Council Member Ferreras-Copeland tours Inwood library (photo: William Alatriste/New York City Council)
Last month, City Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland announced that she would not seek re-election. Much ink has been, and will continue to be, spilled on the political implications of her decision. But when such an important leader decides to depart, we owe it to her and our city to consider the legacy she leaves behind.
Our city owes Council Member Ferreras-Copeland our sincere appreciation. In her years in the City Council, and leading the finance committee, she has consistently delivered for working-class New Yorkers, immigrants, and the communities across this city in greatest need.
Time and again, she has played a leadership role in the battles that matter most for our communities. She has fought to ensure that marginalized and under-resourced communities get the attention they need in the budget, and she has helped ensure the passage of progressive legislation to ensure equal opportunities and protections for all.
We have worked closely with the council member on dozens of issues over the years, but several bear mention.
In her native Queens, immigrant communities have faced overwhelming school overcrowding for years, with some children forced to study in closets or eat lunch at 10 a.m. because of insufficient facilities. She worked closely with community members and advocates and made this issue a top priority for the budget, ultimately securing billions of dollars in new capital funds for school construction.
She demonstrated a similarly strong commitment to Queens through her leadership in creating the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Alliance, which has helped protect the beloved park and ensure a bright future for the borough’s most important green lung.
Council Member Ferreras-Copeland was also one of the first elected officials to lead the charge for paid sick days for all New Yorkers. Her support throughout the campaign helped make this path-breaking legislation a reality.
She also demonstrated a clear and consistent understanding of the need for resources for adult literacy. She worked closely with Council Member Carlos Menchaca and fought hard to ensure that these programs, which serve the dual goals of immigrant integration and workforce development, be expanded. Their work together yielded millions of dollars in additional funding.
Always a strong champion for opportunities for young people, she also recognized the importance of confronting the school-to-prison pipeline by investing in alternatives to the criminalization of young people of color. Under her leadership in the finance committee, the Council created a new restorative justice initiative to implement alternatives to punitive discipline that promote healing, understanding, and accountability.
On issue after issue, she has stood with us and amplified the voices and needs of her communities.
Council Member Ferreras-Copeland has achieved all of this as a strong woman of color facing a political landscape that remains dominated by white men. She has faced down obstacles on a daily basis, and she has overcome them with the poise, wisdom and wit that have endeared her to so many of her colleagues across the five boroughs.
Julissa Ferreras-Copeland has been a pioneer and a tremendous leader for her district and our City. We thank her deeply for her service to our communities, and we know that her work will serve as a powerful example for the next generation of progressive leaders across New York.
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Javier H. Valdés and Deborah Axt are the Co-Executive Directors of Make the Road New York, the largest grassroots community organization in New York offering services and organizing the immigrant community. On Twitter @maketheroadny @javierhvaldes @daxt.
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My union member father recently asked me how New Yorkers on the left can possibly want a state constitutional convention, for which a referendum will be on the ballot this November. After all, the roster of opponents includes organized labor, environmental groups, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the vast majority of New York’s elected Democrats.
These progressives have reasonable arguments against a constitutional convention, or “con con,” which will only happen if a majority of voters votes for the referendum in November. They worry about constitutional pension protections and the “forever wild” language that safeguards New York’s forest preserves from development. They cite the obstacles the left would face during delegate elections in November 2018, which would determine who drafts constitutional amendments: first, dark money from wealthy interests could crush good candidates, and second, delegates would be elected by state Senate districts, which are gerrymandered to favor Republicans. A skeptical policy wonk friend of mine has also pointed out that the most recent state con con that produced a progressive victory was Montana’s -- in 1972.
These concerns are valid, yet now is the moment to take this risk. If voters across the state favor a con con this November, then delegate elections would be on the same ballot as the federal congressional midterm elections in 2018. We cannot pass up this serendipitous timing.
The left’s first lucky draw is that 36 of the past 39 midterm elections have resulted in losses for the party that holds the White House, currently the Republican Party. Second, while we’re still a long way from November 2018, I wouldn’t bet on this likely Democratic win being small. Donald Trump is uniquely unpopular for a President at this point in his term, Republicans – independently of the president – are rallying around a health care bill that, in the last version scored by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, will result in 15 million fewer people having health insurance, and the left’s grassroots are ready to storm the figurative Bastille.
To reinforce this point, con con delegates would be elected on the very same ballot people will use for the November 2018 congressional midterms. The left is going to swamp the polls. When Long Islanders just swung a state Assembly seat nearly 20 points away from November’s Republican vote, we can have some faith that progressives will show up in force for federal elections.
