Stanley Richards with Mayor de Blasio (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)
July 15, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Correction Reform at a Crossroads
Stanley Richards of The Fortune Society joined the show to discuss the status of correction reform, particularly with regard to solitary confinement and much more.
Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMax and @JarrettMurphy. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts, under "Max & Murphy," and listen to Max & Murphy live on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. on WBAI radio, 99.5FM or wbai.org.
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by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
@tweetBenMax @GothamGazette
Who's running? (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)
The party primaries for New York City’s 2021 elections are rapidly approaching. All of city government is on the ballot this year, with most of the seats “open” due to term limits while some incumbents seek reelection. Two of three citywide elected officials -- the mayor and the comptroller -- are term-limited out of office, as are four of the five borough presidents, and most of the 51-seat City Council.
While a lot will change between now and November of 2021, when many races will ultimately be decided, most of the action in heavily-Democratic New York City will be in the Democratic primaries set for June. Any primaries in the Republican Party or other parties will also be in June.
This year is also the launch of ranked-choice voting in New York City, for special elections and party primary elections only. The system got its first test runs in some special elections, but will be fully rolled out for the June primaries.
Below is a list of who is running for what in 2021, with an initial focus on the party primaries happening in June.
The list does not include party labels for every candidate -- almost all of the candidates are Democrats and not marked as such, but candidates from other parties are marked. An asterisk (*) denotes an incumbent.
This list is a work in progress that will be updated. Have an addition or correction? Email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with subject line “2021 candidates.”
Mayor (current: Bill de Blasio)
Eric Adams
Art Chang
Shaun Donovan
Aaron Foldenhauer
Kathryn Garcia
Ray McGuire
Dianne Morales
Paperboy Prince
Scott Stringer
Joycelyn Taylor
Maya Wiley
Isaac Wright Jr.
Andrew Yang
Fernando Mateo (R)
Curtis Sliwa (R)
William Pepitone (C)
Stacey Prussman (L)
Vitaly Filipchenko (i)
Raja Flores (i)
Quanda Francis (i)
Chris Kreitchman (i)
Public Advocate (current: Jumaane Williams)
Theo Chino
Anthony Herbert
Jumaane Williams*
Comptroller (current: Scott Stringer)
Brian Benjamin
Michelle Caruso-Cabrera
Zach Iscol
Corey Johnson
Brad Lander
Terri Lifton
Alex Pan
Kevin Parker
Reshma Patel
David Weprin
Brooklyn District Attorney (current: Eric Gonzalez)
(not technically a city office)
Eric Gonzalez* (no primary)
Manhattan District Attorney (current: Cy Vance)
(not technically a city office)
Tahanie Aboushi
Alvin Bragg
Liz Crotty
Tali Farhadian Weinstein
Diana Florence
Lucy Lang
Eliza Orlins
Dan Quart
Thomas Kenniff (R) (no primary)
Bronx Borough President (current: Ruben Diaz Jr.)
Fernando Cabrera
Nathalia Fernandez
Vanessa Gibson
Sammy Ravelo
Luis Sepulveda
Brooklyn Borough President (current: Eric Adams)
Robert Cornegy Jr.
Kimberly Council
Khari Edwards
Robert Elstein
Mathieu Eugene
Pearlene Fields
Anthony Jones
Lamor Miller-Whitehead
Robert Ramos Jr.
