{"id":92323,"date":"2026-01-07T14:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/92323\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T14:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:06:10","slug":"julie-menin-meet-the-woman-set-to-lead-the-nyc-city-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/92323\/","title":{"rendered":"Julie Menin: Meet the woman set to lead the NYC City Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A <\/p>\n

NEW YORK – There will soon be a new New York City Council speaker \u2014 a powerful post that works hand in hand with the mayor to shape the city\u2019s legislative agenda.<\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Council Member Julie Menin is expected to be elected speaker when the full City Council votes at noon today, a move that could be unanimous or nearly so.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SKIP TO: Jewish heritage, Holocaust<\/a><\/p>\n

The ceremonial swearing-in comes as Mayor Zohran Mamdani begins his first days in office, setting the stage for what both sides say will be a collaborative relationship after years of tension between the council and City Hall under former Speaker Adrienne Adams and Mayor Eric Adams.<\/p>\n

Do Menin and Mamdani get along? \"\" <\/p>\n

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 28: NYC Council Member Julie Menin attends the 92NY Groundbreaking Ceremony for Buttenwieser Hall on June 28, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Gary Gershoff\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n

Menin has already signaled a willingness to work closely with Mamdani, saying she\u2019s had productive early conversations with the new mayor, even as he has faced criticism \u2014 particularly from Jewish leaders \u2014 over his past views on Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Menin, who is Jewish and represents Manhattan\u2019s East Side and Roosevelt Island, is expected to play a key role in bridging ideological and political divides as the council navigates major policy fights ahead.<\/p>\n

Public safety \"Mamdani, <\/p>\n

One of the first tests of that working relationship could come around public safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mamdani campaigned on creating a Department of Community Safety, aimed at shifting some emergency responses away from police officers and toward mental health crisis teams. The mayor has stressed the plan is meant to supplement, not replace, the NYPD \u2014 an assurance likely to be closely examined by the council under Menin\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

Who is Julie Menin? \"\" <\/p>\n

NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 16: Julie Menin attends Build to discuss The One Film, One New York campaign at Build Studio on August 16, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jim Spellman\/WireImage) <\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

If elected speaker, Menin would bring deep institutional experience to the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An attorney and former small business owner, she has spent more than two decades in public service, including stints as commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Media and Entertainment, and most recently as New York City\u2019s Census director.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Menin, Trump <\/p>\n

In that role, she helped defeat the Trump administration\u2019s attempt to add a citizenship question and oversaw a record census turnout that secured the city its share of more than $1.5 trillion in federal funding over the next decade.<\/p>\n

City Council \"\" <\/p>\n

New York Attorney General Letitia James (C), Director of the Census for New York City Julie Menin (L) and ACLU’s Voting Rights Project Director Dale Ho (R) approach microphones to speak to reporters outside of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC o <\/p>\n

Since joining the City Council, Menin has emerged as one of its most prolific lawmakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She has sponsored more than 18 bills, including the Healthcare Accountability Act to rein in excessive hospital pricing, legislation expanding access to universal childcare, and measures strengthening protections for reproductive health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As chair of the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection and co-chair of the Women\u2019s Caucus, she has also focused on easing burdens on small businesses and expanding worker rights.<\/p>\n

Local perspective:<\/p>\n

Menin\u2019s resume also includes leading high-profile public-private partnerships, from launching NYC Kids RISE \u2014 which has seeded college savings accounts for more than 280,000 public school students \u2014 to spearheading Holocaust education initiatives through the Museum of Jewish Heritage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She has spoken openly about her family\u2019s history, noting that her mother and grandmother survived the Holocaust before settling on the Upper East Side, where Menin now lives with her husband and children.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Julie Menin, director of the census for New York City, from right, Letitia James, New York attorney general, and Dale Ho, director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) voting rights project, listen to a question while speaking to members of t <\/p>\n

That personal history, combined with her technocratic approach to governing, could shape how she navigates sensitive issues at City Hall \u2014 including foreign policy flashpoints that often reverberate locally, as well as debates over public safety, housing, and affordability.<\/p>\n

As the council prepares to vote Wednesday, allies say Menin\u2019s experience and coalition-building style position her as a stabilizing force at a moment of political transition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether that translates into a smoother relationship with Mayor Mamdani \u2014 and meaningful progress on his ambitious agenda \u2014 will become clearer in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n

The Source: This report is based on information from the NYC City Council.<\/p>\n

Zohran Mamdani<\/a>Politics<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK – There will soon be a new New York City Council speaker \u2014 a powerful post…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,12,56,63,65,64,1232,87,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-92323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-ny","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-nyc-headlines","13":"tag-nyc-news","14":"tag-people","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92323","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=92323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}