Julie Menin: Quotes and Statements
Upon being unanimously elected Speaker on January 7, 2026, Menin expressed her gratitude and outlined an agenda centered on affordability, housing, healthcare, and small business relief . She described the moment as an opportunity to take the Council into what she called a proactive era of initiative and ingenuity . She emphasized the need to move beyond what she characterized as simplistic paradigms of moderate versus progressive, arguing that the city's strength has always come from its ability to hold seemingly contradictory truths simultaneously .
Menin has consistently stated her intention to work collaboratively with Mayor Zohran Mamdani while maintaining the Council's independence as a co-equal branch of government . She described the relationship as one built on shared priorities around affordability, even as observers have noted the ideological distance between the moderate Speaker and the democratic socialist mayor . She has affirmed her belief in transparent, accountable government with two co-equal branches, acknowledging that the two sides would agree on many issues but disagree on others .
Menin has spoken extensively about how the September 11 attacks drew her into public service . She described how her husband had a 9 a.m. meeting at the World Trade Center on the morning of the attacks and how her mother, who lived with the family in Lower Manhattan, had gone out for a doctor's appointment . She expressed gratitude that her family was safe while acknowledging the devastation the attacks brought to the city and country . She has described founding Wall Street Rising as a direct response to the attacks and her work helping over 600 small businesses remain in Lower Manhattan as the beginning of her public career .
Menin has spoken publicly about her mother's and grandmother's survival of the Holocaust in Hungary, framing their experience as foundational to her values and her commitment to combating hate . She has described the honor of representing a district that gave her mother and grandmother a better life after they survived persecution and settled in Little Hungary on the Upper East Side . She has connected this personal history to her legislative efforts to protect houses of worship and combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hate .
Menin made extensive public statements throughout the five-month detention of City Council employee Rafael Rubio, who was taken into ICE custody on January 12, 2026, during a routine asylum appointment . She described his detention as unjust and stated that he had followed the rules, complied with the legal process, and had legal authorization to remain in the country . Upon his release after 158 days, she called the ordeal something that should never have happened and pledged continued support through any appeals process .
During the 2026 budget cycle, Menin articulated a vision of fiscal responsibility that emphasized sustainable savings over depleting reserves or raising property taxes . She stated that the responsible path forward was not to deplete the city's financial safety net but rather to pursue real efficiencies and sustainable solutions . After reaching the $125.8 billion budget agreement, she stated that the Council had proved it could responsibly manage the city's finances while meaningfully tackling the affordability crisis .
Menin has described her intention to use the Council's subpoena authority in a way that no previous Council had done, directing the tool at corporations that flagrantly violate city laws rather than at city officials . She drew on her experience as Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, when her office investigated debt collectors and other businesses engaged in predatory practices, as the model for this approach .
In her first speech as Speaker, Menin referenced an anti-Zionist protest that had taken place outside the Park East Synagogue on Manhattan's Upper East Side . She stated that the city must protect the First Amendment right to peacefully protest while ensuring that no New Yorker's right to worship is jeopardized, declaring that what happened outside Park East Synagogue must never happen again at any house of worship .