De Blasio on the train (Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)

Amid an ongoing feud -- between the Mayor Bill de Blasio on one side and Governor Andrew Cuomo and the MTA on the other -- over funding for mass transit infrastructure in New York City, 27 New York City Council Members on Thursday announced support for the mayor’s proposal to tax wealthy New Yorkers to raise money for subway and bus improvements.

The mayor has pitched a tax increase on the top-most earners in the city as part of his “Fair Fix” plan, which would raise about $700

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What to watch for this week in New York politics:

It’s City Hall in Your Borough week in Brooklyn. While we don’t have a full rundown of events, we know that Mayor Bill de Blasio and much of his team will operate out of Brooklyn Borough Hall; they will hold a resource fair and constituent services event on Wednesday; and there will be two town halls, Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

On Monday, de Blasio has several public events -- see below for details.

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What to watch for this week in New York politics:

This week starts with a bang: the lone Public Advocate debate on Monday night and the lone Comptroller debate on Tuesday night -- see below for more details.

The mayoral race will continue to chug along this week, of course, though the next and final debate in that contest is not until November 1.

As he has been of late, Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to hold two evening town hall events this week -- see details below.

The

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What to watch for this week in New York politics:

As this shortened holiday week begins all eyes are on Tuesday night's mayoral debate, the first general election televised debate as part of the city's campaign finance system and debate program, which will feature Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, Republican Nicole Malliotakis, and independent Bo Dietl. The debate

Council Member Paul Vallone (photo: John McCarten)

Legislation barring City Council members from making outside income will go into effect on January 1, forcing several sitting and incoming Council members to make tough decisions about their side jobs.

The regulations, which were linked to a significant pay increase for all city elected officials, including a salary bump from $112,500 to $148,000 for City Council members, were approved by Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council last

Mayor de Blasio signs in to vote (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)

With the party primaries over in the 2017 city election cycle, we head toward the general election, which will take place Tuesday, November 7. Dozens of races will be on the ballot, headlined by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s attempt at re-election.

The other citywide positions of Public Advocate and Comptroller are also being determined this year, as well as all five Borough Presidents, all 51 City Council seats, and two District Attorney positions (Brooklyn and Manhattan). However,

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What to watch for this week in New York politics:

This week, the spotlight remains on relief efforts in Puerto Rico, where more than half the population is without clean drinking water and the entire island is without power after the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. Elected officials in New York continue to criticize the Trump administration for its slow response to the crisis and are urging the federal government to step up assistance, while also rallying New Yorkers to donate supplies

Mayor de Blasio & law enforcement officials (photo: Edwin J. Torres/ Mayor’s Office)

At a recent hearing, New York City Council members discussed the effectiveness of NYPD responses to “emotionally disturbed person” (EDP) calls, the slow pace of implementation for new NYPD crisis intervention training, and the tragic outcomes of several recent interactions between NYPD officers and emotionally disturbed individuals.

At the hearing, held Sept. 6 jointly by the Council’s Committee on Public Safety and Committee on Mental Health, Developmental

(photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

With the primaries over, there is still room for evaluating what happened and analyzing what it all means, but it is also time to shift into the general election and what to watch as the city heads toward Tuesday, November 7: Election Day 2017.

Unless there are races too close to call, that night we will know who the mayor will be for the next four years, as well as who will hold the other citywide offices of comptroller and public advocate, the five borough president positions, all 51

(photo: NICE)

Just last week, Juan Chonilla and another still unidentified worker died from construction accidents. These men were important members of our immigrant community. As one of the members of New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE), one of these men was family. These tragic deaths and severe injuries of multiple construction workers last week, on sites with safety violations, underscore the urgency for New York City to enact legislation that meets the needs of all workers.

The City Council is currently considering a

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What to watch for this week in New York politics:

Mayor Bill de Blasio had a busy weekend, speaking at several events on Saturday and Sunday, wearing governmental and campaign hats at different times. De Blasio will hold City Hall in Your Borough this week in Manhattan, with many top administration personnel working out of an upper Manhattan space at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem. This will be de Blasio’s fourth City Hall in Your Borough week, with only Brooklyn still left. Several events

Council Member Mark Levine & his Chief of Staff, Aya Keefe (photo: Levine's office)

The New York City Council, a 51-member body, currently includes only 13 women, down from 18 in 2009, and that number is likely to soon fall to 12 when the next Council is seated in January, if this year’s elections continue as expected. There has been widespread recent attention given to the City Council gender imbalance, in part because the Council’s Women’s Caucus released a report on the subject, and there are efforts underway to improve

Council Member Lancman (photo: @NYCCouncil)

The City Council’s Courts and Legal Services Committee held an oversight hearing on Monday dedicated to New York’s Integrated Domestic Violence Courts, a program designed to increase accountability and responsiveness to domestic violence victims in the legal system by combining the different courts one might interact with in a domestic violence dispute into a single court, with a single judge handling a couple’s or family’s multiple cases, including criminal, custody, and visitation cases.

