A New York City Council staffer was detained by federal immigration authorities. The Mamdani administration poached the head of the body\u2019s finance division. Efforts to discipline a council member over Islamophobic social media posts devolved into a messy legal battle. The chair of a key council committee was embroiled in a federal bribery investigation. A multibillion-dollar deficit has led to contentious budget negotiations with a powerful new mayor.<\/p>\n
Julie Menin\u2019s first 100 days as speaker of the City Council haven\u2019t been smooth sailing. A little over three months in, she\u2019s faced a number of thorny political issues \u2013 more perhaps than many of her predecessors were forced to confront early in their tenures. The majority of these challenges aren\u2019t of her own making, but some pose the threat of becoming bigger issues down the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has not been a fair 100 days,\u201d former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said. \u201cThe universe deserves to give Julie a very calm, quiet next 100 days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The City Council has meanwhile barreled forward with its legislative duties, Menin at the helm seeking to project productivity and strength<\/a>. On April 16, her official 100th day as speaker, she touted accomplishments like a package of bills aimed at combating antisemitism<\/a>, legislation imposing new guardrails<\/a> on the city\u2019s use of emergency contracts and the launch of a new tool<\/a> giving the public greater insight into how city agencies are spending money. On Friday morning, Menin released a walk-and-talk<\/a> style video<\/a> highlighting wins.\u00a0<\/p>\n The council has so far overridden 17 of<\/a> the previous mayor\u2019s vetoes and introduced over 1,200 pieces of legislation, passing a combined 111 introductions and resolutions. That\u2019s certainly not nothing, though it\u2019s worth remembering that the majority of members are returning this legislative session and that many of the bills were reintroduced. Many observers said Menin had a strong start.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne way to do this in my opinion would have been to sort of see what\u2019s going on, see how popular Zohran is, see what he\u2019s going to accomplish and react accordingly,\u201d said Jason Goldman, former chief of staff to then-Speaker Corey Johnson. \u201cJulie has taken a different sort of tact, which is \u2018I\u2019m just going to get things done right away.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview, Menin pointed to the detention by ICE of Rafael Rubio, the City Council data analyst, as a low point. Rubio was detained by<\/a> federal immigration authorities while attending a routine asylum appointment appearance early this year. A judge ruled that he would<\/a> be deported last month. \u201cThat was in my first week. It was day six and we learned that he\u2019d been detained,\u201d Menin, who convened an emergency presser<\/a> after getting the news, recalled. \u201cThat was certainly heartbreaking, enraging, sobering all at the same time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The speaker has been less candid about how she\u2019s handling controversies surrounding two of her fellow council members: Republican Council Member Vickie Paladino and Democratic Council Member Farah Louis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Menin took action early on when it came to Paladino, stripping the Republican council member<\/a> of the majority of her committee assignments over Islamophobic comments she made on social media. After Paladino doubled down on the rhetoric, the council\u2019s standards and ethics committee charged her with disorderly conduct<\/a> \u2013 the first part of a multi-step disciplinary process. The Republican council member sued Menin and the legislative body, arguing that speech<\/a> from her personal social media account was protected by the First Amendment and that she was being targeted for her conservative politics. A federal judge heard oral arguments for the case last week and has yet to make a ruling<\/a> \u2013 though whatever the outcome, the issue has devolved into a messy political squabble with little precedent.\u00a0<\/p>\n The situation with Louis, while different from Paladino in a number of ways, is perhaps more complicated for Menin. News broke earlier this month that federal prosecutors were investigating the<\/a> Brooklyn Democrat and several others in a bribery probe tied to the appropriation of city funds to a homeless shelter provider. Louis, whose home was raided<\/a>, has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and she\u2019s yet to publicly respond<\/a> to the unfolding scandal. Still, Louis currently chairs the council\u2019s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, a committee pivotal to shaping council action on housing and development.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unlikely that the standards and ethics committee will take any immediate action to investigate Louis, but there are other ways Menin could theoretically distance herself. So far, she\u2019s said the council is monitoring the situation, emphasizing that the federal investigation must proceed fairly and expeditiously.