QUEMUEL ARROYO … 1

EDITOR’S NOTE

RALPH R. ORTEGA

Editor-in-chief LAST WEEK, a progressive political consultant, speaking on the condition of anonymity, commented about the recent allegations levied against New York City mayoral candidate Scott Stringer. “In 2021, straight white men are not trustworthy, and he’s only confirming the suspicion that everyone has about what happens when straight white men gain power.”

Stringer responded to the accusations made against him by Jean Kim, a lobbyist and former volunteer on his unsuccessful 2001 campaign for New York City public advocate, who alleged that he subjected her to sexual harassment and abuse. Stringer has denied the allegations and said that he had a consensual relationship with Kim. Yet the allegations still threw his campaign off the rails. And the consultant’s observation brings to mind how other white men in power have been caught acting inappropriately with women.

With Stringer, currently New York City’s comptroller, just being the latest white man accused of such behavior, one has to wonder if this crisis will ever stop. Accountability, for now, is the only answer, and it must start with the very people who are accused. They should acknowledge that such conduct is unacceptable and that every accuser must be heard, before launching into any kind of defense.

Also, a politician or candidate for office who’s got one of these skeletons in their closet cannot just hope that it will never come out. It’s better that they spend their time addressing the issue and table their ambitions, rather than pretending that their past won’t come back to haunt them.

Maya Wiley’s impressive record as an activist, lawyer and pundit can barely fit into one really long sentence.

CONTENTS

FIRST READ … 4

The week that was

FOR THE RECORD … 8 Maya Wiley’s long crusade for racial equity

QUEMUEL ARROYO … 12

The MTA’s first chief accessibility officer is getting to work.

MIXED RECORD … 16

Disability advocates say Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t consistently supported them.

MWBE GOALS … 18

The city and state are easing restrictions and putting MWBEs back to work.

MWBE POWER 50 … 20

The executives and officials diversifying government contracting

WINNERS & LOSERS … 46

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who is running for mayor, was accused of sexual assault by Jean Kim, who worked on his 2001 campaign for public advocate.

“This is going to be the summer of New York City.”

– New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, via Gothamist

STRINGER ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

Jean Kim, a lobbyist who says she was an intern for Stringer’s campaign for public advocate years ago, said New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer sexually assaulted her while she worked on his campaign. Kim described an incident one evening not long before the 2001 election in which she said Stringer began forcibly kissing and groping her without her consent. Afterwards, Kim said Stringer continued to sexually harass her. Stringer denied the allegations, saying that he and Kim were engaged in a consensual relationship and that she was never an intern, but a volunteer. Kim has called on Stringer to resign and to withdraw from the mayoral contest. Although he said he would not, some of his mayoral competitors have called on him to drop out of the race. And as he attempts to rally support, some of his supporters have already rescinded their endorsements. State Sen. Jessica Ramos was

METRO CN

SPORTS FINAL

Thursday, April 29, 2021

NEW YORK’S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER STRINGER SEX HARASS SHOCKER MAYOR WANNABE RIPS CLAIM BY EX-CAMPAIGN WORKER — PAGES 6-7

Feds raid Rudy’s home over Kiev antics PAGES 4-5 AMERICA’S MIGRAINERudy Giuliani may have good reason to look worried as feds swarmed his Upper East Side apartment Wednesday, grabbing his phones and computers.

AP

RUDY RAIDED

the first to revoke her “I know from my 21 years as an educator that far more students could thrive in our Rudy Giuliani has been in a reputational freefall for years, but last week marked yet another low specialized high schools, if only given point for the man once known as America’s Mayor. The FBI searched and seized items from the the chance.” former New York City mayor’s apartment in its – New York City schools investigation into his Ukraine business dealings. Chancellor Meisha Porter Former President Donald Trump came to Giuliani’s on wanting to end the defense, but unfortunately for Giuliani, support is Specialized High School just about all that Trump can offer him these days. Admissions Test, via the New York Post endorsement, and the union UFCW Local 1500, which represents some 20,000 grocery workers, later took back their endorsement as well.

MORE COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS LIFTED

For the first time since the state Legislature rescinded Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s expanded pandemic powers, lawmakers voted to do away with several of his restrictions that were still in place. Chief among them was doing away with the requirement that one had to buy food with alcohol, which had given rise to “Cuomo chips” – the name that some bars gave to the food item they were required to sell in order to do business. In another victory for the restaurant industry, Cuomo also announced that he would revoke the curfew he had in place for bars and restaurants, meaning that they can once again remain open past midnight beginning in May for the first time since November.

BUDGET SEASON RAMPS UP IN NYC

De Blasio presented his executive budget proposal, pitching it as “the recovery budget” that seemed more optimistic than his smaller preliminary budget proposal earlier this year. At nearly $99 billion, it would be the city’s biggest budget in history, and a sharp increase from last year’s budget passed when the