20 CityAndStateNY.com
BETTY ROSA
Interim Commissioner State Edu c ation Department As chancellor of the state Board of Regents, Betty Rosa was in the thick of the backand-forth over the education funding formula during budget
negotiations, legislation to ease school discipline policies and the possibility of banning vape use by teens. Now, as New York grapples with how to start the fall semester during the coronavirus pandemic, the former principal and administrator has taken on a new role as interim state education commissioner.
initiatives well before then. In 2014, Gonzalez rolled out the Conviction Review Unit that has so far exonerated 28 incarcerated men and women while also easing up on marijuana convictions. Gonzalez now worries bail reform could make Brooklyn more susceptible to crime.
ERIC GONZALEZ
9 ADRIANO ESPAILLAT
Congress Member Adriano Espaillat was among the first members of Congress to call for drafting articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, reflecting the majority of constituents in his Manhattan and Bronx district. The first Dominican American member of Congress, Espaillat has spread his wings more forcefully with the creation of the Northwest Bronx Democrats for Change, which looks to give Dominicans an even more dominant presence in the Bronx.
10 RAUL PEREA-HENZE
State Sen. Jessica Ramos is an aggressive advocate for progressives.
11 HENRY GARRIDO
Executive Director Distric t Cou nc il 37
8 Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez rose through the ranks of the Brooklyn district attorney’s office to become the first Latino district attorney elected in the state in 2017, but he began implementing
the challenge, marshaling his experience at the federal level to get much-needed resources in the fight against the virus.
New York City Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Raul Perea-Henze had been deputy mayor for health and human services for less than six months when COVID-19 stormed New York City. But the Obama administration veteran, who’s credited with coordinating early efforts in the fight against the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, has risen to
Henry Garrido’s tenure as executive director of the city’s largest municipal employees union has been marked by pay raises for its employees and a merger with DC 1707. Politicians constantly seek out Garrido’s endorsement, which recently went to Rep. Carolyn Maloney in her reelection bid for Congress, Assembly Member Michael Blake in his run for the 15th Congressional District seat, and Sandy Nurse in her run for New York City Council.
12 RITCHIE TORRES
New York City Council Member Supporters of New York City Council Member Ritchie Torres have always stressed the 32-year-old legislator is destined for great things, and those predictions came true after Torres secured the Democratic nomination for the 15th Congressional District seat in a race that pitted him against fellow progressives and the socially conservative Democrat and Council Member Rubén Díaz Sr. With his nomination virtually assuring him a victory in November, the presumptive winner is headed for the national stage.
13 JESSICA RAMOS
State Senator State Sen. Jessica Ramos may have been in the chamber
STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT; SEAN PRESSLEY; LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK
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August 24, 2020