Make Room at the Table

Last summer, women leaders from all over the state of New York gathered together on the steps of New York City Hall to support the creation of the Women’s Equality Party, a party line created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in part to support Kathy Hochul’s successful run for lieutenant governor. It was explained that its creation was to unite women across party lines in order to advance the issues that mattered most to the women of the Empire State. Many of us were excited, or at least hopeful, at its promise; surely we were on the road to shattering the glass ceilings that have held back women’s equality throughout the ages.

But here we are again. As statewide budget negotiations take place during Women’s History Month, only four men are at the table in closed-door meetings making critical decisions about how more than $142 billion of citizens’ money will be spent. Decisions that will impact education, housing, jobs, health, transportation, the arts, economic development and so many other critical issues will be made without a single woman in the room, as it has been done for generations. The inequality that is systemic throughout New York begins in the room with four men. If you do not have a seat at the table, your issues are not being addressed.

It’s unacceptable for women to earn zero representation when it counts. The math simply does not add up. Included in this year’s room, beside Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, is state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who represents 33 members, and state Senator Jeff Klein, leader of the five-member Independent Democratic Conference. Who is excluded from this equation? The answer is Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, whose Democratic conference has 24 members. All across New York State, women and enlightened men want to know when five became equal to or greater than 24.

To be clear, Stewart-Cousins is no token female. Her public service career began in 1992 when she became the first African-American to serve as the director of community affairs in the City of Yonkers. Prior to being elected to the state Senate—where she went on to be the first African-American woman to preside over the chamber in 2009—she was the first African-American woman elected as a county legislator. In 2012, her colleagues chose her to be the first female legislative leader and she is the first African-American woman to serve as the Democratic Conference leader. How is this woman, who has authored landmark legislation and fought for the over eight million New Yorkers her conference represents, denied the opportunity to make decisions? Stewart-Cousins has more than earned her right to be at the table. Denying her would be one of the most egregious civil rights violations in the history of the State of New York. 

The solution is clear to us. Every legislative conference leader, including Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, should be at the table. Not only would this be a bipartisan fix, but it would also ensure that every New Yorker’s voice is equally represented. We challenge any leader to come out publicly against that measure. 

We cannot allow the creation of a Women’s Equality Party during the campaign season and the exclusion of Stewart-Cousins, the state’s most significant female elected official, from the budget negotiating table. We can no longer allow women and their important concerns to be used at election time for votes and then exclude them from making the economic and policy decisions that will bring about true equality. As we celebrate Women’s “Herstory” Month and recognize all of the accomplishments and “firsts” for women, we would be negating all of the progress that women have made by allowing the archaic system of “four men in a room” to continue. We urge the people of New York wherever they are to lift their voice through petitions, social media, phone calls, rallies, demonstrations, articles, letters, and whatever else it takes. We must all raise our voices loudly because, 50 years after the marches from Selma, it is clear women still have a long “Edmund Pettus Bridge” to cross.

Laurie Cumbo is a New York City Councilwoman and the Chair of the Women’s Issues Committee. Eric Adams is the Brooklyn Borough President.