Corey Johnson

Corey David Johnson (born April 28, 1982) is an American politician and lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Speaker of the New York City Council from January 2018 to January 2022.

The third district includes Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, the West Village, as well as parts of Flatiron, SoHo, and the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He also concurrently served as Acting New York City Public Advocate for a few weeks in early 2019.

Johnson was first elected to the council as the member for the 3rd district in 2013. At the time, Johnson was the first out gay man to serve as speaker, and the only openly HIV-positive politician in New York State. He instead ran unsuccessfully for comptroller.

Early life Johnson was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, and raised in nearby wealthy Middleton, by his mother, Ann Queenan Richardson (who worked at a variety of jobs, including at a thrift shop that she founded and manages), and his stepfather, Rodney Richardson, owner of Middleton Tire Service and a truck driver. Johnson's father, David Johnson, the son of an American father and a Korean mother, left the family when his son was very young. He graduated from high school in 2000. He was a contributor and eventually the political director of the LGBT blog Towleroad. In 2005, he joined Manhattan Community Board 4 (CB4). From 2008 to 2010, Johnson was the government relations director at GFI Development, a Manhattan-based real estate developer. He was elected chair of CB4 in 2011, becoming New York City's youngest community board chair at the time. The same year, City & State profiled him as a "rising star" in New York City politics.

New York City Council

In 2013, Christine Quinn ran for mayor of New York City, as her term in the city council was expiring. Johnson, then chair of Community Board 4, ran to succeed Quinn in the 3rd district, and was elected in November 2013 with 86% of the vote. He took office in January 2014. Johnson's district includes all or part of the West Side neighborhoods of Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, Greenwich Village, west SoHo, Hudson Square, part of the Upper West Side, Times Square, FlatIron, Hudson Yards, the Theater District, and the Garment District.

The council elected him speaker in January 2018. He was the first openly gay man to serve as speaker. He was the first Speaker to be born in Massachusetts. At the time, Johnson was also the only openly HIV-positive politician in New York State.

Health As chair of the council's Committee on Health, Johnson oversaw hearings on health issues such as the proliferation in the city of synthetic marijuana, also known as K2. Johnson's legislation to require transparency regarding health services administered at Rikers Island was signed into law in June 2015.

In April 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law Johnson's bill prohibiting the use of smokeless tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco, at sports stadiums and arenas that host events that require a ticket for admission. The legislation effectively banned chewing tobacco from professional baseball in New York City. A similar ban had previously been enacted in San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, and Chicago. New York Yankees pitcher Andrew Miller noted: "It's a completely legal substance. It's available to purchase at any 7-Eleven", and his teammate third baseman Chase Headley wondered, "How is it legal around town, around wherever else, but just at the ballpark it's not?" New York Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson said, "The only question we have is, the guys who do it, how do they know what's going on? ... if a player accidentally chooses to do it, will he get a citation? Will we stop the game? And will the same thing happen to the fans in attendance? That hasn't been identified yet, so we're still waiting to hear that." During the protest, Johnson screamed: "'ACT UP!' 'Fight back!'". He later tweeted, "By occupying offices of Senate Republicans, we demand they cease attempts to strip health care from millions!"

In 2018, Johnson sponsored a new law requiring that inmates in New York City jails be provided with free telephone calls. At the time, poor inmates were already given three free calls per week, and sentenced inmates were given two free calls a week, but under the new law all inmate calls are free of charge.

Johnson supports making it legal for sex workers to provide sexual services, but not for their clients to be free from criminal prosecution.

LGBT rights In 2014 Johnson introduced legislation to remove surgical requirements for transgender New Yorkers to change the gender on their birth certificates. The legislation passed the City Council in December 2014 and was adopted in January 2015.

In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, sparking the start of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, Queerty named Johnson one of the Pride50 "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people".

During the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, in 2020 a 68-bed field hospital was run by Samaritan's Purse and Mount Sinai Hospital in Central Park. Johnson spoke out against it, due to the evangelical Christian aid group's requirement that their employees commit to a statement of faith, including a traditional view of marriage and sexuality. The charity's CEO Franklin Graham said, "we have never asked any of the millions of people we have served to subscribe to anything. In other words, as a religious charity, while we lawfully hire staff who share our Christian beliefs, we do not discriminate in who we serve." The field hospital was dismantled in May 2020.

