A message from City & State | |
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Compiled by Phenix Kim
Monday, October 20, 2025 |
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Editor’s note: Due to technical issues with our email provider, this week's edition of NYN First Read is being sent out later than usual! We apologize for the delay. How Elle Bisgaard-Church became Zohran Mamdani’s most trusted adviser
The June primary victory of Zohran Mamdani over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo came as a shock to everyone, but perhaps most of all to the consultant class, the people who make a living predicting what voters will do and trying to steer their behavior. Not only was the millennial democratic socialist candidate from outside the Democratic mainstream, but so was his campaign manager – a 34-year-old woman they had never heard of who masterminded what even Mamdani’s haters acknowledge was the best-run mayoral campaign in recent history.
This same woman – who had never managed any campaign before, let alone a citywide one, let alone a successful one – is now the architect of the likely incoming Mamdani administration.
Read more here. By Holly Pretsky |
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Elle Bisgaard-Church, Mamdani’s chief adviser, in his Chelsea campaign office. | Credit: Amy Lombard |
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A message from City & State |
If you’re looking to connect with some of New York’s brightest rising stars, you won’t want to miss this. Each year, City & State NY honors 40 talented individuals under 40 working in New York government, politics, and advocacy. Join us on Thursday, October 23, as we spotlight this year’s 40 Under 40 cohort. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. will be our keynote speaker! Tickets are now available. Register now..
Sponsored by: KPMG; Ares Charitable Foundation; Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York; Municipal Credit Union; NYS Trial Lawyers Association; The TASC Group; White Plains Hospital; Avoq; Hudson Meridian Construction Group; Rise Light & Power Renewable Ravenswood; Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP |
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The NAACP New York State Conference kicked off its 89th Annual State Convention, Rooted to Rise: Building Power Across New York. The state’s premiere Black policy convention is focused on the tools, bold strategies, and tactical training needed for branches to enact change in their communities. The weekend included a black policy roundtable discussion, featuring Assembly Members Latrice Walker, Chuck Lavine, Kwani O’Pharrow and Noah Burroughs; state Sens. Monica Martinez, Leroy Comrie and Siela Bynoe; and Suffolk County Legislator Jason Richberg.
Brooklyn Org will host Deciding Brooklyn’s Future: A Community Forum, today at Brooklyn College. The event will bring together local leaders, advocates, and elected officials for a conversation on Brooklyn’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. Moderated by Edric Robinson of News12 Brooklyn and Jocelynne Rainey, president and CEO of Brooklyn Org, the program will feature panelists from across the borough’s nonprofit and civic landscape.
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced a $100,000 grant awarded to the YMCA of Greater New York for its Community Lifesavers Lifeguard Initiative and the Jamaica YMCA’s community programming. This investment will help the YMCA – New York City’s largest swim safety provider – address the city’s ongoing lifeguard shortage, which has reached crisis levels, forcing the closure of pools and beaches and limiting access to swim instruction and water safety.
SUNY Chancellor John King visited Hudson Valley Community College to announce the second-year cohort of students participating in the Empire State Service Corps program. The ESSC is a statewide initiative that provides SUNY students paid opportunities to serve communities while gaining hands-on experience in education, mental health, sustainability and veteran affairs. The inaugural year saw more than 2,000 applicants and logged over 100,000 hours of community service. Now, in its second year, the program is expanding to include 500 corps members across 45 campuses in nine service focus areas.
JBI Library and the Xavier Society for the Blind (two faith-based New York City nonprofits) will share space at JBI’s headquarters on East 30th Street in Manhattan’s Murray Hill section. Combined, these Jewish and Catholic organizations have served people who are blind or visually impaired for nearly 220 years. They'll remain independent organizations but will collaborate on best practices. The move comes just as October marks Blindness Awareness Month, underscoring both organizations’ shared commitment to accessibility, inclusion, and faith for people who are blind or have low vision.
The New York Landmarks Conservancy has announced 15 Sacred Sites Grants totaling $244,500 awarded to 15 historic religious properties throughout New York state. This includes $40,000 to Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan, $38,000 to Grace & St. Paul's Church in Manhattan, $20,000 to Ninth Tabernacle Beth El Brooklyn and $15,000 to St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn. On Long Island, regranting is supported with funding from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation including $25,000 to the Caroline Church of Brookhaven in East Setauket and $11,000 to the Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ.
Brooklyn Org has named 20 nonprofits as finalists for the 2026 Spark Prize, which honors organizations advancing social justice across the borough. Each finalist will receive a $5,000 Brooklyn Gives matching grant, and five will be awarded $100,000 unrestricted prizes in January. The finalists include Accompany Capital, Asiyah Women’s Center, Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn Debate League, Center for NuLeadership on Human Justice and Healing, Emma’s Torch and more.
