Caption the comptroller and the public advocate

Beating the dead rail line horse

AMNY

Queens pols and advocates are still calling for new transit service on a long-disused rail line that they say would shorten residents’ punishingly long commutes, but have to contend with the Adams Administration’s desire to build a park instead.

The Rockaway Beach Branch once provided Long Island Rail Road service between Rego Park and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. The southern half is still used by the A train between Ozone Park and Rockaway, but the northern bit has sat abandoned since 1962, with the rail infrastructure deteriorating and the right-of-way becoming overgrown with vegetation.

For years, local pols and advocates have been calling for its reactivation as a subway line, specifically extending the M train down from Rego Park all the way to Rockaway, providing an additional transit option for peninsula commuters and enabling a wealth of new transfers. An estimated 47,000 New Yorkers would use the line daily.

The proposal, called the QueensLink, has the support of virtually every political figure in southeast Queens, many of whom descended on City Hall on Wednesday to renew their call for the state, city, and MTA to study reactivating the line. The coalition of supporters stretches the partisan divide, from democratic socialist Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani to conservative Republican Councilmember Joann Ariola.

“We have a chance to bring modern rail to our district to serve the people of Queens. What more could you ask for than a modern right of way, and we have it,” said Central Queens Councilmember Bob Holden at the rally. “It’s there for the taking…you have the canvas now, an empty blank canvas with rail there already.”

While the project has been suspended in amber for years, supporters say now is the time to do it: the federal infrastructure bill has unlocked many billions of dollars for states and localities to get shovels in the ground, and the MTA is already neck-deep in another project to repurpose the LIRR’s underutilized Bay Ridge Branch, which the state hopes to turn into the Interborough Express between Brooklyn and Queens.

“It connects residents in transit deserts such as South Queens, and in so doing will serve at least 47,000 daily riders,” said Rick Horan, executive director of QueensLink, at the rally. “As such, QueensLink represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reconnect the borough by using this strategic corridor for both transit and parks.”

At least the call for reviving the Rockaway Branch line has got less boring...

 

 

Caption the City Council Cronies

Name this band, wrong answers only of course

Jumaane Williams gets re-elected to be a no-show advocate

 Brooklyn Paper

Brooklyn-born Public Advocate Juumane Williams is projected to remain the city’s public advocate, according to unofficial Board of Elections results.

With 93 percent of scanners reporting, Williams expectedly secured nearly 69 percent of the vote as of 11 pm on Election Night, topping five other opponents, including Republican challenger Nevi Nampiaparampil.

Williams’ victory is his third in three years since first running for public advocate in a 2019 special election, and his first for a four-year term.

At an election night watch party at Threes Brewing in Gowanus, Williams celebrated with a slate of other progressive winners.

“Ten years ago people told me and [projected Comptroller-elect] Brad [Lander] we were too far left, today we’re citywide elected officials,” he told the crowd. “Our message works and people believe in it.”

While Williams — who succeeded current Attorney General Letitia James in the seat — has secured the next position for the next four years, he already has his eye on his next potential job, having formed an exploratory committee to run for governor in 2022 against James, Kathy Hochul, and potentially Mayor Bill de Blasio.

 

Letitia James is running for governor, so is that fool public advocate

 

NY Post

 State Attorney General Letitia James — whose bombshell sexual harassment report led to the resignation of ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo — will announce that she’s challenging incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in the 2022 Democratic primary, The Post has learned.

James called a union leader Wednesday notifying the official she plans to announce her campaign “shortly,” according to a source.

Kimberly Peeler-Allen, senior advisor for James’ campaign put out a statement Wednesday that said: “Attorney General Letitia James has made a decision regarding the governor’s race. She will be announcing it in the coming days.”

“I hear she’s making calls. She made a call to me for money last week,” a second source familiar with James’ thinking told The Post. 

“She did not want to say that she’s running for governor — even though we understood each other,” said the source, noting James wryly added: “You know what I’m up to.”

Hamodia 

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams has filed the necessary paperwork with the New York Board of Elections in order to run for governor, the Times Union reported.

Williams, a progressive Democrat, is the second to file for governor, after Governor Kathy Hochul. The Democrat primary is scheduled for June 2022. Other potential candidates include Attorney General Letitia James.

Williams had previously indicated he would run for governor in September, when he began an exploratory committee. He formed a campaign committee on October 18.

