‘It Has Become Too Dangerous’: Black New York Town Official Who Had to be Escorted Out of Meetings Due to ‘Countless Threats’ and Called N-Word, Decides to Step Down

A Black city leader in New York publicly stated that she is leaving office due to numerous threats and verbal attacks she’s suffered in her time on the town board. Jaime Puccioni said that effective Sept. 1, she would step down from her role as town supervisor for Niskayuna, New York, a town located just outside Albany populated by approximately 20,000 people. According to state guidelines, a town supervisor is the presiding officer over the town board and is essentially a town’s chief elected official. Jaime Puccioni (Photo: Facebook/Jaime Lynn Puccioni) Last week, a Niskayuna resident called Puccioni’s office to leave a racially charged message on her office voicemail. That resident, 24-year-old Osman Rasul, was charged with a second-degree felony count of aggravated harassment as a hate crime. Court documents state that Rasul called Puccioni’s office on Aug. 16 from an anonymous number after Puccioni announced her resignation, the Daily Gazette reported. “I have some concerns that she may want to hear otherwise the next step is federal criminal charges against the n— and n— lover,” Rasul allegedly said in the message. Before leaving that voicemail, Rasul attended a town board meeting in July, where he claimed that he had...