Antonio Reynoso
Jo Anne Simon
Trisha Ocona
Manhattan Borough President (current: Gale Brewer)
Lindsey Boylan
Elizabeth Caputo
Brad Hoylman
Ben Kallos
Mark Levine
Guillermo Perez
Kimberly Watkins
Queens Borough President (current: Donovan Richards)
Elizabeth Crowley
Donovan Richards*
Jimmy Van Bramer
Staten Island Borough President (current: James Oddo)
Lorraine Honor
Radhakrishna Mohan
Mark Murphy
Brandon Stradford
Cesar Vargas
Vito Fossella (R)
Jhong Kim (R)
Steven Matteo (R)
Leticia Remauro (R)
City Council District 1 (current: Margaret Chin)
Susan Damplo
Sean Hayes
Tiffany Johnson-Winbush
Susan Lee
Gigi Li
Jenny Low
Maud Maron
Christopher Marte
Denny Salas
City Council District 2 (current: Carlina Rivera)
Erin Hussein
Carlina Rivera*
City Council District 3 (current: Corey Johnson)
Erik Bottcher
Phelan Dante Fitzpatrick
Marni Halasa
Aleta LaFargue
Leslie Boghosian Murphy
Arthur Schwartz
City Council District 4 (current: Keith Powers)
Keith Powers* (no primary)
City Council District 5 (current: Ben Kallos)
Billy Freeland
Rebecca Lamorte
Julie Menin
Kim Moscaritolo
Tricia Shimamura
Christopher Sosa
Marco Tamayo
City Council District 6 (current: Helen Rosenthal)
Gale Brewer
Maria Danzilo
David Gold
Sara Lind
Jeffrey Omura
Zack Weiner
City Council District 7 (current: Mark Levine)
Shaun Abreu
Marti Allen-Cummings
Daniel Cohen
Miguel Estrella
Keith Harris
Stacy Lynch
Lena Melendez
Maria Ordonez
Corey Ortega
Carmen Quinones
Raymond Sanchez Jr.
Luis Tejada
City Council District 8 (current: Diana Ayala)
Diana Ayala*
Antoinette Glover
Tamika Mapp
Manuel Onativia
City Council District 9 (current: Bill Perkins)
William Allen
Cordell Cleare
Joshua Clennon
Billy Council
Pierre Gooding
Kristin Jordan
Ruth McDaniels
Bernadette McNear
Athena Moore
Bill Perkins*
Mario Rosser
Sheba Simpson-Amsterdam
City Council District 10 (current: Ydanis Rodriguez)
James Behr
Francesca Castellanos
Carmen De La Rosa
Angela Fernandez
Johanna Garcia
Thomas Leon
Josue Perez
Tirso Pina
City Council District 11 (current: Eric Dinowitz - won recent special election)
Cartlon Berkley
Eric Dinowitz*
Jessica Haller
Mino Lora
Abigail Martin
Daniel Padernacht
Marcos Sierra
City Council District 12 (current: Kevin Riley - won recent special election)
Pamela Hamilton-Johnson
Shanequa Moore
Kevin Riley*
City Council District 13 (current: Mark Gjonaj)
Irene Estrada
Monique Johnson
John Perez
Marilyn Soto
Marjorie Velázquez
City Council District 14 (current: Fernando Cabrera)
Adolfo Abreu
Fernando Aquino
Haile Rivera
Pierina Sanchez
Socrates Solano
Yudelka Tapia
City Council District 15 (current: Oswald Feliz - won recent special election)
Kenny Agosto
Troy BlackwellIschia Bravo
Oswald Feliz*
Bernadette Ferrara
Latchmi Gopal
Lillithe Lozano
John Sanchez
Aramis Ocasio (R)
Ariel Rivera-Diaz (R)
City Council District 16 (current: Vanessa Gibson)
Abdourahamane Diallo
Ahmadou Diallo
Yves Filius
Althea Stevens
Eric Stevenson
City Council District 17 (current: Rafael Salamanca Jr.)
Helen Hines
Rafael Salamanca Jr.*
City Council District 18: (current: Ruben Diaz Sr.)