Politicians scared straight after Rikers tour

  

AMNY

Elected officials inspected the conditions at Rikers Island on Sept. 13 following yet another death in the jail — and they said what they found shook them to the core.

The visit came days after Esias Johnson, a 24-year-old awaiting trial, became the 10th individual to perish within the controversial penal facility this year when he was discovered unresponsive on Sept. 7. A coalition of politicians toured the prison on Monday in hopes of pinpointing the issue at hand.

Gathering at the intersection of 19th Avenue and Hazen Street after their visit, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, state Senator Jessica Ramos, Senator Alessandra Biaggi, and many more stood in shock and disgust after visiting the complex. They professed ] seeing urine and fecal matter strewn over the floor; individuals coughing up blood and even an attempted suicide.

Some of the speakers said Rikers Island had become a humanitarian crisis.

 “I can’t begin to tell you the deplorable conditions that we saw inside OBCC. In one of the intake rooms there are at least one dozen men per cell. The conditions are so extreme that Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas and I witnessed somebody attempting to commit suicide just a little while ago. These men are desperate for simple medical attention as just measuring their sugar. They need their fingers pricked to figure out whether their diabetes is under control or not, never mind they are not obviously receiving any insulin. Those that need to access the methadone clinic have not been able to do so,” Ramos said, describing the unsanitary conditions. 

“It’s all because the incarcerated men and women who are on that island are being treated unfairly, and the correction officers are working under very deplorable conditions themselves,” Ramos added, stating that everyone on Rikers Island should be kept safe. 

In response to these claims regarding the conditions within Rikers Island, DOC Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi has launched #NewDayDOC to target initiatives that will help increase staffing and safety through scheduling changes, new recruitment, and establishing a new process for calling out sick with Mt. Sinai so that they may return to active duty quickly, as well as other changes.

Yeah, a hashtag will stop the violence and abhorrent environment that was exacerbated by the city's decision to shut down Rikers to build borough jails and the closing of other facilities on the island. Feckless moron.

The short answer is "yes"

Yes, Mr. Defund literally lives ON AN ARMY BASE.

Jumaane Williams is New York's Public Advocate

 


NY Post


Brooklyn City Councilman Jumaane Williams smashed the competition Tuesday night to become the next public advocate.
 
Williams captured 33 percent of the vote in the jampacked 17-person race, besting his closest rival by 14 points.
 
“I’m still in shock, I gotta tell y’all,” Williams told supporters in Brooklyn afterward.
The celebratory mood turned emotional as he acknowledged his struggles with mental health.
"I’ve been in therapy for the past three years, I want to say that publicly. I want to say that to black men who are listening,” said Williams, 42, struggling to complete his sentences.
 
“There was a time when the title I held was my identity, and that’s a dangerous thing. The best time came for me when I realized no matter what title I have, there is a space in the world for me and I can make incredible change.”

There will be little time to rest for Williams. Tuesday’s vote was a special election to fill the seat left vacant when Letitia James became state attorney general. Petitioning to get on the ballot for the June primary is already underway.
 
The special election may end up costing as much as $22 million — almost $55 per voter.
 
The city Board of Elections estimated that staging the vote would cost between $11 million and $15 million. Additionally, city taxpayers shelled out another $7.2 million to provide public financing to the candidates who applied.
 
NY1 estimated that 9 percent of the city’s nearly 4.7 million active registered voters turned out.
Williams, a longtime activist, finished 14 points ahead of the second-place candidate, Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich, who captured 19 percent of the vote.

Now that a fauxgressive hack won, de Blasio can ditch town and continue his idiotic quest for the presidency. Williams didn't spend the most money in this stupid election for this bogus job for nothing.

Besides, Ju stopped bothering to go to council meetings last year anyway.

So you think you have talent? - Speaker edition

It's Friday. The City Council Speaker candidates didn't have a care in the world (except jockeying for position to kiss the king's ring) when they boogied down at Joe Crowley's holiday party. You might hit the eggnog extra hard yourself when you realize what we're in store for over the next 4 years. Go ahead and caption this photo.

Speaker candidate wants term limits extended...again

From the Daily News:

A candidate for City Council speaker has drafted a bill to extend term limits for the Council to three terms.

Councilman Jumaane Williams plans to introduce the legislation by the end of the year to allow Council members to serve three four-year terms instead of the current two, if voters approve the idea in a referendum.

