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Whereas Donald Trump’s re-election stole the political highlight nationally in 2024, there have been loads of tales conserving the New York political sphere buzzing.
From a sequence of clashes between Mayor Eric Adams and the Metropolis Council to Adams’ indictment on federal corruption expenses, the 12 months in native politics was something however sleepy.
Under, New York News Metro compiled a few of the greatest occasions in New York politics in 2024.
The ‘How Many Stops Act’ battle
Metropolis Council Member Yusef Salaam is consoled by Metropolis Council Members Alexa Aviles and Lynn Schulman throughout debate over the How Many Stops Act override of Mayor Eric Adams’ veto on Jan. 30, 2024.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
The 12 months kicked off with one of many bitterest clashes between Mayor Adams and the Metropolis Council up to now: the battle over the so-called “How Many Stops Act.”
The laws requires the NYPD to report on its most mundane civilian encounters — with the purpose of boosting transparency and higher monitoring how typically cops use stop-and-frisk techniques. The mayor and police brass fiercely opposed the laws, arguing it could make it tougher for cops to guard the general public by losing their time with hours of further paperwork.
Adams vetoed the measure after it initially handed the council in late 2023 and tried to sway metropolis lawmakers to aspect with him by way of an intense lobbying marketing campaign. However the council overrode the mayor’s veto, garnering much more votes than it initially handed the measure throughout an emotional Jan. 30 assembly.
Suozzi v. Mazi
In a 12 months filled with pivotal Congressional races up and down the Empire State, the primary was the particular election for New York’s third Congressional District, masking components of jap Queens and Nassau County. The race was triggered when ex-GOP Rep. George Santos was expelled from Congress in late 2023 following his 23-count indictment for marketing campaign finance fraud.
The particular election was between Democrat Tom Suozzi, who had previously held the seat for 3 phrases, and Republican Nassau County legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip. Whereas the election was hard-fought, Suozzi got here out on prime with 54% of the vote to Pilip’s 46%. It was the primary of a number of Congressional seats on Lengthy Island and upstate that Democrats flipped this 12 months.
Suozzi simply gained a full time period within the November basic election and can serve in Congress for the following two years.
Congestion pricing pause
Months earlier than pulling the plug on congestion pricing in June 2024, in December 2023, Gov. Kathy Hochul rallied in Manhattan with MTA Chair Janno Lieber and different elected officers and transit advocates promising the Manhattan toll plan would supply “less traffic, cleaner air, better transit.”Workplace of Governor Kathy Hochul
Gov. Kathy Hochul shocked the New York political world when she all of the sudden introduced an indefinite pause of the congestion pricing tolling program in early June, simply weeks earlier than it was set to take impact.
The governor mentioned she was pausing the plan, which might have charged drivers coming into Manhattan under sixtieth Road a base toll of $15, out of concern for the financial well-being of working-class New Yorkers. But it was extensively reported that Hochul shelved congestion pricing as a result of she believed it could be a political legal responsibility for congressional candidates in suburban districts the place this system is extensively unpopular.
Then, shortly after the November election, Hochul introduced she would restart congestion pricing with the tolls discounted by 40% from these accredited below the unique plan. However, even given the timing, Hochul maintained the pause had nothing to do with politics.
Latimer unseats Bowman
“I have never viewed an election as a blank check from you to me, it is a promissory note from you to me,” George Latimer mentioned upon successful the Democratic main for the sixteenth Congressional District seat on June 25, 2024.Photograph by Emily Swanson
The Democratic Occasion’s left flank suffered a significant blow when Westchester County Government George Latimer unseated “squad” member Jamaal Bowman in a June main for a seat that covers a lot of Westchester and a part of the Bronx.
Latimer’s win by roughly 10 proportion factors capped off a race outlined by acrimony and private assaults. All through the competition, the pro-Israel Latimer accused Bowman, a staunch critic of the Jewish state, of antisemitism. Bowman in flip, alleged that Latimer had an “abysmal record” on racial justice points as county government and that he solely catered to rich swaths of the district.
The first was additionally the costliest Home race in US historical past, in keeping with AdImpact, an advert monitoring service. The majority of that spending got here from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), whose tremendous PAC reportedly spent roughly $14 million on assault adverts in opposition to Bowman.
Latimer sailed to victory within the basic election and is headed to Congress subsequent month.
Constitution Fee battle
One of the vital notable tiffs between Mayor Adams and the Metropolis Council this 12 months started when lawmakers launched laws that may have expanded their so-called “advice-and-consent” powers. The measure would give the physique the authority to approve or reject a further 20 mayoral appointments to guide metropolis companies.
However whereas the council overwhelmingly handed the laws in June, Mayor Adams, who was not a fan of it, had already made strikes to halt it. The mayor convened a Constitution Revision Fee, a 13-member panel charged with drafting proposals to alter the Metropolis Constitution.
The transfer primarily blocked the council’s laws from going earlier than voters as a November poll initiative as a result of measures proposed by a mayoral Constitution Fee take precedence over these superior by the council below state regulation. Moreover, two of the proposals crafted by the fee give the mayor a larger hand within the council’s legislative course of.
Regardless of Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ efforts to dissuade voters from supporting the mayor’s poll measures, 4 of the 5 proposed by the panel handed within the November basic election. Among the many gadgets accredited by voters had been the 2 proposals that can give Metropolis Corridor extra energy over council laws.
