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Peter Sterne
@petersterne.com
18K followers 1.1K following 4.6K posts
State Editor at cityandstateny.bsky.social. Previously @nysfocus.bsky.social, @freedom.press and @politico.com. He/him.

Email: psterne@cityandstateny.com

Signal: petersterne.91

https://petersterne.com
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Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · Oct 2
SCOOP: DSA-backed City Council Member @cmalexaaviles.bsky.social is exploring a primary challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10.

Avilés is meeting with @socialists.nyc's Electoral Working Group next week to discuss her potential congressional run.

Read more at @cityandstateny.bsky.social:
Alexa Avilés exploring challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10
The DSA-backed City Council member has been talking to allies about potentially challenging the incumbent representative.
www.cityandstateny.com
petersterne.com
Is this a fucking joke? Mamdani and Schlossberg could not be more different. www.fastcompany.com/91440363/is-...
Is Jack Schlossberg the next Zohran Mamdani?
John F. Kennedy's 32-year-old grandson, Jack Schlossberg, is stepping into the spotlight with a congressional bid, part of a new wave of young progressive politicians.
www.fastcompany.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:59 AM
petersterne.com
Counterpoint: I would like to see this
snmrrw.bsky.social Sean Morrow @snmrrw.bsky.social · 5d
we can all be relieved that zohran didnt introduce lina khan as part of his transition team with one of those tiktok formats where zohran is singing "I wake in the morning and I step outside" and then he turns around to reveal lina khan rapping.
November 12, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
helenkennedy.bsky.social
My god (sorry I’m late on a bunch of this stuff. But wow!)

According to this NYT report, the head of the FBI and the Attorney General are holding meetings *in the Situation Room* with GOP lawmakers they are trying to pressure to rescind their votes to release the Epstein info. This is madness.
From the New York Times story on the pressure campaign to get Republicans to reverse their epstein vote Top officials met in the White House Situation Room on Wednesday with Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican who is backing an effort to force a House vote on whether to demand the release of the files. She was summoned to sit down with top Justice Department and F.B.I. officials, according to two people familiar with the matter. One of the people said the session included Attorney General Pam Bondi and F.B.I. Director Kash Patel. Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the private discussions.
November 12, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
freedom.press
"Reporters should be terrified. But it’s bigger than that. Every single person in this country will be affected by these policies, whether direct or peripheral. So for his sake and the sake of all of us: Free Ya’akub Vijandre now."
When Storytelling Is Called ‘Terrorism’: How My Friend and Fellow Journalist Was Targeted by ICE
As a DACA recipient, Ya'akub Ira Vijandre’s arrest holds drastic implications for the state of free speech in America.
thebarbedwire.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
jesspish.bsky.social
What Ken Paxton is doing here is deranged -- suing organizations that provide legal assistance to immigrants (especially immigrant children) -- and also we should see it as the test case for what the GOP wants to do.
austinkocher.com Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 21h
There is nothing illegal—or unconstitutional—about funding legal support to ensure fairness in the courts. This lawsuit is a political stunt, wasting taxpayer dollars at a time when our communities need integrity, not spectacle.

Full article: www.upi.com/Top_News/US/...
Texas sues Harris County over $1.35M deportation defense fund - UPI.com
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Harris County for allocating $1.35 million to oppose federal deportation efforts.
www.upi.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
zackbeauchamp.bsky.social
Wow www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
November 12, 2025 at 2:08 PM
petersterne.com
Hochul seems determined to alienate Mamdani's base. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Unlike New York’s two leading congressional Democrats — Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer — Hochul reached a détente with Mamdani and campaigned with him in the general election. The governor pressed Mamdani to pledge to retain Tisch as police commissioner and privately, I’m told, urged him to resist his most expansive ambitions in 2026, when she’s on the ballot and a number of New York House races could determine control of Congress. Mamdani did vow to keep Tisch — who’s more likely to stay in her post if the city is forced into a Trump-created crisis — but his fiery victory speech Tuesday has raised doubts about just how much he’ll temper his progressive agenda.
November 12, 2025 at 5:29 AM
petersterne.com
DSA is hosting a candidate forum tomorrow to consider endorsements in Assembly Districts 34 (represented by Jessica González-Rojas, who’s leaving the seat to run for state Senate), 36 (represented by Zohran) and 75 (represented by Tony Simone, who might leave to run for Senate).
November 12, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
foreverwars.bsky.social
Scoop: FOREVER WARS obtained a habeas corpus petition filed by a journalist in ICE detention. The evidence against him? His Instagram likes. @attackerman.bsky.social reports:
ICE Caged This Man For His Instagram Posts And Likes
New details about Yaa'kub Ira Vijandre's detention show his posts supporting Palestine and the wrongfully convicted representing, in Homeland Security's eyes, support for terrorism
www.forever-wars.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:01 PM
petersterne.com
These are two excellent journalists!