Williams is among eight candidates running for Council speaker — all of whom have said they’d support giving their fellow pols a third term.

“This is only about what’s best for the city and best for good government,” said Williams (D-Brooklyn), who plans to release the bill Monday as part of a broader proposal outlining his plans for the speakership.

The legislation would allow three terms for the Council, while keeping the max at two for the mayor, public advocate, controller and borough presidents.

It would take effect if voters ratified it at the ballot box during the next general election after a vote by the Council for the measure.

Doesn't the process for getting referendum items on the ballot require a large signature gathering operation? If the people vote yes on the measure, then it becomes law. No city council intervention is required. However, no one is collecting signatures to get term limit extensions on the ballot because...the people already voted for 2 terms 3 times.

Sounds like a ploy for votes from colleagues.

Speaker race campaign finance shenanigans questioned

From Progress Queens:

Because Election Day is four (4) days away, on Tuesday, 07 November, Progress Queens is publicly releasing a civilian crime report filed by the publisher of Progress Queens with the U.S. Attorney's Office for New York's southern district.

The complaint outlined how the eight (8) candidates for New York City Council speaker have been making donations to other Councilmembers out of their committees to reëlect to win support for the speakership campaign ; have been having meetings, including with U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens) ; and have been preparing for debates or holding debates before the November general election. The Council speaker candidates are: Councilmembers Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. (D-Brooklyn), Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan), Mark Levine (D-Manhattan), Donovan Richards (D-Queens), Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Manhattan), Ritchie Torres (D-The Bronx), Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Queens), and Jumaane D. Williams (D-Brooklyn).

These speakership campaign activities have been taking place in the apparent absence of dedicated campaign committees for the speakership race. Four years ago, the Municipal campaign finance regulatory authority reportedly provided advice to Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Spanish Harlem) that using a committee to reëlect for the speakership race was prohibited, forcing her to form a separate, dedicated campaign committee for the speakership race.

A review of information about campaign committees tracked online by the New York State Board of Elections did not identify which campaign committees were designated for the speakership race. For this report, attempts were made to reach the Council speaker candidates, or their representatives, but no response was received to a request made late Thursday evening. The Federal complaint alleges that Council speaker candidates, who do not presently have a dedicated campaign committee for the speakership race, are violating campaign finance laws, because the absence of a dedicated Council speakership race campaign committees implies that campaign consultants are working for free, a violation of law.

Speaker candidates will be tougher on the mayor

From Crains:

The eight city councilmen running to succeed Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito vowed to further democratize the body—and some said they would be tougher with the mayor.

The speaker candidates—Manhattan Councilmen Corey Johnson, Mark Levine and Ydanis Rodriguez, Queens Councilmen Donovan Richards and James Van Bramer, Bronx Councilman Ritchie Torres and Brooklyn Councilmen Robert Cornegy and Jumaane Williams—made the remarks at a Crain's forum in Midtown. As speaker, Mark-Viverito has instituted reforms such as distributing discretionary money based on district need, but some members have chafed that she bottles up legislation unless she has negotiated a deal for the mayor's approval.

This has spared Mayor Bill de Blasio, who helped engineer Mark-Viverito's election as speaker in late 2013, from having to veto even a single bill after nearly four years in office. Torres decried as an "embarrassing months-long spectacle" the ill-fated agreement between Mark-Viverito and de Blasio to curtail the horse carriage industry in Central Park.

"Instead of representing the weight of the members, I thought the leadership of the council was effectively doing the bidding of the mayor," said the Bronx lawmaker, viewed generally as an underdog in the speaker's race.

He asserted that bills with a veto-proof "supermajority" of 34 or more sponsors should receive a vote regardless of the mayor's or speaker's feelings, even as he argued the speaker should provide some kind of "quality control."

Several of Torres' colleagues noted that the council bucked both the mayor and the speaker on the carriage deal. Van Bramer, Johnson and Levine praised Mark-Viverito for overcoming the mayor's initial resistance to more NYPD hires, to a new legal defense fund for all undocumented immigrants fighting deportation and to closing the Rikers Island jail complex.

Still, they called for rules changes that would stop a future speaker from continuing Mark-Viverito's tack of blocking bills that she or the mayor dislikes. Johnson suggested new mechanisms that would ensure a hearing on bills with majority support (at least 26 sponsors) and a vote on bills with 34 members signed on.

