Political Reporter @NY1| Previously @CNNPolitics. Send tips to [email protected]

New York, USA
Joined April 2017
So grateful and proud to have won two Emmy’s on Saturday night for our work on the migrant crisis. Want to shoutout @DanKomarinetz and Dan Keese who worked so hard on our piece about one Venezuelan family’s journey to the US. ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/pol…
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Kelly Mena retweeted
Who's testifying against former NYC Councilman and Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich? Manhattan prosecutors plan to call other high-ranking NYC officials, including another former Buildings boss From Day 1 of the corruption trial for @WNYC @Gothamist gothamist.com/news/high-rank…
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New: Ex-Assembly member Ari Espinal was arrested this month on felony charges alleging she stole $33K from a labor union. Tho she was only a lawmaker for 8 months, Espinal remains a fixture in local politics and is the cousin of a senior Mamdani aide. politico.com/news/2026/10/19…
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Gov. Kathy Hochul says she's committed to doing "whatever it takes" to ensure free universal child care when @madinatoure asks if she's open to seeking tax increases next year to fund such expansions.
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Kelly Mena retweeted
The hearing on whether to hold Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn in contempt for holding a vote to elect a new Brooklyn Dems chair despite the TRO in place is adjourned without resolution. Judge sets hearing for Jan 11 “Next year,” lawyers for reformers say, chuckling through the pain
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Kelly Mena retweeted
JUST IN: Mayor addresses the fatal subway shooting: 👉 Heartbroken and outraged by the shooting. 👉 Says subway safety strides made 👉 Painful reminder of gun violence 👉 Full confidence in PD to apprehend suspect 👉more cops @KellyMena asks? No direct answer
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NEW: Oscar Belgal crossed the Mexico border in late 2022, evading U.S. immigration authorities. By 2026 — after a string of arrests — he was on ICE’s radar. The @nytimes took a deep look at his turbulent time in NYC leading up to his shooting by ICE: nytimes.com/2026/10/18/nyreg…
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Kelly Mena retweeted
New: Democratic House candidate Cait Conley called Gov. Hochul to apologize
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“Things got a little hot for me this week...Anyone hiring?" NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch jokes at the Al Smith dinner, referring to Mamdani allies calling on him to fire her. Mamdani is sitting on the dais a few seats away from Tisch.
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Kelly Mena retweeted
NYC Council @SpeakerMenin said she’s “not interested in 2029." “I'm not interested in being mayor,” she told our @C_Sommerfeldt. “I have my dream job right now." More from @POLITICOLive’s New York Outlook👇
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“There is no one in my administration that I’m keeping in my administration that has a time clock," Mayor Zohran Mamdani says when asked if he has a specific anticipation for how long NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch will stay in her job.
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Kelly Mena retweeted
.@nycmayor says he won’t be firing Commissioner Tisch
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Correcting typo and district here: Manhattan Councilmember @CarmenForNYC tells @BrianLehrer she never supported Mamdani hiring Tisch. She says Tisch should be fired but cites two fatal shooting cases — Feliz and Rozario — where PC sided with officers as reasons.
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The DSA national leaders go a step further than the local DSA in calling on Mamdani to fire Jessica Tisch, force ICE out of NYC and disband both the NYPD's SRG and CRT units (local DSA has only called on Mamdani to fire Tisch if she refuses to disband SRG / drive ICE out of NYC).
Replying to @DemSocialists
We demand that Mayor Zohran Mamdani fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and use every power available to him to drive ICE out of New York City. We further demand the mayor abolish the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG) and Community Response Team (CRT).
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Kelly Mena retweeted
The White House said they’d release the man shot by ICE last night but only if the NYPD would detain him — which they can’t do since there’s no arrest warrant. That’s when negotiations broke down, a person familiar with the Mayors calls said. thecityreporter.nyc/2026/10/…
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Kelly Mena retweeted
The likely incoming Congress member, whom @NYCMayor endorsed in a very tough primary, is calling on his police commissioner @NYPDPC to step down. City hall spokesperson tells us: “Jessica Tisch is the Police Commissioner and there are no plans to change that.”
Yesterday, an ICE agent opened fire in Marble Hill. They shot a member of our community in the neck while he was in his car. His five-year-old kid was in a child seat in the back of the car when ICE agents fired at least 7 rounds into it. This was in the middle of the afternoon, with children walking home from school and people heading home from work. Federal agents put every one of them in danger. When I was in Marble Hill last night I saw NYPD officers rapidly escalating violence. As I was trying to de-escalate, I was shoved to the ground by an officer. I witnessed unmarked law enforcement cars hitting protestors as NYPD officers pushed people out of its path. And instead of condemning ICE’s violence, Police Commissioner Tisch attempted to justify the shooting by reading off our neighbor’s past interactions with police. The NYPD spent more time protecting a militia that just shot someone than protecting New Yorkers. Last night, the NYPD and Commissioner Tisch violated the spirit, if not the letter, of our sanctuary city policies and fueled the Trump Administration’s attempt to demonize our communities. The NYPD’s Strategic Response Group must be disbanded as quickly as possible, and Commissioner Tisch must step down. In this district, there are mothers who are afraid to send their kids to school, workers who are afraid to show up for their shifts, and people who won’t call for help anymore because they can’t be sure who will come. That’s what it means to have a violent militia operating in your community. You don’t feel safe walking down your own street.  For decades, we’ve been told ICE can be fixed with more oversight, better training, or reform. But you can’t reform an agency whose purpose is to terrorize immigrant families. You can’t train cruelty out of a system built to enact cruelty. ICE must be abolished. This moment demands that everyone step up. Elected officials at every level need to stop hedging and say it plainly: Abolish ICE now. Our city must enforce every sanctuary protection we have and city officials must ensure this cannot happen again.
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Mamdani's admin is finally letting a group of Council members tour a Queens shelter where subpar living conditions have raised concern. But before tomorrow's planned visit, shelter residents were told to clean, a directive angering the Council members. politico.com/newsletters/new…
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Got some details from Abdul El-Sayed's fundraiser in Manhattan last night. w/ @madfernandez616 & @lisakashinsky politico.com/newsletters/new…
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UPDATE: Mamdani is stopping by a different, smaller event for El-Sayed tonight. nytimes.com/live/2026/10/05/…
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Kelly Mena retweeted
More than 10,000 New York City families who’ve been waiting for child care vouchers will now receive them, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Monday. politico.com/news/2026/10/05…
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