Moumita Ahmed, one of the eight candidates running in the Feb. 2 non-partisan special election for the New York City Council seat vacated by former Councilman Rory Lancman, who took a job in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration, said during a debate on Tuesday that she supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Last week, she came under fire over an alleged antisemitic tweet.
“I support the two-state solution and I support people’s right to boycott,” Ahmed said during a virtual candidate forum hosted by the Citizens Union, Queens Daily Eagle and the Gotham Gazette. “In my district, there are differences of opinions when it comes to that, so I want to make sure that I protect people’s First Amendment right to boycott.”
January 25, 2021
Dr. Neeta Jain, a psychologist from Flushing, Queens, running for NY City Council from District 24 Photo: neetajainfornewyork.com
Dr. Neeta Jain, a psychologist and long-time resident of Flushing, is making a bid to fill the seat being vacated by former District 24 Neww York City Councilman Rory Lancman.
If she wins, she will be fill the remainder of Lancman’s term till the June 22, when the Democratic primaries are scheduled.
Lancman is leaving to take up his new assignment in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration as special counsel for ratepayer protection.
The special election where Jain is a candidate is scheduled to take place Feb. 2. Jain is the second Indian American to declare a run for the New York City Council, the other being political activist and community leader Harpreet Singh Toor who is seeking the Democratic Party nomination from District 23 in Eastern Queens. The primary for that is scheduled for June. 22.
Ranked-choice voting sees first test AG’s suit against NRA moves forward Garcia calls for vaccine czar
Presented by Opportunities for NY
A new system of ranked-choice voting will transform New York City’s elections, including this year s race for mayor. Now it’s about to get its first test: early voting
Instead of picking one candidate, voters
will choose up to five, ranking them in order of preference. If a candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes, they win and that’s the end of it. But if no one does, a computerized system eliminates the last-place candidate and parcels out their votes to the second choice. The process repeats itself until someone gets a majority.