Owners of illegally subdivided homes face steep fines, liens

 (Photo by Carly Miller/BKLYNER)

From Bklyner:

Today, City Council unanimously passed a bill to enforce fines on landlords that illegally subdivide homes to create “modern tenement housing”, an issue that has led to severe overcrowding and deaths in southern Brooklyn.

The bill, Intro 1218 proposed by City Councilmember Vincent Gentile, targets landlords of homes classified as “aggravated illegal conversions,” slapping a $15,000 violation per unit beyond the certificate of occupancy. If unpaid, the fine would be subject to a lien sale on the property.

The legislation also expands the authority of the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) and the New York City Environmental Control Board (ECB) to inspect properties and impose penalties.

Gentile, representing Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, and Bensonhurst, was joined today by Council Members Barry S. Grodenchik and Jumaane Williams, representatives from Boro President Eric Adams' office, and dozens of civic groups and housing advocates who spent years rallying around this issue. The bill was supported by 23 City Council members, said Gentile on a sunny Wednesday at the steps of City Hall. A few hours later, the bill passed with a 49-0 vote.

“These strong restrictions and penalties will force egregious property owners to comply with New York City’s building code,” said Gentile. “Substandard housing is not affordable housing.”

Past briber back at work

From the Daily News:

Back in the day, Ron Lattanzio was accused of throwing cocaine parties in his city Buildings Department office, then later bribing some of the department’s top officials after he was fired.

He sought favors from City Council members and regularly certified projects as safe using a stamp from a retired engineer who never saw the plans. Eventually he got caught, secretly pleaded guilty to bribery and for two years worked as an undercover informant against his former Buildings Department pals.

Lattanzio testified repeatedly before a grand jury and in open court, and in the end corruption charges were filed against 18 people, including the No. 2 official in the department.

Prosecutors recommended he get no jail time and a judge agreed. He then promptly disappeared.

Lattanzio, 59, has quietly returned to again pull levers at the same city Buildings Department he once corrupted every chance he could, a Daily News investigation has found.

Through several companies he runs, he and his employees deal each week with the Buildings Department, obtaining permits and interacting with inspectors for developers of some of the biggest buildings in the city.

He and his executives are also once again writing thousands of dollars of checks to politicians, including Mayor de Blasio and Jumaane Williams, chair of the City Council committee that oversees the Buildings Department.

Will council allow illegal aliens to vote in city elections?

From the Queens Chronicle:

This bill, first reported by the New York Post on Monday, would grant illegal immigrants the right to vote in city elections. And that’s where a crystal clear line in the sand has to be drawn: absolutely not. No way. Never.

The bill has not been introduced yet; no record of it exists in the City Council’s online legislative database. According to the Post report, it is expected to be laid on the table in the spring. And it was recently discussed at a gathering of the Black and Latino Caucus.

Bertha Lewis, the former head of the leftist group ACORN, which was disbanded over its shady practices, is among those lobbying for the measure.

“We want to expand the right to vote for everybody, not suppress the vote,” the Post quoted Lewis as saying at the ethnic caucus event. “What a radical idea.”

Yes, it sure is a radical idea — when you want to expand the vote to people who either broke the law as soon as they arrived in the country, or did it when they violated the terms of their visas by not leaving when they agreed to leave.

That’s going to be a bridge too far for all but the most radical members of the Council, and seeing who supports the bill will be a good measure of determining who really is radical. According to the Post report, Lewis has discussed it with members including Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Councilman Jumaane Williams of Brooklyn and Dromm. Among those three, only Williams has said he supports it so far. Dromm’s office declined to comment on it when asked this week by the Chronicle.

City Council members break out the violin

From City Council Watch:

--Ydanis Rodriguez, during the first round of questions, took up his entire allotment yelling at Fritz Schwartz, who headed the Pay Commission. He explained that he loves his job, that he supports the 99%, but that he has to work so hard. He works 60 hours a week! He has to go to community meetings. People talk to him in restaurants. He believes that CMs deserve at least $175,000 per year.

Rodriguez kept coming back to the question of half-time versus full-time. He demanded to know what constitutes full-time, because he puts in so many more hours than that.

