iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 15/09/2026

I made a TikTok video about my new cover story! Check it out below and then read the story here: www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

074

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 13/08/2026

Third Way, a centrist anti-left think tank, is hiring a "Director of Anti-Extremism" to lead a messaging campaign against the Democratic Socialists of America www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/44...

Third Way is a national think tank and advocacy organization that champions moderate policy and political ideas. Since our founding in 2005, we have served as a critical bulwark against political extremism by advancing values-driven, reform-oriented solutions on the defining issues of our time. Our work is grounded in the mainstream American values of opportunity, freedom, security, and democratic capitalism, and we advocate for the vital center across seven major areas: climate and energy, economy, education, health care, national security, politics, and social policy.

The Director of Anti-Extremism will lead a project to combat the rise of far-left extreme voices and forces, and to mobilize the center left at the national level to fight extreme elements in the places where they are gaining power.

New extreme forces on the far left are on the rise, and they represent a sharp break from a traditional left wing in American politics. Their ideas are not just unwise or unworkable, and their rhetoric is not simply heated. Instead, we are now confronted with a faction that is radical, illiberal, and, in many cases, overtly discriminatory. The rise of these voices in American politics pose distinct dangers for the center left. Where they take power, they govern badly, leaving the working- and middle-class voters for whom they claim to speak worse off and more disillusioned. And they champion politically toxic ideas and offensive rhetoric that can and will be used by the MAGA right to define all of their opponents, including those on the center left.

Most voters still reject the idea and label of socialism. These extreme candidates still lose far more races than they win, and their agenda is broadly unpopular outside of blue bubbles. But the center left must take much more significant action to combat these far-left extreme forces. This position will spearhead that effort.

As the Director of Anti-Extremism, a typical day might include…

Assembling and updating a database of the DSA’s most extreme ideas and statements and a repository of voting records, affiliations, and issue positions to make available to allies and partners;
Leading public opinion research to identify and test the contrasts that move base voters away from these extreme candidates;
Overseeing the development of memos, talking points, rapid response materials, and other products that make the case against these extreme forces in American politics;
Promoting and marketing our research and materials to ensure they reach decisionmakers quickly, repeatedly, and at scale through a coordinated distribution infrastructure;
Recruiting and arming a group of young, diverse spokespeople to fight the DSA from a center-left perspective and assembling a broad coalition of organizational partners to make the case against extremism;
Running an earned media program to create a drumbeat of our message in op-eds, television appearances, podcasts, and traditional and digital media engagement.

Salary Range: $140,000 - $150,000, annually

1154

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 11/08/2026

Well, it's written in DSA's constitution that its national leadership has to be racially diverse. www.dsausa.org/about-us/con...

Screenshot of DSA Constitution:

Section 1.
The National Political Committee (NPC) shall be the collective leadership and the highest decision-making body of the organization between meetings of the Convention. It shall meet at least four times a year.

Section 2.
The members of the NPC must be members in good standing of DSA. The NPC shall include two (2) representatives of the Youth Section and twenty-five (25) individuals elected at the national convention. Of the elected members, no more than thirteen (13) shall be cis-gender men and at least eight (8) shall be members who identify as either a nationally marginalized race or ethnicity. In the event that these minority positions are not filled at the Convention, the position(s) shall be filled by the NPC, except that only minority members of DSA may be elected to fill such vacancies.

120

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 10/07/2026

I see Elon Musk's attempt to turn X into an AI-based news aggregator are going well.

Screenshot of an inaccurate Grok AI summary on X:

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens drops out of Michigan Senate Democratic primary and endorses Abdul El-Sayed

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens withdrew from the Michigan Senate Democratic primary race and endorsed Abdul El-Sayed. Her campaign had received $40.8 million in ad spending compared to El-Sayed's $3.6 million amid a close contest.

0193

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 26/04/2026

Great article from @samleecole.bsky.social on the "wedding algo" that gets at a key point: the way that many wedding vendors work with couples basically requires that those couples follow wedding social media trends. www.404media.co/wedding-plan...