I’ve known Keenan since college, and I worked closely with Austin at City & State, right up until Streetsblog stole him from us ;)
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
nyc.streetsblog.org
Did you see how the Streetsblog NYC newsroom is expanding again?!
Two More Staffers Join the Growing Streetsblog Newsroom! - Streetsblog New York City
Meet Austin C. Jefferson and J.K. Trotter! And read about our big plans for local news.
buff.ly
November 11, 2025 at 11:45 PM
petersterne.com
I’ll be on @wbai.org tonight at 5 pm to talk about the mayoral election results and next year’s midterm elections.

Listen here and call in with questions! www.wbai.org/listen-live/
WBAI-FM Live Radio Player
www.wbai.org
November 11, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
noahhurowitz.bsky.social
NEWS👀👀: After many years in the wilds of freelancing, I start TODAY as a full-time staff reporter for
@theintercept.com

My beat:
-The FBI!
-Trump's purges and reshuffling of federal law enforcement and courts!
-The invasion of American cities by ICE/CBP/National Guard!
-ETC!
November 10, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
theintercept.com
This is what's happening in Chicago right now, with @katmabu.bsky.social.
Kat Abughazaleh on the Right to Protest
Illinois congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh on why more Democrats aren’t taking direct action and how leaders should be responding to the right.
interc.pt
November 10, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
donmoyn.bsky.social
The President pardoned members of his private militia after they failed to overturn an election; they, in turn, pledge their support to him and urge him to use them to police civil society.
alkapdc.bsky.social Alex Kaplan @alkapdc.bsky.social · 2d
New:

On The Gateway Pundit's podcast yesterday, Stewart Rhodes announced he's relaunching the Oath Keepers

He also urged Trump to “call us up as a militia" & "order us all to come together in our counties under his command."
www.mediamatters.org/oath-keepers...
STEWART RHODES (FOUNDER, OATH KEEPERS): I've been invited to speak across the country about January 6. And now that I'm relaunching Oath Keepers, I'm getting more invitations to come speak as well. So, yeah, I'm relaunching the organization and rebuilding it. ... They tried to take us out after January 6 but what man means for evil, God will use for good. I came out stronger after it, and so my goal is to rebuild the organization stronger than ever because it's an essential mission. Absolutely. JIM HOFT (HOST): Oh, that's wonderful news. So the Oath Keepers is going to have a relaunch here, and Stewart's breaking that news this weekend? RHODES: Yes, sir. ... RHODES: I mean, I have to make sure that if I'm ever taken out again or if I'm or when I'm taken out again, that the organization can drive on without me. That's not what happened last time. ... So we want to make sure it's got resilience and redundancy built in that it can drive on strong. With the same mission, though. You can't call yourself an Oath Keeper if you're not willing to protect people against radical antifa and other leftist violence in the streets. STEWART RHODES (FOUNDER, OATH KEEPERS): And one other thing I want to say is that President Trump, as commander in chief, always has absolute authority to call all of us up as the militia because every one of us — in federal statues defining the militia, it's every able-bodied male from age 17-45. And for us veterans, it goes up to age 64 because of our prior training and experience. Right now, under federal statutes, President Trump can call us up as the militia if he sees it necessary, especially for three purposes: to repel invasions, to suppress insurrections, and to execute the laws of the union. And right now, we see all three of those in play. ... And the militia is all of us. So the National Guard is part of the militia, which is why it's completely lawful for him to use the National Guard as he has, and he should do more of that, I think, across the country. ... He could just say given the circumstances of an invasion, insurrection, and resistance against federal law being being enforced, I'm calling up the militia, ordering all the men to come together [in] every county, put the veterans in charge of training and organizing all the other men and just have them stand too and await his orders. He can do that and I think he should do that. And so that's what I'll be advocating for from him. So from the bottom, from down the rank and file, we can let President Trump know that we're ready to serve, encourage him to do that, call us up as a militia, order us all to come together in our counties under his command, which gives you complete legal sanction to do what you're doing.
November 10, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
primaryschool.bsky.social
Democratic senators think you are so fucking stupid.
mattortega.com Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 3d
The caucus meeting was just to orchestrate who would fall on the sword but not be up for a vote in 2026.
unavaleable.bsky.social Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 3d
so currently defectors are:

Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
November 10, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
maxkennerly.bsky.social
The coordinated nature of this—none are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate Majority Leader to stop it.

Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
unavaleable.bsky.social Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 3d
so currently defectors are:

Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
November 10, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
mattortega.com
The caucus meeting was just to orchestrate who would fall on the sword but not be up for a vote in 2026.
unavaleable.bsky.social Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 3d
so currently defectors are:

Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
November 10, 2025 at 2:05 AM
petersterne.com
I’ve got the rest of the day free to explore Old San Juan. Any recommendations?
November 9, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
adamserwer.bsky.social
Went back to the history of the Sicilian Mafia to illustrate something obvious but worth stating explicitly: The Trump administration behaves like an organized crime syndicate running a protection racket, not a representative government www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Elections in democracies determine who administers the government; they do not alter whom the government is for. Under any administration, Republican or Democratic, the United States government exists to serve the people of the United States, regardless of their partisan affiliation. Besides, Americans are not as easily divided as Trump might think. Millions of Republican voters live in New York, just as millions of Democrats live in Texas. He cannot tell whom he is punishing by glancing at an electoral map. But even if he could, Trump’s acts of extortion have no place in a democracy. They belong in a protection racket: If you support Trump, you are protected; if you do not, you are vulnerable. If you donate enough cash to Trump, you may receive favorable treatment, including immunity from the law. If you oppose Trump, you may be prosecuted. This is not how a representative government works. It is how the Mafia works.
November 8, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
beyerstein.bsky.social
Trump illegally blowing up boats in the Caribbean to intimidate Maduro and the people of Venezuela is closer to terrorism than anything low-level drug smugglers might be doing.
November 9, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
dansinker.com
Oh phew.
November 9, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
newsjennifer.bsky.social
Here's a disgusting new twist to the Kavanaugh stop: Are you aware of Zorhan Mamdani? WHAT THE HELL? Read this
@chicago.suntimes.com times.com story about how ICE stopped an Illinois state highway worker doing road construction. chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
The employee, who is Indian and a U.S. citizen, was stopped and questioned by agents while working on the Busse Highway resurfacing project. Three agents, wearing masks, questioned him about his immigration status - and also asked him if he had traveled to New York and if he was “aware” of the mayor-elect in New York City, the governor’s office said.
November 8, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
bdlimm.bsky.social
If I had to pick one NYC journalist who understands best how NYC-DSA works, it would be @petersterne.com.

Peter is probably the only journalist whose coverage of NYC-DSA I've read that have been consistently accurate.
petersterne.com Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 5d
I am very proud of @cityandstateny.bsky.social's coverage of Zohran's remarkable campaign. I broke the news he was exploring a run (3 months before he announced). And when he was polling at just 2%, our publisher wrote a prescient column suggesting he could actually win.
Editor’s note: City & State’s groundbreaking coverage of Zohran Mamdani’s rise
Our magazine will continue to be ahead of the curve reporting on campaigns and elections.
www.cityandstateny.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Peter Sterne
jamellebouie.net
bezos somehow made an editorial page worse than the one at the wall street journal
jazzbot.bsky.social jazzbot @jazzbot.bsky.social · 4d
“Generalissimo Zohran Mamdani”
November 8, 2025 at 6:27 PM