Animal welfare In 2014, Johnson and Council member Elizabeth Crowley introduced legislation to regulate the sale of pets in New York City, including bills to ban the sale of rabbits, require that pet shops spay or neuter dogs in their care, and ensure that known animal abusers are unable to obtain animals. The legislation passed in December.

In 2015, Johnson introduced legislation mandating that either fire sprinklers or supervision be present in all establishments that house animals for more than 24 hours.

In 2016, Johnson co-sponsored legislation by Council member Rosie Mendez to ban the use of wild animals and exotic animals in circuses for public entertainment, with exceptions for dog shows and camels for Manhattan's Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The bill was approved by the council in June 2017 and signed by de Blasio a month later.

In 2019, Johnson authored a bill to ban the sale of garments and accessories made with real animal fur. The legislation was supported by animal rights and welfare activists who argue that the fur industry is inherently cruel. It was opposed by the fur industry and prominent members of the Black and Jewish communities concerned about its impact on their cultural traditions.

Women's issues Johnson's first legislation to pass the City Council was a bill granting a presumption of eligibility for people transitioning from domestic violence shelters to Department of Homeless Services shelters. The bill allows these individuals to bypass extensive intake procedures they already underwent during their first shelter placement.

Education Johnson introduced legislation with Council member Vanessa Gibson to require the NYC Department of Education to report on the use of disciplinary measures in public schools. The legislation passed in September 2015, and was signed into law the following month. Johnson later introduced legislation requiring the Department of Education to regularly report on student health services in public schools, to ensure that such services are adequately serving students. De Blasio signed the legislation into law in February 2016.

Rent regulation Johnson was the prime sponsor of legislation declaring a housing shortage emergency in 2015, which allowed rent stabilization laws to be extended. On June 3, 2015, he and others occupied the offices of Republican senators in Albany in an act of civil disobedience while protesting for the extension of rent regulation and the reform of New York's rent laws, and he was arrested and handcuffed, charged with disorderly conduct, and given a desk warrant. Fifty-five protesters were arrested for blocking the entrance to Governor Andrew Cuomo's office, and Johnson said that a number of protesters occupied Senate office buildings, which he said "shows how much is on the line". In December 2018 Transportation Alternatives gave Johnson its first-ever Vision Zero Leader of the Year Award.

Labor In response to a growing trend of hotel rooms being converted into luxury condominiums, Johnson introduced legislation to limit the number of condo conversions hotel owners can make. The legislation's goal was to protect jobs in the hotel industry. The City Council passed it in May 2015 and it was signed into law the next month.

Environment In 2018 Johnson supported a ban on plastic straws. In 2019 he supported a five-cent fee on paper bags and banning styrofoam food containers.

Election history

2021 campaigns In 2019, Johnson began accepting contributions for a potential run for mayor of New York City. He stopped fund-raising in March 2020 for the 2021 New York City Comptroller election, but lost the Democratic primary, 51.9%–48.1%, to Councilmember Brad Lander.

Lobbying While holding public office Johnson was a real-estate lobbyist or government relations director at GFI Development from 2008 to 2010. Sanders and other sources mention other close ties to lobbyists, especially the Kasirer lobbying firm, as one of its vice presidents, Jason Goldman, served as Johnson's deputy chief of staff.

Cojo Strategies Soon after ending his campaign for mayor, Johnson moved to start a government relations consulting firm, Cojo Strategies, which began advising to a subsidiary of the Brooklyn Nets and the Central Park Conservancy. An Israeli tech firm hired Johnson as its United States government relations advisor, with a focus on New York. He will advise and "liaise with municipal and state officials".

Johnson represented Saferwatch, a company developing a "panic button" app who sought to provide it to schools in the City of New York. Johnson met in 2022 on the company's behalf with New York City Schools chancellor David C. Banks. The following year, the city engaged the Saferwatch app in a pilot program at five schools. Saferwatch ceased being represented by Johnson in early 2024, and hired the government relations services of Terence Banks, the New York City Schools chancellor's brother.