Bill de Blasio

Bill de Blasio

Bill de Blasio (born Warren Wilhelm, Jr.;May 8, 1961) was the Mayor of New York City. Since 2010, he has held the citywide office of New York City Public Advocate, which serves as an ombudsman between the electorate and the city government and is first in line to succeed the mayor. He formerly served as a New York City Council member representing the 39th District in Brooklyn (Borough Park, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Kensington, Park Slope, and Windsor Terrace). He was the Democratic Party nominee in the 2013 election to become Mayor of New York City. On November 5, 2013, De Blasio won the mayoral election by a landslide, receiving over 73% of the vote and will become the first Democratic mayor of the city in nearly 20 years.

Married to Chirlane McCray.

Physicians for Social Responsibility

"De Blasio has been involved with anti-nuke groups, including being an organizer for the Physicians for Social Responsibility."

Soviet visit

Bill de Blasio toured parts of the communist Soviet Union as the Cold War raged.

de Blasio listed the trip on a résumé from the 1990s. Under “travel,” he said he visited “West Africa, Europe, Israel, Puerto Rico, USSR.”

A de Blasio campaign spokeswoman confirmed that her boss went to the United Soviet Socialist Republic as a student in 1983.

“When he was a presidential scholar at NYU, Bill attended an annual trip that took him to Lithuania and Russia. In other years, he traveled — along with other presidential scholars — to Spain, Israel and Senegal,” said de Blasio spokeswoman Lis Smith.

Nicaragua

In 1988, de Blasio went to Nicaragua to do social work in support of the Marxist revolutionary cause, the Sandinistas had been running the country for almost a decade. Their brutality was well-documented. Mr. DeBlasio, who also did fundraising for supporters of the military government, either didn't know about Sandinista repression or he didn't care.

Cuba

In an interview with a New York radio station, some hints emerged when he was asked about his decision to honeymoon in Cuba in 1994. Mr. de Blasio said that he doesn't excuse the "undemocratic" regime, but he also argued that it has accomplished "some good things" like "in health care."

Dinkins disciple

The David Dinkins years are best summarized by the opening lines of The Power of the Mayor: David Dinkins 1990-1993, written by the moderate Democrat Chris McNickle. “David Dinkins,” wrote McNickle, “failed as mayor … When David Dinkins governed, many New Yorkers felt adrift.” They “lacked confidence” in his ability “to run the city.”

Those looking to explain away Dinkins’s failings as New York suffered from record high levels of crime and taxes, a shrinking job base, and a dangerously swollen debt, insisted that New York, with its competing ethnic identities and intransigent interest groups, was simply ungovernable.

A key element in Bill de Blasio’s appeal to liberal activists and older African-Americans has been attempting to revive the reputation of Dinkins, New York’s first black mayor. The Dinkins mayoralty meant a great deal to De Blasio, who met his wife and came of age in local politics while both were working for the Dinkins administration. Dinkins, according to de Blasio, was, unbeknownst to the public, a staunch and effective crime fighter. His problem, argues de Blasio, was communications, not substance, though many who lived through the paralyzing fear of the Dinkins years would probably disagree.

Talking to Salon, de Blasio gives Dinkins credit for expanding the number of cops in New York City with the “Safe Streets, Safe City” program and for bringing the great crime fighter Bill Bratton to the fore. But neither is true.

It was City Council Speaker Peter Vallone who took the lead in expanding the police force. And in the wake of an out-of-town tourist murdered in Times Square, it was the tabloids—with screaming headlines like “DAVE, DO SOMETHING”—that forced the issue.

Working Families Party

In 2001, the Working Families Party (WFP) was barely two years old. Members of the central Brooklyn political club wanted the party to back their preferred candidate for city council, Steve Banks. When the club met, there were a couple dozen WFP members present. They voted overwhelming for the party to support Banks.

But the other candidate in the race was a party co-founder with many strong relationships in and around the WFP: Bill de Blasio.

The endorsement process in New York has always involved party members interviewing candidates and then making a recommendation to a body of the labor and community affiliate organizations. With a supermajority, the affiliates can override the recommendation – which is precisely what they did with the Banks recommendation, keeping the party out of the crowded race. Some members were understandably angry, but it was not the first or the last time they would grapple with the power dynamics between individuals and organizations in the WFP.

The rest of the de Blasio story is history. He became a city councilor, and a few years later, the WFP ran his citywide campaign for Public Advocate. They ultimately played an important role in his successful bid for the mayor’s office, and many WFP staffers went in to his administration. Whatever his limitations have been, the party gets a real portion of the credit for paid sick leave, universal pre-k, and the hundreds of union contracts that de Blasio settled after Bloomberg’s union-busting years.

