Elsie Encarnacion looks to win District 8's open City Council seat

Vote 2025: Meet the candidates for New York City Council District 12

Vote 2025: Meet the candidates for New York City Council District 11

Wilfredo Lopez vying for District 8's open City Council seat 

Clarisa Alayeto, running for District 8's open City Council seat, hopes to represent the South Bronx  

Power & Politics: 1:1 with Zellnor Myrie; explaining ‘open primary’ system

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News 12 Staff

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Welcome back to power and politics as we continue our conversation with the democratic candidates in the 77th assembly district primary. What are your thoughts about the future of congestion pricing now, following this announcement, a sudden one that it's now going to be placed on pause ahead of when it was supposed to take effect. Yeah. You know, I, I don't know all of the details of why the governor made that decision. What I do commend sometimes is that it's ok to put something on a pause and re evaluate it, think it through, it's ok to do that sometimes, you know, because uh nothing is perfect at times. We have to take a step back and, and, and figure out uh is it possible to do things in a better way? And so, you know, I don't know why the governor fully made that decision, but I do commend the fact that sometimes uh as leaders, it's ok to step back and take and re evaluate something. It was a, it was a hard decision and I think the biggest thing was the $15 was extremely difficult, especially for people in my community. We have a lot of uh cab drivers, we have a lot of drivers, delivery people. And I think the cost of it was becoming so overbearing and it was a concern of how it would impact the outer borough of businesses. Now, I'm also respectful of the issues of congestion, especially in this area to my colleagues in Manhattan specifically, and we want to make sure that we can ease those congestion issues. We also need the money uh to ensure that we have the capital project for our, for our, for our MT A and for example, our district will be impacted if you do not raise the money. We have a renovation for the subway station on 167th in the grand concourse to make sure it's 88 accessible and that's a key project for me. We need to find a compromise where we can lower congestion, lower pollution while also making sure that we're not hurting the pockets of the everyday citizen, the hard working working class citizens of the 77th district assembly member. I'll ask you, what about your background or record? Can you point to as an example to Bronx sites that you can deliver results? Well, I think first off, like I said, the superintendent of district nine was impressed that a rookie legislator who's only been in office for three months has been able to pull off so much already. In addition to that, uh the additional funding that I brought to the community. You know, I'm giving over an additional number 22.5 to $2.7 million to the community including workforce development programs, safety programs. Uh, senior citizen centers in my district are going to be well taken care of food distribution. We have a big issue with getting access to quality food and I'm bringing food distributions across the district uh to ensure that especially our seniors and our disabled and our veterans have access to fresh uh food options uh for free because, you know, people are struggling, you know, the inflation and the cost of goods going up. I want to do what I can to ease the issues for my constituents, having great relationships in the Senate and in the assembly allowed me to be just to execute. You know, I am backed and supported by Senator Sooda, Senator Serrano, Senator Jackson. In addition, today, I got the endorsement of Congressman uh Richie Torres that demonstrates that I'm building a coalition black Latino African American, West African uh across the Bronx. That's gonna allow me to be more successful and working with my other government partners today. I had a one on one meeting with the governor. It's not normal that a rookie legislator, rookie assembly member at that offer of a special has that ability. And I think that demonstrates that I'm good at the job and because the number one reason why I'm good at it because I put the people to 77 1st and not outside interest. I mean, deeply rooted in this community. My heart pumps the Bronx. Um, III I, I'm from here, I went to Kennedy High School here in the Bronx. I raised my Children here. They went to school here. Uh, my family, uh I'm not going anywhere. I'm about this community and, you know, one of the things that I wanna make sure for, you know, folks to understand is that I'm running a campaign of an inclusive campaign for all communities. I've been supported by the Africans in our community. I've been supported by the African American leaders in our community, of course, the Hispanic community. And so we are running a campaign that's totally in inclusive in our leadership and the work that we're gonna do is going to be just as equally inclusive. We're fighting for everybody because everything that's happening in the Bronx is affecting all of us and we all need each other to be able to get up to get out of these situations. And on that same train of thought, what do you want Bronx voters to keep in mind as they prepare to cast their primary ballots? Keep in mind that voting is important. You know, it's, you know, whoever you cast your vote for, you know, that's your right. But voting in general is something that has really been lacking in our borough. I think that folks have to remember our history. It was just, you know, not too long ago where there were individuals giving their lives for us to be able to have that right. And we have to be able to, you know, honor them, you know, when these elections come and cast that vote, because so many of them gave their lives for us, be able to voice ourselves through the vote, voting process and stuff. So please please go out and vote June 25th. Um It's very important in the Bronx. We need to do better when it comes to voting. It's, it's the way that we can hold our leadership and our government accountable for what we need in our community. I'm a homeowner in the district in the Highbridge area. My wife grew up right down the street, my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, my nephew still live a couple of minutes away from me. I'm a local baseball coach teaching these young people what it means to be a, a young man, a young, you know, a young person in the community. I love being a baseball coach to my two sons and to the other kids in my community. Uh I really work hard. I'm a hard worker. I'm dedicated. I don't care where you come from. All I know is I'm gonna work hard for you. You know, my wife's family, immigrated from the Dominican Republic, from South Africa, Maar to create a qual, a good life for their daughter. And my wife and I want to ensure that every citizen, every resident, every, you know, person that has come to our area, they have a representative that's gonna represent their best issue, which is safer and cleaner streets, affordable housing, jobs, and opportunities. And most importantly, I just want people to live a satisfying quality life where they feel this is a place they want to always call home still to come. New York becomes the first state in the country to regulate addictive features on social media. A breakdown of the bills just signed into law and power and politics returns.

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Welcome back. New York takes a trailblazing step to protect kids from the dangers of social media. With two bills just signed into law. They aim to stop social media companies from making their feeds addictive to kids and also prevent them from collecting and selling personal data of anyone. Under the age of 18, Governor Kathy Hochul signing both on Thursday, use social media more than three hours a day, face double the risk of depression and anxious symptoms. Now my experience the teenagers on social media three hours a day, that's a light day, right? That's a light day. So 369 hours a day, these kids aren't getting sleep either and it comes as Mayor Eric Adams announced the release of a new report from the city's health department on the impacts of social media on the mental health of young New Yorkers. That report shows teenagers from our city who use social media are more likely to show symptoms of depression or anxiety and teens who live in neighborhoods with higher poverty use social media more than those who live in wealthier areas. Researchers also say teens who turn to social media out of boredom are more likely to worry about the future than those who use it to learn something. New employment is more than where you go for a 9 to 5. I like to say it's a precursor to sleep that allows you to experience the American dream. More than a billion dollars is being set aside by the city to help make new jobs for New Yorkers. Mayor Adams says that it is the city's first ever community hiring effort that money is based in contracts which the mayor says will create new job opportunities for the New Yorkers who need it most. It uses the city's purchasing power to create jobs. It's a smart, smart way of recycling our tax dollars. It drives new economic opportunities to communities across the five boroughs including our neighbors in nature. The focus of those contracts will be for positions including security guards, field inspectors and other safety related jobs. The city says that new hires will be given free training to help them get ready for those new rules and advocates and elected officials rallied on the steps of city hall in an effort to reverse what they call the mayor's harsh budget cuts. They want the city council to ensure that funding for areas like public education and libraries make it into the final budget. They also want money that's been set aside for a police complex to be redirected into building more affordable homes for New Yorkers. That's all for this week here on power and politics. Right here on news 12. The Bronx. Thanks so much for watching.

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Power & Politics: Meet the candidates in the 77th and 41st Assembly districts

Primary election day is June 25.

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