\u00a0<\/p>\n Several people interviewed for this story said they were surprised that Menin hasn\u2019t taken any public action yet \u2013 whether that\u2019s bringing the matter forward for a vote to strip Louis of her chair assignment or cutting off her access to discretionary funding. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine how you can be under potential federal investigation or be the subject of a potential federal investigation while chairing the Zoning and Franchises committee which requires you to negotiate with developers,\u201d one former City Council official said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Louis steered over $450,000 in city funds to BHRAGS Home Care Corp, the Brooklyn-based provider at the center of the federal probe, Gothamist recently reported.<\/a> (The council is not directing any more funding to the provider while the investigation unfolds, according to a council spokesperson. Discretionary funding is also not typically allocated until the end of the budget process in June.)<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still evaluating the information. There is not a lot of new information here,\u201d Menin said, declining to say whether Louis would continue chairing the committee. \u201cCertainly, if new information becomes available we will take any action that is needed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Pointing to how the speaker stripped Paladino of many of her committee assignments early in her tenure, one Democratic council member said that Menin has proven herself as someone who will act decisively when facts come to light.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re looking at that as a measure of predictive action, I mean look \u2026 Farah hasn\u2019t been charged. We don\u2019t know a lot about the substance behind the case that she has,\u201d they said, requesting anonymity so they could speak openly about the standards and ethics\u2019 process. \u201cI think a lot of us do recognize that she does have a powerful committee, but right now we also lack the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n A handful of members acknowledged that the past few months have been fraught with unexpected political challenges, but they also expressed confidence in Menin\u2019s handling.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that the council continues to be a productive body and navigate these very complex things, speaks to her leadership,\u201d Deputy Speaker Nantasha Williams said. \u201cI mean yes, it\u2019s been tricky, but these are things unfortunately either that she\u2019s inherited or things that have happened as she has become speaker.\u201d<\/p>\n Looming large over the past couple of weeks is the increasingly contentious budget negotiations. About a month ago, the mayor swiped the head of the council\u2019s<\/a> finance division, tapping Richard Lee to serve as commissioner of the Department of Finance. When Mamdani floated a proposal to raise<\/a> property taxes as a \u201clast resort\u201d option to help close the city\u2019s multibillion dollar budget gap, Menin quickly fired back, declaring it out of the question.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe first 100 days of anybody\u2019s administration is going to be defined by the early legislative wins and how they prioritize the budget,\u201d said Democratic strategist Yvette Buckner, praising Menin for how she advocated for small business owners and homeowners. \u201c(Menin) appears to be thinking creatively and out of the box.\u201d<\/p>\n Things took a particularly nasty turn however after the council released its annual budget response, which Mamdani slammed<\/a>, claiming that the proposal would result in sweeping cuts to agency budgets. A video released by<\/a> the mayor\u2019s team zeroed in on Menin, calling her out by name \u2013 spurring a snowball of criticism from his allies that ranged from attacks on her wealth<\/a> to accusations that she was trying to sabotage the democratic socialist mayor. Many of the council members leapt to social media to respond, defending both the speaker and their proposal. While tensions have since somewhat died down<\/a>, the matter underscored the celebrity clout the mayor wields. It also raised some speculation that Mamdani was laying the groundwork to blame the council for where the budget ends up.<\/p>\n \u201cFacts matter. It’s important to always be honest and truthful when you’re disseminating information,\u201d Menin said. \u201cI think that’s why you saw that level of blowback, particularly from council members and others.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t the first social media pile-on Menin\u2019s been the subject of. She faced criticism for her decision to appear<\/a> on Sid Rosenberg\u2019s radio show in February, especially after the right-wing host later went on an Islamophobic tirade against the mayor, likening Mamdani to a \u201ccockroach.\u201d More recently, Menin faced backlash for declining<\/a> to release her taxes \u2013 something the mayor willingly did.<\/p>\n