Looking back, the moment I first heard the phrase “cake inspo board” feels like foreshadowing. I'd emailed a handful of bakeries and filled out a dozen inquiry forms at that point in the planning process. Because of competitiveness among vendors about rates and offerings (or possibly because some evil McKinsey for Weddings-type MBA entity decided this is a useful lead generation sales flow), every piece of information has to come directly from a vendor these days and is almost never listed on their websites publicly. It’s acquired by prospective clients, who blast 400 inquiries to their contact forms, some of them requiring multiple choice quizzes about the budget, timeline, “wedding day vibe” and personal social media handles. A few bakers got back to me with quotes for simple cakes. One asked for my mood board. For a cake? Like... flavors? I felt like I’d missed a step going down the stairs. I didn't have a vision board for the cake. I needed a vision board for the cake.
Prior to planning a wedding, I hadn’t used Pinterest since 2008. When I started using it again after several vendors asked me for it, I felt a sugary thrill at pinning a disjointed collage of flowers, dresses, and other things I’d only describe as moon-landing-aspirational boards. Pinterest, meanwhile, is increasingly a minefield of AI slop, and has been for a while, with AI-generated makeup inspiration photos and dresses, which makes the process feel more confusing and unachievable.

0120

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 30/03/2026

"Polls show that the next generation of Democrats is much more open to socialist and anti-Zionist politics. Pressuring candidates not to appear on Piker’s show won’t reverse that trend." www.sosavstate.com/p/the-doomed...

So I asked New York City’s preeminent journalist of the Democratic socialist movement and the reporter who first broke the news that Mamdani was considering a run for mayor, Peter Sterne of City and State New York, about Piker and the Democratic Party.

Sterne explained, “Polls show that the next generation of Democrats is much more open to socialist and anti-Zionist politics. Pressuring candidates not to appear on Piker’s show won’t reverse that trend, and I think the politicians who recognize the contours of this new Democratic coalition are the ones who will have success in the future.”

1315

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 29/03/2026

Very annoyed with Apple Maps right now

Screenshot of Apple Maps showing Boston. South Station is labeled as “South Station” and Boston City Hall (which is far away from South Station) is labeled as “Where Apple Maps told me South Station was”

550

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 27/03/2026

This is the strangest thing. Are the AMA’s own flacks really saying that the chair is misrepresenting the org’s position? If so, I can understand why the NYT would say the chair’s comments don’t reflect the org’s position. But I find it difficult to believe that’s actually what happened.

Excerpt from NYT PR statement:

After the board chair’s comments, Times reporters also confirmed with the A.M.A. spokesperson that the statements reflected in our previous reporting remain accurate in reflecting the association’s stated positions. The board chair’s claims are not based in fact, and are in contradiction to both the association’s own statements provided to The Times.

130

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 25/03/2026

Looks like they got 2 Crunchwrap Supremes and 2 Baja Blasts (plus 25 Munchkins)

Tweet from Mayor Zohran Mamdani:

2 Crunchwrap Supremes + 2 Baja Blasts + 25 Munchkins = $42

Amount we won for Dunkin’ and Taco Bell franchise workers = $1.8 million

121

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 10/03/2026

I thought for sure John was joking, but it’s real!

Screenshot from NYU Langone’s site: “The Home Depot Emergency Department at NYU Langone Health — Cobble Hill”

2166

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 09/03/2026

The Post taking this angle on the attempted attack in NYC is pretty pathetic. nypost.com/2026/03/09/u... The mayor said it was attempted terrorism, violence at a protest is never acceptable and anyone who engages in it will be held accountable.

New York Post headline: Mamdani refuses to condemn alleged ISIS-loving bomb tossers as disturbing new details emerge

0182

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 26/02/2026

In NYC, endorsements are decided upon by the NYC Regional Advisory Council, or RAC. Each group or union on the RAC has a different number of votes, depending on how many members they have – and how much they pay the WFP in annual dues. Read more here: www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

The RAC currently consists of 16 affiliated groups, four local chapters, one political club and seven state committee delegates. There are a total of 95 votes on the committee, which are allotted to the various members of the RAC.

