NEW YORK \u2013 Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin are fueling an increasingly contentious feud that could hinder the mayor’s agenda.<\/p>\n
When Mamdani announced plans to build a city-owned grocery store on Sunday, Menin issued a statement<\/u>","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/x.com\/emmagf\/status\/2043430372365520996?s=20","_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208380006","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208380007","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>issued a statement<\/u><\/a> He said he would need to get input from local businesses before coming on board. he indirectly criticism of administration<\/u>of","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/press\/2026\/04\/10\/3105\/","_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208390000","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208390001","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>criticized the administration<\/u><\/a> For mention of scrubbing<\/u>","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/04\/07\/nyregion\/mamdani-dei-report.html","_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208390002","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208390003","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>mention of rubbing<\/u><\/a> From the draft Racial Equality Report of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. And he exploded<\/u>","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/x.com\/SallyGold\/status\/2041879904472432812?s=20","_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208390004","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208390005","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>he banged<\/u><\/a> Mamdani’s threat to raise property taxes \u2013 at an event hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton and attended by the mayor \u2013 was particularly toxic in black communities.<\/p>\n Council has raised questions<\/u>","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/new-york-playbook-pm\/2026\/04\/06\/mamdanis-investigation-nominee-faces-questions-on-independent-00860814","_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208390006","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208390007","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>raised questions<\/u> About the mayoral candidate for the city’s investigation department. And previously unreported internal union memos reveal that Menin helped plan a protest outside the mayor’s 100-day speech in Queens on Sunday \u2014 an unusual and major escalation of tensions \u2014 though both she and the labor organization denied any plot, misunderstanding the counterprogramming.<\/p>\n And that was just last week.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, two city leaders \u2014 both Democrats \u2014 clashed over the council’s budget proposal, sparking a heated backlash<\/u>","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/new-york-playbook-pm\/2026\/04\/02\/mamdanis-mudslinging-strategy-00856590","_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208390008","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208390009","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>a sharp response<\/u> Attacks on the Mayor and his supporters on the Speaker.<\/p>\n “Unfortunately, I’m expecting this kind of behavior to be front and center at this stage of the process because that’s how budgets work,” said Diana Ayala, who served as deputy council speaker under Adrienne Adams. “But within a month or two, if things don’t stabilize, it will be very troubling.”<\/p>\n It is believed that the speakers should work to curb the mayoralty. And they have plenty of ways to make the city executive’s life difficult: They can hold oversight hearings, shut down land use projects, fight over the budget and threaten key appointments. However, Menin feels comfortable doing most of these things just three months into his term, suggesting that Mamdani may have a tough four years ahead.<\/p>\n The mayor, a democratic socialist who arrived at City Hall last year riding a wave of far-left energy, has quickly become the country’s most-watched city executive \u2014 both for his ambitious progressive agenda and for how it will play out under pressure to govern.<\/p>\n While Adrienne Adams ultimately made life hellish for her ruling counterpart, then-Mayor Eric Adams, for example \u2014 suing the administration, overriding a veto and tanking a high-profile nominee \u2014 the two were largely amicable through their first budget process.<\/p>\n Menin’s office said she has been working steadily with Mamdani and the two still talk or meet at least once a week.<\/p>\n \u201cWe both love our city and we share a deep commitment to affordability and tackling the fiscal challenges ahead,\u201d Menin said in a statement. \u201cWe won’t agree on every issue, and that’s part of the nature of city government, but we are focused on working together and getting things done for New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani’s team also had the same message.<\/p>\n “As we address a $5.4 billion legacy budget deficit and confront the affordability crisis, the Mayor looks forward to working with Speaker Menin and all of our legislative partners to create a more affordable and livable New York City,” spokeswoman Dora Peck said in a statement.<\/p>\n However, there has been a marked recent change in tone. And the tougher stance Menin takes against the mayor, the more she risks.<\/p>\n Mamdani, despite having relatively low job approval ratings compared to some of his predecessors, is still widely popular, especially among Democrats. He maintains a tight grip on the city budget and projects such as resurfacing parks and streets in council members’ districts. He has a huge bully platform. And he has the external support of an army of dedicated fans.<\/p>\n Looking back, there were already signs of tension.