Gaspard friendship

Patrick Gaspard got his first taste of campaign work doing advance for the 1988 presidential campaign of Jesse Jackson, during which time his energy and affinity with local political organizations caught the notice of Harlem-based consultant Bill Lynch, whose office floor Gaspard got in the habit of crashing on. In Lynch's office Gaspard began a friendship with now New York Councilman Bill de Blasio.

Clarke/PDPA connections

Bill de Blasio, Una Clarke

April 2017 Mayor Bill de Blasio bestowed special honor on his former City Council colleague, Dr. Una S.T. Clarke, and her Brooklyn-based Progressive Democrats Political Association (PDPA) at a gala ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the group that was founded by Clarke.

“You did something powerful that will help everyone,” said the mayor, after reading part of a New York City Proclamation declaring Sunday, April 22 “PDPA Day,” at the group’s Silver Jubilee celebrations at Tropical Paradise Ballroom on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn.

Prior to bestowing the honor, deBlasio described PDPA’s 25th anniversary as “extraordin­ary,” stating that the organization has the ability to reach many.

“There was a time when many doubted PDPA,” he said. “I had the honor to serve as Yvette’s Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, Dr. Clarke’s daughter] campaign chair. So, I wanted to be here to celebrate, because everyone in this room has made a profound difference.

“And I must tell you, I wouldn’t be Mayor of New York City if it wasn’t for PDPA,” he added. “I want to congratulate PDPA.

“Obamacare — look today Obamacare is still the law of the land,” the mayor continued. “And our congresswoman [[[Yvette Clarke]] was there. It’s an organization that’s not just celebrating the leaders but [has] made a difference.”

Mayoral race

In the 2013 New York mayoralty race there were four significant early Democratic Party candidates.

According to Communist Party USA member Danny Rubin, writing in the People's World;

It is widely agreed that the politics of the four range from Christine Quinn, toward the right, to Bill de Blasio, to William Thompson, to John Liu on the left. Council Speaker Quinn's politics are similar to Michael Bloomberg's but still better than any of the non-Democrats. Yet her election would hardly change the direction of the city. While appealing to some because she would be the first woman and first openly gay mayor, her positions on issues go against their interests. She continually slows down and compromises all pro-working families legislation, such as holding up a vote on sick leave. She joins the Republicans in pledging to reappoint Ray Kelly as police commissioner, despite his stop-and-frisk policy. She has strong real estate developer financing.

Support

According to Danny Rubin of the People's World, Christine Quinn, Anthony Weiner, and Bill de Blasio will likely divide up the bulk of the white vote, with de Blasio getting more of the liberals. DeBlasio also has been endorsed by SEIU 1199, the city's biggest union, and could garner some additional big union endorsements and of the Working Families Party.

Communist comment on election victory

According to NYC Communist Party USA organizer Estevan Bassett-Nembhard;

The 2013 New York City elections were a thunderous mandate for progressive change in the nation's largest city. A broad democratic front with labor, and racially and national oppressed people at the lead, has elected a new city government on the platform of reversing the 20 years of Republican rule that preceeded it.

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, Public Advocate-elect Letitia James, and a victorious city council progressive caucus campaigned hard, telling voters that they had the heart to fight and defeat the right-wing agenda. They received overwhelming support in response.

With the 2014 mid-term elections looming, candidates throughout the state and nation who are straddling the fence or wavering in their support of working families have been put on notice.

Since the historic election of David Dinkins to the office of mayor, the city has held five mayoral elections. In consecutive races the united front that elected the first African American executive was divided and conquered by an alliance of reactionary sections of the 1 percent.

After two decades of City Hall catering to the now 70 billionaires and 365,000 millionaires that occupy its five boroughs, a new electoral majority has emerged victorious and ready to chart its own course for a new New York City.

Bill de Blasio is mayor-elect in large part because he has the heart to challenge stop and frisk and support higher taxes on the rich. His son Dante leading the way, the campaign asked New Yorkers to reject the criminalization of poverty and to address that poverty instead.

In response, a desperate Republican Party red baited de Blasio throughout the contest but the message of equality could not be stopped. De Blasio continued growing his support through election weekend despite sound trucks and front page newspaper articles calling him a socialist. Far from letting this put him on the defensive, our next mayor used each of these attacks as opportunities to clarify his commitment to social and economic justice. His popularity rose with each slander, totaling an astonishing 74 percent of the vote.

Letitia James, the councilwoman from Brooklyn, won a historic campaign for Public Advocate as the first African American woman to hold that or any citywide elected office. In the primary and runoff elections James developed a diverse coalition rooted among labor and the racially oppressed and also received strong participation from liberal-leaning white communities.