Randy Mastro for company counsel
Lawmakers grilled Randy Mastro over his service in the course of the administration of then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani practically 30 years in the past.John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
Whilst Mayor Adams and the Metropolis Council duked it out over the Constitution Revision Fee, one other skirmish brewed within the metropolis’s halls of energy. This battle concerned Adams’ quest to nominate Randy Mastro, a controversial legal professional, as the town’s prime lawyer.
Mastro’s appointment appeared doomed from the beginning. A lot of the Metropolis Council, which has advice-and-consent energy over the place—generally known as company counsel—got here out in opposition to him even earlier than he was formally nominated. Council members cited issues over Mastro’s time working for ex-GOP Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his historical past of purchasers as a personal legal professional, which incorporates the oil large Chevron and former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Mastro finally withdrew his nomination for the function following a bruising Metropolis Council listening to, during which numerous lawmakers raked his file over the coals. In his withdrawal letter, the seasoned litigator blasted the listening to as “anything but fair,” whereas council management mentioned his missive confirmed that he was not proper for the job.
Adams subsequently nominated metropolis Regulation Division veteran Muriel Goode-Trufant for the submit. The Metropolis Council accredited her nomination in early December.
The mayor’s indictment
Mayor Adams leaving Manhattan Federal Courtroom on Oct. 2, 2024 following a listening to on his indictment.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Practically a 12 months after FBI brokers raided the house of Mayor Adams’ chief fundraiser, revealing a federal probe into his marketing campaign, he turned the primary sitting New York Metropolis mayor to be indicted.
On Sept. 26, Manhattan US Lawyer Damian Williams charged Adams with 5 legal counts, together with bribery, soliciting unlawful overseas marketing campaign donations and wire fraud.
The indictment alleged that Adams engaged in a virtually decade-long scheme of accepting luxurious items and unlawful marketing campaign donations from Turkish nationals in change for favors. The case hinges on Adams allegedly utilizing his affect because the Democratic mayoral nominee in 2021 to hurry up metropolis approvals for a Turkish consulate constructing that had didn’t go fireplace security inspections.
Adams has pleaded not responsible and is about to face trial on April 21 of subsequent 12 months.
Adams and Trump
Though Adams has principally shunned discussing his legal expenses publicly, he has prompt with out proof that the case is politically motivated. Particularly, he has charged that President Biden’s Justice Division introduced expenses in opposition to him as a result of he was outspoken about not getting sufficient federal assist for the town’s migrant disaster.
President-elect Trump has publicly expressed sympathy with Adams, repeating the notion that the case is political. Within the weeks main as much as and for the reason that presidential election, Adams has had more and more optimistic issues to say about Trump, fueling hypothesis that he’s angling for a pardon from the incoming president.
Trump could also be keen to offer Adams a go. In mid-December, he mentioned he would take into account pardoning the mayor.
Parade of Adams admin departures
Ingrid Lewis-Martin arrives at Manhattan Legal Courtroom on Dec. 19, 2024 to give up on a corruption indictment.Photograph by Dean Moses
Weeks earlier than Adams was indicted, a wave of federal regulation enforcement raids on a number of prime administration figures revealed beforehand unknown investigations into his inside circle.
These raids, in addition to Adams’ personal indictment, triggered a spate of high-profile departures at Metropolis Corridor. Those that left the administration embrace former First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright; her husband, former Training Chancellor David Banks, his brother, former Deputy Mayor for Public Security Phil Banks; former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban; and most not too long ago, ex-Chief Adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin.
Adams has lengthy insisted the mass exodus of his prime officers in current months had nothing to do with the federal probes or his indictment. However Gov. Hochul, who has the ability to take away Adams from workplace, has mentioned that she requested him to “clean house” of scandal-scarred staffers and that he has complied.
Trump wins extra votes in NY
Maybe one of many extra stunning political tales this 12 months was how properly Trump carried out in deep blue New York Metropolis in the course of the Nov. 5 election.
Whereas Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris nonetheless handily gained the 5 boroughs with roughly 68% of the vote, Trump garnered 30%—a 7% enhance from his efficiency in opposition to President Biden in 2020.
Trump’s positive aspects had been pushed by shifts amongst working-class voters in components of the Bronx and Queens.
The Boogie Down, which had beforehand been the town’s bluest borough, noticed an 11-point shift in Trump’s favor from the 2020 election — giving him 27% of the vote. In Queens, Trump grew his assist from 4 years in the past by practically the identical margin.
‘Yes’ to Metropolis of Sure
Whereas 2024 was undoubtedly Adams’ hardest 12 months in workplace to date, it was additionally the 12 months the place he scored maybe his biggest coverage achievement as mayor with the passage of his “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” plan.
Metropolis of Sure narrowly handed the council on Dec. 5 by 31 to twenty votes. The ultimate deal included a number of tweaks superior by council members with issues concerning the plan and a further $5 billion to fund inexpensive housing building and infrastructure enhancements.
Even with the modifications, many council members representing lower-slung communities within the outer boroughs voted in opposition to them. They continue to be involved that the zoning modifications will alter the character of their communities and overwhelm areas that don’t have the right infrastructure to accommodate extra housing.
