NYPD budget way too high, you got to cut iiiit / @LolOverruled / bringin’ back 2016 memes when necessary, k?!
The mayor's race is beginning to take shape. Our standout candidates: Dianne Morales, Maya Wiley, Carlos Menchaca and Scott Stringer + *wildcard!*. Dianne Morales set the bar high by committing to a $3 BILLION cut from the NYPD budget (!), which has risen to over $6B under de Blaz. She is our #DefundThePolice candidate and frontrunner. Andrew Yang brings big-start-up vibes. He pitched a casino and a “tourist vaccine visa.” Yang is coming off of the high from his Prez run, but look, this 👏 is 👏 NYC 👏 we 👏 will 👏 call 👏 you 👏 out. Watch the veryinformative (and borderline entertaining!) #BKMayoralForum (linked below).
We also lost a candidate (probs for the best) but gained a Real Housewife (probs for the worst!). The male candidates have all the cash and that’s a problem. (1) there’s just too much money in politics and (2) c’mon people, it’s time for a woman mayor! Establishment male candidates may be raising the most money (don’t EVEN get us started on where it’s coming from), and community-oriented female candidates are receiving the most individual contributions. Maya Wiley has the most contributors out of any candidate. There’s plenty more to discuss, but it’s also a waiting game to see who will drop out (and why).
Mayoral reading, “Abolishing the Police 101” graphic zine, and a video memorial for MTA workers who died of COVID-19 down below. Wanna put something on our radar? Leave a comment or email us at softpowervote@gmail.com.
ON THE RADAR
WATCH: Citizens Union Breakfast Brief on Ranked Choice Voting
Monday 02.01, 9 am. Join WNYC editor in chief, exec director of Center for Law and Social Justice at CUNY, the coo of NYU Institute of Poverty Policy and Research, and Editor of Gotham Gazette, Ben Max, in convo on RANKED CHOICE VOTING! RSVP here.
ACTION: Apply to be on your Community Board (this is how you get those bike lanes and parklets in the city)
PARTY AFFILIATION DEADLINE: V-Day (2/14) is the last day to switch your party affiliation to vote in the city-wide primary
NYC has closed primaries—Democrats can only vote in Dem Primaries and so on—so all you “Independents” out there who want to participate in the Primary (and the city’s transformation) change your party affiliation to “Democrat” by 2/14. Update your party!
PUBLIC COMMENT on NYPD Use Policy of Surveillance Tech
Make your voice heard on everything from NYPD use of facial recognition to x-ray and more.
We don’t know if these comments will enact change, but let’s make some noise! Deadline to submit: 02.25
City Council introduces 11 bills on public safety and police reform! Hearings 02.08-02.16. Read more
Monday, 02.08, 1 pm. Investigating police officers with a history of bias via Committee on Civil and Human Rights.
CULTURAL WORK
Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya. I Still Believe in Our City, 2020. Artist-in-residence with the NYC Commission on Human Rights.
Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya’s I Still Believe in Our City campaign as a part of the NYC’s P.A.I.R. program, places artists in city agencies.
Travels Far. Video memorial for MTA workers who died from Covid-19. [TRT: 08:06] Pay your respects.
Artists as Essential workers! Wide Awakes x For Freedom’s program series features Philadelphia’s DA, former astronauts, writers, and creatives. Arts + activism at Sundance Film Festival, thru 02.02. FREE w/RSVP.
On the Other Side of Something. We Buy Gold’s sixth project. Thru March 2021.
Show me a Hero (2015). A reminder of how career politics becomes a drug. Features Oscar Isaac!On HBO.
SOFT POWER VOTE
MAYORAL RACE STUFF:
WATCH: BK Mayoral Forum [TRT: 3 hrs 40 mins]. One of the BEST forums, moderated by Ny Whitaker and Gloria Pazmino, who asked unique, pressing, and somehow FUN questions to candidates in three rounds (questions were different for each round, SWOON!).
YangGang for NYC is less tech bro and more wall street
Gotham Gazette and Manhattan Neighborhood Network co-producing interviews with every mayoral candidate! 13 online so far.
READ: Inside the Mad Dash for NYC Mayoral Endorsements
Most sought-after backers are the Working Families Party, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and 1199SEIU, which represents 400,000 health care workers and retirees. Gotta catch ‘em all.
Financial filings for mayoral candidates say a lot. TL;DR Scott Stringer, Eric Adams, and Ray McGuire rake in a disturbing amount of money. S/O to Maya Wiley who has the most contributors (avg $103) and Dianne Morales who has the most contributions < $50 (also both are Black female candidates!). Read up!
READ: NY Schools are Segregated, Will the Next Mayor Change That?
NYT’s Eliza Shapiro interviewed 10 mayoral candidates about their school desegregation plans. Read up!
We have just under a year left with de Blasio in which we get to choose the future of our city. Let’s learn from the past 7 years and elect someone who will lead with competence.
He really claimed to not see the hundreds of videos of police brutality
Soft Power Vote is an independent initiative founded by three New Yorkers who wanted more out of voting. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and check out our website. Our linktree is stacked with civic engagement links like checking on your voter registration status, finding your poll site, and the holy grail: finding your representatives! If you have the bandwidth, support our work via Venmo or Cash App (@softpowervote).