The James campaign also contributed to a ground-shaking mobilization in central Brooklyn that promises to change the terrain of struggle in the entire city. The largest concentration of people of African descent on the eastern seaboard sent machine candidates packing by voting their class interests. Brooklyn Boro President-elect Eric Adams and District Attorney-elect Ken Thompson, like Public Advocate-elect Letitia James, are consistently progressive African Americans and will be vital contributors to the reshaping of our city.

Melissa Mark-Viverito and 10 other members of the NYC council Progressive Caucus won races for City Council head to head against rightwing fronts like Good Jobs NYC and Students First, who had targeted her and other candidates favorable to the 99 percent. The two organizations were unsuccessful in defeating a single progressive candidate.

Grassroots forces like Community Voices Heard (CVH) are now moving the conversation to the post election with an eye for expanding programs like participatory budgeting. They and others have plugged into initiatives like 13 Progressive Ideas for NYC (13boldideas.org), which brings together the various organizations and institutions of the peoples movement, packaging their cutting edge solutions in 13 clearly presented proposals to rebuild our city.

Talking Transition (Talkingtransitionnyc.com) on the other hand is working to involve thousands of New Yorkers in an open conversation about the mayoral transition and future of the city in the process and connecting them with the above-mentioned groupings of labor and community.

What we win at the ballot box can be lost at the picket line. The struggle to realize the progressive mandate and to recalibrate city government toward progressive change began Nov 6, one day after elections.

Taxing the rich to fund pre-school and after school, outlawing racial profiling, significantly increasing the minimum wage, ensuring retroactive pay and contracts for public workers, ending infill and privatization attempts in public housing, ending the co-locations and privatization attempts in public education, preservation and construction of housing that is truly affordable and more are on the line.

Flynn Club support

In 2014, the New York based Communist Party USA Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Club wrote;

Sometimes, we must be free to disagree with Democrats on selected issues, even those whom we have supported, such as Obama on a national level, Jerrold Nadler, a progressive Congressman from Manhattan, and Bill De Blasio, who is New York City's new progressive mayor. For example, we should be free to advocate a general reduction of our country's military and to disagree with the Obama Administration's expansion of some sections of our military forces.

Muslim Democratic Club of New York

New York City’s first Muslim club is looking to have an impact on the mayor’s race. And organizers of the group, the Muslim Democratic Club of New York, cited current Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s policies–notably, the city police department’s controversial Muslim surveillance efforts–as a key motivating factor as they seek to ensure his successor follows a new path.

“The mayor has been a problem for this community,” one club leader, Ali Najmi, said. “We want to send a message to City Hall that the next mayor needs to treat us differently.”

Representatives for New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former comptroller Bill Thompson and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio were also in attendance.

Robert Jackson of Harlem, the only Muslim member on the New York City Council, spoke to the crowd. So did Zead Ramadan, who is also Muslim and is one of the candidates running this year to replace Jackson.

Gramsci monument

Heidi Easton Chua Schwa September 15, 2013 ·

Dante de Blasio and his dad , democratic mayoral candidate , Bill de Blasio at the Gramsci monument in the Bronx. We all listened to a lecture by Frank Wilderson. — with Rose-Alma Lamoureux, Nichole Shippen and Kazembe Balagun in Boogie Down Bronx.

Aggressive agenda

In November 2013, Strode into Al Sharpton’s Harlem headquarters, DeBlasio also spoke of having a “not only progressive, but aggressive agenda.”.

Education/children

In November 2013, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio announced the appointment of his 60-member transition committee, and it includes 10 individuals with experience in education and children's issues.

The group includes parent leader Zakiyah Ansari, advocacy director of the Alliance for Quality Education. Ansari was a frequent gadfly throughout Mayor Michael Bloomberg's tenure on issues of school choice, charter schools and parent engagement, among others. The Brooklyn mother has eight children, all of whom either attend or graduated from public schools. She's also been a vocal advocate for additional state educational aid and for early childhood education, a central theme of de Blasio's campaign.

The other members of the transition team with experience in education and children's issues include:

• Alexa Aviles, a co-PTA president at Brooklyn's P.S. 172 who is also a program officer at Scherman Foundation, which funds the arts.

• Maxine Griffith, will Executive Device President and Special Advisor for Campus Planning at Columbia University.

• Richard Buery, President and C.E.O. of the Children's Aid Society.

• Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice at CUNY

• David Jones, president and C.E.O. of the Community Service Society of New York.

• Marvin Hellman, President, OHEL Childrens Home and Family Services

• Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York, which has fought to help children with special needs in the city's public schools.

