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Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the fifth-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, shook up the New York City mayor’s race by throwing his support behind Maya Wiley in the Democratic primary earlier this month. The endorsement provided a major boost to Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio. It also put the rumored rivalry between Jeffries and one of Wiley’s opponents, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, into the spotlight.
Jeffries talked to City & State about why he backed Wiley and how, despite persistent “political gossip,” he has “nothing but respect” for Adams. The borough president also denied any discord. However, from their roots representing overlapping districts in the state legislature, the pair have notably ended up on the opposite sides of multiple political fights as they tried to play kingmaker in Central Brooklyn. With the mayor’s race in full swing, the pair find themselves at odds again with Adams trying to maintain his status as
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New York City Mayor de Blasio made an unusual appeal to his constituents to get vaccinated. In what felt like a bit of surrealist or absurdist performance art, Hizzoner greeted those who tuned into his virtual press conference on Thursday by eating a burger and fries on camera. One of the incentives the city is offering to get vaccinations is a gift card from Shake Shack, and de Blasio seemed to want to entice viewers by showing them what could be theirs with just one easy shot. “Mmmmm, vaccination,” de Blasio said as he took a bite, encouraging New Yorkers to associate the jab with a delicious burger. Not the traditional route, but he’s a term-limited mayor, why not get weird. Keep reading for the rest of this week’s news.
The first televised debate of the New York City s Democratic mayoral primary aired Thursday night.
Policing claims focus as candidates face off in first televised mayoral debate
Maya Wiley and Eric Adams sparred over their records on public safety Thursday night in one of the most pointed exchanges of the first televised debate in the city s Democratic mayoral primary a virtual face-off that highlighted policing, Covid-19 and thorny issues around education.
Wiley a first-time political candidate who delivered a commanding performance took aim at Adams over his recent defense of stop-and-frisk policing during one of several feuds that sought to define the Brooklyn borough president and retired police captain. In 2013, a federal judge deemed the use of the policing tool unconstitutional, based on its disproportionate impact on Black and Latino men.