The voting members of the RAC (with the number of votes they have in parentheses) are: New York Communities for Change (8 votes), Make the Road Action Fund (8), Citizen Action of New York (8), New York State United Teachers (8), New York State Nurses Association (8), Churches United for Fair Housing Action (6), PSC-CUNY (6), WFP Brooklyn chapter (4), WFP Queens chapter (4), WFP Manhattan chapter (4), WFP Bronx chapter (3), VOCAL-NY Action Fund (3), Communities Voices Heard Power (3), The Jewish Vote (3), Committee of Interns & Residents SEIU (3), New York Progressive Action Network (2), United Auto Workers Region 9A (2), Teamsters Local 808 (2), Metropolitan Council on Housing (1), Laundry, Distribution and Food Service Joint Board (1) and Central Brooklyn Club (1). In addition, there are seven state committee delegates with one vote each.

160

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 18/02/2026

NY state taxes people making over $25 million per year at 10.9%, some of the highest state taxes in the country. That's on top of federal income tax (which tops out at 37%) and NYC's own income tax (a more or less flat 4%) but still, doesn't that seem super low? www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/18/t...

380

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 13/02/2026

Spectrum replied on X and said that they no longer offer the Ultra plan, which I guess explains it. Anyway, you've all convinced me to switch to FiOS.

Tweet from Spectrum: Hello. I apologize for any pricing concerns. We no longer offer Ultra Internet to customers. Customers who still have that internet tier are typically grandfathered in. You can always change your service by calling in at 855-707-7328 or visiting http://Spectrum.net. -JC

3121

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 13/02/2026

It looks like my building is also eligible for FiOS, though the price for 1 Gig isn't that much cheaper than Spectrum. Is it really worth making the switch?

Screenshot from Verizon FiOS site, showing that a 2 Gig plan is $120/mo, a 1 Gig plan is $100/mo and a 500 Mbps plan is $85/mo.

520

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 13/02/2026

It appears that the 600 Mbps and the 1 Gbps internet plans from Spectrum are literally the exact same price?

A screenshot from Spectrum showing the monthly cost of the Internet Ultra and Internet Gig plans. Both plans are $110/month.

Internet Ultra has a typical download speed of 682 Mbps, while Internet Gig has a typical download speed of 1045 Mbps.

3233

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 12/02/2026

Aber Kawas has filed to run for state Senate District 12 and is no longer listed as a candidate for Assembly District 34. I reported yesterday that Kawas was likely to switch from Assembly to Senate, where she’d clear the field: www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

Screenshot of the state Board of Elections website showing that Aber is running for state Senate District 12

180

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 09/02/2026

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who represents western Queens, announced he won't run for reelection. Who will run for his seat? Aber Kawas, Stylianos Karolidis, Jimmy Van Bramer and Steven Raga are all possible candidates: www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

Two DSA members told City & State that the socialist organization is likely to run either Aber Kawas or Stylianos Karolidis for Gianaris’ open seat. Kawas, a Palestinian American organizer, is currently running with NYC-DSA’s support for the open Assembly seat being vacated by Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, but she could switch to the open state Senate race instead. Karolidis, the co-host of the socialist podcast “Left on Red” and an informal adviser to Kawas, could run to succeed Gianaris if Kawas decides to remain in the Assembly race.

Assembly Member Steven Raga said Gianaris’ announcement came as a surprise and he hopes the next member to hold the seat would carry on his legacy. The Democrat, who represents an overlapping district, said he hadn’t had the necessary discussions yet about who would succeed Gianaris, but would “heavily consider” running if he were asked.

Former New York City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer is also considered to be a potential candidate. He was term-limited out of the council in 2021 and has since served as a strategic adviser at the Girl Scouts of Greater New York.

092

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 06/02/2026

It was Lekha Sunder, his deputy communications director!

Tweet from Zara Rahim: I must say @SunderLekha has been wanting to do a mini podium with mini people since the summer and she finally got her wish

1572

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 04/02/2026

Mayor Mamdani stopped by his successor Diana Moreno’s election night party to congratulate her on her decisive victory. (She got over 70% of the vote, while her closest opponent got less than 20%). www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

Photo of Tiffany Cabán, Diana Moreno and Mayor Zohran Mamdani

1847

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 03/02/2026

Really terrible for immigrant families upstate: a member of the local school board in Mahopac is an ICE deportation officer. www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley...

At the heart of their demands is the question of whether he can comply with the board’s mission to ensure the safety and education of all students when his job involves arresting immigrants, many of whom have children in the district. Nearly 30% of students in the district identified as Hispanic or Latino in 2024-25 and 5% were English language learners, according to state education data.

