Corey Johnson (politician)

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"it is rich indeed for city government in the name of animal rights to outright ban the sale of fur, an important piece of an important New York industry, while allowing sale, on a scale that dwarfs the fur industry, of cow leather and sheepskin ... And while allowing sale by the tons, in supermarkets and restaurants, of meat ... The slope is slippery ... Johnson and the Council enjoy the symbolism of a fur ban, but they wouldn't dare go after the many other ways humans benefit from inexpensive and plentiful protein and, well, just plain tasty food. Would they?" [69]

Women's issues

Johnson's first legislation to pass the City Council was a bill granting a presumption of eligibility for people transitioning from domestic violence shelters to Department of Homeless Services shelters. The bill allows these individuals to bypass extensive intake procedures they already underwent during their first shelter placement. [70]

Education

Johnson introduced legislation with Council member Vanessa Gibson to require the NYC Department of Education to report on the use of disciplinary measures in public schools. The legislation passed in September 2015, and was signed into law the following month. [71] Johnson later introduced legislation requiring the Department of Education to regularly report on student health services in public schools, to ensure that such services are adequately serving students. De Blasio signed the legislation into law in February 2016. [72]

Rent regulation

Johnson was the prime sponsor of legislation declaring a housing shortage emergency in 2015, which allowed rent stabilization laws to be extended. [73] On June 3, 2015, he and others occupied the offices of Republican senators in Albany in an act of civil disobedience while protesting for the extension of rent regulation and the reform of New York's rent laws, and he was arrested and handcuffed, charged with disorderly conduct, and given a desk warrant. [74] Fifty-five protesters were arrested for blocking the entrance to Governor Andrew Cuomo's office, and Johnson said that a number of protesters occupied Senate office buildings, which he said "shows how much is on the line". [75] [74] It was Johnson's fourth arrest for civil disobedience. [74]

Transportation

In May 2015, the City Council passed Johnson's legislation requiring all heavy-duty vehicles in New York City's fleet to be equipped with side-guards, devices meant to reduce casualties that large trucks at times cause to pedestrians and cyclists. [76] In December 2018 Transportation Alternatives gave Johnson its first-ever Vision Zero Leader of the Year Award. [77]

Labor

In response to a growing trend of hotel rooms being converted into luxury condominiums, Johnson introduced legislation to limit the number of condo conversions hotel owners can make. The legislation's goal was to protect jobs in the hotel industry. The City Council passed it in May 2015 and it was signed into law the next month. [78]

Environment

In 2018 Johnson supported a ban on plastic straws. [79] In 2019 he supported a five-cent fee on paper bags and banning styrofoam food containers. [80] [81]

Election history

Corey Johnson
Corey Johnson NYU Expansion Plan Lawsuit Press Conference (cropped).jpg
Speaker of the New York City Council
In office
January 3, 2018 December 31, 2021
New York City Council: District 3
ElectionCandidatePartyVotesPctCandidatePartyVotesPct
2013 primary election[ citation needed ]Corey JohnsonDem12,53863.28%Yetta KurlandDem7,27532.72%
2013 general election [82] Corey JohnsonDem23,60878.3%Richard StewartRep3,69112.2%
2017 general election [83] Corey JohnsonDem25,74484.3%Marni HalasaOther1,5565.1%

2021 campaigns

In 2019, Johnson began accepting contributions for a potential run for mayor of New York City. He stopped fund-raising in March 2020 [3] and announced that he would not run in September 2020. [3] He said he had had depression since May 2020, and did not think he could campaign and be effective as speaker while monitoring his mental health. [3] In March 2021, he launched his run [84] for the 2021 New York City Comptroller election, but lost the Democratic primary, 51.9%–48.1%, to Councilmember Brad Lander.

Lobbying

While holding public office

Johnson was a real-estate lobbyist or government relations director at GFI Development from 2008 to 2010. [15] Anna Sanders reported Johnson received around a tenth of his mayoral campaign donations from "people who work for or serve hundreds of entities that have gotten millions in discretionary funds from the Council"; Johnson denied allegations of pay-to-play. [85] [86] Sanders and other sources mention other close ties to lobbyists, [87] especially the Kasirer lobbying firm, as one of its vice presidents, Jason Goldman, served as Johnson's deputy chief of staff. [88] [89]

Cojo Strategies

Soon after ending his campaign for mayor, Johnson moved to start a government relations consulting firm, Cojo Strategies, which began advising to a subsidiary of the Brooklyn Nets and the Central Park Conservancy. [90] An Israeli tech firm hired Johnson as its United States government relations advisor, with a focus on New York. He will advise and "liaise with municipal and state officials". [91]

