Brian Benjamin

One of Benjamin's first campaign promises was to seek to close Rikers Island. He introduced a bill to close Rikers in three years.[30][31][32] After violence on Rikers on Thanksgiving Day 2017, Benjamin sent a letter to the State Commission of Correction requesting a report on the state of the facility. The report found that the City's inaction and ten year proposal might require the Commission to examine steps to close Rikers faster to ensure that the constitutional rights of inmates and staff were protected.[33][34] In addition, Benjamin was also a co-sponsor of bills to reform discovery, end cash bail, restore the voting rights of parolees, and end solitary confinement, many of which passed once the Democrats retook the majority.[35][36]

During his campaign for the State Senate, Benjamin campaigned against the rebranding of Harlem as SOHA by real estate forms.[37][38] After his election he sponsored the Neighborhood Integrity Act, to prohibit renaming neighborhoods or redefining traditional boundaries without community input.[39] The real estate company dropped the SoHa rebranding effort.[40][41] During his campaign, Benjamin accepted $2,500 in campaign contributions from a real estate company that owned a South Harlem condominium called “SoHa 118.” When he learned they used the term “SoHa” he returned the donation and asked that they change the name.[42]

Benjamin, formerly served ranking member of the Civil Service and Pensions Committee [43] is the sponsor of a bill to divest New York's Public Pension fund from private prisons.[44] This bill helped push Comptroller da Napoli, the sole fiduciary of the fund, to divest. [45]

With the Democrats retaking the majority in November 2018, Benjamin was named Chairman of Committee on Revenue and Budget. In this position he focused on divesting public and private banks from private for-profit prisons, sponsoring a bill that would push New York State chartered banks, which include many international banks that use New York State chartered to operate in the US, to stop investments. [46] The bill passed the Senate in the 2019 and 2020 sessions, and was part of a nation-wide movement that pushed many of the largest private banking institutions to drop their investments.[47] The Washington Post reported that Benjamin's legislation was key in getting Bank of America to drop their investments. [48]

The 2019 also saw the passage of housing reform legislation, including Benjamin's bill to protect keep Rent Stabilized apartments affordable. This and other bills Benjamin co-sponsored where passed as a package entitled the Housing Stability And Tenant Protections Act of 2019. [49] Also in 2019, Benjamin championed a bill that would have allowed felons who had completed their sentences to serve on juries.[50]

In the 2020 session Benjamin sponsored and passed the Rainy Day Fund bill, that allowed New York City to set aside funds in a revenue stabilization fund. Legislation enacted after past fiscal crises had required the city to balance its budget, making such savings impossible, and so the city was required to cut essential services in times of financial stress. [51] As a result of historic support for police reform, Benjamin also was able to legislation he had been championing including his bill the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act. [52] In December 2020 he joined other senators in announcing the introduction of legislation that significantly limited police no-knock warrants to only the most severe circumstances, and banned their use for drug searches.[53]

In January 2021, Benjamin proposed a bill to make it easier for released ex-cons to obtain a state-issued ID when they leave jail.[54][21] He also is sponsoring a bill to change parole laws, so that parole violations such as testing positive for drugs, failing to report, and failing to notify of a change in address would not lead to incarceration.[55] That same month he tweeted: "I support the movement to defund the police ... "[56]

In 2014, Benjamin appeared in Oprah Winfrey Network's television show Love in the City as a boyfriend of breast-cancer victim and entrepreneur Tiffany Jones.[57] Jones accused Benjamin on the show and to the media of stealing her computer and Chanel bag.[57][58]

In 2017, when Benjamin was the managing partner of the Genesis Companies real estate firm in Harlem, and at the same time on the verge of becoming the New York State Senate Democratic nominee, his firm was sued by its co-investor in a legal dispute over its alleged scheme to divert revenue from a fire sale by Abyssinian Development to the investors of 31 properties.[59] A Manhattan Supreme Court judge issued a preliminary injunction, freezing the assets until the dispute was settled in arbitration.[59] Genesis Companies denied the allegations, and the case went to arbitration.[60]

In July 2017, one month after his election to the New York State Senate, the CEO of Benjamin's former employer, real estate firm Genesis Companies (which owned dozens of rental buildings in his district in Harlem, with over 700 active violations), made a filing on a "reportable business relationship" form with the New York State lobbying and ethics watchdog panel (the Joint Commission on Public Ethics).[61][62] Genesis stated that it had retained Benjamin as an advisor for $60,000 a year, to consult on "real estate development matters", starting in June 2017 (a month after he was elected), and ending in June 2018.[62][61] This was in addition to Benjamin's annual $79,500 salary as a New York State Senator.[62][61] Benjamin said he consulted for his former firm, but asserted he was not compensated by it. Benjamin would not explain the document.[61] He repeatedly denied receiving any outside income since his election.[63][61][64][65][66][67] Albany watchdog New York Public Interest Research Group's executive director, Blair Horner, noted: "Being allowed to moonlight creates potential conflicts."[61]

In 2018, Benjamin urged constituents to keep warm during cold months, while serving on the advisory board of his former real estate company which accrued hundreds of violations, though the company and city officials maintained the issues existed prior to the company's involvement. He directed tenants to “contact his office about heat-related issues,” and “bragged about holding landlords accountable.”[68]

A new purportedly grassroots non-profit organization, "New York 4 Harlem", that actively solicited donations of $500 to $5,000 was reported in 2018 to allegedly have been a front for Benjamin and three other Harlem elected officials.[69][70] In addition, a flyer organizing a free bus trip to Albany for a conference organized by the NY State Assn. of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators with the New York 4 Harlem's name on it featured a picture of Benjamin and the three other officials.[69][70][71] Nonprofit organizations are not allowed to take part in campaign activity.[70] The contact person for the event was a staffer working in Benjamin’s office, Shana Harmongoff.[69]

In January 2021, The New York Daily News reported that Benjamin was earning up to $50,000 a year as a board member of NextPoint, a company led by a Wall Street executive who came under fire for his role in the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis (Andrew Neuberger), and that Benjamin acquired up to $250,000 in NextPoint stock.[72] "This is not a good sign," said housing advocate Cea Weaver.[72] This was in addition to Benjamin earning $120,000 a year as a state senator.[72] That month, a coalition of 34 progressive groups hosted a protest outside Benjamin's home and sent a letter to Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Andrea Stewart-Cousins calling for his removal as chair of the Senate Budget and Revenue committee.[73] They argued that his stock holdings and position on the board of NextPoint were unethical conflicts of interest that should disqualify him from presiding over bills dealing with taxation.[73] The organizations included Housing Works, the Metropolitan Council on Housing, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, New York City Democratic Socialists of America, New York Communities for Change, Street Vendor Project of the Urban Justice Center, New York Taxi Workers Alliance, and the Urban Justice Center – Safety Net Project.[73]