• Tag Archives: Council Member

    Inaugural Ceremony For Letitia James Public Advocate at City Hall NY

    Inaugural Ceremony For Letitia James Public Advocate at City Hall NY

    Comments are closed

    Letitia A. “Tish” James is the 4th and current New York City Public Advocate and an American lawyer, activist and politician in the Democratic Party. She previously served as a member of the New York City Council, representing Brooklyn’s 35th Council District, which includes the neighborhoods of Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, parts of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant. She chaired the Economic Development and Sanitation Committees, and serves on the committees for Parks & Recreation, Small Business, Technology in Government, Veteran Affairs, and Women’s Issues.

     In 2013, James ran for New York City Public Advocate and received 36% of the vote in the first Democratic primary, under the 40% threshold to avoid a runoff election.However, James won the Democratic runoff on October 1, 2013 against second-place finisher Daniel Squadron, 59%–41%, becoming the party’s nominee for the city’s elected watchdog in November without a Republican opponent, and subsequently winning the general election with over 83% of the vote.

     In the 2013 election campaign for Public Advocate, James has been endorsed by many of the city’s important labor unions, NOW, Planned Parenthood, Democracy for NYC, League of Conservation Voters, James accomplished her first place finish in spite of her campaign trailing Daniel Squadron’s and Reshma Saujani’s, in fundraising. She was endorsed by third-place finisher Saujani on September 17 and subsequently won the run-off. In the general election in November 2013 she won with 83.55% of the vote (78.02% on the Democratic Party line and 5.53% on the Working Families Party line) with no Republican opponent.

     World Liberty TV, Political team was on hand to witness Letitia A. “Tish” James ,4th Public Advocate  of New York City Sworn  by Reverend Anthony L.Trufant, Senior Pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Brooklyn NY.

    Inauguration of Melissa Mark-Viverito, NYC Council Speaker at Hostos Community College

    Inauguration of Melissa Mark-Viverito, NYC Council Speaker at Hostos Community College

    Comments are closed

    Melissa Mark-Viverito was elected earlier this month as the first Latina City Council speaker, and on Wednesday, she threw an inauguration ceremony in the Bronx to mark the occasion.

    She said she would work to increase affordable housing and push for the mayor’s proposal to tax more affluent New Yorkers to pay for universal pre-k.

    “I believe that the Council and our city government as a whole can do more to improve the lives of New Yorkers, everyday New Yorkers, who are increasingly feeling the great inequality crisis,” Mark-Viverito said.

    Mayor Bill de Blasio himself also spoke, praising his new partner in government.

    Serenaded by Puerto Rican bomba drums and “si se puede!” chants, the inauguration was also as much about the ascension of Latino lawmakers in the city as it was the rise of the progressive movement. Hispanic Congress members José Serrano and Nydia Velázquez hailed Ms. Mark-Viverito’s rise, as did ex-Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer, who in 2005 was the first Latino nominee for mayor by a major party. He also pointed to some of the negative press coverage the speaker received during the campaign.

    “If you shot down from another planet and read the newspapers or saw the television, you would think, ‘Oh my goodness, somebody named Che is gonna be speaker. They’re gonna put hexes on all of us. They’re gonna conspire to turn this place into something that we shouldn’t be,’” Mr. Ferrer said, referring to a bizarre “hex” story in the tabloids about Ms. Mark-Viverito. “Well, what did they do? This speaker and this mayor conspired to lift the lives of families and their children by giving a little more to the people working hard and bringing home less.”

    Appearing on schedule at the end of the program, Mr. de Blasio spoke and underscored many of the liberal themes that dominated the night, including easing the city’s the income inequality.“In our household, there’s a fight, there’s a big fight over who’s the biggest fan of Melissa Mark-Viverito,” said Mr. de Blasio, standing next to his wife, Chirlane McCray. “I hope I win but sometimes the first lady wins.”

    “Today we celebrate the election of the most progressive speaker in the City Council in the history of New York City,” he later declared.

    World Liberty TV, Political team was on hand to cover this Historical Inauguration of The First Latino  ever to be elected  as the Speaker of New York City Council. And her name is, Melissa Mark –Viverito.