Hear directly from mayoral candidates about their plans and positions ahead of the June 24 primary election, with a discussion focused on NYCHA and family homelessness.

New York City’s mayoral race is heating up, with an especially crowded field of Democratic contenders in the upcoming June 24 primary. The winner that day—who will be selected via ranked-choice voting, in which New Yorkers can select up to five candidates by order of preference—will go on to compete in the November general election (when they’ll be expected to face off against Republican Curtis Sliwa and Independent Jim Walden, so far).

On Monday, April 7, join City Limits and our co-hosts for a mayoral forum focused on two subjects that are often overlooked on the campaign trail—NYCHA and family homelessness. The event will take place at Manhattan Neighborhood Network, in partnership with the National Public Housing Network and the Family Homelessness Coalition.

Our next mayor will face significant challenges on both fronts: The public housing system is need of an estimated $78 billion in capital repairs over the next two decades, while the number of people staying in the city’s homeless shelters has surpassed 125,000 for nearly the last two years, and includes tens of thousands of children. President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash federal staffing, and spending, are expected to impact both NYCHA and local affordable housing initiatives, including rental vouchers for formerly homeless residents.

At the upcoming event, we’ll probe the candidates about their plans for:

funding repairs in public housing, including their positions on programs like PACT and the Preservation Trust;

addressing quality-of-life issues at NYCHA and increasing transparency for tenants;

expanding affordable housing options for low-income New Yorkers;

homeless shelter conditions and policies;

expanding access to rental vouchers and other pathways to safe, permanent housing, & more.

Confirmed candidates so far include: City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, former State Assemblymember Michael Blake, State Senator Zellnor Myrie, State Senator Jessica Ramos, former NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, and former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson. (We’ve also extended invitations to incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, City Comptroller Brad Lander and State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, and will update this post if additional candidates sign on).

The event is free and open to the public, though space is limited, so please RSVP here.

Want to suggest a question for the candidates? Email editor@citylimits.org.

The post Join Us April 7: Mayoral Candidate Forum on NYCHA & Family Homelessness appeared first on City Limits.

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department leadership is proposing combining the two agencies responsible for enforcing drug and gun laws as part of a dramatic restructuring of the department, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press.

The memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche seeks feedback on a reorganization plan that would combine the Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into a single agency “to achieve efficiencies in resources, case deconfliction, and regulatory efforts.”

It’s part of a broader push by the Trump administration to shrink and reshape the federal government that has already led to a slew of legal challenges. President Donald Trump has directed agencies to develop plans for eliminating employee positions and consolidating programs.

Perhaps the most sweeping part of the Justice Department’s plan is a push to merge the DEA and ATF, which often work together along with the FBI but are both led by separate directors and are tasked with distinctly different missions. The memo included no details about how the two agencies would be combined, or whether some of the agents would be eliminated.

The ATF investigates things like violent crime, gun trafficking, arson and bombings. It also provides technical expertise tracing guns used in crimes and analyzing intelligence in shooting investigations. The DEA, meanwhile, is in charge of enforcing the nation’s laws around drugs. Its agents are focused on combating criminal drug networks and stemming the illicit flow of fentanyl and other street drugs.

Questions have been raised about the future of the ATF after FBI Director Kash Patel — in an unusual arrangement — was tapped to simultaneously serve as acting leader of the gun law agency. The ATF has long drawn the ire of conservatives for its role in gun regulation.

The Justice Department plan also calls for combining policy offices in Washington and eliminating certain field offices around the country that work on things like antitrust and environmental matters.

Tax division lawyers as well as employees in the section that handles public corruption cases would be reassigned to U.S. attorneys offices, except for a “core team of supervisory attorneys” that would remain in Washington, according to the proposal.

The AP reported earlier this month that lawyers in the public integrity section, which oversees public corruption cases, were told they will be asked to take new assignments in the department and as few as five lawyers may remain in the unit.

A Justice Department spokesperson didn’t immediately provide a comment on the plan, which is not been finalized. Heads of Justice Department agencies were instructed to respond with any concerns about the proposals by April 2.

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and LISA MASCARO, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he was pulling Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a stunning turnaround for his Cabinet pick after her confirmation had been stalled over concerns about Republicans’ tight margins in the House.

Trump confirmed he was withdrawing the New York Republican’s nomination in a Truth Social post, saying that it was “essential that we maintain EVERY Republican Seat in Congress.”