Johnson represented Saferwatch, a company developing a "panic button" app who sought to provide it to schools in the City of New York. Johnson met in 2022 on the company's behalf with New York City Schools chancellor David C. Banks. The following year, the city engaged the Saferwatch app in a pilot program at five schools. Saferwatch ceased being represented by Johnson in early 2024, and hired the government relations services of Terence Banks, the New York City Schools chancellor's brother. [92]

See also

References

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  2. 1 2 Gloria Pazmino (November 28, 2017). "Corey Johnson's charm offensive". Politico. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
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  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Goodman, J. David (January 4, 2018). "Sober and H.I.V. Positive, New Council Speaker Has Weathered Adversity". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  5. Honan, Katie (March 24, 2019). "She's OK Being Called NYC's First Mom, as Long as Her Corey Is Happy". The Wall Street Journal.
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  47. Ault, Nicole (2020-04-05). "Christian Relief Comes to Central Park; New York welcomes Samaritan's Purse—though the mayor and others are suspicious" The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
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  49. 1 2 Kelleher, Patrick (May 4, 2020). "Franklin Graham dismisses coronavirus as a ploy to smear Trump after being told he can't use it to push his cruel homophobia". PinkNews . Retrieved May 7, 2020. "Controversial Central Park field hospital closing". WPIX . May 3, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.Reid-Smith, Tris (May 5, 2020). "New York kicks out Franklin Graham's tent hospital he used to promote anti-LGBT+ agenda". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.Krisel, Brendan (May 5, 2020). "Mount Sinai Ends Partnership With Evangelical Group". NY Patch. Retrieved May 10, 2020.Riley, John (May 4, 2020). "Anti-LGBTQ organization's New York field hospital for COVID-19 patients to close". Metro Weekly . Retrieved May 8, 2020.Reddish, David (May 4, 2020). "New York to Franklin Graham: Girl, bye!". Queerty . Retrieved May 10, 2020.
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  67. Will Coggin (May 23, 2019). "Council speaker wants to raid your closet". Crain's New York Business.
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  69. "Another Viewpoint: Ban fur for animal rights. What?". The Florida Times-Union. May 17, 2019.
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  73. "City Council votes to extend expiring rent laws". The New York Daily News. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
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  75. Winnie McCroy and Lincoln Anderson (June 4, 2015). "Pols arrested in Albany as rent war ratchets up". The Villager Newspaper. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
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  79. "Speaker Corey Johnson on Airbnb, Plastic Straws, Immigration + More | The Brian Lehrer Show". WNYC. July 25, 2018.
  80. Eric A. Goldstein (April 18, 2019). "New York City Council Adopts Environmental Fee on Paper Bags". NRDC.
  81. "Enforcement of NYC Foam Ban Begins". Waste360. July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  82. Board of Elections in the City of New York, General Election - 11/05/2013 - New York County - All Parties and Independent Bodies - Member of the City Council - 3rd Council District (PDF)
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  84. Shahrigian, Shant (March 9, 2021). "Can CoJo come back? NYC Speaker Corey Johnson kicks off Comptroller campaign". New York Daily News.
  85. Anna Sanders (August 7, 2019), "Speaker Corey Johnson's campaign for mayor fueled by donors getting millions in Council pork", New York Daily News
  86. Anna Sanders (August 12, 2019), "Council Speaker Corey Johnson says his 2021 fundraising 'not in any way a pay-to-play thing'", New York Daily News
  87. Michelle Bocanegra (August 26, 2020), "After a year of lobbying, Johnson backs fossil fuel bill over green objections", Politico
  88. Will Bredderman (April 2, 2018), "The histories, rainmakers, relationships and clients that make these lobbying firms the city's biggest", Crain's New York Business
  89. Michael Gartland (March 15, 2020), "Top lobbyist Suri Kasirer enjoys strong ties to NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson", New York Daily News
  90. Annie McDonough (March 23, 2022), "Where are your old council members now?", City & State
  91. Jenya Volinsky (January 18, 2022), "An Israeli President and an N.Y.C. Politician: Israeli Tech Firm Enlists Big Names for Big Apple", Haaretz.com
  92. Greg B. Smith (September 9, 2024), "A Tech Firm Ditched a Power Lobbyist — and Called on the Schools Chancellor's Brother", The City
Political offices
Preceded by New York City Council, 3rd district
2014–2021
Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker of the New York City Council
2018–2021
Succeeded by
Preceded by Public Advocate of New York City
Acting

2019
Succeeded by