Sunrise Movement makes endorsements for City Council, with an eye to budget ‘no’ votes

Youth-led climate advocacy group Sunrise Movement NYC is announcing endorsements for seven New York City Council members’ reelection – all of whom voted against the city budget last year, or later apologized for their votes in favor of the budget.

As the city’s upcoming budget cycle coincides almost perfectly with the primary election – or disastrously, depending on who you ask – council members could face more pressure from progressive groups to vote against the budget this year to protest expected funding cuts.  The council’s Progressive Caucus went through a restructuring recently, losing nearly half of its more moderate members under a new statement of principles that included a commitment to “do everything we can to reduce the size and scope of the NYPD and the Department of Correction.”

Sunrise NYC’s endorsements, shared exclusively with City & State, include Council Members Tiffany Cabán, Chi Ossé, Sandy Nurse and Alexa Avilés (who all voted against last year’s budget), along with Lincoln Restler, Jennifer Gutiérrez and Shahana Hanif (who apologized for voting in favor of the budget following backlash over cuts to schools.)

“We’re thrilled to endorse these climate champions, who recognize that being progressive means fighting for everything from renewable energy to a strong education for every New Yorker,” Tyler Hack, one of the organization’s electoral team leads, said in a statement.

Sunrise NYC, a grassroots group that advocates for a Green New Deal, applied a stringent criteria for endorsements. Each of the seven endorsed candidates, the group said, disavowed contributions from a wide range of sources including fossil fuel lobbyists, corporate PACs, real estate, charter schools, law enforcement unions and the cryptocurrency industry. All endorsed candidates signed on to a Green New Deal pledge and a No Fossil Fuel Money pledge.

But Sunrise’s criteria for endorsements goes deeper than just environmental pledges. Candidates’ positions on law enforcement factor heavily. In addition to rejecting funding by law enforcement unions, the candidates the group endorses have to support reducing the NYPD’s budget; removing police from schools, mental health response calls, and homeless outreach; eliminating the NYPD Vice Squad; and requiring the police commissioner to be confirmed by the City Council. Candidates also have to support public funding of abortion and the creation of supervised injection sites in the city, among other stances.

Sunrise’s slate of seven candidates leaves off two incumbents who the organization endorsed in 2021: Council Members Kristin Richardson Jordan and Amanda Farías.

Richardson Jordan, who is facing one of this year’s more competitive primaries, was among the small group that voted against the city’s budget last year. Hack, however, left open the possibility that Sunrise would endorse in that primary race. “We’re considering endorsing in the Council District 9 primary election, but want to take time to more closely analyze the candidates and speak to partner organizations,” Hack wrote in an email.

The Working Families Party also announced its 2023 City Council endorsements on Thursday. All are incumbents, and all are members of the Progressive Caucus who remained in. WFP spokesperson Ravi Mangla told City & State that while the party hasn’t closed the door on additional endorsements, nothing else is planned. 

Despite the hardening of the council’s progressive faction, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who has stated her own objections to Mayor Eric Adams’ preliminary budget, said Thursday that the council is aligned around major budget priorities. “The work of all of the caucuses really is to unite behind the budget,” Speaker Adams said. “So we’re going to look at it together, collaboratively, and we’re going to do our due diligence for the people.”

Now at the helm of a more cohesive caucus, Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Lincoln Restler declined to say whether he expected the 19 members to vote in unison on the budget, expected in June. But he suggested the new, smaller group would help in negotiations. “The more organized that we are as a Progressive Caucus,” he said, “the more effective we will be at securing the just and necessary investments that our communities demand.”