It became sadly clear that Ydanis Rodriguez thinks that “full-time” means you work 40 hours and then you go home. If you work more than that, then you deserve overtime. Could it be that he doesn’t understand the difference between an hourly and a salaried employee? Also, does he think that 60 hours a week is an unusual amount of work for a well-paid professional in New York? I know plenty of people who put in those kinds of hours…including Council staffers who make like $30k.

As a former staffer for a council member and a longtime Watcher, I have a pretty good idea of what members do. I am curious if Rodriguez counts the following activities when he adds up his hours: attending press conferences for civic groups, or to “save” El Diario; going to meetings of the Progressive Caucus; going to meetings of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus; going to meetings of the Democratic Caucus; going to meetings of the Manhattan delegation; getting plaques from local organizations; going to ribbon-cutting ceremonies; talking to other electeds; running for Speaker; sending out weather bulletins or press releases condemning a vicious criminal, etc. etc.

Rodriguez also claimed that some CMs “have Ph.Ds.” Is this true? I’ve never heard that. Unless he is thinking about Eva Moskowitz.

--Inez Dickens was mad that no one is taking into account all the groceries and funerals she pays for, for her needy constituents. She said that unlike other elected officials, CMs “are on the streets!”

--Ben Kallos also said that CMs never have time off. “If it is Christmas Eve and you are locking up your district office, and a resident comes by because he is being evicted, well there is no Christmas Eve dinner for you.” He contrasted this to citywide elected officials who supposedly don’t have to deal with constituents’ needs. Somehow he insinuated that he works harder than Michael Bloomberg ever did, which seems like a weird thing to say given Bloomberg’s reputation for total workaholicism. (Bloomberg once said, "I have nothing in common with people who stand on escalators.") Fritz Schwartz said that, when he was Corporation Counsel, he saw Bloomberg work quite a bit. Kallos sneered, “Um, I don’t weekend in Bermuda.”

--Jumaane Williams is insulted that lowly commissioners and deputy commissioners often make more than he does. Why should a staffperson make more money than an exalted elected official? It was pointed out that some deputy commissioners run billion dollar departments and have hundreds of people reporting to them; Williams was nonplussed at this, and seemed to want to say, “So do I!” But of course, he doesn’t.

--Brad Lander repeated his glib refrain that “It is easy to be cynical” about council members’ pay. It is especially easy to be cynical about it when one is given so much material for cynicism.

Amazingly enough, Lander will not even be present on Friday to vote on the bill. How come? He is going on vacation that day. Sure, just taking off a few days in February when he thought the hearing calendar was clear, two weeks before the whole Council goes on its unofficial mid-Winter break. Doesn’t everybody do that?

What f---ing gall.

The Daily News thinks so, too.

De Blasio opposes worker safety bills

Council Member Jumaane Williams

From NY Times:

...the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings held a hearing on Thursday to fast-track several bills and to ask questions, some of them pointed, of the city’s buildings commissioner. Several members of the Council also said that they were busy drafting additional bills that would soon be introduced.

“Saving New Yorkers’ lives is the reason that I called this hearing today,” said Councilman Jumaane D. Williams, the committee’s chairman. “To the families of those that we have lost, and to those who have been injured, let me say loudly and clearly: We hear you, and we are here because of you.”

Mr. Williams, a Brooklyn Democrat, then read out loud the names of some of the workers who have died in the last two years, including several whose stories were described in detail in the Times article.

Two of the new bills would double the penalties assessed to contractors for working without a permit and for violating a stop-work order. Another bill would establish a task force of mayoral agencies, to be led by the Department of Buildings, that would convene regularly to assess the safety risks posed to workers, pedestrians and motorists near construction sites.

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration opposes the bills, said Rick D. Chandler, the city’s buildings commissioner. “If we set penalties too high, we also risk driving work underground, without the benefit of department regulation, which may in turn result in more unsafe construction,” he told the committee.

Mr. Chandler said that the department was already doing “proactive enhanced disciplinary work” with additional staffing and had established, for the first time, a Risk Management Office that would use data analysis to better identify problems.

He also said the administration would focus more attention on buildings up to nine stories high, “where a disproportionate number of accidents occur.” Mr. Chandler added that the administration was considering requiring that construction superintendents be on site on all midsize alteration projects.

Council members want hostels to come back

From AM-NY:

Several City Council members are pushing to legalize youth hostels in New York City, five years after a citywide crackdown wiped them out.

