Link to Q&A profile: politicsny.com/power-lists/... .

Exactly. The opportunity now is strategically pivoting from a siloed regional lens approach to a shared statewide governing project. When upstate, NYC, (and even Long Island) see a collective win, we move from episodic wins to building durable statewide power.

The real test isn’t ideology, it’s whether progressive, socialist, and Democratic establishment actors across the state can see their wins as tied together enough to build shared statewide campaigns. Holding regional differences while fighting for material wins is the real challenge and how we win.

I’d reframe this moment not as WFP vs DSA or old guard vs new, but as the challenge of stitching together a statewide governing bloc across political traditions. From my statewide coalition work, NYC can’t carry a governing agenda alone.

Yes, Menin’s potential speakership adds a historical identity lens, and also raises how someone seen as a pragmatic moderate could shift the political and ideological dynamics inside a very progressive council, potentially acting as a guardrail.