Queens lawmakers given top roles in new Council
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At the Council's first stated meeting of the year, several Queens councilmembers were given prominent leadership positions and committee chairships. Photo by Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit
By Ryan Schwach
Queens may no longer be in possession of the City Council speaker’s office, but several members of Queens’ Council delegation were appointed to significant leadership roles by Speaker Julie Menin on Thursday.
Southeast Queens Councilmember Nantasha Williams was named deputy speaker, and Councilmember Sandra Ung was tapped to serve as one of two deputy majority leaders. Within Queens’ delegation, 13 members were chosen to serve as committee chairs, including of the powerful Finance and Oversight and Investigations Committees.
“I'm so confident in this leadership team,” Menin said on Thursday. “I'm incredibly confident in our new committee chairs. I think we have an outstanding group.”
Williams’ new leadership role means that Southeast Queens in particular will hold on to some power in the Council. For the past four years, the Council was led by former Speaker Adrienne Adams, who had Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers serving as a majority whip.
“Everything I do is grounded in Southeast Queens,” Williams said on Thursday. “The needs, the experiences and voices of our district shape how I approach every decision every day. That perspective guides my leadership across the Council, helping me ask hard questions, strengthening our processes and staying accountable to the people we serve.”
Williams has close ties to the Southeast Queens Democratic establishment and party chair Gregory Meeks, who backed Menin as speaker. She is also a member of the progressive caucus.
Other Queens members secured prominent committee chairships.
Eastern Queens Councilmember Linda Lee will lead the powerful Committee on Finance, and Jackson Heights Councilmember Shekar Krishnan will take on the Committee on Oversight and Investigations.
“While chairing the Oversight Committee, we'll launch investigations against bad landlords, predatory corporations and government agencies that aren't doing enough to protect families,” said Krishnan. “We'll ask the hard questions to hold them accountable so they can't cheat or screw over New Yorkers together, we'll make New York City a better place for our families.”
Both were among the councilmembers who officially nominated Menin for the speaker’s role at the Council’s charter meeting earlier this month.
Brooks-Powers, a one-time candidate for speaker, was given the Committee on Criminal Justice, giving her oversight authority over Rikers Island at a tumultuous time for the city’s jails.
Along with her role as deputy speaker, Williams will also serve as chair of the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Libraries, and Ung will also chair the Committee on Rules, Privileges, Elections, Standards and Ethics.
Councilmember Tiffany Cabán, arguably Queens’ most progressive Council representative, will lead the Committee on Mental Health and Addiction.
Cabán had fallen out of favor with the Adams leadership in the council, and did not have any chair positions in the last Council.
The Astoria councilmember added that she intends to push for the word “addiction” in the committee name to be changed to “substance use disorder.”
“Here in New York City, our commitment to mental healthcare and harm reduction must be unwavering,” she said.
Two Queens members will chair brand new committees.
Councilmember Jennifer Gutiérrez will chair the Subcommittee on Early Childhood Education, which may take on an outsized role as Mayor Zohran Mamdani pushes for universal childcare from the other end of City Hall.
Councilmember Julie Won will chair the newly established Committee on Workforce Development.
“These new committees really reflect some of those changing priorities and critical needs that the City of New York has,” said Menin.
Two of Queens’ newest electeds, Ty Hankerson and Shanel Thomas Henry, will both have chair positions as they get rolling in the Council.
Hankerson will lead the Committee on Parks, succeeding Krishnan, and Thomas Henry will take over the Committee on Small Business.
Republican Joann Ariola, as well as Councilmembers Jim Gennaro and Lynn Schulman all retained their previous committee chairships – Ariola will lead the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management, Gennaro will lead the Committee on Environmental Protection and Waterfronts and Schulman will lead the Committee on Health.
“I promise to continue fighting for these real life heroes, and for the next four years, I intend to do what I can to serve as their voice in this chamber,” Ariola said about retaining her committee.
Queens Councilmember Nantasha Williams is going into the Council’s new year with new leadership roles. Photo by Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit
Only two members of the Queens delegation weren’t tapped to lead a committee – controversial Republican Vickie Paladino and newly-minted Councilmember Phil Wong.
Both are members of the conservative Common Sense Caucus.
Paladino was placed on only two committees, fire and emergency management and veterans, a direct punishment for Islamophobic social media comments she made in December.
Menin called the comments “abhorrent and is unacceptable.”
“I made that decision about the committees with that in mind, because we are not going to tolerate that kind of conduct and that kind of divisiveness within the body,” said Menin.
Paladino still faces a potential investigation from the Standards and Ethics Committee for her comments, which included calling for the deportations of Muslims from western nations and “sweeps” of Muslim communities in New York City.
During the stated meeting, Paladino thanked Menin because she “only wanted two committees.”
“I communicated to Speaker Menin through the minority leader that I wanted no more than two committee assignments because I don’t want to be outside my district for any longer than absolutely necessary, and I’m very happy with the committees she gave me,” Paladino said ina statement. “I’m a little surprised by her statement, however, because I spoke personally with Speaker Menin last night about the assignments and she never once mentioned any kind of action against me, it was just business as usual. I have an absolute first amendment right to speak my mind on matters of public policy, and I certainly hope this isn’t the beginning of an attempt to chill free speech that progressives are uncomfortable with.”