Their demands, however, have been rebuffed by the board, which doesn’t see a legal reason to remove Harrigan. Also standing behind him are local elected officials and many Mahopac residents, several of whom turned out for the Jan. 22 school board meeting to voice their support for the trustee, whom they call a devoted community member.

Some supporters believe the efforts to remove Harrigan because of his job come from a politically motivated minority of outsiders and do not respond to any specific incidents or complaints against him. They warn that targeting an elected official for his job could set a dangerous precedent.

48737

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 02/02/2026

On the next season of "I Think You Should Leave": www.askamanager.org/2019/06/my-b...

We split into small teams. I was on one and Ethel on the other. It was pretty fun, playing team games and solving puzzles. And it was nice to chat to my new colleagues in an informal setting. There was inevitable friendly competition but all very light-hearted and harmless. Bizarrely though, Ethel took it incredibly seriously. She got really aggressive, shouting that my team were losers and couldn’t keep up. Every time our teams crossed paths, she’d berate us and laugh. It made the whole thing awkward and added a weird tension to the day, but as we didn’t all know each other and she was the boss, nobody really challenged it.

We actually did end up narrowly losing in the end (maybe Ethel successfully psyched us out) as the other team beat us to first place by just a few points. I wasn’t particularly bothered, competition isn’t really my thing – which is perhaps what spurred Ethel on, but she latched onto me. She made a whole show of her team winning, and the organizer (who looked very uncomfortable by it all) had brought jokey little plastic medals for the winners, which made it worse. We cheered for them and said well done, but Ethel started waving her medal in my face, calling me a loser and laughing. I just stood there not reacting as I was so confused by it all. At one point I laughed back and jokingly said I’d never seen a sore winner before, but it only made her worse – she kept going on about how obviously mad I was (?) and how it must be hard being such a loser. My team and I were just baffled by it all, and hers all looked hideously embarrassed. I was really mortified that this was my first interaction with the new half of my team.

170

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 30/01/2026

The Hill's report on Jeffries' comments made that connection, though, since those are the only instances in which U.S. citizens have actually been deported so far. thehill.com/homenews/hou...

Jeffries’s proposed ban on the deportation of U.S. citizens goes a step further than Schumer did. He said it’s necessary given numerous reports indicating that American citizens have been wrongly deported as part of President Trump’s aggressive deportation operations. DHS officials have denied that the agency is targeting or has deported U.S. citizens.

120

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 30/01/2026

I regret to inform you that AI was more helpful than Bluesky on this one. It was in fact "Trepak" that I was thinking of.

Screenshot of a Google Gemini chat:

Q: What music commonly plays in trailers for family-friendly holiday movies?

A: Trailers for family-friendly holiday movies typically rely on a predictable mix of orchestral pieces, classic pop hits, and high-energy remixes to evoke "festive magic".

Common Music Categories

Orchestral Classics:

The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky): Specifically the "Trepak" (Russian Dance) is considered a staple for its frantic, high-energy pace that fits chaotic comedy scenes.

040

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 27/01/2026

Indirectly. He donated to the pro-AI super PAC that is affiliated with the super PAC running the ads against Bores. (The AI tech bros hate Bores because he's in favor of regulating AI.) www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

The super PAC’s hypocrisy charge is one that Bores isn’t leaving hanging. A Trump-supporting co-founder of Palantir, Joe Lonsdale, has been reported as a major contributor to the larger group affiliated with the PAC that is bashing Bores for working for Palantir. Lonsdale has previously been reported as a backer of the $100 million Leading the Future group. Asked about Lonsdale’s connection, Vlasto said he donated to the Republican PAC affiliated with Leading the Future, known as American Mission PAC, rather than the Democratic-oritented Think Big PAC which is spending in Bores’ race. It’s a technical distinction, but one that may fail to soften any blow of hypocrisy launched at the PAC itself.

“These AI Goliaths want to take over our safety, our workforce, and our kids’ minds for their own personal profit and power,” Bores said in a statement Monday afternoon, in which he knocked the PAC’s Trump-linked donors.

