{"id":131938,"date":"2026-02-13T00:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T00:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/131938\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T00:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T00:11:09","slug":"where-are-they-now-brooklyn-power-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/131938\/","title":{"rendered":"Where are they now: Brooklyn Power 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

City & State has been highlighting key political players<\/a> in each of New York City\u2019s five boroughs for many years. In 2019, elected officials were added to the mix<\/a>, and a true list of the 100 top power brokers in Brooklyn was born. Some of the top people on that list are still in their same jobs, while others have moved on \u2013 or are about to retire. For City & State\u2019s 20th anniversary, here\u2019s a look back at what\u2019s changed since the first Brooklyn Power 100 list after publishing the latest iteration.<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Hakeem Jeffries<\/p>\n

In 2019, things were looking up for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who had just ascended into the House Democratic leadership following then-Rep. Joe Crowley\u2019s defeat. Jeffries has helped keep the Democratic conference united amid many fractious Republican speaker vote sagas, and he could become the nation\u2019s first Black House speaker after the midterms.<\/p>\n

2. Chuck Schumer<\/p>\n

While Democrats have criticized how both of the party\u2019s legislative leaders have responded to President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has borne more of the brunt of the public\u2019s wrath. His approval rating at the end of the year was lower than any other top U.S. politician<\/a>, and he will likely face a competitive Democratic primary in 2028, if he chooses to seek reelection.<\/p>\n

3. Letitia James<\/p>\n

State Attorney General Letitia James was new to the role in 2019, making history as the state\u2019s first Black attorney general. Since then, it has been a nonstop whirlwind. She led a yearslong legal battle<\/a> against the National Rifle Association, issued a key report in the Andrew Cuomo sexual harassment allegations case and briefly flirted with a run for governor. More recently, she\u2019s had innumerable lawsuits against President Donald Trump, who responded in turn with a mortgage fraud allegation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez<\/p>\n

Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez, after more than 30 years in Congress, announced that she is retiring at the end of this year. As one of the fiercest champions for Puerto Rico in the House, \u201cLa Luchadora\u201d commands respect from progressives and establishment Democrats alike. Her departure has kicked off a competitive primary to represent one of the city\u2019s most progressive districts.<\/p>\n

5. Eric Adams\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2019, Eric Adams was Brooklyn borough president and an ambitious former state senator with hopes of becoming mayor. Those dreams were realized and then subsequently dashed after one tumultuous term. So where is Adams now? He\u2019s in Dubai getting a stem cell experience<\/a>, or serving as a keynote speaker at a conference organized<\/a> by a MAGA pastor.<\/p>\n

6. Jumaane Williams<\/p>\n

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams had only been in the role for a few months at the time of the 2019 list \u2013 and he\u2019s still in the role today. Of course, he ran for governor in 2022, losing in the Democratic primary, and would\u2019ve become New York City mayor if Eric Adams had been removed by Gov. Kathy Hochul.<\/p>\n

7. Eric Gonzalez<\/p>\n

City & State called Eric Gonzalez \u201cfirmly entrenched\u201d in 2019 after he had finally shed the \u201cacting\u201d portion of his title as Brooklyn district attorney the previous year. Now, he\u2019s maybe too entrenched as the borough\u2019s top prosecutor. He had been in the mix as Hochul\u2019s lieutenant governor pick, which would\u2019ve taken him to ribbon-cuttings and other functions across the state, but he didn\u2019t end up being the pick<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8. Richard Donoghue<\/p>\n

Then the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Richard Donoghue was in the middle of his 2 1\/2-year tenure in 2019. He got a conviction and life imprisonment for Joaqu\u00edn \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n. Donoghue then spent about six months with the U.S. Department of Justice and is now a partner<\/a> at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.<\/p>\n

9. Helene Weinstein<\/p>\n

Former Assembly Member Helene Weinstein retired at the end of 2024 as the longest-serving woman in the history of the state Legislature and the first woman to chair the powerful Assembly Ways and Means Committee. After 44 years in office, she graced the cover<\/a> of City & State\u2019s Exit Interview issue near the end of 2024, owing to her importance and longevity in Albany.<\/p>\n

10. Frank Seddio<\/p>\n

At the time, Frank Seddio was at the tail end of his tenure leading the Brooklyn Democratic Party, giving way to current boss Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn near the beginning of 2020. City & State noted his influence over judicial appointments, and that has continued as he was caught on camera yelling about judges<\/a> in 2022 and is caught up in a $2 million escrow scandal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"City & State has been highlighting key political players in each of New York City\u2019s five boroughs for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,24,11,10,49,2327,7159],"class_list":{"0":"post-131938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-new-york-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-news","12":"tag-new-york-state","13":"tag-news-politics","14":"tag-personality"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}