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Tiffany Cabán
Member of the New York City Council
from the 22nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 1, 2021
Preceded byCosta Constantinides
Personal details
Born (1987-07-24) July 24, 1987 (age 37)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Other political
affiliations		Democratic Socialists of America
EducationPennsylvania State University (BA)
New York Law School (JD)
WebsiteOfficial website

Tiffany Cabán (born July 24, 1987)[1] is an American attorney, politician, and political organizer who has served as a member of the New York City Council for the 22nd District since the 2021 New York City Council election. She won the Democratic primary for the seat after the incumbent, Democrat Costa Constantinides, retired.[2]

She was a candidate in the 2019 Democratic primary for Queens County's District Attorney in the State of New York, which she narrowly lost to Queens Borough president Melinda Katz.[3] She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Early life and education

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Cabán was born in Richmond Hill, Queens, to Puerto Rican parents:[4] a union elevator mechanic father and a children's pre-school purveyor mother; both had been raised in Woodside Houses (which had been built to house returning veterans), and they were neighbors of former school Chancellor Joel Klein.[5] She attended PS 62 and JHS 210 before attending St. Francis Preparatory School, a private Catholic school in Fresh Meadows.[4] She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pennsylvania State University, where she majored in studies of crime, law, and justice.[4] Subsequently, she earned a Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School.[4]

Career

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Cabán was a public defender, who worked for New York County Defender Services and the Legal Aid Society.[5][4]

Queens District Attorney campaign

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Cabán's 2019 campaign for Queens County District Attorney focused on criminal justice reform,[6] including ending mass incarceration and the War on Drugs. She also called for the decriminalization of sex work.[7] Cabán was endorsed by The New York Times,[8][9] as well as progressive politicians such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Larry Krasner, as well as several progressive members of the New York State Legislature[9] and Suffolk County, Massachusetts DA Rachael Rollins.[10] The race drew national attention, drawing comparisons to Ocasio-Cortez's upset victory in the 2018 House primary election over Joe Crowley.[11][7]

Numerous progressive political organizations also endorsed her campaign, including Citizen Action of New York,[12] the Working Families Party,[13] the Democratic Socialists of America,[13] Make the Road, Real Justice,[14] and other community organizations in New York.[10]

Cabán faced Queens borough president Melinda Katz in the Democratic primary. The previous District Attorney, Richard Brown, had intended to retire after the election, but died in office shortly before the primary. On June 25, 2019, Cabán claimed victory over Katz, but with the margin of victory standing at just over one percentage point, Katz declined to concede the election.[15][16] On July 3, election officials said Katz pulled ahead in the final count with a lead of just 20 votes, triggering a recount.[17] On August 6, days after Katz was declared the ultimate victor by 60 votes, Cabán conceded the race.[3]

Post-election work

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After her campaign for District Attorney, Cabán took on a role as a national political organizer with the Working Families Party.[18] She was focused on recruiting decarceral criminal justice reformers to run for office.[19]

New York City Council

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In September 2020, Cabán announced her candidacy for the 22nd district of the New York City Council in the 2021 election. The incumbent Costa Constantinides could not seek re-election due to term limits.[20] New York City's 22nd district covers Ditmars, Steinway, Astoria, Queens and parts of East Elmhurst, Queens. She ran on a democratic socialist and police and prison abolitionist program on a Democratic Party ticket, with support from the Democratic Socialists of America.