1130

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 17/01/2026

DSA’s Electoral Working Group has unsurprisingly voted to recommend endorsing Assembly Member Claire Valdez over Antonio Reynoso for NY-7: Claire Valdez - 94% Antonio Reynoso - 3% No endorsement - 3%

On January 14th, the Electoral Working Group held our seventh endorsement forum of the 2026 cycle. We deliberated on Assemblymember Claire Valdez and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso for NY-7, and Samantha Kattan for AD-37. After voting for a 48-hour period, the results are as follows:
"Should NYC-DSA's Electoral Working Group recommend Antonio Reynoso, Claire Valdez, or no candidate for endorsement in New York Congressional District 7?"
Antonio Reynoso: 3%, Claire Valdez: 94%, No candidate: 3%.
"In the event that Assembly District 37 is vacated by the incumbent, should NYC-DSA's Electoral Working Group recommend Samantha Kattan for endorsement in that district?"
YES - 94.5%, NO - 3.5%, Abstain - 2%
The next step in our chapter's endorsement process is for the geographic branches that overlap with the given districts (Queens and North Brooklyn) to hold their endorsement meetings. If a candidate receives 60% support from their branches, chapter leadership will conduct a chapterwide poll next week, followed by NYC-DSA's City Leadership Committee vote on 1/22/26, both using the same 60% approval threshold.

15813

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 15/01/2026

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso faced a tough crowd at the NYC-DSA Electoral Working Group's candidate forum last night.

By Peter Sterne

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso faced a tough crowd at the DSA endorsement forum last night. Only one member spoke in favor of backing him in the race to succeed Rep. Nydia Velázquez in Congress, two people watching told City & State, while so many lined up to speak in favor of endorsing fellow socialist Assembly Member Claire Valdez or against endorsing Reynoso that the lines had to be cut short to avoid the forum running even later than it already was.

Reynoso acknowledged it was unlikely he’d receive the group’s endorsement but said he’d continue to be a DSA ally. “I love you guys, I know what this is, I know the optics of it, I’ve worked with you guys in the past, I’m working with you now, and I’ll work with you in the future,” he said, according to a DSA member who was present at the closed forum.

The audience received Reynoso respectfully, City & State was told, then questioned why he waited so long to call Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide” and whether he’ll accept contributions from real estate interests – which he declined rule out.

3181

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 11/01/2026

Wow, they're actually bragging that they arrested and deported people who were not even in the supposed gang that they targeted. prospect.org/2026/01/08/m...

SPEAKING ALONGSIDE NOEM was Frank Russo, Customs and Border Protection director of field operations for New York. He said Operation Salvo surveilled businesses, residents, and “community hubs” to determine ties between individuals. Responding to a reporter’s question, he said he wanted to “make clear” that the people arrested were “loosely affiliated” with Trinitarios, which meant anything from “individuals associated with the gang to just having conversations” with them. Agents drew connections between people by, among other things, going through contacts people had in their phones.

The operation worked well because the public did not know about it, he said.

“The best thing about this operation is that it was done the way law enforcement loves to do it. Quietly, discreetly, behind the scenes, often under the cover of darkness. And what that did is it allowed our officers and agents to go out there to conduct surveillance to do intel-gathering operations and to arrest these individuals without any interruptions and without an impact to civilians,” Russo said. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be done.”

211724

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 11/01/2026

NYC-DSA’s Bronx/Upper Manhattan branch has voted, 79%-14%, in favor of endorsing Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is challenging Rep. Adriano Espaillat in NY-13. Now the full chapter will vote on the endorsement. More on Darializa here: www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

Good evening everyone,
On Monday, 5 January, NYC-DSA's B/UM
Branch held a forum at which
participants deliberated whether or not to support organizational endorsement for Darializa Avila Chevalier race in New York's 13th Congressional District. The results of the poll that was sent out after the forum are as follows:
"Should NYC-DSA's B/UM Branch recommend Darializa Avila Chevalier for endorsement in New York's 13th
Congressional District?" YES - 79%, NO -
14%, Abstain - 7%.
The next step in our chapter's endorsement process is a 1 member 1 vote poll that is open to all members in good standing chapterwide and then finally for the Citywide Leadership Committee to deliberate on whether or not to endorse Darializa in this race.