Michael Beltzer
Amanda Farias
Darlene Jackson
Eliu Lara
William Moore
Mohammed Mujumder
Mirza Rashid
William Rivera
City Council District 19 (current: Paul Vallone)
Tony Avella
Adriana Aviles
Nabaraj KC
Richard Lee
Austin Shafran
Francis Spangeberg
Vickie Paladino (R)
John-Alexander Sakelos (R,C)
Dawn Anatra (C)
City Council District 20 (current: Peter Koo)
Hailing Chen
John Choe
Ming-Kang Low
Anthony Miranda
Sandra Ung
Neng Wang
Dao Yin
Ellen Young
City Council District 21 (current: Francisco Moya)
David Aiken
Ingrid Gomez
Francisco Moya*
George Onuorah
Talea Wufka
City Council District 22 (current: vacant (formerly Costa Constantinides))
Leonardo Bullaro
Tiffany Cabán
John Ciafone
Catherina Gioino
Evie Hantzopoulos
Nick Velkov
Felicia Kalan (R) (no primary)
City Council District 23 (current: Barry Grodenchik)
Steve Behar
Sanjeev Jindal
Jaslin Kaur
Linda Lee
Debra Markell
Koshy Thomas
Harpreet Toor
James Reilly (R)
Alex Amoroso (R)
City Council District 24 (current: James Gennaro - won recent special election)
Moumita Ahmed
James Gennaro*
Saifur Khan
Mohammed Uddin
City Council District 25 (current: Danny Dromm)
Fatima Baryab
Yi Chen
Shekar Krishnan
Liliana Melo
Manuel Perez
Alfonso Quiroz
William Salgado
Carolyn Tran
City Council District 26 (current: Jimmy Van Bramer)
Amit Bagga
Jonathan Bailey
Lorenzo Brea
Julia Forman
Glennis Gomez
Denise Keehan-Smith
Badrun Khan
Hailie Kim
Jesse Laymon
Sultan Maruf
Brent O’Leary
Steven Raga
Emily Sharpe
Julie Won
Ebony Young
City Council District 27 (current: I. Daneek Miller)
Marie Adam-Ovide
Kerryanne Burke
Jason Clark
Leroy Gadsden
Linda Guillebeaux
Rene Hill
James Johnson
Al-Hassan Kanu
Harold Miller Jr.
Anthony Rivers
Jermaine Sean Smith
Nantasha Williams
City Council District 28 (current: Adrienne Adams)
Adrienne Adams*
Japneet Singh
Ruben Wills
City Council District 29 (current: Karen Koslowitz)
David Aronov
Avi Cyperstein
Sheryl Fetik
Aleda Gagarin
Eliseo Labayen
Lynn Schulman
Douglas Shapiro
Edwin Wong
Donghui Zang
City Council District 30 (current: Robert Holden)
Juan Ardila
Robert Holden*
City Council District 31 (current: Selvena Brooks-Powers - won recent special election)
Selvena Brooks-Powers*
Nicole Lee
Nancy Martinez
City Council District 32 (current: Eric Ulrich (R))
Kaled Alamarie
Bella Matias
Michael Scala
Shaeleigh Severino
Helal Sheikh
Felicia Singh
Joann Ariola (R) (no primary)
City Council District 33 (current: Stephen Levin)
Elizabeth Adams
Victoria Cambranes
Sabrina Gates
Toba Potosky
Lincoln Restler
Stuart Sherman
Benjamin Solotaire
April Somboun
City Council District 34 (current: Antonio Reynoso)
Lutchi Gayot
Jennifer Gutierrez
Andy Marte
Scott Murphy
City Council District 35 (current: Laurie Cumbo)
Renée Collymore
Curtis Harris
Michael Hollingsworth
Crystal Hudson
Regina Kinsey
Deirdre Levy
Hector Robertson
City Council District 36 (current: Robert Cornegy Jr.)
Henry Butler
Tahirah Moore
Chi Osse
Reginald Swiney
Robert Waterman
City Council District 37 (current: Darma Diaz)
Misba Abdin
Darma Diaz*
Christopher Durosinmi
Rick Echevarria
Heriberto Mateo
Sandy Nurse
City Council District 38 (current: Carlos Menchaca)
Alexa Aviles
Rodrigo Camarena
Yu Lin
Jacqui Painter
Victor Swinton
Cesar Zuniga
City Council District 39 (current: Brad Lander)
Shahana Hanif
Mamnun Haq
Justin Krebs
Briget Rein
Douglas Schneider
Jessica Simmons
Brandon West
City Council District 40 (current: Mathieu Eugene)
Cecilia Cortez
Maxi Eugene
Kenya Handy-Hillard
Harriet Hines
Rita Joseph
Victor Jordan
Vivia Morgan
Blake Morris
Josue Pierre
Edwin Raymond
John Williams
City Council District 41 (current: Alicka Ampry-Samuel)
Alicka Ampry-Samuel*
Darlene Mealy
City Council District 42 (current: Inez Barron)
Charles Barron
Wilfredo Florentino
Nikki Lucas
Gena Watson
City Council District 43 (current: Justin Brannan)
Justin Brannan* (no primary)
Brian Fox (R) (no primary)
City Council District 44 (current: Kalman Yeger)
Kalman Yeger* (no primary)
City Council District 45 (current: Farah Louis)
Anthony Beckford
Farah Louis*
Cyril Joseph
City Council District 46 (current: Alan Maisel)
Gardy Brazela
Donald Cranston
Zuri Jackson
Mercedes Narcisse
Judy Newton
Shirley Paul
Tiffany Pryor
Dimple Willabus
City Council District 47 (current: Mark Treyger)
Ari Kagan
Alec Brook-Krasny
Joseph Packer
Steven Patzer
City Council District 48 (current: Chaim Deutsch)
Amber Adler
Binyomin Bendet
Mariya Markh
Steven Saperstein
Harold Tischler
City Council District 49 (current: Deborah Rose)
Amoy Barnes
Selina Grey
Kamillah Hanks
David Hernandez
John McBeth Sr.