Cabán was sworn in on December 1, 2021 following her election on November 2, in order to fill the vacancy left by Constantinides' resignation.[21]

In 2022, Cabán supported a proposed rezoning to allow a 1300-unit housing development (one quarter of which was earmarked for affordable housing) on a former industrial site in her district.[22]

On May 2, 2023, Councilwoman Cabán joined protesters at a New York City Rent Guidelines Board meeting at the Great Hall of Cooper Union at Astor Place in Manhattan to protest the proposed 16 percent rent hike on rent-stabilized apartments with two year leases. They all called for a rent rollback for all tenants living in rent-controlled and stabilized units. Tiffany was joined by fellow council members Chi Osse, Alexa Aviles, Shahana Hanif, and Sandy Nurse.[23]

On September 16, 2024, she became the first member of the New York City Council to publicly call for mayor Eric Adams to step down from office, due to ongoing criminal investigations into many of his close associates. On September 25, 2024, she reaffirmed that stance following his federal indictment.[24][25]

Personal life

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Cabán lives in Astoria, Queens[4] and identifies as queer.[7][11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Max, Joey Fox & Ben. "20 Things Tiffany Cabán Promised To Do As Queens District Attorney". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  2. ^ Max, Joey Fox & Ben. "Max Politics Podcast: Tiffany Cabán Heads Toward the City Council". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Whitford, Emma; Sommerfeldt, Chris (August 7, 2019). "Tiffany Cabán concedes Democratic race for Queens district attorney, securing Melinda Katz's razor-thin victory". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "About Tiffany". Cabán for Queens. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Rojas, Rick (June 26, 2019). "5 Key Things to Know About Tiffany Cabán". The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  6. ^ "Issues". Cabán for Queens. Archived from the original on June 24, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Kendall, Tyler (June 24, 2019). "Candidate backed by Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders for Queens DA looks to decriminalize sex work". CBS News. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  8. ^ The Editorial Board (June 18, 2019). "Tiffany Cabán for Queens District Attorney: The Times Endorsement". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Endorsements". Cabán for Queens. Archived from the original on June 24, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Lacy, Akela (March 26, 2019). "Progressives Coalesce Around Tiffany Cabán for DA in Newest Battle Against New York Machine". The Intercept.
  11. ^ a b Krieg, Gregory (June 24, 2019). "Tiffany Cabán's longshot campaign takes aim at the same powerful Democrats Ocasio-Cortez shocked". CNN. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  12. ^ Mangla, Ravi (March 25, 2019). "Citizen Action Endorses Tiffany Cabán for Queens District Attorney".
  13. ^ a b Grim, Ryan. "Endorsements Pouring in for Insurgent Queens DA Candidate". The Intercept.
  14. ^ "Real Justice endorsement statement". October 8, 2021.
  15. ^ Mays, Jeffery C.; Ransom, Jan (June 25, 2019). "Queens D.A. primary too close to call, as Cabán narrowly leads Katz". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  16. ^ Michaels, Samantha. "Progressive Insurgent Tiffany Cabán Declares Victory in the Primary for Queens DA". Mother Jones.
  17. ^ Muoio, Danielle (July 4, 2019). "Katz pulls ahead of Cabán in Queens DA primary, prompts recount". Politico. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  18. ^ Shahrigian, Shant (October 30, 2019). "Tiffany Cabán to recruit, train criminal justice reformers nationwide in new Working Families Party role". New York Daily News.
  19. ^ Josefa Velasquez, Christine Chung, Rachel Holliday Smith (October 31, 2019). "Cabán Teams With Working Families Party in Transition". Thecity.nyc. Retrieved October 31, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ Pazmino, Gloria (September 9, 2020). "Tiffany Cabán Eyes City Council Run, Will Launch Campaign Thursday".
  21. ^ Griffin, Allie (November 30, 2021). "Tiffany Cabán to be Sworn Into City Council Wednesday to Fill Vacant Astoria Seat". Queens Post. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  22. ^ Mellins, Sam (September 14, 2022). "Tiffany Cabán Approves Major Astoria Housing Development, Bucking Trend Among Progressives". New York Focus. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  23. ^ "NYC Council radicals join wave of pols doing activism—not their jobs". May 3, 2023.
  24. ^ Coleman, Maia (September 25, 2024). ""Eric Adams is Indicted in New York"".
  25. ^ Cabán, Tiffany (September 16, 2024). "Tiffany_Caban". X.
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