Services for the UnderServed held its annual Developmental Disabilities Championships and Family Fun Day last Thursday at Astoria Park. Hundreds of participants with intellectual/developmental disabilities that the nonprofit supports took part in a wide range of inclusive and engaging activities, including track and field competitions, arts and crafts, and other fun, family-friendly events. Selfhelp Community Services will host its 10th annual Virtual 5K Run/Walk starting Saturday through November 2 to raise funds for its Holocaust Survivor Program, the oldest and largest program serving survivors in North America. The virtual event will support Selfhelp’s housing, home health care, and social service programming to support 12,500 Holocaust survivors in New York City.
United Way of New York City held its first-ever Champions for Change Awards, honoring state Senator Michael Gianaris, Assembly Member Chantel Jackson and New York City Council Members Jennifer Gutiérrez and Amanda Farías, alongside community organizations, for their role in helping pass more than $172 million in new city and state investments to expand food access, education equity, health justice, and more. |
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A message from City & State |
The future of all things coming and going in New York is in your hands. Will you take the wheel? You’re invited to explore the systems that keep New Yorkers in motion at the Transportation Summit on 10/28. Featured speakers are: Rick Cotton, Exec. Dir. of the Port Authority of NY and NJ, and Jamie Torres Springer, President of MTA Construction & Development. Register now!
Sponsored by: Boingo Wireless; Boldyn Networks; AJW; New York Building Congress; Waymo; Alstom Americas; Amtrak; Archer Aviation; Brown and Weinraub; Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP; Deloitte; Gateway Development Commission; Hollis Public Affairs, Inc.; Lime; NUAIR; T-Mobile for Government; Trucking Association of New York; Databricks; NYSTEC |
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GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS:
Social Services: The department awarded $51.5 million to University Behavioral Associates, Inc. and $52.6 million to Arbor E&T LLC to operate WeCARE programs; $937,500 to Minkwon Center for Community Action Inc. and $937,500 to CAMBA Inc. for immigration legal support centers in addition to $330,994 to the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project to extend non-residential and Home+ services.
Homeless Services: The department awarded $42.5 million to Odyssey House Inc. for its recovery center.
Children’s Services: The department awarded $3.3 million to The Floating Hospital Inc. for medical and dental services for youth.
Small Business Services: The department awarded $5.5 million to Educational Data Systems Inc. for workforce services customized for foreign-born New Yorkers.
Probation: The department awarded $468,750 to The Osborne Association Inc. for the NeON (Neighborhood Opportunity Network) Works program.
Youth and Community Development: The department awarded $250,000 to TCK Education Consultants LLC for a digital literacy and inclusion project. |
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A message from City & State |
Skyrocketing car insurance premiums are rocking the welfare of working families in New York. Join policymakers, consumer advocates, industry experts, and community leaders for an urgent discussion on how the state can fix New York’s broken car insurance system on Wednesday, October 29th. Kathryn S. Wylde, President & CEO of the Partnership for New York City is our keynote speaker! Claim your complimentary ticket now.
Thanks to our partner, Citizens for Affordable Rates. |
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* No Kings demonstrations took place nationwide on Saturday, including in New York City, where tens of thousands turned out to protest President Donald Trump and what critics say is the authoritarian rule that has come to mark his presidency, Gothamist reports.
* A new U.S. citizenship test will be implemented starting today. As immigration advocates claim that the Trump administration will make it harder to become a U.S. citizen, New York City nonprofit District Three Immigration Services in Bushwick offers classes to immigrants to pass the new citizenship test, NY1 reports.
* A new proposed legislation would create statutory mental health courts across the state. The measure would make any New Yorker with a “qualifying diagnosis” eligible for a diversion program. And it would allow people with misdemeanor or nonviolent felony charges to enter treatment immediately, without pleading guilty, New York Focus reports.
* Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani listened to Local 32BJ SEIU members Friday, the union which has been campaigning for him but is against three items on the back of the ballot that would fast-track some housing development approvals. Yet Mamdani has still not yet said how he will vote on those measures, The CITY reports.
* Immigrants in the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement custody at the Orange County Correctional Facility have faced “systemic” and “recurrent” deficiencies in medical care, according to a new report by the civil rights nonprofit New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, the Times Union reports. * The union representing Broadway’s actors and stage managers reached a tentative agreement with the industry’s commercial producers early Saturday morning, but a potential strike still looms because musicians have yet to make a deal, the New York Times reports.
* Nonprofit health systems have traditionally been celebrated on the left and criticized on the right. To the former, they held out the promise of free or low-cost care for the needy, while conservatives see tax-exempt medical institutions as bloated, expensive government-subsidized threats to the small doctor’s office, City Journal reports.
* Federal datasets that nonprofits and philanthropies rely on to track need and measure progress are disappearing. In January, the Trump administration gutted the National Center for Education Statistics, leaving just three staff, freezing data collection, and halting reports, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.