Troy McGhie
Ranti Ogunleye
Kelvin Richards
City Council District 50 (current: Steven Matteo (R))
Sal Albanese
David Carr
Jordan Hafizi
Marko Kepi
Sam Pirozzolo
Kathleen Sforza
City Council District 51 (current: Joseph Borelli (R))
Joseph Borelli* (R) (no primary)
Olivia Drabczyk (D) (no primary)
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CUNY students (photo: CUNY)
UPDATE: Not long after the publication of this article, the Trump administration rescinded the directive at hand regarding international students, visas, and remote learning. “This is welcome news for more than 100,000 international students in New York, more than one million students across the country, and millions of additional families across the world,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who had filed suit. See more background below:
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez released a statement on Friday, July 10 that confirmed some in-person instruction for the fall semester as long as state and university guidelines are met, which he said will partially benefit the public university system’s over 9,000 international students.
Rodríguez mentioned that CUNY had already scheduled almost half of its Fall 2020 courses for hybrid or fully-online instruction, a schedule it will build out in the coming weeks and said the schools plan to offer in-person instruction for science labs, theater, clinical placements, and performing and studio arts. Rodriguez said the CUNY Board of Trustees’ July 9 resolution gave the university more flexibility in making decisions, which tied into alternatives for those studying on visas whose status in the United States was under a new federal threat.
“We are also devising plans to help our international students in response to the misguided policy announced by Washington earlier this week,” said the chancellor. “The resolution approved by the Board last night also helps us in this matter by providing maximum latitude to offer them some degree of in-person instruction. We will leave no stone unturned to make sure our international students are able to stay and continue their studies at CUNY.”
On July 6, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, released modifications to the temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online classes because of the pandemic in the fall 2020 semester through their Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVP. Nonimmigrant students have been approved to take more online courses in the spring and summer semesters than allowed by federal regulations due to COVID-19 safety guidelines. Now these students may not take a fully online course-load for the fall semester and remain in the United States, according to the announcement.
Members of the House of Representatives and Senate sent at least three letters to the Trump Administration to oppose the changes to SVEP. One letter with dozens of signatures from both houses addressed to leadership of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security said ICE’s guidance was “motivated not by public health considerations, but rather by animus toward immigrants, by a goal of forcing schools to reopen even as COVID-19 cases are rising, and by a desire to create an illusion of normalcy during this unprecedented public health emergency.”
On July 8, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to instate a court order stopping the SVEP directive, which applies to students on F-1 and M-1 visas.
New York City, along with 26 other cities, counties and towns, filed an amicus brief in support of the two universities’ lawsuit, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday. “This is yet another cruel and senseless immigration policy from the Trump Administration,” de Blasio said in a statement. “All students are welcome in New York City, and we will continue to ensure that our colleges and universities can reopen based on public health guidance, not threats from the President.”
The mayor’s office stressed that there are over 70,000 international students in New York City and said they “contribute $3.26 billion to the economy and support almost 36,000 jobs, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators.”
Earlier Monday, New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced a separate suit against the Trump Administration for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order on the reversal of ICE policy from its guidelines during the coronavirus. Announcing her suit, she said the federal directive threatened the wellbeing of students and New York’s economy.
