Niou challenges Kavanagh for state Senate seat
BY KIRSTYN BRENDLEN
Manhattan Assemblymember
Yuh-Line
Niou is challenging
state Sen. Brian Kavanagh in
next summer’s Democratic
primary — saying the longtime
incumbent has failed to deliver
“progressive change” throughout
his fi ve years in Albany’s
upper chamber.
“New Yorkers need more
than a legislator,” Niou said in
a statement. “We need an activist
and an advocate who can
translate this huge moment
into real, lasting, progressive
change. We have an opportunity
to build a government
that sees and protects all New
Yorkers — including our working
families who keep our city
running and our loved ones
alive, only to be disproportionately
hurt fi rst by the pandemic
and now by skyrocketing rents
and the historic gap between
the rick and the rest of us.”
Kavanagh has represented
Senate District 26, which includes
POLITICS
Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou (l.) and state Senator Brian
Kavanagh
parts of Lower Manhattan
and Brooklyn, since 2017,
after a decade in the Assembly.
Chair of the body’s Committee
on Housing, Construction
and Community Development,
Kavanagh was a champion of
the state eviction moratorium,
FILE PHOTOS
as well as its extension during
the pandemic.
The 54-year-old pol also
sponsored a recently-passed
bill increasing the amount of
rent paid by the Family Homelessness
and Eviction Protection
Supplement, which aids
More political coverage online at
low-income families facing
eviction.
On the community level, the
legislator has been a frequent
guest at local community
board meetings, taking feedback
and discussing his opinions
and expertise on neighborhood
gripes.
Niou, meanwhile, currently
represents Assembly District
65, which includes large parts
of Lower Manhattan and Governor’s
Island.
The lower-chamber legislator
originally lost a special election
to replace Sheldon Silver following
his conviction and removal
from offi ce in 2016, but
won the Democratic nomination
later that year, and won the
general election with a lopsided
76% of votes. She then went on
to dominate both the 2018 and
2020 elections with roughly 99
percent of votes.
The 38-year-old lawmaker
has vocally supported the
Child Victims Act, which extended
the timeline for victims
to report their abuse, and has
since sponsored legislation upgrading
the severity of sexual
harassment charges and establishing
a hotline to report
workplace sexual harassment.
Niou has introduced several
pieces of legislation aimed at
protecting small businesses,
especially during the pandemic,
and worked alongside
her friend and colleague in
the senate, Alessandra Biaggi,
to write a bill that would have
extended the eviction moratorium,
though Gov. Kathy Hochul
ended up extending the
original Tenant Safe Harbor
Act.
Following Niou’s announcement,
two candidates for the
Democratic nomination, Alana
Sivin and Illapa Sairitupac,
dropped out of the race.
Kavanagh did not
immediately return a request
for comment.
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12 December 23, 2021 Schneps Media