• Dr. Marcia Keizs, President of York College at CUNY.

• Elba Montalvo, Founder, President and C.E.O. of the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families.

de Blasio appointed Jennifer Jones Austin, a former deputy commissioner with the Administration for Children's Services, as co-leader of his transition team. WNYC reached out to some of the newly appointed members and was told they were asked to decline media requests for comment.

"It's a group of people who share a progressive vision for the future of the city, who are known in their fields of endeavor as being effective and strong leaders, and who share a clear commitment to diversity in leadership for the future of the city," De Blasio said.

0ther key people included;

• Transition NYC Co-Chair Carl Weisbrod
• Laura Santucci
• Ursulina Ramirez

Radical staffer

Jon Green works at NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio's Office.

North Star Fund 35th Gala

In 2014, at Chelsea Piers, North Star Fund held its annual Community Gala. This 35th Anniversary Community Gala was a spectacular celebration of North Star Fund and the achievements of our diverse community of philanthropic and grassroots activists and organizers. The event raised $870,000, which broke every previous record.

Notable guests included Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray, Katherine Acey, Nisha Atre, Martha Baker, Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Jay Beckner, Ingrid Benedict, Bill Bragin, Peter Brest, Art Chen, Bobby Cohen, Joe Conason, Larry Condon, Anne Delaney, Maddy deLone, Deni Frand, Elizabeth Gilmore, Elspeth Gilmore, Mark Green, Gary Hattem, Pierre Hauser, Michael Hirschhorn, Sarah Kovner and Victor Kovner, Dal LaMagna, Josh Mailman, Christine Marinoni, Christina McInerney, Pam McMichael, Ruth Messinger, Cynthia Nixon, Shola Olatoye, Ana Oliveira, Erica Payne, Lisa Philp, Mark Reed, Rinku Sen, Tani Takagi, Elizabeth Wagley, Michael Waldman, Maggie Williams, Barbara Winslow, and Kyung Yoon.

WFP pre-election gathering

Bill de Blasio addresses the gathering

Many high-power politicians–United States Senator Charles Schumer, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Public Advocate Letitia James and State Senator James Sanders–fired up a hundreds-strong crowd of supporters of the labor-backed Working Families Party 9/9/2014 with speeches vowing to keep Republicans from controlling the State Senate, to raise the minimum wage, to create a public financing system for state elections and to organize low-paid fast food and airport workers.

The crowd, a mix of union members and activist groups like Vocal-NY and New York Communities for Change, crammed into the basement of Manhattan’s Saint Vartan’s Armenian Cathedral for the event, entitled “Justice for Workers.” The evening started with a reading by poet Maria “Mariposa” Fernandez, who read a piece detailing the difficult life of a Hispanic service worker that simultaneously railed against pollution, an America “ruled by warmongering men,” “U.S. colonialism and imperialism” and the Atlantic slave trade.

The goals laid out are ambitious, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has sometimes wavered on whether he will support all of the party’s liberal initiatives. Mr. de Blasio–one of the earliest supporters of WFP, and who brokered the deal that secured Mr. Cuomo its endorsement this year–pointed to his struggle to attain the mayoralty last year as a source of inspiration.

“I just want to say, I am your poster child! Whenever somebody tells you something can’t be done, you can’t win the election, too far back in the polls, people won’t come out, just have them call me,” Mr. de Blasio said. “Anybody who tries to tell you the people aren’t listening, they don’t understand. Anybody who tells you that the people aren’t going to vote their own interest, their own economic interest, misunderstands this momentum here.”

Metropolitan College gala

Metropolitan College of New York celebrated its founding with a 50th Anniversary Gala, Thursday, October 23, 2014 at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. Themed, “Amplify the Dream”; the Gala highlighted the school’s dynamic history. The Gala’s honorary chair was Mayor David Dinkins, New York City’s first Black mayor.

“I am honored to serve as honorary chair of MCNY’s Anniversary Gala,” said Mayor Dinkins. “For half a century, MCNY has not only produced professional citizens in New York City, but those who are also socially-responsible and share a commitment to give back and make our society a better place for all New Yorkers.”

The distinguished members of the honorary committee include: Mayor Bill de Blasio, Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President; Ruben Diaz, Jr., Bronx Borough President; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; Carmen de Lavallade and the late Geoffrey Holder; Fernando Ferrer, Vice Chairman, MTA and former Bronx President; Ruth Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service; Senator Charles E. Schumer and Reverend Al Sharpton. The Gala honorees include: Helen LaKelly Hunt (Changemaker), Dr. Edison O. Jackson (Trailblazer) and R. Rick Baker (Champion). Robert Sargent Shriver was honored posthumously.