* Due to the passage of Trump-backed budget legislation in July, an estimated $911 billion will be cut from Medicaid over the next decade. Medicaid provides services to groups including autistic people, who make up one out of 31 children and one out of 45 adults in the United States, Nonprofit Quarterly reports. * New York City Democratic mayoral candidate and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani said this week that he is open to keeping Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, who was appointed by Mayor Eric Adams, at the helm of the nation’s largest school system, Chalkbeat reports.
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A message from City & State |
Navigating New York’s competitive procurement arena is a challenge. At the Diversity & Procurement Summit on Thursday, November 13, you’ll get an inside look at what it takes for our local businesses to thrive. Interested in the speaking line-up? Our keynote speakers are Michael Garner, Chief Business Diversity Officer, City of New York, and Dhanraj Singh, State Chief Procurement Officer, NYS Office of General Services Procurement Services. Register now, and contact us about sponsorship!
Sponsored by: Anchin Block; A Posteriori, LLC; Brown and Weinraub; Community Capital New York; Davidoff Hutcher & Citron; Ostroff Associates; T-Mobile for Government; Battery Park City Authority; World Wide Technology |
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* As people across the United States face massive cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other vital programs, many are asking: what happens when the systems we rely on fail us? And what happens when our communities are torn apart by toxic inequality, political fragmentation and declining social trust? The solution may lie in something that humans have been doing throughout our existence: the “solidarity economy,” Nonprofit Quarterly reports.
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* Nonprofits are the backbone of care, creativity, and justice in New York City. Yet, despite their importance, four alarm bells are sounding across our city’s nonprofit sector: inconsistent funding, a workforce stretched dangerously thin, aging infrastructure, and a volatile political climate. These warnings are not abstract. They appear in real life when benefits disappear, Crain’s New York Business.
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NYN Media Jobs
To view all jobs, please visit jobs.nynmedia.com. To advertise your employment opportunities with NYN Media email jobs@nynmedia.com.
CASAC Specialist - The Children's Village - Dobb's Ferry, New York Conduct substance use assessments on clients in Children’s Village programs including RTC, NSP, RTA, FCAP, Empower House, and Woodfield. Formulate treatment recommendations and plans. Provide Group Therapy and Individual Sessions as needed. Collaborate with Clinical Treatment Teams coordinating service provision. Learn more here!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Olav Athayde, former director of advancement research at Lehman College, Cathleen Collins, assistant dean for external affairs and administration, Hunter College and to David Rivel; tomorrow to Debra-Ellen Glickstein, founding executive director of New York City Kids RISE and to Michael Casertano, senior counsel at JustWorks; on Wednesday to Anu Joshi, vice president of policy at NYIC, María Román Dumén, second vice president of 100 Hispanic Women National Inc. and to Katherine Nadeau, deputy director for Catskill Mountainkeeper; on Thursday to Henry Cross, former executive director of Hosh, Nicolette Peters, attorney at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services and to Kenita D. Lloyd, chief of staff at New York City Department of Education; on Friday to Marc Christmas, director of business development at Mitchell Titus, Eddie Bautista, executive director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance and to F. Murray Abraham, actor and spokesperson for the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees; on Saturday to Madeleine Freidson, grant writer at Good Shepherd Services and to Joel Klein, former New York City Schools Chancellor; and on Sunday to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and to Kevin Dugan, director of government affairs at the New York State Restaurant Association.
MOVING ON: Have a birthday, career change, birth or death to announce? Email editor@nynmedia.com. |
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UPCOMING EVENTS: In person: Oct. 23 – Rising Ground’s Fall Benefit cocktail reception, Amber Room, Manhattan Oct. 23 – 2025 AFJ Impact Awards Dinner, Altman Building, Manhattan Oct. 27 – The Bushwick Starr opening gala, Rule of Thirds, Brooklyn Oct. 30 – Breaking Ground annual gala, The Glasshouse, Manhattan Nov. 5 – Forward Together: The Doe Fund's Gala, Ziegfeld Ballroom, Manhattan
Nov. 6 – Inside the nonprofit sector: evolving from a fundraising mindset to a resource development strategy, Westchester Library System, Elmsford.
Nov. 12 – The Fortune Society's Justice in Action: 2025 Annual Gala, Chelsea Piers, Manhattan Nov. 12 – Nonprofit New York's 2025 Annual Conference, Marriott Marquis, Manhattan Nov. 13 – Birch Family Services Soirée, The Lighthouse Pier 61, Manhattan Nov. 13 – Harvest - A Benefit for Union Square Park, Civic Hall, Manhattan Nov. 13 – CAMBA Night out, Tribeca 360, Manhattan Nov. 19 – NEW Pride Agenda 2nd Annual Empowerment Awards, Salesforce Tower, Manhattan Dec. 3 – 2025 Keep Westchester Thriving Awards, the Sonesta Hotel, White Plains Online:
Oct. 22 - The Workers Circle: How to be an Effective Advocate Submit your event by sending a short description and a working link to editor@nynmedia.com.
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Rethinking moves management: the 5 stages of building lasting donor relationships (NonprofitPro) |
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