The Rev. Al Sharpton delivered a scathing anti-endorsement of progressive 2021 NYC mayoral hopeful Maya Wiley just two days before the Democratic primary.
In an interview with the New York Post, Sharpton attacked Wiley’s track record while working under current Mayor Bill de Blasio as Hizzoner’s counsel and director of the Minority/Women Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE).
Wiley left his administration in 2016, during which less than 5 percent of public spending was allocated to the the MWBE, despite that it was comprised of 30-percent of Manhattan-based companies, according to records from the city comptroller’s office.
The total amount of MWBE allocated for the city even dropped from 5.3 percent to 4.9 percent during Wiley’s two-year tenure.
Speaking to the New York Post, Sharpton, who runs the National Action Network civil rights group, said, ‘I’ve not reviewed the contracts but much of our work at NAN is around economic equity and fighting to get MWBE contracts up, not down.
Maya Wiley showed off her hula hoop skills while out on the campaign trail on Sunday.
She showcased her skill while in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
New York City mayoral candidate Maya Wiley hula hoops while campaigning on June 20, in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The primary election for New York City mayor will be held on June 22
Wiley hula hoops while campaigning on June 20, 2021 in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The primary election for New York City mayor will be held on June 22, 2021
New York City mayoral candidate Maya Wiley plays with a hula hoop while campaigning on June 20
The Rev. Al Sharpton recently attacked mayoral hopeful Maya Wiley’s track record while working under current Mayor Bill de Blasio as Hizzoner’s counsel and director of the Minority/Women Owned Business Enterprise
New York City mayoral candidate Maya Wiley campaigns on June 20, 2021 in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York
As Maya Wiley gains in the mayoral polls, critics are bringing up her alleged inability to secure more funding for minority business owners as head of the MWOBE
Sharpton wasn’t the only one to share criticism of Wiley, who is now second in the polls and has been endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren.
City Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo, who threw her support for mayor behind frontrunner Eric Adams, shared Sharpton’s reaction to Wiley’s inability to secure more funding for minority business owners.
‘That is a disgrace,’ she told the New York Post. ‘Black and brown New Yorkers need economic opportunity, not empty rhetoric.’
And Robert L. Greene, head of the National Association of Investment Companies, said, ‘very little has been done in NYC to more broadly engage with minority business.’ Despite Wiley’s campaign promises and ideas, he added, ‘the facts are that minority business enterprise (MBE) utilization rates have remained flat, leaving many minority contractors out of getting full and fair consideration.’
According to a spokesperson for Wiley, the mayoral candidate ‘brought together every New York City agency and took New York from $500 million in contracts to $1.6 billion in just two years — an unprecedented jump that reflects her deep commitments to creating a New York that lifts up every community.’
But Wiley’s track record with the MWBE isn’t the only criticism that opponents have of her. Wiley has been backed by Democrats who regularly speak out against special interests and big money in politics, but she has worked for organizations that have been bankrolled by hedge-fund billionaire George Soros for decades.
Soros has ties to Wiley that date back to the 1990s and last month he dropped $500,000 into an independent expenditure group, 1199 for Maya, that backs Wiley’s City Hall campaign.
The contribution was matched dollar for dollar by 1199SEIU, an influential healthcare workers union that has endorsed Wiley.
The 57-year-old lives in a $2.75million, 4,000-sq-ft house in Brooklyn. Her husband Harlan Mandel, 58, is CEO of a multimillion dollar investment fund.
The mother-of-two calls school programs for talented kids ‘racially discriminatory,’ but she sent one daughter to an academy for the gifted and the other to a $51,000-a-year private school.
NYC mayoral candidate Maya Wiley leaving her $2.75million home in Brooklyn
NYC mayoral hopeful Eric Adams called Maya Wiley a hypocrite on Tuesday as he spoke at a campaign rally. Wiley wants to defund the NYPD. She can afford to spend $550 a month for private security in her Brooklyn neighborhood
A new poll puts Adams out in front for next week’s primary election but with Maya Wiley surging into second place from third. The mayoral election is set for November
NYC Mayoral candidate Eric Adams, a 22-year veteran of the NYPD, slammed Wiley for hiring private security in her neighborhood while encouraging calls to defund the police.
Wiley and her husband pay $550 a month for a private security car to patrol the neighborhood of Brooklyn they live in, where they live in a $2.75million home.
He said, ‘to learn that a candidate in the race has private security while they’re saying to other families that are frightened over gun violence, that you don’t need any more security. That’s just not fair. That’s not fair.’
A recent poll by PIX-11 suggested 23% of voters would choose Adams, followed by 18% for Wiley.
Wiley’s ‘defund the police’ stance has also drawn controversy. During a final debate between the candidates last week, Wiley was one of the few candidates to not raise her hand when asked if they would put more cops on subway cars, despite a violent rise in stabbings and attacks.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a rally last week where she endorsed progressive candidates, including Maya Wiley, in upcoming election for city wide offices in City Hall Park
Wiley presents herself as a reformer, and advocates cutting one billion dollars from the NYPD’s budget and reform how the department operates. She has said she wants to move $1 billion from its budget to community resources.
She also plans to appoint a civilian as the NYPD commissioner and reduce the department’s 35,000 officers by roughly 2,500.
‘Black and brown New Yorkers both experience higher crime rates, lower resolution in solving crime and more bad experiences with police officers,’ Wiley said to the Wall Street Journal during an interview.
Elsewhere, Wiley has promised to create more affordable housing and improve education inequity in public schools.
In her five-year, $10 billion spending plan called ‘New Deal New York’ she claims she would be able to help the city recover from the pandemic through development, infrastructure repairs and the creation of 100,000 jobs.