2161

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 10/01/2026

“Claire and I have something in common: a toxic ex, a real estate empire that does education on the side.” - Mahmoud Khalil (former Columbia student arrested by ICE), introducing congressional candidate Claire Valdez (a former Columbia employee)

Mahmoud Khalil speaking at the launch party for Claire Valdez in Bushwick

0255

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 09/01/2026

It says Senate negotiators are working on an appropriations package that would increase ICE funding by 10% and Dem leaders fear the optics of voting against it because they don’t want to be accused of defunding the police.

SCOOP: Senate Negotiators Eye Another ICE Funding Increase

GOP pushes for "operational capacity" while Schumer and Jeffries balk at drawing red lines, fearing "Defund" optics.

WASHINGTON — Senate negotiators are actively pursuing a plan to increase funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by around 10% in the upcoming appropriations package, according to three sources familiar with the talks

110

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 09/01/2026

Remember when they said Mamdani couldn’t win because he was so anti-Israel? Well now the exact same people are insisting Mamdani’s win had nothing to do with Israel to try to discourage other candidates from running against Zionism. www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

Latimer, who was among the incumbents recently endorsed by DMFI, said in an interview he expects another left-flank primary challenge next year, driven in part by opposition to Israel. Prominent Jewish leaders in New York, though, are skeptical the posture makes much sense when most voters are focused on pocketbook concerns — an issue effectively leveraged by Mamdani.

“Everybody in America wants to be Zohran Mamdani, but there’s only one Zohran Mamdani,” said David Greenfield, a former city councilmember and head of The Met Council, a Jewish charity. “The reason he won is not because of Israel, he won because of affordability.”

619544

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 08/01/2026

Next week's DSA endorsement forum will feature *both* Assembly Member Claire Valdez and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. Valdez is clearly the DSA candidate in the race and will almost certainly get the socialist group's endorsement, but Reynoso still wants a chance to make his case.

A flyer for DSA's Jan. 14 endorsement forum, showing that both Claire Valdez and Antonio Reynoso will be considered for endorsement in NY-7.

1100

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 08/01/2026

Might be tough for folks to travel to this month's Queens DSA meeting

World map showing a pin with the location of a Queens DSA meeting on Jan. 21

The map pin is in the Gulf of Guinea, south of Ghana

2222

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 07/01/2026

This tweet from a Daily Mail reporter is especially fucked up

Tweet from Daily Mail reporter Jon Michael Raasch:

HAHAHAHAHAAH * gasps* HAHAHAHAHA

NYC mayoral aide Cea Weaver who says whites owning houses is racist bursts into TEARS when asked about her mother's $1.4m Craftsman home

Amazing work from the @DailyMail team

142

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 07/01/2026

Any day in New York, it could either be 9/11 or this, according to our former mayor

Screenshot from a Duolingo Spanish lesson: “We are starting a new business”

0200

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 04/01/2026

I don't think it's an "extraordinary charge" for the government of Israel to accuse someone of antisemitism. The government constantly accuses people of antisemitism for criticizing them! So it's really a pretty routine charge. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/n...

By Friday morning, Mr. Mamdani was facing direct criticism from the government of Israel, which accused him of antisemitism. It was an extraordinary charge to be leveled by the Jewish state against the new mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel.

Had the Adams administration known its orders would pose a challenge for the new mayor?

“Short answer: Yes,” Randy Mastro, the first deputy mayor to Mr. Adams, said in an interview on Saturday.

“To rescind it comes at a cost, because it requires an explanation,” he continued, “and when there’s no rationale or explanation other than you don’t like Israel, there’s consequences for that.”

1294

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 03/01/2026

Here is AOC's statement: bsky.app/profile/aoc.... And screenshots of tweets/statements from Chris Van Hollen, Zohran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders and Rashida Tlaib

Statement from Chris Van Hollen:

"The American people did not ask for this act of war to bring about regime change in Venezuela - nor did Congress authorize it. President Trump has put our troops in harm's way, and he has not provided a clear, fact-based rationale for these actions, nor the long-term strategy following these strikes. This Administration owes the American people and the Congress immediate answers. This act of war is a grave abuse of power by the President. The Trump Administration is repeating the worst mistakes of our past and endangering American lives - and their motive for doing so is a farce. Trump seized Maduro and his wife just weeks after he pardoned former Honduran President - and notorious convicted drug kingpin - Juan Orlando Hernández.
Maduro is a dictator, but his regime did not pose the immediate threat necessary to warrant U.S. military action on foreign soil without Congressional approval. This is not about demolishing a dictatorship, as we've seen Trump cozy up to dictators around the world. This is about trying to grab Venezuela's oil for Trump's billionaire buddies. Congress must not abdicate its constitutional authority and allow control of the world's most powerful military to fall into just one set of hands."

