BRIC-TV

Jennifer March, executive director of the Citizens' Committee for Children, New York City, discusses the issues that ought to be on the table in '17.

After the earthquake-with-an-inferno-chaser that was the 2016 presidential campaign, next year’s race for New York City’s municipal offices is shaping up to be a rather tame affair.

Among New York City’s three citywide officeholders, five borough presidents and 51 City Councilmembers, only eight people in the Council will actually be forced out by term limits. With the possible exception of Mayor de Blasio (and for all the recent turbulence, the odds would still be in favor of the mayor getting a second term), the other incumbents look as secure as ever.

That’s good news for them, bad news for reporters and political consultants and a dilemma for the advocates who work to get attention to life-of-death issues like poverty or homelessness: It could be harder to get people’s attention outside the intense competition and exposure of a contested campaign, but it might be possible to have a more substantive discussion when photo-ops and soundbites aren’t the currency of the realm.

On Monday, BKLive hosted a discussion of the upcoming races and the issues that might shape them among your correspondent, DNAinfo political reporter Jeff Mays and Citizens’ Committee for Children executive director Jennifer March, whose groups is today releasing a report ranking the city’s neighborhoods in terms of the risks their children face.