radius. Golden, a Republican senator from Brooklyn, agreed to be a sponsor of the legislation after the number was reduced. Complicating the situation is the position of Senator Simcha Felder, a Democrat from Brooklyn who wields inordinate power by choosing to caucus with the Republicans and who has balked at supporting the speed camera program because he believes a more important issue involving safety at schools is increasing police presence. “But this is a public health and safety issue; reducing speed will save lives, and our children are our future.” To Annabell Burrell, the principal of P.S. 124, two children were killed and several people were injured when a car plowed into them.

For years, a breakaway faction of Democrats helped Republicans control the state Senate in New York, one of the country’s most liberal states. IDC members blame Felder for Republican control, claiming they have moderated a GOP agenda that would pass with Felder’s help anyway. But progressive activists, some of whom are backing a primary challenge against Felder as well, have lambasted the IDC members as “Trump Democrats.” They note that GOP control of the Senate, enabled in part by the IDC, has prevented progressive climate action and single-payer health care bills that passed the state Assembly from coming up for a vote, and stalled or diluted other liberal legislation. IDC-enabled GOP domination of the state Senate prevents Democratic Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a black woman, from playing the leadership role in negotiations that Democrats’ numerical majority would otherwise afford her. Biaggi is one of seven Democrats challenging IDC members with the backing of major progressive organizations like the Working Families Party. Cuomo, often blamed for failing to leverage his power against the IDC and Felder, has also elicited a left-leaning primary challenge from Cynthia Nixon, an actress and progressive education activist. A condition of the deal is that neither former IDC members, nor mainline Senate Democrats would back primary challenges against incumbent members. In an open letter to IDC members on Wednesday in which Biaggi and the six other candidates affirmed their decision to stay in the race, they argued that IDC members “cannot undo the damage that [they] have done by blocking a single Democratic state Senator in the room to advocate for common-sense progressive priorities.” Intent on punishing IDC members and securing a more progressive Senate delegation for its own sake, the grassroots coalition No IDC New York and the labor-backed New York Working Families Party are both maintaining their support for the IDC challengers. “If you’ve set your own house on fire and watched it burn for eight years, finally turning on a hose doesn’t make you a hero,” Nixon said. “And the common enemy is defeating Trump and Ryan and McConnell and defeating their agenda and taking over the New York state Senate so we can protect the state the way it needs to be protected.” However, Cuomo also revealed at the press conference that his re-election campaign would be coordinating closely with the campaigns efforts of Senate and Assembly Democrats.