Special Election Winners Announced, Restaurants and Bars Can Remain Open Until Midnight, Mayor de Blasio Announces Several New Appointments

April 19, 2021

News in New York – Special Election Winners Announced, Restaurants and Bars Can Remain Open Until Midnight, Mayor de Blasio Announces Several New Appointments

Special Election Winners Announced

Last Thursday, the NYC Board of Elections announced that Eric Dinowitz was the winner of the special election to represent City Council District 11 and Oswald Feliz as the winner to lead City Council District 15. Both districts are in the Bronx, with CD 11 covering the Northwest corner of the borough, and CD15 covering the central Bronx, including the neighborhoods of Fordham, Belmont, Bedford Park, and more. These are the second and third instances in which ranked-choice voting was used to determine the winner of a NYC election, and like Brooks-Powers several weeks ago, both Dinowitz and Feliz led their respective races on Election Night. Dinowitz declared victory after six rounds of ranked-choice counting, and Feliz declared after ten rounds. Dinowitz will replace former Council Member Andy Cohen, and Felix will replace former Council Member Ritchie Torres.

Restaurants and Bars Can Remain Open Until Midnight

Last Wednesday, Governor Cuomo announced restaurants and bars will now be allowed to remain open until midnight beginning today, April 19th. In addition, catered events will be allowed to continue until 1am. This is a continuation of the Governor’s recent announcements loosing restrictions on business operations in the State, including recently announcing the reopening of horse and auto races beginning April 22nd. The Governor has also recently announced public events taking place this summer including an Air Show at Jones Beach.

Mayor de Blasio Announces Several New Appointments

Last week, Mayor de Blasio announced several new appointments for positions throughout NYC. The Mayor appointed Keri Butler as the Executive Director of the Public Design Commission (PDC), the City’s design review agency. Butler has served as Acting Executive Director since December 2020, and has been with the Commission for 15 years. The Mayor also announced 6 new appointments to the Trust for Governors Island Board of Directors. The new appointments will join the 17-member Board to oversee the Trust’s activities in the operations and ongoing development of Governors Island. In addition to the above, de Blasio appointed 18 judges to Family, Criminal, and Civil Court, and appointed retired Justice Helen E. Freedman to the Advisory Committee on the Judiciary.

Please contact Katie Schwab or Rose Christ of Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies with any questions you may have regarding this note or if you’re interested in ways to engage on these issues.

About Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies

Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies, an affiliate of the international law firm Cozen O’Connor, is a bipartisan government relations practice representing clients before the federal government and in cities and states throughout the country. With offices in Washington D.C., Richmond, Albany, New York City, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Chicago, and Santa Monica, the firm’s public strategies professionals offer a full complement of government affairs services, including legislative and executive branch advocacy, policy analysis, assistance with government procurement and funding programs, and crisis management. Its client base spans multiple industries, including healthcare, transportation, hospitality, education, construction, energy, real estate, entertainment, financial services, and insurance.

About Cozen O’Connor

Established in 1970, Cozen O’Connor has over 775 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate, and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and middle-market companies, Cozen O’Connor serves its clients’ needs through 31 offices across two continents.

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