Thursday Headlines: Can’t Viaduct The Past Edition
We still don’t have an official winner in the 129th Assembly District primary, but the narrow lead Onondaga County Legislator Maurice Brown holds over Assembly Transportation Chair Bill Magnarelli (D-Geddes) may owe itself to the latter’s record on I-81.
The highway overpass that cut off Syracuse’s Black community goes through the South Side, and that’s where Brown did some of his best work on Election Day. The insurgent challenger backed by Syracuse DSA and the state Working Families Party picked up 375 more votes than Magnarelli in wards of the city directly affected by I-81, according to data from the Onondaga County Board of Elections.
Throughout the race, Brown hit Magnarelli on his approach to the community-shattering roadway, specifically his slow acceptance of a plan to tear down its viaduct and let the city’s grid handle the extra traffic.
And his comrades in the DSA said that Brown’s prior activism on the issue made an impact with voters in the area.
“That was an affluent, affluent Black community that was there, and it was severed once I-81 came up, so having the community grid put in was really a way to pay back to the community and reestablish what once was and try to give a lot of hope for the city of Syracuse,” said community organizer Tammy Honeywell, “and Magnarelli being the chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee for New York, he really could have had a huge impact on what happened.”
Brown leads by 82 votes, but absentee and affidavit ballots still need to be counted.
Elsewhere in the Empire State:
- The MTA approved the strike-ending contract for LIRR workers that includes pay increases desired by the unions. (Newsday)
- James Crosby was charged with making a terroristic threat as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon after he made Facebook comments about state Sen. Lea Webb (D-Binghamton). (State of Politics)
- Gov. Hochul is trying to turn down the temperature as the MTA and Amtrak remain at odds. (Gothamist)
- Orthodox jews want the MTA to rethink bus ads for the Museum of Sex. (The City Reporter)
- Young white voters helped fuel the electoral success of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s preferred congressional candidates. (The New York Post)
- A new Siena College poll has Hochul up 20 points on Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is challenging her for governor. (NY1)
- The “European-style” fare collection pilot will be focused on express buses now, according to the MTA. (amNY)
- Reformers in the Brooklyn Democratic Party may be able to wrest control from County Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn. (City & State)
- New York’s far left may turn its attention to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s seat after success on Tuesday. (Politico New York)
- Kingston school zones will have automated speed camera enforcement. (Hudson Valley One)
- Socialists are growing more and more powerful in the state legislature. (New York Focus)
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