Could the Barron political dynasty be overthrown?
Charles Barron is vying to win his wife Inez Barron’s New York City Council District 42 seat, which she is leaving this year due to term limits. The majority-Black district encompases East New York and its subsections such as Spring Creek and Starrett City. Charles Barron previously won the same seat in 2001. His wife won the Assembly seat in 2008 and they swapped seats when Charles was term-limited out of the City Council in 2013, with Inez running successfully to replace him and Charles then replacing her in the Assembly.
But some have grown tired of the Barrons’ seat swapping, particularly local politicos who say the district is in need of new leadership, pointing to the neighborhood’s high rates of poverty and unemployment, and a recent upward trend in shootings as some of the most pressing issues in the district. Others remember the iconoclastic, radical couple known for generating their share of controversy, for their
Albany Appears Poised To Extend Eviction Moratorium Again
arrow Tenant activists protesting outside of Brooklyn housing court August 6th, 2020. JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Citing the continuing public health emergency and the need to ensure economic stability, Albany legislators are expected to vote Monday to extend the state’s eviction moratorium until August 31st for residential and commercial tenants experiencing financial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Andrew Cuomo hasn’t said whether he’ll sign the bill, but lawmakers expect he will because he signed the last one in March.
The moratorium was set to expire on May 1st. If approved on Monday as expected, the new retroactive legislation will extend two separate laws: one that applies to small businesses, and the other a pause on residential tenant evictions and foreclosure proceedings. Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and Manhattan/Brooklyn Senator Brian Kavanagh, who spons