21st Century Democrats

21st Century Democrats successfully endorsed Bill de Blasio for New York mayor in 2014.

Greetings to Communist gathering/"We're Not Going Back"

March 2015, a crowd of New Yorkers lined up at the security desk in order to make their way up to the third floor to Melba's Restaurant and the annual "We're Not Going Back" celebration of African American culture and struggle.

2014's guest speaker was Angela Davis, and the occasion was held downtown at the Henry Winston Unity Hall. This year's featured speaker was the newly elected mayor of Newark, the Honorable Ras Baraka.

The meeting's theme was "Support City Officials Who Fight for Equality, a Living Wage and Against Racism."

Estevan Bassett-Nembhard, New York organizer of the Communist Party USA, opened the program, greeting the over 200 participants and emphasizing the need for unity in the vital struggle to end racism. "We stand on the shoulders of those who defeated slavery and Jim Crow. Our history tells us that united we stand and divided we fall." He continued, "We're not going back! Our pledge is to stick together."

Naquasia LeGrand chaired the event, winning a round of applause when she announced that she was a fast food worker and an organizer of that movement.

A large and politically diverse host committee was formed to welcome Mayor Baraka, including representatives from labor, fast-food workers, police reform, immigrant rights, LGBTQ, religious and peace and justice movements. Among them were Alisha Garner, the sister of Eric Garner murdered by police on Staten Island, and elected officials including State Senator Bill Perkins, State Assemblyman Keith Wright, along with a representative of City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez. Baraka received proclamations from Perkins, Wright and Rodriguez. He also received a letter of welcome from Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer stopped by briefly to greet the gathering crowd.

As the evening ended one participant said, "This was a great event that showed that left and center forces in our city can work together to build principled unity and a stronger movement to help defeat racism and poverty."

Secret Meeting/Progressive Agenda

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio held a closed-door meeting at his mayoral residence on April 2, 2015, to create the Progressive version of the 1994 Republican “Contract with America.” De Blasio called his update the “Progressive Agenda” and its stated purpose was to address “income inequality” in the U.S. A dozen far-left leaders attended the closed-door meeting, including George Soros’ son Jonathan Soros. Jonathan claims to support removing money from politics, yet hypocritically serves on several boards at the Open Society Foundation (OSF). OSF has given more than $550 million to liberal organizations. Other liberal leaders at the April 2 meeting were Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation, “disgraced” former Obama advisor and 9/11 Truther Van Jones, Marian Wright Edelman, and liberal economist Joseph Stiglitz. In an April 6 interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, de Blasio confirmed that key elements of the Progressive Agenda included: a progressive tax (driven by the Buffett Rule -- which argues that wealthier individuals should have to pay higher taxes), universal free pre-kindergarten, and a $15 minimum wage. De Blasio said the full Agenda would be unveiled at the May 12 event in Washington, D.C.

According to Rolling Stone, other attendees included Sherrod Brown, the populist senator from Ohio, and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy. The novelist Toni Morrison showed up, delighting de Blasio and McCray. Other attendees included Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva, chair of the House Progressive Caucus.]

Judicial Appointees

From the Official Website of the City of New York dated April 27, 2015:

NEW YORK—Mayor de Blasio today swore in 28 judges recently appointed to the Family Court, Criminal Court, and Civil Court. Eight of the judges sworn in today were reappointed, and 20 were newly appointed.

“To ensure New Yorkers have access to a fair, equitable justice system, we need judges who are qualified, honest and reflective of the people of this city,” said Mayor de Blasio. “With their wealth of legal experience, these appointees represent all five boroughs and all walks of life. From the first female South Asian-American judge in New York City to a former NYPD First Deputy Commissioner, these talented leaders truly reflect the diverse range of communities that make up our great city.”

Family Court, Criminal Court, and Civil Court are part of the New York State Unified Court System. The Mayor appoints judges to 10-year terms in the New York City Criminal Court and the Family Court within the city. While Civil Court judges are elected to 10-year terms, the Mayor appoints judges to interim one-year terms to fill vacancies in the New York City Civil Court.

The Mayor swore in the following judges:

Family Court Appointments

• Judge Elizabeth Barnett, who was appointed in February 2015, has worked for the New York State Unified Court System for more than two decades in various capacities, including Deputy Counsel to the Chief Administrative Judge and Chief Counsel for the New York City Family Court. As a member of the New York City Bar Association, Judge Barnett has previously served on a number of committees, including the Committee on Family Court & Family Law, the Committee on Juvenile Justice, and the Committee on AIDS.