“International students should never be used as political fodder to force colleges to reopen their doors, but the president’s inability to remove politics from public health decisions endangers us all,” James said in a statement. “Schools should never have to choose between enrolling international students in in-person classes and maintaining public health, which is why we will use every legal tool at our disposal to stop the president.”
Schools in the city like Columbia University, which enrolls about 12,000 international students, and New York University, which enrolls the highest number of international students in the U.S. at over 19,600, condemned the announcement and said they would have advisors work with international students to have them enroll in hybrid courses, which offer some in-person and some remote learning, so they could remain in the country.
The CUNY Board of Trustees provided leeway for the chancellor’s announcement by voting on the continuance of the online and distance learning instructional modality. During the July 9 meeting, the board added two new sections to its resolution, which stated that “the preference of the university is to offer in-person instruction and services to students for the Fall 2020 semester where practicable and prudent,” but “in supplement to or in place of in-person instruction and services, online or remote instruction and services may become the preferred method of faculty and students, and may ultimately become necessary by order or by public health circumstances.” They also replaced the word “decision” with “preparation” in their reference to extend online learning, which softened their position towards the type of instruction they would offer.
Chancellor Rodríguez said this amended resolution by the Board of Trustees gave the CUNY system flexibility in planning the fall semester. In his Friday statement he also added the in-person classes and services must meet New York State and university guidelines for re-opening and the city must enter “phase four” of reopening based on state guidelines, which it appears on track to do this month.
Along with in-person classes, the chancellor said food pantries, child care, counseling centers, computer labs, and library services may also reopen. Gosia Kujawa, a sophomore at CUNY Hunter College and an international student from Poland, said she approved of the chancellor’s statement in light of ICE’s decision, although she is awaiting more specifics.
“While I am stressed by the lack of detailed information and knowledge of my college's plan, I am proud that my college wants to defend us against the discriminatory decision of ICE,” said Kujawa, who lives in the city by herself, in a statement to Gotham Gazette. “There is more than a month to the beginning of the fall semester, but I hope that our college authorities will not wait until the last moment to announce a detailed plan.” Kujawa said as a lesbian, she does not want to return to Poland because of a heightened anti-LGBTQ sentiment from the current administration under President Andrzej Duda.
Members of CUNY’s University Student Senate, or USS, had been placing pressure on CUNY to make a decision regarding fall instruction in light of the new ICE directive. On July 9 they held a press conference with Queens State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky and Manhattan Assemblymember Deborah Glick, who is the chair of the Assembly’s Higher Education Committee, to criticize the ICE directive. Several CUNY international students gave testimony on why they disapproved of the announcement and what it would mean for their education.
Nicole Agu, the USS vice chair of international affairs and a student from Nigeria, said lack of technology, tutoring, counseling, or other services will distress students who may have to return to their home countries for remote learning, along with whatever time difference they will contend with. Agu herself also dealt with relocating to a new dorm, losing her internship because of COVID-19, and food insecurity this past semester, on top of advocating for her peers to continue to study at CUNY.
“International students invested so much emotionally, academically, financially, to be here,” said Agu, who attends the College of Staten Island and majors in accounting and international business. “And I don’t see how the primary mission of ICE is related to international students being here ‘legally,’ it doesn’t make sense. All of this is just faulty logic.”
USS also called for more action from the university to help international students in a July 9 statement. The university student senate filed an amicus brief with 15 other universities in support of the Harvard and MIT lawsuit. Agu said she still wonders if professors who have international students will adapt their classes to a hybrid model or what specific steps CUNY will take if the courts decide to uphold the ICE policy during the new lawsuits, especially for those students who still reside in another country. Although she awaits a more detailed plan, Agu said she believes the university will come through.
“My final thought is CUNY will be ready and prepared to save these students regardless of the outcome,” Agu said.
In the Monday announcement from Mayor de Blasio’s office, the city’s Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Bitta Mostofi, said, “International students with questions should reach out to their designated school official for support. For connections to free, safe immigration legal help, students in New York City can call ActionNYC at 1-800-354-0365.”
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by Melissa Lent, Gotham Gazette
@melmollyrose @GothamGazette