Julie Menin was unanimously elected Speaker of the New York City Council on January 7, 2026. As an attorney and a three-time city commissioner, Julie has more than two decades of experience driving economic development, protecting New Yorkers, and holding bad actors accountable.

Julie has served in the City Council since 2022, representing the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island. In her first two terms, Julie passed bills to advance universal childcare, protect hotel workers, lower skyrocketing healthcare costs, and ease burdens on small businesses. As Speaker, Julie now leads the Council’s efforts to make New York City safer, more affordable, and more livable. She has promoted economic and housing growth while also launching the nation’s largest municipal college savings program and expanding half-price transit discounts.

Before her election, Julie served as the city’s 2020 Census Director. New York finished first among all major cities, protecting billions of dollars in federal funding for schools, affordable housing, healthcare, and infrastructure. Julie also helped successfully fight the Trump administration’s effort to add a citizenship question to the Census.

Television and film production reached an all-time high with Julie as Commissioner of Media and Entertainment, generating thousands of jobs and significant economic activity. Julie also advanced gender equity across the entertainment industry by launching job training programs and the city’s first women’s film fund.

Julie put money back into New Yorkers’ pockets as Commissioner of Consumer Affairs. She increased consumer restitution by 70%, implemented the city’s historic Paid Sick Leave Law, and launched an Earned Income Tax Credit that returned $260 million to low-income residents. Julie also oversaw trailblazing investigations into industries exploiting our communities while reducing unnecessary fines on small businesses.

Julie entered public service following the September 11th attacks. After her small business was decimated, she helped guide Lower Manhattan’s recovery as the founder of Wall Street Rising and Chair of Manhattan Community Board 1. Julie also served on the 9/11 Memorial Jury and is a founding trustee of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

Julie’s mother and grandmother were Hungarian immigrants who survived the Holocaust. They settled in Little Hungary on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a few blocks from where Julie now lives with her husband and children. Julie graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University, where she later served as an adjunct professor.