• Judge Jacqueline Deane, who was appointed in February 2015, previously served as a training team leader/senior attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, and served with the Legal Aid Society for 27 years, primarily in the Juvenile Rights Division. Judge Deane is a member of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, and the Planning Committee for Teen Day, and the LGBT Pride Celebration Planning Committee of Kings County Family Court.

• Judge Peter DeLizzo, who was appointed in April 2015, has previously served as an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County, an associate attorney in the Office of the Public Defender of Richmond County, and served as a Court Attorney-Referee in Richmond County for more than eight years. Judge DeLizzo, who lives on Staten Island with his partner and two children, is the first openly gay Staten-Island-based judge in New York.

• Judge Alicea Elloras, who was appointed in April 2015, most recently served as a Support Magistrate in Family Court for the past six years, and has previously served as a Staff Attorney with the Administration for Children’s Services. Judge Elloras lived in New York City public housing in the Bronx during part of her childhood, and now lives in Manhattan.

• Judge Adetokunbo Fasanya was appointed in January 2015 and was first appointed as an interim civil court judge in October 2013, and had been serving in Family Court. Prior to his appointment, he served with the New York City Child Welfare Administration, and was in private practice for 14 years, specializing in several areas including family law. Judge Fasanya grew up in Nigeria, and received his law degree from Nigerian Law School in Lagos, Nigeria before moving to the United States.

• Judge Carol Goldstein, who was appointed in April 2015, previously served for 17 years as a Court Attorney Referee in Family Court, and served with the Legal Aid Society for almost 20 years, primarily in the Juvenile Rights Division. Judge Goldstein received her law degree from Brooklyn Law School, and currently lives in Manhattan.

• Judge Alma Gomez, who was appointed in February 2015, previously served as Executive Director/General Counsel for The Bronx Council for Economic Development and served as a Court Attorney in Criminal Court and Supreme Court for nearly 17 years. She is currently a member of the Bronx Women’s Bar Association, the Puerto Rican Bar Association, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Law Association of Greater New York. Judge Gomez holds a law degree from New York University as well as a Masters in Social Work from Columbia University.

• Judge Connie Gonzalez, who was appointed in February 2015, previously worked for the Nassau County Legal Aid Society for 13 years, most recently serving as Family Court Bureau Chief. Judge Gonzalez recently turned 40, making her the youngest judge of the 2015 mayoral appointments.

• Judge Michael Milsap, who was appointed in February 2015, most recently served as a Support Magistrate in Family Court for 21 years, and previously served in the New York City Human Resources Administration as an Assistant Supervisor in the Office of Legal Affairs. Judge Milsap is involved with several civic and professional organizations, including the Metropolitan Black Bar Association and the Association of Gay and Lesbian Judges.

• Judge Erik Pitchal, who was appointed to the Family Court in January 2015, was first appointed as an Interim Civil Court Judge in January 2013, where he had been serving in Family Court. Prior to his appointment, he served with the Legal Aid Society in the Juvenile Rights Division. Judge Pitchal has extensive experience in the field of children’s welfare and advocacy, and previously worked at Suffolk University Law School as Director of the Child Advocacy Clinic and as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law.

• Judge Fiordaliza Rodriguez, who was appointed in February 2015, previously worked for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services, and most recently served as a Court Attorney-Referee in Family Court. Judge Rodriguez holds a law degree from CUNY School of Law and a Masters in Social Work from The New School for Social Research.

Family Court Reappointments

• Judge Tandra Dawson was first appointed to the Family Court in July 1998, and currently presides in the Integrated Domestic Violence Court in New York County. She was previously a prosecutor in the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office for nearly 15 years. Judge Dawson serves as a member of the Independent Review Board at the Office of Children and Family Services.

• Judge Douglas Hoffman was first appointed to the Criminal Court in January 2003, and was assigned to the Family Court. He was subsequently appointed to the Family Court in October 2005. He is currently the Supervising Judge of New York County Family Court. Judge Hoffman is the Chair of the Family Court Advisory Committee, Appellate Division, First Department, and co-Chair of the New York County Committee on Disproportionate Minority Representation in Foster Care.

• Judge Clark Richardson was first appointed to the Family Court in 1995. He was previously a Borough Chief in the Family Court Division of the New York City Law Department, and also served as a Supervising Judge of Bronx County Family Court. Judge Richardson resides in Manhattan, and holds a law degree from Cornell University.

• Judge Edwina Richardson-Mendelson was first appointed to the Family Court in January 2003. She is currently the Administrative Judge for New York City Family Court. She was formerly a Court Attorney-Referee in the Queens County Family Court. Judge Richardson-Mendelson is the Chair of the New York City Family Court Judicial Operations Advisory Group and chairs several committees within the New York City Family Court Advisory Council.

