New York Metropolis is gearing up for a management transition because the race for metropolis council speaker will start quickly. The highest contenders showcase various backgrounds and varied visions. Right here’s a breakdown on who could also be eyeing the place.
Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers | Council Member Amanda Farías | Council Member Crystal Hudson | Council Member Christopher Marte | Council Member Julie Menin
Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers
Seat: District 31, Arverne, Brookville, Edgemere, elements of Jamaica, Far Rockaway, Laurelton, Rosedale and elements of Springfield Gardens
Hometown: Queens
Alma Mater: Wilberforce College and New York College
Brooks-Powers made historical past because the first-ever Black lady to function Majority Whip of the New York Metropolis Council, a management place who helps preserve unity amongst the celebration, and presently chairs the Council’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. All through her tenure, Brooks-Powers has devoted herself to making sure that southeast Queens and the japanese Rockaway Peninsula obtain equitable entry to metropolis sources and providers.
A lifelong resident of southeast Queens and the proud daughter of immigrant mother and father, the pol has spent over 20 years dedicated to public service and neighborhood organizing. She has directed tens of tens of millions of {dollars} in capital and discretionary funding towards infrastructure initiatives and neighborhood applications, together with enhancements to colleges, parks and firehouses. Her advocacy has been pivotal in securing sources for a neighborhood that has lengthy been underserved by the town. Notably, she performed a key function in securing $95 million in restoration funding for the 116th Precinct and continues to push for the development of an authorized trauma middle on the Rockaway Peninsula.
She is thought for:
Championing security enhancements, higher public providers and financial alternatives
Securing sources and advocating for neighborhood wants
Supporting employee’s rights
Previous to holding elected workplace, she constructed her profession as a neighborhood organizer, spearheading initiatives on training, voting rights, racial and financial justice and Hurricane Katrina reduction efforts.
Her expertise in authorities consists of roles equivalent to a supervisor for Minority and Ladies-owned Enterprise Enterprise compliance, exterior affairs and neighborhood outreach on the $13 billion JFK Worldwide Airport Redevelopment Program. Moreover, she was instrumental in mobilizing and unionizing co-workers below the United Media Guild of the Communications Staff of America, the place she was elected delegate for the northeast area.
She lives in Rockaway Seashore along with her husband, daughter and canine.
Council Member Amanda Farías
Seat: District 18, Soundview-Bruckner, Soundview-Clason Level, Citadel Hill-Unionport, Harding Park, Parkchester and Westchester Sq.
Hometown: Bronx
Alma Mater: St. John’s College
Council Member Amanda Farías is a lifelong Bronx resident and second-generation Afro-Latina of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent. She grew up in Soundview the place she attended native faculties and spent her after-school hours and summers on the Kips Bay Boys & Women Membership.
At the moment serving because the Metropolis Council’s Majority Chief and representing the 18th District — which incorporates neighborhoods like Citadel Hill, Clason Level and Soundview — Farías was first elected in 2021 and re-elected in 2023. Her historic appointment as Majority Chief in January 2024 marks a milestone as she is the primary Latina to carry this function.
As Chair of the Committee on Financial Improvement, Farías has championed laws supporting industrial progress, inexpensive ferry fares for college kids, and citywide initiatives for small companies. She has additionally hosted key hearings on matters like adult-use hashish, public heliports and migrant shelter meals contracts, working to make sure financial restoration advantages working-class communities.
All through her tenure, Farías has delivered over $34.5 million to her district and has been an advocate for well being, fairness and gender justice. Through the pandemic, she actively supported meals safety efforts, distributing hundreds of {dollars} in contemporary produce and meals help.
Her intensive expertise consists of earlier roles inside the metropolis council and management on the Consortium for Employee Training, the place she promoted workforce growth and civic engagement for ladies, immigrants, and communities of shade. Most just lately, she helped a lady whose mom was shot whereas within the line of obligation, safe the officer’s loss of life advantages.
Past her legislative achievements, Farías is acknowledged for her dedication to social justice and neighborhood empowerment. She co-founded Ladies of Shade for Progress, creating pathways for elevated civic participation amongst ladies, immigrants and marginalized teams. Her work focuses on advocating for insurance policies that uplift Black, Latino, AAPI and working-class communities.
“I am running to be speaker of the City Council because communities like mine – and millions of New Yorkers – are struggling, and the Council must continue to be their champion—authentically and effectively,” she stated. “As a second generation Afro-Latina of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, I know we cannot go backwards. I’ve always been independent, and as Speaker that won’t change. As Speaker, I will push forward a member-driven agenda that promotes transparency and stands up to Trump. I can’t wait to get to work.”
Council Member Crystal Hudson
Seat: District 35, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights and Crown Heights
Hometown: Brooklyn
Alma Mater: Spelman Faculty and George Washington College
Council Member Crystal Hudson is a third-generation Brooklynite and daughter of Jamaican and Honduran immigrants. Hudson was first elected in 2021, making historical past as the primary out homosexual Black lady ever elected in New York Metropolis.
