Julie Menin was elected the Metropolis Council’s new speaker Wednesday, making her the chamber’s first Jewish chief — a historic second she pledged to make use of to bridge political “divides,” even amid rising indicators of potential friction between her and Mayor Mamdani.
Menin’s speakership choice was solidified in a unanimous 51-0 vote by the Council’s members at their first assembly of 2026.
As speaker, Menin will face stress, particularly from moderates and conservatives, to behave as a verify on Mamdani. Earlier than voting for Menin, the Council’s 5 Republicans delivered speeches particularly urging her to withstand Mamdani, together with Brooklyn’s Inna Vernikov, who stated the brand new speaker “must be a check on his radical, Marxist agenda.”
Julie Menin is sworn in as Speaker of the New York Metropolis Council on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025, at Metropolis Corridor. (Emil Cohen / NYC Council Media Unit)
In remarks after the vote, Menin, a extra centrist Democrat than Mamdani, targeted on putting a unifying tone.
“We live in a day when the first Muslim mayor of New York City, and the first Jewish speaker of this Council, are serving at the same time. This moment truly is historic,” Menin, who didn’t endorse Mamdani’s mayoral run, stated to applause.
“But what will write this interfaith leadership into the history books is if it can act as an opportunity for all of us to come together — to calm tensions, to bridge divides, and to recognize we are one city, no matter the religion we practice or the language we speak.”
The Higher East Aspect Democrat additionally homed in on some areas of settlement with Mamdani, particularly little one care, which the mayor promised throughout the marketing campaign to make free for all children between 6 weeks and 5 years.
“We have worked to take the first steps to enact universal child care — and by working with the mayor and governor, we can truly make it a reality,” she stated.
Julie Menin is sworn in as Speaker of the New York Metropolis Council on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025, at Metropolis Corridor. (Emil Cohen / NYC Council Media Unit)
In a press convention after the vote, Menin declined to supply assist for Mamdani’s different core guarantees: Freezing hire for town’s 2 million stabilized tenants, making public buses free and growing taxes on companies and millionaires.
She stated she wouldn’t opine on these issues as a result of she argued the Council doesn’t have a task in them, with stabilized rents being set by a mayorally managed board whereas the bus and taxation questions depend on state motion. When it comes to little one care, she stated she’s chiming in as a result of she sees a task for the Council to allocate funding for it by discovering “savings” throughout the municipal forms.
“What I’m going to focus on is where the Council can actually contribute to the affordability agenda,” she stated.
“Of course there will be areas of disagreement,” she added when requested about her Republican colleagues’ expectations for her. “That happens in every single City Council-administration relationship.”
Julie Menin is sworn in as Speaker of the New York Metropolis Council on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025, at Metropolis Corridor. (John McCarten / NYC Council Media Unit)
Mamdani didn’t attend Wednesday’s vote, although his first deputy mayor, Dean Fuleihan, and intergovernmental affairs director, Jahmila Edwards, had been readily available.
“Together, we will work to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, protect workers and consumers, and restore belief in city government,” Mamdani stated in a press release on Menin’s election.
The proposed tax hikes — a few of which Gov. Hochul brazenly opposes — are particularly essential for Mamdani, as he has stated he wants them to generate sufficient new income to fund his affordability platform.
Whereas she could not have a direct function in enacting a number of Mamdani coverage pledges, his Albany agenda may benefit from bully pulpit help from Menin.
Brooklyn Councilwoman Crystal Hudson, a Mamdani-aligned Democrat who was Menin’s most important challenger within the speaker’s race, advised she nonetheless expects many Council progressives to push aggressively for the mayor’s priorities.
“I know many in this body are committed to delivering that agenda and will fight tooth-and-nail to enact it over the next four years,” Hudson stated earlier than stressing she hopes all native leaders are keen to “share power.”
Julie Menin is sworn in as Speaker of the New York Metropolis Council on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025, at Metropolis Corridor. (Emil Cohen / NYC Council Media Unit)
As for Council enterprise, Menin and Mamdani are anticipated to quickly start negotiating this 12 months’s metropolis finances. Amongst potential sticking factors in these talks could possibly be public security.
On a macro degree, projections present large metropolis finances deficits for the approaching fiscal 12 months, which begins July 1, an outlook that will require Mamdani and Menin to search out new income or make cuts in an effort to stability the spending plan. That image is made extra sophisticated by federal funding cuts from President Trump’s administration.
One other potential flash level within the relationship between Menin and Mamdani is Israel’s warfare in Gaza.
Mamdani, a longtime advocate for Palestinian rights, has accused Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza.
Menin is a supporter of Israel and has voiced concern about pro-Palestinian protests within the metropolis, saying they fire up antisemitism. She made transient reference to that concern in her speech, saying, “We must never jeopardize a New Yorker’s right to worship.”
“Because we cannot let what happened outside Park East Synagogue ever happen again, at any house of worship,” Menin stated, a reference to a raucous pro-Palestinian rally that passed off outdoors that Manhattan temple in November.
After the Park East incident, a Mamdani spokeswoman stated he discourages “the language” used on the protest but additionally believes the synagogue shouldn’t promote “activities in violation of international law,” a reference to a Zionist group that hosted an occasion contained in the temple throughout the protest.
Menin’s election was a foregone conclusion, as she introduced in late November she had secured assist from a supermajority of her colleagues.
First elected to the Council in 2021, Menin beforehand labored as Client Affairs commissioner underneath ex-Mayor Invoice de Blasio.