Criminal Court Appointments

• Judge Abena Darkeh, who was appointed in February 2015, most recently served as Deputy Commissioner for Regional Affairs and Federal Programs for the New York State Division of Human Rights, and previously served as Citywide Domestic Violence Coordinator for New York City Criminal Court. Judge Darkeh is the co-Founder and Vice President of the Association of Ghanaian Lawyers of America.

• Judge Claudia DePeyster, who was appointed in April 2015, most recently served with the New York City Police Department as an Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Trials for 11 years, and has served as an attorney with the Bureau of Investigations and Trials of the New York City Fire Department.

• Judge Guy Mitchell, who was appointed in February 2015, served most recently an Assistant Attorney General In Charge of the Harlem/Bronx Regional Office, and formerly served as Chief of the Criminal Division in the United States Virgin Islands Department of Justice. Judge Mitchell has been a member of a number of professional associations for many years, including the Black Bar Association of Bronx County and the Dominican Bar Association.

• Judge Kathryn Paek, who was appointed in February 2015, most recently served as Principal Court Attorney in Supreme Court, Criminal Term, Kings County and as Chief of Staff in the Office of Policy and Planning for the New York State Office of Court Administration. Judge Paek is the first female Korean-American judge to serve in the New York State Unified Court System.

• Judge Laurie Peterson, who was appointed to the Criminal Court in January 2015, was first appointed as an Interim Civil Court Judge in January 2013 and had been serving in Criminal Court. She previously served as the Principal Court Attorney to a Supervising Judge of the Criminal Court. Judge Peterson resides in Queens.

• Judge Raja Rajeswari, who was appointed in April 2015, previously worked with the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office for her entire career in several bureaus including Criminal Court, Narcotics, Supreme Court, and the Sex Crimes Special Victims Bureau, where she last served as Deputy Chief. Judge Rajeswari is the first female South Asian-American judge to be appointed in New York City, and immigrated to Staten Island from India as a teenager. She is fluent in several Indian, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian languages.

Criminal Court Reappointments

• Judge Bruna DiBiase was first appointed to the Criminal Court in December 2013. She previously served as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Policy and Planning with the New York State Unified Court System. Judge DiBiase resides in Queens and attended Queens College before receiving her law degree from Hofstra University.

• Judge George Grasso was first appointed to the Criminal Court in January 2010. He became Supervising Judge of Arraignments for New York City Criminal Courts in 2012. He also served with the New York City Police Department for almost 30 years, where he eventually held the position of First Deputy Commissioner. Judge Grasso is credited with spearheading CourtStat – a computer-tracking system, inspired by CompStat, for cases in arraignment courts – which has contributed to a sharp decrease in arrest-to-arraignment times.

Civil Court Appointments

• Judge Heidi Cesare was appointed as an Interim Civil Court Judge in February 2015 and is serving in Criminal Court. She most recently served with the Federal Defenders of New York, and has served with the Legal Aid Society in the Criminal Defense Division and with the Federal Defender Division, Eastern District of New York.

• Judge Marguerite Dougherty was appointed as an Interim Civil Court Judge in February 2015 and is serving in Criminal Court. She most recently served as Executive Director and Assistant General Counsel for JP Morgan Chase & Co. She was previously a Court Officer and Court Clerk in the Criminal Court and Supreme Court for 18 years. She holds a law degree from Brooklyn Law School.

• Judge Althea Drysdale was appointed as an Interim Civil Court Judge in February 2015 and is serving in Criminal Court. She served as a Staff Attorney for the Legal Aid Society for 10 years, and most recently served as a Senior Trial Attorney for the New York County Defender Services. Judge Drysdale was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica, and currently resides in Manhattan.

Civil Court Reappointments

• Judge Tracey Bing was first appointed as an Interim Civil Court Judge in October 2013 and has been serving in Family Court, Bronx County. She has served with Harlem Legal Services, the Legal Aid Society, and as Director of the Family Law/Domestic Violence Unit of Manhattan Legal Services. Judge Bing, who resides in the Bronx, received a law degree from CUNY School of Law, where she served as the president of Black Law Students.

• Judge Laura Johnson was first appointed as an Interim Civil Court Judge in January 2013 and has been serving in Criminal Court, Kings County. She previously served with the New York County District Attorney’s Office and the Legal Aid Society, including as Attorney-in-Charge of the Criminal Appeals Bureau. Judge Johnson resides in Brooklyn, and received a law degree from Columbia University.

