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By Ruth Messinger
From the Jan. 6 insurrection to Project 2025 to Donald Trump vowing to use his presidential power to wage a campaign of vengeance against his political rivals, American democracy has not faced a crisis like the one we are currently experiencing since the Civil War. The good news is that despite the best efforts of the current U.S. Supreme Court, we are so far protected against the worst excesses of our leaders by the civil rights and democratic process enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
New York City’s charter – the city’s constitution – is maybe the most important document most New Yorkers have never read. On May 21, just two months before the deadline to place charter charges on the November ballot, Mayor Eric Adams established a commission to revise the document that spells out many of the most important details about how our city’s democracy functions, leaving it to a politically overburdened public to respond during the hottest months of the summer.
Tragically, the mayor’s sloppily formed and rushed commission threatens to undermine New York City’s democracy at the same moment that Trumpian attacks are hollowing out America’s.