Chronically absent DSA crony Chi Ossé skips out on NYC Council work to head upstate
A democratic socialist City Council member skipped another slate of government hearings to head upstate — after The Post reported he had the worst attendance record of any local lawmaker.
Chi Ossé, a Democratic Socialists of American chum of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, ditched government hearings on Monday and Tuesday to instead travel multiple hours outside of his Brooklyn district to head to Rochester and Syracuse.
The lefty council member, who had eyed then abandoned a run against US House of Representatives Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries last year, had announced that he’d attend a “rally” for lower electric bills on Monday — the same day The Post exposed his chronic absenteeism.
“New York I’m going on tour…to take over our utilities! It’s time to lower our energy bills and secure clean, renewable energy!,” he wrote in a post to X.
Ossé’s out-of-district tour saw him miss an oversight hearing of “CreateNYC” – the Big Apple’s first comprehensive cultural plan — and a pair of committee votes on an urban development project and a property tax exemption.
The office-allergic politician already missed four of the council’s 18 stated meetings in the 2025-2026 legislative sessions – the worst of any council member – and has only made it to 67.6% of his committee meetings, which makes him one of the six least engaged on the council.
Ossé brushed off The Post’s reporting on his lackluster attendance record in a post to X Tuesday — claiming his chronic case of absenteeism was due to his work fighting energy company Con Edison.
“I’ve been traveling across New York State fighting to take over ConEd to lower our energy bills! I promise I’ll be back soon XO,” he wrote.
Ossé’s upstate tour left one Democratic operative scratching their head.
“This guy hasn’t a clue what he’s talking about,” said the operative, who has lived in the Syracuse area for more than a decade.
“You can’t drive to Syracuse, meet a few people for a few minutes, put out a press release, and call that work. We call that cheap,” he said.
The Tuesday rally in Syracuse coined “Take Back Our Power” was set to feature Ossé, state Assembly member Sarahana Shrestha, and Onondaga County Legislator Mo Brown. It was sponsored by the Syracuse branch of the DSA.
“Respectfully, focus on the issues of the constituents in your district, one X user wrote,” in response to the rally flyer.
A spokesperson for Ossé and the City Council didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.