Statement from Bernie Sanders:

Donald Trump has, once again, shown his contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law. The President of the United States does NOT have the right to unilaterally take this country to war, even against a corrupt and brutal dictator like Maduro. The United States does NOT have the right, as Trump stated this morning, to "run" Venezuela. Congress must immediately pass a War Powers Resolution to end this illegal military operation and reassert its constitutional responsibilities.
Trump's attack on Venezuela will make the United States and the world less safe. This brazen violation of international law gives a green light to any nation on earth that may wish to attack another country to seize their resources or change their governments.
This is the horrific logic of force that Putin used to justify his brutal attack on Ukraine.
Trump and his administration have often said they want to revive the Monroe Doctrine, claiming the United States has the right to dominate the affairs of the hemisphere. They have spoken openly about controlling Venezuela's oil reserves, the largest in the world.
This is rank imperialism. It recalls the darkest chapters of U.S. interventions in Latin America, which have left a terrible legacy. It will and should be condemned by the democratic world.
Trump campaigned for president on an "America First" platform.
He claimed to be the "peace candidate." At a time when 60 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, when our healthcare system is collapsing, when people cannot afford housing, and when Al threatens millions of jobs, it is time for the president to focus on the crises facing this country and end this military adventurism abroad. Trump is failing in his job to "run" the United States. He should not be trying to "run" Venezuela.

Trump’s illegal and unprovoked bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president are grave violations of international law and the U.S. Constitution. These are the actions of a rogue state.

The American people do not want another regime change war abroad.

215034

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 30/12/2025

Is it that difficult to conceive of someone with actual ideological commitments, who supports unions not for transactional reasons but because they genuinely believe in workers' power? nymag.com/intelligence...

Yet Mamdani is not acting like a mayor without debts. Even though he wasn’t supported by labor unions and many other left-leaning civic organizations in the primary, he had been their champion regardless. He didn’t get the teachers-union endorsement, but he still favored getting rid of mayoral control of schools, something mayors dating back to Bloomberg have fought vigorously for, since its alternative was an era of community school boards that was rife with dysfunction and graft and left a mayor powerless in the face of, for example, a bus-drivers strike. He wasn’t the first choice of the municipal-workers union but still pledged to oppose a proposal to switch city workers to a health plan that budget experts say is necessary to save the city $1 billion. He has called for 200,000 units of affordable housing to be built in the city, but despite not being endorsed by the building trades, he has said they should be built with union labor, which would drive up the cost of construction. (“He says he wants to build 200,000 units of affordable housing, all with union labor,” said one prominent developer. “I think he is going to be lucky to get 50.”)

“It’s one of the strangest things I have seen,” said David Schleicher, a professor at Yale Law School and an expert on municipal policy. “He has no particular reason to follow the line of the teachers union or the building trades or any other union, but he seems to be doing it anyway.” It’s hard to shake the sense that Mamdani has come into office treating perceived ideological allies — including unions — as sacred, whether or not they’ve thrown their full support behind him.

1247368

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 30/12/2025

Randy Mastro, top lieutenant to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and current Mayor Eric Adams, offers "advice" to NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani: www.nydailynews.com/2025/12/28/h...

As the top deputy in two different mayoral administrations, including under current Mayor Adams, I feel uniquely qualified to offer some advice to our Mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani. Full disclosure: I did not vote for him and do not support his socialist agenda. But I always root for our city to succeed, so I offer this advice in that spirit.

First and foremost, running a city as complex as New York isn’t just about ideology. To paraphrase our greatest mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, “there is no Republican or Democratic” — or Socialist — way to pick up the garbage.” At its core this job is about delivering basic city services. So our incoming mayor should be focusing on appointing his core government operations team — none of whom has been named yet, only “interim” holdovers from the Adams administration until Mamdani ultimately names permanent successors — instead of making symbolic appointments like a deputy mayor for “economic justice.”