In 2010, the state legislature passed the "Illegal Hotels Bill" that outlawed using residential units as hotel rooms, shutting down virtually the entire hostel industry in New York. Fifty-five hostels across the city were shuttered for either violating zoning laws or operating under conditions that the city deemed dangerous.

Former City Council member Mark Weprin introduced a bill in February to regulate hostels, allowing them to open and operate in commercial zones. After Weprin resigned in June to work for Gov. Andrew Cuomo the bill was taken up by Council Member Margaret Chin.

Like Weprin, Chin also claimed that the city lost millions in revenue over the past few years because many young travelers can't find affordable accommodations and skip the city.

"What we're doing is resolving this unintended consequence in legislation that would allow hostels to operate in a reasonable manner and take advantage of this pool of global tourism," said Paul Leonard, a spokesman for Chin, a Democrat who represents lower Manhattan. A spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the administration is reviewing the legislation and has no official position yet.

Other sponsors of the bill are council members David Greenfield, Jumaane Williams, Rafael Espinal Jr. and Karen Koslowitz.

About five hostels currently operate in the city but they categorize themselves as hotels on the city's books while advertising as hostels or offer "hostel-like" amenities, with the exception of the nonprofit organization Hostelling International that received a special permit by the city in 1989 to operate as a hostel.

If there are hostels operating legally in NYC, then why do we need new laws to make them more available? There is already a pathway to operation.

AirBnB not happy with council bill

From the Daily News:

Airbnb has come out swinging against a bill that would hit homeowners who rent out their pads on home-sharing sites with fines as high as $50,000, saying it’s “bad policy” that could bankrupt New Yorkers looking to make a quick buck.

The company sent a three-page letter to City Councilman Jumaane Williams on Wednesday, a week before the Brooklyn Democrat, who chairs the Housing and Buildings Committee, holds a hearing on the bill.

“A fine of this size being imposed on middle-class families would lead to bankruptcies,” the letter from Christopher Lehane, Airbnb global head of public policy, states.

The $50,000 fine for repeat offenders is larger than fines for other serious infractions — including the $500-a-day penalty for not providing a tenant heat, the $10,000 maximum fine for lead-paint exposure and the $2,000 that landlords pay for rat violations.

The bill appears to be “promoted for only one reason: to scare middle-class people out of their homes,” said Lehane.

He called it the “Freddy Krueger of bills” and said holding the hearing around Halloween was particularly appropriate.

But Williams said it’s Lehane who is trying to frighten people.

He conceded that the $50,000 maximum fine might be a little steep, but said that it wouldn’t be levied against the occasional Airbnb user. “This isn’t about people going on vacation,” he said. “Any time someone gets caught (illegally renting out their apartment), it’s because they are doing it repeatedly.”

Both Williams and City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal, who is the prime sponsor of the bill, said it’s targeted at greedy landlords who illegally rent out regulated apartments, which exacerbates the city’s housing crisis.

Report: Lynch donors attempt to stoke anti-gay sentiment

view this map on LittleSis

From Progress Queens:

After a published report raised questions about the conduct of a politically-active Brooklyn couple, Debbie and Naji Almontaser, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Spanish Harlem) and Councilmember Jumaane Williams (D-East Flatbush) attended an event at the home of the Almontasers on Wedesnday evening.

The conduct of the Almontasers was questioned in a report about the couple's political work on behalf of the campaign of Rebecca Lynch, a former aide to Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-New York City). Ms. Lynch is campaigning to replace former Councilmember Mark Weprin (D-Bellerose) in the New York City Council. (Mr. Weprin stepped down from his post to accept a position in support of the Cuomo administration.)

On behalf of the Lynch campaign, the Almontasers were engaged in alleged activities that were intended to incite homophobia against the campaign of Ms. Lynch's chief rival, Ali Najmi, according to the news report written by Duncan Osborne and published by Gay City News. The Almontasers have reportedly taken issue with Mr. Najmi's pro-equality stance in respect of the LGBT community, and the Almontasers have reportedly been invoking Mr. Najmi's pro-equality support in an attempt to stoke a backlash directed at Mr. Najmi from conservative Muslims, according to the accusations.

The Gay City News report was published on Thursday, July 30. Six evening later, on Wednesday, August 5, Council Speaker Mark-Viverito and Councilmember Williams attended an event at the Brooklyn home of the Almontasers.

Well that's not very progressive, now is it? Actually, I don't think these folks even understand what that word is supposed to mean.