It’s a new NYstateof mind for DC
New Yorkers will be storming the halls of power in 2021 in both Congress and the Biden administration.
At Joe Biden’s right hand will be Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken, 58, came of age on Manhattan’s Upper East Side as the scion of an old New York City family. His father, Donald, was one of the founders of privateequity giant Warburg Pincus and at age 95 still lives in a grand apartment at the Manhattan co-op River House.
Tony Blinken attended the ritzy Dalton School before graduating from Columbia Law School in 1988.
In the Biden Cabinet, Blinken will be joined by fellow Manhattanite Avril Haines, who will become the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence.
Haines graduated from Hunter College and her father, Thomas, spent years as a chemistry professor at CCNY.
Incoming Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hails from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and graduated from Fort Hamilton HS in 1962. She was class valedictorian.
One of the Trump administration’s most prominent New Yorkers — Dr. Anthony Fauci of Brooklyn — has been tapped by Biden to serve as chief medical adviser.
“New Yorkers have always, always been well represented in high places,” said Ken Sherrill, a
Hunter College political scientist. “The question is whether these New Yorkers are going to be pushing for the kind of urban agenda the city and state need right now during a time of financial crisis.”
On that score, things look optimistic. Sen. Chuck Schumer will become the first New Yorker to serve as Senate majority leader and will be in a position to steer billions of federal dollars to the state.
That may be very good news for the MTA and state budgets, both of which are facing devastating cuts from coronavirus-related revenue shortfalls.
A source close to Schumer said the senator is “laser-focused on delivering billions more for the MTA” and “a far more comprehensive COVID relief bill that includes funding for state and local governments.”
Another NYC power broker will be Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn, who was easily re-elected as chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the No. 5 officer in the chamber.
The 50-year-old Democrat is the only New Yorker in House leadership and is frequently mentioned as a possible future speaker — not insignificant as most of his bosses are in their 80s.
“Don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched, but right now, we need an awful lot of chickens to hatch, and we’ve got some good people in Washington to be doing it,” Sherrill said.