The New York Communist Youth League, which has a historical past of contentious rhetoric, boasted on a calendar on its web site that its members dealt with the “second shift” of petitioning for Marte’s reelection marketing campaign, between 5 p.m. and eight p.m., on March 5.
The group, which is the youth wing of the Communist Get together of the USA of America, has declared that its political platforms “embrace the spirits” of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and Chinese language dictator Mao Zedong, who’re believed answerable for thousands and thousands of civilian casualties throughout their decades-long reigns. The youth org additionally describes itself as a “training ground for young communists.”
Petitioning is the labor-intensive course of by which candidates and their groups should acquire signatures from hundreds of registered metropolis voters with the intention to get their names on the poll in elections.
Marte’s obvious involvement with the Communist Youth League comes as he has had a fraught relationship with progressive political actions.
Earlier than first being elected to the Council in 2021, Marte sought the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America, however later modified his thoughts and withdrew himself from consideration to get the group’s backing.
“I’m not a socialist,” he advised Jewish Insider in 2021 when requested why he pulled away from the group. Marte has additionally traveled to Israel and defended doing so within the face of the DSA’s requirement for its candidates to boycott the nation over its occupation of Palestinian territories.
Upon his election to the Council, Marte joined the Council’s Progressive Caucus and nonetheless stays a member of it.
Nonetheless, Marte ruffled feathers in his district in 2023 after an area Chinese language-language journalist reported he had advised some constituents he doesn’t assist defunding the police, regardless that he had simply signed the Progressive Caucus’ new mission assertion, which included a pledge for members to “reduce the size and scope of the NYPD.”
Initially Printed: April 9, 2025 at 1:46 PM EDT
