When you read this Zohran Mamdani will have been mayor for two months or about 2% of his first four years. Yet the naysayers (who fill the local Nextdoor blogs with daily critiques) have already declared him a failure.
In our February issue we published an article titled Brad Lander Takes On Congressman Dan Goldman in Battle Over How to Best Fight for Sanity.
Village community members and city leaders came together on a freezing February afternoon to re-raise the Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument after a directive from the Trump administration caused it to be taken down a few days prior.
There was a time, beginning around 1998, when Greenwich Village, Chelsea and parts north shared a state senator. The first one was Tom Duane, a gay pioneer in the electoral arena, who was first elected as a City Council member to the “gay seat” created in 1991.
We are witness to a government that is continually less reflective of its constituents and more partial of its donors. We often say we are at a crossroads in politics, but it seems more like a slide. Each election feels special, because they represent moments to reflect on the worsening material conditions and political sway of everyday people.
There have been some pretty shocking developments since our political recap. First, Erik Bottcher, who has been City Council member for the Village west of Sixth Avenue since 2021 has decided to run for what seems to be the uncontested state Senate seat which Brad Hoylman-Sigal will leave when he becomes Manhattan borough president on January 1. If the schedule holds, the Democratic County Committee members in that district will nominate a candidate on January 11, and there will be a special election in early February.
It was a bit like American Idol, but hamish (Yiddish for homey) and very East Village—a rousing chorus of tribute to community, diversity, and “for-the-people” politics. It was new District 2 City Council Member Harvey Epstein’s community swearing-in ceremony, in a packed auditorium at the 14th Street Y on December 6.
Everyone feels that they can do a better job than their current City Council member. For most of us running for office, it’s just a thought, especially when realizing the amount of work and dedication it takes to make a change.
The election for New York City mayor will take place on November 4, 2025, and Village View has a primer with what you need to know about the four remaining candidates as well as some quotes from Greenwich Villagers and mom-and-pop business owners on who they are supporting.
Despite popular belief, rent control and stabilization are not socialist policies, they are consumer protection programs. They were created to solve a particular financial problem at the time and had clear end dates.