Her roles in public service embrace:
– Co-Director of the Group Outreach Unit on the NYC Council
– First Deputy Public Advocate of Group Engagement on the NYC Public Advocate’s Workplace
– Chief of Operations for the Majority Chief of the Metropolis Council
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hudson based Larger Prospect Heights Mutual Assist in March 2020. The group labored over two years to fulfill the wants of neighbors going through meals insecurity and financial hardship, prioritizing older adults, undocumented immigrants, and people with underlying well being circumstances.
Throughout her first time period, Hudson launched 78 payments, passing extra laws than some other first-term member in Brooklyn and rating seventh general amongst all Metropolis Council members. Key legislative involvements embrace:
– The #AgeInPlaceNYC package deal, geared toward supporting seniors ageing at residence
– The How Many Stops Act, to enhance transit accessibility
– Payments addressing the Black maternal mortality disaster
– Laws combating discrimination in opposition to LGBTQIA+ communities
Past her legislative work, Hudson is a vocal advocate for financial empowerment and infrequently calls out racial injustice. She has launched initiatives to help small companies and entrepreneurs of shade, recognizing their important function in revitalizing Brooklyn’s neighborhoods. Hudson actively participates in neighborhood boards and city halls, guaranteeing that residents’ voices are heard in citywide decision-making. She is presently co-chair of the NYC Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus.
Hudson lives in her district along with her spouse and daughter.
Council Member Christopher Marte
Seat: District 1, Monetary District-Battery Park Metropolis, Tribeca-Civic Heart, The Battery-Governors Island-Ellis Island-Liberty Island, SoHo-Little Italy-Hudson Sq., Chinatown-Two Bridges, Decrease East Aspect
Hometown: Manhattan
Alma Mater: World Faculty, Lengthy Island College and London College of Economics
Marte’s roots run deep within the Decrease East Aspect, the place he was born and raised. His father owned a neighborhood bodega within the neighborhood whereas his mom labored in a garment manufacturing facility earlier than transitioning to a house attendant function..
The closure of his household’s retailer on account of rising rents marked a turning level for Marte, exposing him to gentrification. Witnessing his neighborhood’s transformation fueled his need to struggle for its future. To present again, he co-founded two neighborhood gardens inside NYCHA housing developments and volunteered on the Bowery Mission, working to help these in want.
Earlier than getting into politics, Marte constructed a profession in finance, managing IBM’s retirement funds whereas paying off scholar loans. He additionally served on the Younger Professionals Board of Defy Ventures, a company devoted to guiding previously incarcerated people in beginning their very own small companies.
Marte’s journey into public service continued as he labored as a authorized researcher at an immigration regulation agency, gaining beneficial perception into the challenges confronted by immigrant communities. His ardour for civic engagement led him to run for Metropolis Council in 2017. Though he narrowly missed victory by simply 200 votes, his marketing campaign united residents throughout District 1—neighbors who had by no means collaborated earlier than, regardless of dwelling only a quarter mile aside. His efforts fostered a stronger sense of neighborhood and civic participation.
The neighborhood efficiently elected him as a Metropolis Council Member for District 1 in 2021. Since then, he’s been a public advocate for inexpensive housing, tenants’ rights and equitable growth.
Council Member Julie Menin
Seat: District 5, East Aspect (Lenox Hill, Yorkville, Carnegie Hill) and Roosevelt Island
Hometown: Manhattan
Alma Mater: Columbia College and Northwestern College College of Regulation
Council Member Julie Menin has twenty years of expertise in public service, regulation and civic management. She presently serves the Chair of the Committee on Client and Employee Safety and Co-Chair of the Ladies’s Caucus.
All through her tenure, Julie has sponsored over 18 payments, together with a Healthcare Accountability Act geared toward rising transparency and lowering hospital prices. She’s recognized for championing insurance policies equivalent to: advancing common childcare, establishing a proper to counsel for home violence victims and easing small enterprise licensing burdens by way of a streamlined net portal. She has additionally addressed native points like sanitation, road security, unlicensed smoke outlets and improved entry to the web for NYCHA residents.
Menin additionally served because the Commissioner of the Division of Client Affairs and has launched initiatives just like the Paid Sick Depart Regulation and the Earned Earnings Tax Credit score program.
Menin is a public advocate for points on security and safety. She just lately stood with safety guards and pols to push for laws that improves security and laws for metropolis guards. She additionally just lately supported the launch of a brand new initiative that might assist train college kids in regards to the Holocaust.
Menin beforehand served as commissioner of media and leisure, the place she helped deliver TV and movie productions to New York Metropolis leading to hundreds of job alternatives and practically $200 million in financial advantages. She additionally negotiated the return of the Grammy Awards to NYC in 2017.
As Chair of Manhattan Group Board 1 after 9/11, she performed an important function in rebuilding Decrease Manhattan, advocating for brand spanking new faculties, healthcare applications, and infrastructure initiatives to help restoration.
“We are headed into difficult times with a combative federal government and my track record as a three-time city commissioner, attorney, community board chair, small business owner, and now Council Member who’s passed substantive bills gives me the institutional knowledge and coalition building skills to lead a body that oversees the largest municipal budget in the United States,” Menin stated. “The most urgent issue is affordability — housing, childcare, healthcare, and cost of living are squeezing New Yorkers. Unless we stabilize New Yorkers expenses, we risk losing the city’s middle class and essential workers. Working with my Council colleagues and City Hall to address the affordability crisis would be a primary focus of mine if elected Speaker.”
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