“We must be unified to accomplish our Mission, and Elise Stefanik has been a vital part of our efforts from the very beginning. I have asked Elise, as one of my biggest Allies, to remain in Congress,” the president said, without mentioning who he would nominate as a replacement for his last remaining Cabinet seat.

Stefanik’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump had tapped Stefanik to represent the U.S. at the international body shortly after winning reelection in November. She was seen as among the least controversial Cabinet picks, and her nomination advanced out of committee in late January, but House Republicans’ razor-thin majority kept her ultimate confirmation in a state of purgatory for the last several months.

In recent weeks, it had seemed as if Stefanik’s nomination would advance to the Senate floor, given two U.S. House special elections in Florida in districts that Trump easily won in 2024. Filling those vacant GOP seats would have allowed Stefanik to finally resign from the House and given Republicans, who currently hold 218 seats, a little more breathing room on passing legislation in a growingly divided Congress. Democrats hold 213 seats.

But Democrats’ upset in a Tuesday special election for a Pennsylvania state Senate seat in Republican-leaning suburbs and farming communities surely gave the GOP pause.

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Stefanik is the fourth Trump administration nominee who didn’t make it through the confirmation process. Previously, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general, Chad Chronister was pulled for the Drug Enforcement Administration and former Florida congressman Dr. David Weldon was yanked from contention to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The former congresswoman had been in a state of limbo for months, not able to engage in her official duties as a member of the 119th Congress or to participate in the action at the U.N. The vacancy of a permanent U.S. ambassador was happening at a critical moment for the international body as the world leaders had been discussing the two major wars between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas.

In late February, the U.S. mission, under Trump, split with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three U.N. resolutions seeking an end to the three-year war. Dorothy Shea, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., has been the face of America’s mission in New York during the transition.

Amiri reported from the United Nations.

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Weak population gains and increased government spending will result in slower overall economic growth over the next 30 years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday.

The CBO’s latest long-term budget and economic outlook report — for a timeframe that spans 2025 to 2055 — projects publicly held debt to reach 156% of gross domestic product, or GDP, in 2055. That’s down from the agency’s March 2024 long-term budget projection, which said publicly held debt would be equal to a record 166% of American economic activity by 2054.

However, that’s not necessarily a positive.

The mix of slower population growth and unfettered spending will also result in weaker economic growth over the next three decades than what the CBO projected last year. Lower birthrates also mean that the United States is becoming more dependent on immigrants working to sustain growth.

“Without immigration, the U.S. population would begin to shrink in 2033,” the CBO report states.

The report assumes that all the laws set to expire, including certain provisions of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, will expire. But the White House and Republican lawmakers have said that the tax cuts will be renewed and potentially expanded, as well as suggesting reductions in government spending and an increase in revenues by taxing imports.

Still, the report’s warnings and its projections for the future also set the stage for the challenges on the debt, government spending and economic growth that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insists the Trump administration can fix.

Bessent has advocated for a “3-3-3” plan, which involves getting the federal budget deficit down to 3% of GDP, boosting inflation-adjusted annual GDP growth to 3% and producing the equivalent of an additional 3 million barrels of oil per day by 2028.

The treasury secretary has sought to discredit CBO scoring, calling it “crazy.”

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“I was in the investment business for 35 years, I thought I understood how crazy CBO scoring is,” Bessent told CNBC earlier this month. “And now that I’m on the other side of the wall, I can tell you it’s really crazy. And very unlikely that we are going to get any credit in the CBO scoring for tariffs.”

However, CBO warnings about population growth cut into Trump administration policy priorities related to mass deportations, as officials claim that immigrants are fueling high inflation by worsening the housing shortage and depriving U.S. citizens of job opportunities.

A decreasing population could have profound negative effects on the economy, as growth depends on adding workers as well as increasing their productivity. Falling population levels could cause a stagnation in living standards and create difficulties in paying down debts as well as funding programs such as Social Security, which is dependent on payroll taxes.

The report also comes as the U.S. is on track to hit its statutory debt ceiling — the so-called X-date when the country runs short of money to pay its bills — as early as August without a deal between Congress and the White House.

The CBO and the Bipartisan Policy Center this week detailed projections for the U.S. to hit its statutory debt ceiling sometime this summer — as soon as July or August, respectively.