Heightened voter turnout can overcome many of the fears progressive con con opponents have, but there are other reasons to be optimistic regarding the structural disadvantages the left will face. True, if the con con referendum passes this November, three delegates would be elected per gerrymandered state Senate district. But Hillary Clinton managed to win 40 of 63 of these districts and there will be 15 more at-large delegates elected by statewide vote. This slate would likely have a leftward tilt from the aforementioned Democratic surge.
Albany is broken. It would be wonderful to have progressive policies enacted through normal legislative channels, but New Yorkers know that won’t happen. Even when corruption scandals aren’t rocking our Legislature, decisions are made by three – or four, thanks to the Independent Democratic Conference – men in a room who refuse to advance many progressive priorities.
The amendments con con advocates are pushing vary. Some supporters want “good government” changes that will make it easier to vote and improve campaign financing and redistricting rules. After enacting these reforms, progressive change could happen organically through a more representative and better functioning Legislature. The theory goes that constitutional amendments in this vein would be nonpartisan and Republicans who care about small-d democracy will get behind them.
Other con con proponents want to embed policies in the state constitution itself, whether on reproductive rights, enhanced civil rights for nonwhite and LGBTQ people, marijuana legalization, or an environmental bill of rights that will prevent a future disaster like what befell Hoosick Falls. They note that those pension and state forest protections opponents fret over were themselves enshrined in a constitutional convention. There are solid arguments in favor of either strategy.
I have heard con con believers describe this as a once-in-a-generation chance to systematically change the way state government works, but they’re wrong. They’re actually overstating the odds that we’ll see another opportunity like this in two or four decades when the next con con referendums roll around. We have a historically unpopular Republican government in Washington and an extraordinarily animated grassroots. Take advantage of this rare convergence. This November 7th, vote “yes” for the constitutional convention.
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Daniel Edelman is a government consultant and a member of the New Kings Democrats and Citizens Union, two civic groups in favor of the Constitutional Convention. The views expressed are his own.
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SBS Commissioner Bishop, the author, right (photo: @NYCCouncil)
Earlier this week, an op-ed appeared in Gotham Gazette entitled "How the City Hurts Small Businesses." This column reminded me of a great saying by New York’s late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan: “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” The truth is that Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Department of Small Business Services are working every day to support small, neighborhood businesses across the five boroughs. A few facts:
The City offers these, and many other services because we recognize that part of what makes New York City special is the diverse mix of small businesses that give our neighborhoods character. We care about the local hardware stores, beauty salons, and pizza shops where the owners know your name and are invested in their communities. We are moving government out of the way of small business owners, cutting red tape, providing new legal protections, and leveling the playing field for minority, women, and foreign-born business owners.
Every year, our team at SBS reaches thousands of small businesses through an array of free, accessible services. We help small businesses in every phase of their development as they start, operate, and grow. This support helps small business owners cut costs and boost their bottom lines, offsetting some of the competitive pressures that exist in New York.
We help small businesses to write business plans as they are starting up, learn how to negotiate a commercial lease, and understand City rules and regulations. We keep them running with free educational resources, legal consultations, and compliance services to avoid costly fines and penalties. And we help small businesses to grow through programs to help them secure financing, sell to the government, and other tailored services for minority, women, and immigrant-owned businesses.
This year SBS also launched a citywide program called Love Your Local, which encourages New Yorkers to share their favorite independent small business through social media and on an interactive map on SBS’ website. So far, over 2,000 businesses were shared for other New Yorkers to discover. In addition to this free publicity, these businesses are eligible to apply for grant funding to help them better compete.
The author of the op-ed also questions the value of the City’s work with Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). At SBS, we provide technical assistance to communities that wish to form a BID. We help make sure that BIDs are accountable and formed through ground-up community engagement. There are BIDs across New York City that are both big and small, providing supplemental sanitation services, merchant organizing, and neighborhood beautification to strengthen existing small businesses. The 74 BIDs that operate across the city include 35 low-to-moderate income neighborhoods and each of them is governed by a locally-controlled nonprofit board of directors.
The daily work of BIDs makes a difference for small businesses and local residents alike. If you drill down and look at the nuts and bolts of what BIDs are doing, it is work that benefits everyone. On an average day, BIDs across the city:
We are proud of the work we are doing each and every day to support stronger businesses and build stronger neighborhoods across the five boroughs. I encourage all small business owners to take advantage of the free services that SBS offers. We can help your business start, operate, and grow, and we are also here to provide assistance to communities that choose to form a BID. More information on our services can be found by visiting our website or by calling 311.
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Gregg Bishop is the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services. On Twitter at @NYC_SBS and @GreggBishopNYC.
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