<\/p>\n After winning the general elections in November, Mamdani’s team failed an attempt<\/u>","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/12\/11\/mamdani-attempted-behind-the-scenes-role-in-nyc-council-speaker-race-00684736","_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda20839000a","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda20839000b","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>The team failed an attempt<\/u> To blunt Menin’s lead in the speaker’s race. He promptly declared victory that same month and, shortly after being formally elected by his peers in January, announced an anti-Semitism task force and proposed legislation to establish buffer zones around houses of worship following a controversial demonstration outside a synagogue.<\/p>\n Those were the issues that separated Menin’s liberal Manhattan politics from the mayor’s democratic socialism. He also immediately attacked one of Mamdani’s biggest weaknesses in the campaign \u2013 his critical views on Israel, his refusal to condemn the phrase “globalization of the intifada” and his support for the Palestinians amid the Middle East war.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Menin and Mamdani took pains to emphasize their collaborative working relationship. At least till this month.<\/p>\n On April 1, the Council released a budget plan arguing that the city could fill the nearly $6 billion budget gap without major tax increases from Albany \u2013 the mayor’s main goal to right-size the city’s finances. Mamdani’s response swift and immediate<\/u>Was","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/new-york-playbook-pm\/2026\/04\/02\/mamdanis-mudslinging-strategy-00856590","_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda20839000c","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda20839000d","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>intense and immediate<\/u>.<\/p>\n Since then, Menin herself has spoken out rhetorically in several statements and, in what would be a particularly hostile act, appeared to help plan a small protest to be held outside Mamdani’s 100-day speech.<\/p>\n An internal union email obtained by POLITICO indicates that Menin asked the United Federation of Teachers to send about 20 people to a knockdown center in Queens to highlight proposed legislation \u2014 opposed by the mayor and supported by the union \u2014 that would give pay raises to teaching aides, known as paraprofessionals. Mamdani believes any wage increase should go through the contract negotiation process.<\/p>\n “Speaker Menin is asking 20 people to remain outside with the Para Respect sign, so that the Mayor and others can see her when she enters,” said the email, which urged members to sign up to rally outside the venue about two hours before Mamdani’s event was scheduled to begin.<\/p>\n The email, which indicated Menin had made a last-minute request to UFT President Michael Mulgrew, was sent to dozens of paraprofessionals and was sent to two high-ranking union officials \u2014 Michael Sill, the UFT’s secretary and Mulgrew’s top aide, and Priscilla Castro, president of the UFT’s paraprofessional chapter \u2014 according to a person with knowledge of the message, who was granted anonymity to discuss private communications. Was.<\/p>\n “Please trust everything when responding so that Michael and Priscilla know your response,” the message said.<\/p>\n Neither Menin nor the United Federation of Teachers denied the authenticity of the email. However, he said that there was no discussion about protests against Mamdani’s 100-day speech and insisted that the message was miscommunication.<\/p>\n Council spokesman Henry Robbins said in a statement, “This is absolutely false. Neither the speaker nor anyone in our office had any communication with the UFT regarding this incident and we had no knowledge of it.”<\/p>\n A UFT spokesperson said the representative who sent the message was misinformed and possibly confused Sunday’s protest for a larger pro-wage increase bill rally taking place in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n “There was no conversation between Speaker Menin or her office about the protests with UFT President Mulgrew or the UFT,” spokeswoman Alison Zander said in a statement. “Any allegations of this are untrue.”<\/p>\n He further said that the legislation has broad support and that UFT members were at the Knockdown Center to support the mayor.<\/p>\n Although helping the protests would symbolize a particularly controversial action, even attacking the mayor in more traditional ways carries risks for the speaker.<\/p>\n Mamdani received a 61 percent job approval rating in the March Ciena survey. And while only 48 percent of registered voters told Marist the same thing weeks later, Mamdani received high marks in other areas, such as 61 percent of respondents rating him as a good leader who understands the problems facing New Yorkers. And his job approval numbers were higher among Democrats and those who voted in November.<\/p>\n “This mayor is popular right now and he has an energetic and loyal base that won’t hesitate to do harm,” said one Democratic strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss tensions between the two prominent elected officials. “I’m surprised it became so hostile so quickly.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEW YORK \u2013 Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin are fueling an increasingly contentious feud that could hinder the mayor’s agenda. When Mamdani announced plans to build a city-owned grocery store on Sunday, Menin issued a statement","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/x.com\/emmagf\/status\/2043430372365520996?s=20","_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208380006","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-8c22-d970-a79f-cda208380007","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>issued a statement He said he would need<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[1073,7843,20916,1217],"class_list":["post-63791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bible-verse","tag-early","tag-mamdani","tag-menin","tag-problems"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63794,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63791\/revisions\/63794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}