Yes, Mamdani ran on affordability, but the highest priority for any mayor should be to keep our city safe. The Adams administration achieved massive reductions in major crime, including the lowest rate of shootings in city history. And Mamdani has wisely reappointed Adams’ police commissioner. Next, he needs to put his campaign’s anti-police rhetoric behind him. He needs to show he is committed to public safety and supports the work the NYPD does to keep us all safe. No mayor has succeeded who saw crime rise on his watch. Mamdani should keep Adams’ commitment to fund 5,000 more cops.

Classic tweet from @hotgirlhala: “this does not help your cause” - guy who hates you and your cause

2211

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 29/12/2025

This is a good sign for the NYC left and the movement that supports Mamdani, since it suggests he's refusing false choices and unnecessary compromise. nymag.com/intelligence...

Mamdani’s revolution, in this moment before he takes office, has two defining qualities. The first is the well-known movement-building skill of the man. Out of nowhere, he has become the center of the political universe in New York and redefined what is possible in American politics. The second is a certain sense of unreality — a tension between what he promises he will do and what the normal laws of political physics would seem to allow. It’s true of the big question: Can he really lower the cost of living in New York City? And it’s true of all the thousands of smaller ways in which he will attempt to do that and manage the city in the meantime. In our interviews, the mayor-elect conspicuously avoided acknowledging the kinds of basic trade-offs that are the DNA of the office he is about to assume. Does Mamdani want more affordable housing, or does he want affordable housing that is more expensive to build because it’s built with union labor? Does he want free infant–to–5-year-old child care, or does he want those child-care workers to be paid the $30 living wage he has proposed for the city? The answer is he wants both, he wants everything, he wants it all at once.

511530

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 29/12/2025

Fall? It’s December 29th

Screenshot from Panera app:

What’s new at Panera?

Fall-ing for Salad

Dip into Fall

060

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 22/12/2025

incredible metaphor for the state of the industry lol

Quote tweet from me: There is almost no better journalism job I can imagine for a lefty NYC-based editor than this.

The quoted tweet has been deleted.

1829

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 20/12/2025

Zohran Mamdani endorses his “friend and fellow DSA member” Diana Moreno for Assembly District 36.

Diana Moreno and Zohran Mamdani in Athens Square Park in Astoria

1447

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 19/12/2025

Gibbs said that this is an issue of clashing cultural norms – that he's being punished for not code-switching. And I tend to agree. This isn't about harassment so much as enforcing certain middle-class (white) cultural norms of professionalism. gothamist.com/news/mamdani...

160

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 19/12/2025

Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs was sanctioned for making "sexually explicit remarks" during a floor speech memorializing the late Rep. Charlie Rangel. gothamist.com/news/harlem-...

The statement in question came during a speech Gibbs gave in May after the death of former Rep. Charlie Rangel.

Gibbs said on the floor that his late mother was enamored with both Rangel and Rangel's predecessor, Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

“My mother was a big fan of Adam Clayton Powell, the congressmember, and she would tell me often that Adam Powell made her moist,” Gibbs said, according to an official transcript. “And then when Charlie won the seat — had the seat, she said Charlie made her wetter. I don't know what that means, but that's the way she felt about Charlie.”

Gibbs said in an interview that he didn’t mean to offend anybody.

2101

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 19/12/2025

Rep. Elise Stefanik, the leading GOP candidate for NY governor, just announced that she is DROPPING OUT of the governor's race and will NOT RUN FOR RE-ELECTION to Congress. It's a remarkable fall from grace for Stefanik. x.com/EliseStefani...

While spending precious time with my family this Christmas season, I have made the decision to suspend my campaign for Governor and will not seek re-election to Congress. I did not come to this decision lightly for our family.

I am truly humbled and grateful for the historic and overwhelming support from Republicans, Conservatives, Independents, and Democrats all across the state for our campaign to Save New York.

However, as we have seen in past elections, while we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York.

And while many know me as Congresswoman, my most important title is Mom. I believe that being a parent is life's greatest gift and greatest responsibility. I have thought deeply about this and I know that as a mother, I will feel profound regret if I don't further focus on my young son's safety, growth, and happiness - particularly at his tender age.

115903100