FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 11, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
First-ever women majority poised to take over City Council
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
When the grassroots advocacy
group 21 in ‘21 was founded
in 2017, its goal was to elect
more women to seats on the City
Council. Now the organization is
celebrating the fi rst-ever woman
majority in the City Council, with
as many as 31 women heading to
the 51-member body — many of
them from Queens — pending
certifi cation of the election results.
“It’s an honor to be among the
most diverse City Council in
New York City history and the
fi rst to be a woman majority,”
Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-
Powers said aft er winning re-election
to a full term. “I’m so excited
to work with these leaders to
fi ght for policies that will empower
and support women and working
families. From maternal mortality
to equal pay to family leave,
we’re ready to get to work.”
Lynn Shulman of Forest Hills
is poised to lead in District 29
when she replaces Councilwoman
Karen Koslowitz, the leader of the
Queens City Council delegation,
who is term-limited.
“It wouldn’t have been possible
without 21 in ‘21,” Shulman
said. “Th is is an incredible opportunity
to make sure New York
City works for everyone. We have
important work to do with health
care access, public safety reforms
and investing in education. I look
forward to working closely with
my dynamic and diverse colleagues
in making it happen.”
Councilwoman-elect Linda
Lee, is on the verge of being the
fi rst woman elected to District 23,
and the fi rst Korean-American,
along with Julie Won, who is
poised to win the District 26 City
Council seat.
“Th e opportunity to serve as
District 23’s fi rst councilwoman
is incredibly humbling, not only
for what it means for me personally
to break the glass ceiling, but
also because I’m sending a message
to other girls and women
who aspire to public service,” Lee
said. “I know that the incoming
21 in ‘21 class will work particularly
hard once in offi ce because
we need to set an example for our
communities and demonstrate
excellence in action.”
Astoria’s Tiff any Cabán, who
came close to becoming Queens
district attorney, is poised to
replace former Councilman Costa
Constantinides.
“I am deeply honored to be
the next City Council member
for the 22nd District alongside
such hardworking, compassionate,
dope women who were elected
to represent their districts,”
Cabán said.
21 in ‘21 endorsed and supported
25 of the 31 women who will
likely make up the new majority.
“21 in ‘21 set an audacious
goal and surpassed it,” 21 in ‘21
Executive Director Jessica Haller
said. “The organization has
brought women candidates and
now Council members-elect of
New York what they need at the
time they needed it. We continue
to support them and to strengthen
the bonds with the new majority.”
Suozzi, Meeks join Queens homeowners in demanding repeal of SALT cap
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@schnepsmedia.com
@jenna_bagcal
Congressmen Tom Suozzi and
Gregory Meeks last month joined
southeast Queens residents in St.
Albans Park to call for the repeal
of the SALT cap, which limits the
amount of state and local taxes
that homeowners can deduct
from their returns.
At the Oct. 29 press conference,
the middle-class homeowners
shared their stories of
tax increases due to the $10,000
SALT cap, part of the Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017
issued by former President
Donald Trump.
Both Suozzi and Meeks called
for the $1.85 trillion social infrastructure
package under negotiation
in Washington, D.C., to
repeal the cap on the state and
local tax deduction.
“We are in a battle to save New
York. Every day the SALT cap
remains in place, New York residents
are hurt,” said Suozzi, who
is the lead advocate in Congress
to repeal the SALT cap. “Higherincome
residents are fl eeing our
state for lower-taxed states that
don’t provide the same level of
services. As New York loses population,
we also lose infl uence in
the Congress even though we are
the largest net donor to the federal
government. We must and
we will repeal this unfair cap
that has hurt so many of our
residents.”
Prior to TCJA in
2017, New York City
homeowners reportedly
had an average
deduction of $23,637.
Suozzi’s offi ce reported
that approximately
361,840 Queens residents
and nearly 3.42 million
New York state residents
claimed the SALT
deduction when fi ling
taxes.
Although critics of the
SALT cap repeal say that it
would mostly benefi t wealthier
Americans, it is reported
that repealing the cap would
lower the taxes of New Yorkers,
including middle-class residents,
by $12 billion.
“New Yorkers need action and
they need it now. Th e SALT cap
has fi nancially crippled families
across the country especially in
New York where we are paying
the most in federal taxes. Th is
damaging policy hurts middleclass
New Yorkers the most and
needs to end,” Meeks said.
Homeowner Michael
Lampert said that he and his
family have lived in southeast
Queens for over fi ve decades.
When his parents emigrated
from Jamaica, they
bought a house and eventually
passed it on to him.
“When the SALT
deduction was
removed, we went
from a family that
either saw a modest return
or owed a little bit, to the
point where I’m carrying a
tax bill right now that I’m
paying off monthly, which is
something that has never before
happened,” he said. “So when
Trump initiated this policy, you
can see that this is basically a
weaponized tax code to punish
states that didn’t vote for him.”
Th e New York Times reported
that there is a burgeoning
agreement to suspend the SALT
cap for fi ve years and would
apply to “deductions related to
property taxes and state and
local income taxes” from 2021
and would last through 2025.
The Committee for a
Responsible Federal Budget
reported that the SALT cap
would increase from $10,000 to
$72,000 under the Build Back
Better Act being considered by
the House Rules Committee.
Th e new cap would be retroactive
to 2021 and extend through
2031 and cost about $300 billion
through 2025, with $240
billion of that going to households
making over $200,000 per
year.
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
Congressmen Tom Suozzi and
Gregory Meeks speak at a Oct. 29
press conference calling
on Washington
to repeal the SALT
cap.
Photo courtesy of 21 in ‘21
A fi rst-ever women majority is poised to take over the City Council with many representing Queens, and supported by
21 in ’21.
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