Photo: Getty Images North America
When Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani takes over on January 1st, he will have a different City Council at his disposal than the one that is currently running the city with Eric Adams. City Council Speaker, therefore, is the most important assignment in the council, and term-limited Adrienne Adams will be handing the reins over to a new Speaker who will set the tempo for how New York is run under Mamdani. According to City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-19), people should pay close attention to the race for City Council Speaker because it goes hand-in-hand with the election of Mamdani. Julie Menin seems to be the odds-on favorite, but Crystal Hudson is far more progressive, which would better complement the new mayor’s policies. Paladino appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to explain how the next speaker will decide how much of Mamdani’s agenda, as well as the plans of each city council member, will be implemented.
“This is the battle,” Paladino told host Larry Mendte. “We’ve got Zohran coming in, and with Adrienne, if you didn’t march to the beat of her drum... you know, you get short-changed. Doors get slammed in your face and deals cannot be made to bring money back to your district to improve it. So, in my way of thinking and my handling of Adrienne Adams, I made it very clear to the candidates that are running for Speaker, that I will not tolerate doors getting slammed in my face. Do not show me your chief of staff- I want you!”
Paladino is making it very clear which horse she is backing in the Speaker’s race: “Crystal is the left and Julie is, [for] lack of a better word, moderate. I’ve met with Julie many, many times. I became a friend of hers over the last four years. She is definitely the person you want to be the next Speaker… the stuff that’s costing the city billions and billions of dollars, [Hudson’s] 100% in favor of; Julie will at least sit down with you and listen.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images