Integrated

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

This week we’re still assessing the outcomes of last week’s primary elections, while also kicking into full gear with the general election that is upon us, though it has far fewer competitive or interesting races.

It’s also a busy week at the City Council, where current Council members who won their primaries will no doubt have more bounce in their steps knowing they are good for another four years. Virtually all of the incumbents

Alicka Ampry-Samuel (via Facebook)

It was late Tuesday afternoon, primary day, in Brooklyn, and amidst the rattle of the subway and wafting aroma of a not-far-off Popeyes fried chicken restaurant, Alicka Ampry-Samuel danced on the sidewalk with Corey Johnson, a current City Council member from Manhattan, to “Ain’t No Stoppin Us Now.” Although the outcome of Samuel’s race -- she was a leading candidate in the crowded Democratic

Carlina Rivera (photo: Felipe De La Hoz)

As the sun rose over the brick facades of the East Village, Carlina Rivera stood on the corner of 1st avenue and 10th street with a handful of flyers. It was 6:30 a.m. and the first-time candidate for elected office was petting dogs, telling children to stay in school, and asking voters to make her the next City Council member representing District 2. 

“I just got a text from my mom. She's voting for me,” Rivera said between greetings.

About 15 minutes after Rivera

Speaker Mark-Viverito with Diana Ayala (photo: Samar Khurshid/GothamGazette)

The primary election on Tuesday saw incumbents retain power across most of the city and few upsets in contested races. But in one of the most competitive races of the day, a first-time candidate prevailed over a long-time elected official, overcoming an expected gap in name recognition and other deficits, in a City Council district struggling with concerns for its future and looking for its next local leader to advocate for its interests.

District 8, which covers East Harlem and the South

Mark Gjonaj & Bronx Democratic leadership (photo: @MarkGjonajNY)

With the New York City primary election behind us, it appears that at least three state legislators are likely to be leaving behind the trips to Albany for plush City Council seats.

Following the path of former State Senator Bill Perkins, who was elected to the City Council in a special election earlier this year, two Assembly members and one state senator are likely to be making the same jump come January: State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr, Assemblymember Mark

NYC Votes sticker, design by Marie Dagata and Scott Heinz

Mayor Bill de Blasio prevailed convincingly in the Democratic primary Tuesday as he seeks a second term. De Blasio was facing four challengers, most prominently former City Council Member Sal Albanese. With 98% of precincts reporting, de Blasio had secured 74.4% of the vote, to Albanese’s 15.4%, and Michael Tolkin’s 4.7%, Robert Gangi’s 3.1%, and Richard Bashner’s 2.4%. De Blasio had about 317,000 votes; Albanese with about 65,450 in a very low turnout election, where about 15% of

Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits

September 11, 2017 - Max & Murphy with guest Gifford Miller, former Speaker of the City Council and mayoral candidate

The day before the 2017 New York City primary elections, we spoke with Gifford Miller, former City Council Speaker and 2005 Democratic candidate for

City Council candidate Diana Ayala (photo: @DianaAyala2017)

Mayor Bill de Blasio is a heavy favorite heading into Tuesday's primary election, which includes numerous races across the city for which the Democratic primary is determinative of the next officeholder. In certain City Council races, de Blasio has endorsed candidates for the primary, including a small flurry of support just a few days before voters head to the polls, in what could be a sign that the mayor and his allies are concerned about turnout.

But it’s unclear what effect, if any, the

CMs Chin, left; Rose, center; & Rosenthal, center right (photo: Gotham Gazette)

There are currently only 13 women in the 51-seat New York City Council, a troubling 25 percent. The number is down from 18 women in the Council a few years ago. With the city’s quadrennial elections upon us, a new Council class will be inaugurated in January, with the September 12 primaries largely determining who will fill the city’s legislative body for the next four years in this very Democratic city.

Most would agree that gender balance in the City Council

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

This week will be full of campaigning as we hit one week until primary day on Tuesday. Are you ready to vote on September 12?

It was a busy weekend of campaigning for Mayor Bill de Blasio, his main primary opponent Sal Albanese, and the mayor's expected general election opponent Nicole

City Council Member Menchaca (photo: Samar Khurshid/Gotham Gazette)

As he runs for reelection this fall, Carlos Menchaca, the City Council member for District 38, which includes Red Hook, Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace, faces several challengers in the Democratic primary. In a rare occurrence, one of his opponents is another sitting elected official from the same party, Assemblymember Felix Ortiz.

Though he was not an elected official at the time, Menchaca himself challenged and unseated an incumbent from the same party in a contentious 2013 primary that focused on

Candidate Richard David (photo: David campaign)

The July corruption conviction and August sentencing of City Council Member Ruben Wills created a newly-open seat representing Council District 28 in southeast Queens. Because of the timing of the vacancy, the seat will be filled through the normal electoral calendar, with the determinative September 12 Democratic primary rapidly approaching.

The 28th Council District includes neighborhoods such as South Jamaica, Rochdale Village, Richmond Hill, and Ozone Park. Along with the