June 7, 2021
retaliatory release of employees’ personnel files. It still awaits a vote in the Assembly. The upper chamber also passed a slate of gun control legislation, including a 10-day waiting period and a bill that would increase the penalties for illegal gun sales and manufacturing.
OPPOSITION TO COURT OF APPEALS PICK Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced his picks to fill two empty Court of Appeals seats, nominating Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas and state Supreme Court Justice Anthony Cannataro, who is also the administrative judge for the Civil Court of New York City. They now need to
City & State New York
go to the state Senate for confirmation, but opposition to Singas is brewing among progressives who don’t want to see another career prosecutor on the state’s top court. Left-wing activists are organizing a campaign to convince the state Senate to vote against her confirmation, and it seems to have begun to gain traction. State Sens. Julia Salazar, Gustavo Rivera and Jabari Brisport have already said that they oppose Singas’ nomination and would vote against her. If eight more Democrats join in opposition, they could successfully block her from the Court of Appeals. But for now, her confirmation is moving along as discussions are beginning for the special election to replace her in Nassau County.
Cuomo recently nominated Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas to the state Court of Appeals.
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Will magic mushrooms be legalized next? New York’s move to legalize recreational marijuana earlier this year signaled the state’s shifting perspective on drugs. Already, state lawmakers have introduced legislation to decriminalize psychedelics, such as psilocybin and psilocyn, in addition to decriminalizing the possession of all controlled substances. Both drug policy experts and local politicians feel that these proposals could be adopted as early as the next legislative session based on the state’s softening stance on drugs. The Food and Drug Administration has already given both psychedelics “breakthrough therapy status,” which has allowed scientists and medical professionals to study them for medicinal or psychiatric applications. New York University and Mount Sinai have psychedelic research programs. So far, clinical studies conducted across the U.S. have shown that psychedelics can be extremely effective at treating depression, anxiety, PTSD and substance use issues. “There’s been a sea change in attitudes about what not long ago was considered fringe science,” Michael Pollan, author of a best-selling book on psychedelics, “How to Change Your Mind,” told The New York Times. “Given the mental health crisis in this country, there’s great curiosity and hope about psychedelics.”
MONDAY 6/7
WEDNESDAY 6/9
Leading Democratic New York City mayoral candidates make a rare appearance together in-person for a 7 p.m. forum hosted by City & State, PIX11 and the 92nd Street Y.
Liberals. Moderates. Conservatives. All will join City & State for a 5 p.m. virtual event recognizing the Albany Power 100.
INSIDE DOPE
A keynote address by Assembly Member Ron Kim highlights how much prominence he has gained in Albany in recent months.
State Sen. Gustavo Rivera is currently sponsoring several bills to not only decriminalize all controlled substances but to decriminalize the possession of syringes – a Class A misdemeanor in New York – and establish a program to create supervised injection sites. “These are programs that save lives, that meet people in a destigmatized way where they are,” Rivera told City & State. “That is the way that we actually deal with an addiction crisis, we cannot arrest our way out of it – and that has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt for the drug war over the last couple of decades.” While Rivera is grateful for all of the attention and support that drug reforms have received over the past year, he feels most of these efforts would most likely not have happened if white people had not been affected by the growing drug crisis that has plagued Black and brown New Yorkers for years. “I am thankful that now my colleagues are here with me and folks who may have once thought that criminalization was the only way to try to solve the problem,” Rivera said. “Now they view this with a sense of compassion, (they view) individuals who are addicted to drugs with a sense of compassion and think of options for treatment as public health solutions.” – Amanda Luz Henning Santiago
THURSDAY 6/10 The leading Democratic New York City comptroller candidates take the stage in the race’s first official debate from 7-8 p.m. on NY1.