Endorsed AAFE 2016 banquet

Rally for DACA

New York City: October 5, 2017, the Asian American Federation held a rally at Trump Tower with our member agencies and leading immigrant advocacy groups to speak out in support of Asian American Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, who are being impacted by the dissolution of the DACA program under the Trump administration. Twenty-three organizations and nearly 200 New Yorkers, including Congresswoman Jo-Ann Yoo, executive director of the Asian American Federation, Grace Meng, Council Member Margaret Chin, Assemblymember Yuh-line Niou, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, and Comptroller Scott Stringer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Mayor Bill de Blasio Assemblymember Deborah Glick, Assemblyman Ron Kim, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, Public Advocate Letitia James, Council Member Daniel Dromm, Council Member Rory Lancman, Steven Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, Margaret Fung, executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Christopher Kui, executive director of Asian Americans for Equality, Annetta Seecharran, executive director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation, Mae Lee, executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association (New York), Wayne Ho, executive director of the Chinese-American Planning Council, Kavita Mehra, executive director of Sakhi for South Asian Women, Robina Niaz, executive director of Turning Point for Women and Families, joined hands with the Federation to defend the future of our DREAMers.

Rally Co-Sponsors: Adhikaar, Alliance of South Asian American Labor, Arab American Association of New York, Asian American Arts Alliance, Asian American Bar Association of New York, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian Americans for Equality, Chhaya Community Development Corporation, Chinese-American Planning Council, Chinese Progressive Association (New York), Council of People’s Organization, Desis Rising Up and Moving, Japanese American Association of New York, Japanese American Social Services, Inc., Korean American Family Service Center, Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, MinKwon Center for Community Action, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, New York Immigration Coalition, OCA-NY, Sakhi for South Asian Women, Turning Point for Women and Families, University Settlement.

Anti "Muslim ban" rally

After 17 people were detained without charges this morning in John F. Kennedy Airport, protesters and elected officials gathered in Battery Park to speak against President Donald Trump’s slew of executive orders banning immigrants from seven Muslim majority countries and halting the entry of refugees into the country.

The New York Immigration Coalition, Make The Road New York, the National Immigration Law Center and several other New York-based organizations coordinated the rally, and over 10,000 supporters attended.

Among the speakers were Senators Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Mayor Bill de Blasio, activist Linda Sarsour and U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler. Many elected officials were also present at the rally in Washington Square Park on Wednesday, which promoted a similar message of open borders with the hashtag #NoBanNoWall.

Addressing the crowd, Schumer said that the protests in JFK contributed to the fight against Trump’s recent executive orders regarding immigration.

“Because of your actions, he [Secretary John F. Kelly] promised me that the 42 who are detained and under court order to be released, will be released to the United States and to freedom shortly,” Schumer said during his speech. “So we’ve made progress for 42 — we have to make progress for thousands and tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands more.”

Sana Mayat is the NYU’s Muslim Student Association vice president, and she expressed surprise and pride to see the number of non-Muslims that showed up at the rally.

“People are saying that an attack on one is an attack on everyone, not just an issue that is limited to one group,” Mayat said. “It is really impactful and it gives me a lot of hope.”

CAS freshman Claudia Franke attended the protest and said that the message of Sunday’s rally particularly resonated with her, since she has family members living in the U.S. with green cards.

Going left

Stacey Abrams, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Benjamin Jealous and others appear to be part of a trend among minority candidates who have defeated moderate Democrats by campaigning on liberal policy priorities.

Key to that strategy is mobilizing people who don’t vote regularly, mostly people of color and progressive white voters. “You do that by organizing,” Jealous said. “We will build an army of organizers across our state to turn out voters by talking to them.”

Part of that strategy is recognizing the that there is often a gap between eligible Democratic voters and the margin of victory, said Steve Phillips, author of "Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority".

In Maryland, he said, only 800,000 Democratic voters turned out for Hogan’s 2014 election, compared to about 1.1 million who turned out to elect former Governor Martin O’Malley.

Those voters, Phillips and others have argued, could be swayed to turn out with a progressive agenda of economic and social justice.

Jealous said that as the former president of the NAACP, he knows how to bring out voters.

Like Ocasio-Cortez, he campaigned on Medicare for all, as well as free tuition at public colleges and universities in Maryland, police reform and legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.

Other Democratic candidates using this strategy include David Garcia, who is running for governor in Arizona, Chardo Richardson running in Florida’s 7th Congressional District and Cori Bush, running in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District.

While candidates of color have embraced this strategy the most, Phillips said that white candidates “can and should” use it as well, citing New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio and U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, as examples of those who are.

“Unfortunately much of the Democratic white establishment does not believe in this strategy,” Phillips said. “They still harbor this notion that you can win back Trump voters without the empirical evidence.”