Elections

Feds Offer Circa $10M for Info on 3 Iranians Charged with Trying to Influence 2024 U.S. Presidential Election

By SÍLE MOLONEY
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday, Sept. 27 it is offering up to $10 million for information on three Iranian nationals and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) employees, Masoud Jalili, 36,  also known as, مسعود جلیلی, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, 34, also known as, سید علی آقامیری, and Yaser Balaghi, 37, also known as, یاسر بلاغی (the conspirators), charged with trying to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election.   

UPDATE Mayor Eric Adams Pleads Not Guilty to Bribery by Foreign Entities Going Back Almost a Decade

By SÍLE MOLONEY
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was charged by federal prosecutors on Thursday, Sept. 26, with bribery, including from foreign business people and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him. According to the indictment unsealed on Thursday morning, Adams, a former Brooklyn borough president, sought and accepted valuable benefits, including luxury international travel, in exchange for favors including pressuring the New York City Fire Department to facilitate the opening of a foreign government’s Manhattan skyscraper that had not passed a fire inspection.

Mayor Eric Adams Calls Anticipated Charges in Federal Investigation “False”

By SÍLE MOLONEY
After addressing calls on Wednesday, Sept. 25, for his resignation amid the political fallout stemming from a slew of recent resignations by several high profile officials in his administration, including the health commissioner and the schools commissioner earlier this week, The New York Times reported Wednesday evening that New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted following a federal corruption investigation. The indictment makes Adams the first sitting mayor of New York City to face criminal charges. 

Bronx District Leader & BOE Employee Charged with Bribery, Extortion, Fraud, and Identity Theft

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Nicole Torres, 33, of The Bronx, an elected district leader in the borough, and an employee of the New York City Board of Elections (BOE) has been charged  with illegally demanding payments from Bronx residents to herself and a local organization (the “Bronx organization”) in exchange for selecting those individuals as poll workers, federal prosecutors announced on Aug. 28. 

UPDATE Major Data Breach Affects Bronx Council Members, Assemblymembers, State Senators & U.S. Reps

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) released an investigative report on Tuesday, Sept. 10, in which it was confirmed that several Bronx elected leaders had personal data, which was held with National Public Data, a private company that runs background checks, breached. Torres, who represents a large section of The Bronx stretching from the northwest to the South Bronx, said the report confirms that up to 33.3% of Bronx council members, 70% of Bronx assembly members, 66.6% of Bronx state senators, and 100% of Bronx U.S. representatives had their data breached.

Coalition of Bronx Democratic Leaders Propose Improvements to Election Process

By SÍLE MOLONEY
A coalition of Bronx Democratic and Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club (BFRDC) leaders, including Council Member Eric Dinowitz (C.D. 11), Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81), District Leader Ben Jackson (A.D. 81), State Committee Members Michael Heller and Johanna Edmondson (A.D. 81), Emily Hausman, BFRDC member, and BFRDC President Virgina Krompinger, submitted recommendations to the New York City Board of Elections (BOE) in July, which the coalition says were aimed at enhancing future electoral processes.

Inquiring Photographer: Thoughts on Arrest of DL Leader and BOE Employee Nicole Torres

By DAVID GREENE
After federal prosecutors recently announced that Nicole Torres, an NYC Board of Elections employee and a Bronx district leader in Assembly District 81, which broadly covers the northwest Bronx, was arrested for allegedly illegally demanding payments from Bronx residents to herself and to a local Bronx organization in exchange for selecting those individuals as poll workers, and for allegedly falsifying documents to fraudulently obtain poll worker paychecks, this week, we asked readers if they still had faith in the NYC Board of Elections ahead of November’s presidential and other general elections.

Op-Ed: Project 2025 – The Bronx Fights Back

By SILVIA BLUMENFELD  
Folks in The Bronx are fighters. We care about all the issues that affect our lives and shape our communities. Healthcare, housing, justice, and education are top priorities, but some of the pundits would have you believe that threats to democracy itself are less important to our citizens. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Elections 2024: Will Immigration Decide the Upcoming Presidential Election? Bronx Voters Weigh In

By SHERICA DALEY
“I will not demonize immigrants!” said U.S. President Joe Biden as part of his March 8th State of the Union speech during which he addressed the global migrant crisis, exacerbated by both the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East. Biden made immigration one of the central issues of his presidential re-election campaign as had his opponent, former U.S. President Donold Trump.