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Zellnor Myrie

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Zellnor Myrie
Member of the New York State Senate
from the 20th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2019
Preceded byJesse Hamilton
Personal details
Born (1986-11-03) November 3, 1986 (age 38)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
​
(m. 2024)​
EducationFordham University (BA, MA)
Cornell University (JD)
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website

Zellnor Myrie (born November 3, 1986) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served in the New York State Senate since 2019, representing the 20th state senate district, which includes parts of Brooklyn. In 2024, Myrie formed an exploratory committee to run for Mayor of New York City in the 2025 mayoral election.[1]

Early life and education

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Myrie was born in Brooklyn, New York City to Costa Rican-born immigrant parents and raised in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood.[2] He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and attended Fordham University, earning his undergraduate and Master's degrees in urban studies.[3][4] After graduate school, he earned his Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School where he served as student government president, prison law instructor, and pro bono scholar.[5][6]

Early career

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Before law school, Myrie worked for the New York City Council as a legislative director where he helped draft the Tenant Bill of Rights. After law school, he joined Davis Polk & Wardwell. As an associate at the firm, Myrie worked more than 600 pro bono hours in one year.[7] His pro bono work included cases brought by victims of police brutality, special education students seeking services from the Department of Education[which?], domestic violence victims, and asylum seekers.[8]

Political career

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In the 2018 elections, Myrie ran for New York State Senate in the 20th district. He challenged Jesse Hamilton, a former member of the Independent Democratic Conference, in the Democratic Party primary election.[9] Myrie defeated Hamilton in the September primary, earning 54% of the vote.[10][11] Hamilton remained on the ballot in the November general election under the Independence and Women's Equality ballot lines, where Myrie defeated him again, earning over 92% of the vote.[12]

Myrie speaking in the Senate Chamber in 2022

Myrie chairs the Elections Committee in the state senate.[13] He is also a member of the Senate's consumer protection committee.[14] Myrie supported the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019.[15][16] He also sponsored legislation to ban most evictions during New York's COVID-19 state of emergency.[17][18]

On May 30, 2020, Myrie was pepper-sprayed and handcuffed while taking part in protests following the murder of George Floyd.[19][20] On October 29, 2021, six New York City firefighters were suspended for threatening the staff of Myrie in regards to his support of firing certain city employees who were unwilling to be vaccinated against COVID-19.[21]

Myrie supports financial institutions having the right to deny lending capital to ammunition and gun industries.[22] Myrie has advocated for requiring food regulators to target corporations that advertise unhealthy foods.[23] In 2021, Myrie was one of two members of the New York State Senate to vote against a bill designating baseball as the official state sport of New York.[24]

In 2021, Myrie authored the Community Violence Intervention Act, which declared gun violence a public health crisis and which provides millions of dollars to local hospital- and community-based violence intervention programs.[25][26] Myrie also authored a first-in-the-nation law that classifies illegal gun sales as a nuisance, which could open gun manufacturers to liability.[27][28]

Mayoral exploratory committee

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Main article: 2025 New York City mayoral election

On May 9, 2024, Myrie announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to prepare for a potential campaign for Mayor of New York City in the 2025 mayoral election.[1] During his campaign, Myrie proposed to increase housing supply in New York City by 700,000 homes by allowing more housing in neighborhoods with stringent zoning rules, in order to alleviate the housing shortage in the city.[29]

Personal life

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He is married to former politician Diana Richardson.[30]

References

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  1. ^ a b Mays, Jeffery C.; Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (May 8, 2024). "Second Democrat Emerges to Challenge Mayor Adams's Path to Re-election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  2. ^ King, Nelson A. "Young lawyer wants Sen. Jesse Hamilton's job". Caribbean Life. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  3. ^ "Brooklyn Tech Alumni". www.facebook.com. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  4. ^ N, Miah Md. "Success Stories". www.fordham.edu. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  5. ^ Technologies, Instructional and Web Services, Cornell Information. "Zellnor Myrie '16 Success Story". www.lawschool.cornell.edu. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Technologies, Instructional and Web Services, Cornell Information. "Recent Grad Zellnor Myrie '16 Wins New York State Senate Race". www.lawschool.cornell.edu. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Board, The Editorial (August 28, 2018). "Opinion | The New York Times Endorses Alessandra Biaggi, Jessica Ramos and Zellnor Myrie for State Senate in Thursday's Primary". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  8. ^ "Amsterdam News Primary Endorsements, Part 2". amsterdamnews.com. August 30, 2018. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  9. ^ "Primary Election Results - BKLYNER". bklyner.com. September 14, 2018. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  10. ^ "Home | NYC Board of Elections" (PDF). vote.nyc.ny.us. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  11. ^ d_evers (September 27, 2018). "Zellnor Myrie's fight is not over". Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  12. ^ "Home | NYC Board of Elections" (PDF). vote.nyc.ny.us. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  13. ^ "Brooklyn Dems Win, Felder Does Not - BKLYNER". bklyner.com. December 11, 2018. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  14. ^ "State lawmaker slams Optimum over hidden fee, demands refund for customers". nydailynews.com. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  15. ^ Lennard, Natasha (May 14, 2019). "Across the Country, Progressives Are Pushing for Universal Rent Control — and New York Is Next". The Intercept. Archived from the original on July 20, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019. The proposals are being sponsored by progressive freshman Democrats like state Sens. Julia Salazar and Zellnor Myrie, and born of tenants' rights organizing around the state by the Upstate/Downstate Housing Alliance.
  16. ^ Slattery, Denis (June 14, 2019). "New York enacts pro-tenant rent law overhaul as landlords plan legal challenge". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on July 20, 2019. Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn), a freshman lawmaker and vocal supporter of strengthening tenant protections, wiped tears from his eyes before addressing a crowd of advocates.
  17. ^ Rubinstein, Dana (December 28, 2020). "New York Bans Most Evictions as Tenants Struggle to Pay Rent". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  18. ^ "NY Senator Wants to Stop Evictions for a Year After Covid-19 - the Real Deal". July 7, 2020.
  19. ^ "State senator says he was pepper sprayed, handcuffed at Barclays protest". May 31, 2020. Archived from the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  20. ^ Gay, Mara; Gale, Jordan (May 31, 2020). "Opinion | The Nation's Largest Police Force Is Treating Us as an Enemy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  21. ^ "NYC Firefighters Suspended for Threatening Lawmaker's Staff over Vax Mandate". The Daily Beast. October 30, 2021.
  22. ^ "Rule That Could Force Banks to Fund Gun Industry Decried by BK Senator". January 4, 2021.
  23. ^ Verde, Ben (October 29, 2021). "State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, a carrot, targets junk food advertising • Brooklyn Paper". www.brooklynpaper.com. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  24. ^ Harding, Robert (July 14, 2021). "NY Senate passes Oberacker's bill to designate baseball as official state sport". Auburn Citizen. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  25. ^ "Federal, state funding heads to Brooklyn anti-gun violence programs". Brooklyn Eagle. April 28, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  26. ^ "BK Sen. Zellnor Myrie Named Lawmaker of the Year by Gun Safety Orgs". Bkreader.com. August 16, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  27. ^ "State Sen. Zellnor Myrie takes on the rise in gun violence - City & State New York". Cityandstateny.com. August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  28. ^ Ferré-Sadurní, Luis (June 9, 2021). "It's Hard to Sue Gun Makers. New York Is Set to Change That". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  29. ^ "Mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie rolls out ambitious housing plan". Politico. 2024.
  30. ^ "Myrie delivers stump speech, but isn’t running for mayor (yet)," City & State.
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