Brooklyn well-represented on ‘Power 100’ List

March 1, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Mayor Eric Adams. AP Photo/Seth Wenig

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Brooklyn officials and other prominent citizens are well-represented among the 100 VIPs on City and State New York’s newest “Power 100” list.

Indeed, there are at least 10 in the Top 25.

City & State New York could be described as a political insiders’ magazine. Although it is available to all, it is distributed to New York legislators, municipalities, Congressmembers, New York City Council members, county executives and other government, business and nonprofit leaders.

Number One, to no one’s surprise, is Mayor Eric Adams. Adams lives in Brooklyn, served as Brooklyn borough president until he was elected mayor, and prior to that, he represented a Brooklyn district in the New York State Assembly. “I grew up poor in Brooklyn and Queens. I wore a bulletproof vest [as a police officer] to keep my neighbors safe,” he Tweeted when he won the Democratic Party’s nomination for mayor.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks at a news conference in Washington, D.C. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a lifelong Brooklyn resident who represented a Brooklyn district in the House of Representatives during the 1980s and ’90s, came at Number Six. Schumer was the valedictorian at Madison High School in 1967, and served in the State Assembly in the 1970s.

Number 8, New York State Attorney Gen. Letitia James, is also a Brooklynite. James first came into the public eye in 2003, after the assassination of Councilmember James Davis. His brother, Geoffrey Davis, ran for his seat as a Democrat, but James, running on the Working Families ticket, won the election. Afterward, she ran as both a Democrat and a member of the Working Families Party. City & State pointed out that as attorney general, she “lowered the boom” against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, first for the nursing home scandal, then when she ordered an investigation into sexual harassment charges.

NYS Attorney General Letitia James at the State Democratic Convention. AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Number 9, City Councilmember Brad Lander, is also a Brooklynite. Before entering politics, he was the head of the Fifth Avenue Committee in Park Slope, then the Pratt Area Community Council. As a City Councilmember, he actively opposed both the Atlantic Yards project and the closing of Long Island College Hospital, to no avail. His district included parts of Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Park Slope, Boerum Hill, Windsor Terrace and nearby areas.

Number 10 is U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, whom City & State points out is expected to become the next Democratic House speaker whenever Nancy Pelosi retires. He is considered a moderate Democrat, the magazine says, and has criticized the far left. Before becoming a Congressmember in 2006, he served in the State Assembly. His Congressional district includes Fort Greene, Bed-Stuy, Brownsville, East New York, Mill Basin and nearby areas.

NYC Comptroller, and former Councilmember, Brad Lander. Photo: Paul Frangipane/Brooklyn Eagle

Number 15 is U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, whose district includes Sunset Park, Red Hook, the Brooklyn waterfront, Williamsburg and Bushwick. She is described as, among other things, an advocate for Puerto Rico and for Puerto Ricans in the U.S. She was a supporter of current Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.

Number 16 is Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. He also was a former City Councilmember representing a Brooklyn district, and is currently challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul in the Democratic primary. He previously went up against Hochul when she ran for lieutenant governor.

Number 21 is Frank Carone, Mayor Adams’ chief of staff. Carone has been a partner in Abrams & Fensterman, a prominent law firm, and has been active in the Brooklyn legal community with groups such as the Brooklyn Bar Association and the Columbian Lawyers of Brooklyn.