Platform
Brooklyn’s New York City Council District 38 is a diverse and vibrant community that has long been neglected and under-resourced. We must be bold in finding solutions, building collective solidarity, and creating the type of community and society we want to live in. COVID-19 has exacerbated unequal conditions and increased the urgent need to address the challenges our community faces. Together, we can create a collective vision for District 38 centered on the humanity, dignity, and shared solidarity of all people.
I understand that there are no quick fixes to our problems and that our community is resilient. It has weathered tough times before. Together, we are capable of changing the conditions and structures that the wealthy and powerful have imposed on this district and supporting working people in order to live their best and fullest lives.
As your Council Member, I will fight for:
A Thriving Community
Safe, Affordable, and Dignified Homes
Housing is a human right and every New Yorker deserves a safe and dignified home. We must demand a renter and small homeowner recovery plan and funding package. No one should lose their home during this pandemic. We must bring back home ownership opportunities for working-class New Yorkers. Public housing is one of our city’s greatest assets—we must expand it, improve it, and protect it from private greed. I will fight for full funding, timely repairs, and preservation of Public Housing. I will oppose RAD/PACT, and advocate for the development of a resident-driven preservation blueprint. We must demand safe housing for homeless New Yorkers and public support that enables them not only to live, but also to thrive.
Quality and Equitable Education
A quality education is the right of every New Yorker. We must unapologetically redirect public education funds from private corporate interests to where they belong – public schools. We must demand full funding from the State and the City for K-12 schools, for CUNY, and for adult education. Full funding will allow us to hire more teachers, ensure language access, expand culturally responsive classrooms and school environments, and empower parent and student voices in decision-making.
Protecting Small Businesses
We must protect and strengthen the local businesses that are the lifeblood of our communities and who have been overlooked by federal and state relief. We will work to design policy responses that directly impact small businesses, while also eliminating unnecessary red tape that hamstrings recovery and harms businesses. I will focus on advocating for commercial rent protections and linking business owners to needed supports.
Safe Communities
For decades New Yorkers have been demanding a complete overhaul of our city’s approach to public safety. We must remove all police from our schools, hospitals, healthcare centers, and homeless centers. Despite a constant NYC population and declining rates of arrests and crime, the NYPD budget has grown from $4.7 billion in 2014 to $5.6 billion today. A system that cuts funding to education and healthcare while spending $300 million to settle with victims of police misconduct is broken. No other police force in America receives a budget as bloated as that of the NYPD, and it is past time that New Yorkers correct this error. I believe these funds belong in our public hospitals, schools, and transportation systems. As a City Council Member I pledge to bring the NYPD’s budget into line with what is needed in our communities and not what Pat Lynch and other power brokers demand. I’ve spent years fighting for prison reforms and for shrinking the system. As a City Council member, I will legislate and advocate to dismantle these carceral systems and fight to build the support systems our community truly needs. We must work toward a justice system that supports the dignity, safety, and humanity of Black and brown people, and we must approach public safety in a way that guarantees the safety and human rights of all New Yorkers. Ultimately, I believe that housing security, quality education, and free quality healthcare keep us much safer than police and prisons ever could.
Healthy and Sustainable Communities
New Yorkers have a right to quality healthcare and a right to live free from pollution and other environmental hazards. For decades, our community has been disproportionately suffering from negative health outcomes and most recently suffered severe losses from covid-19. I will advocate for a resident-led Community Health Advisory Table that can map, guide, and vision a proactive set of new policies and structures that serve our residents’ needs, not the for-profit private industries’ bottom line. We will fight for increased funding to strengthen the capacity of community-based organizations that work on health and resiliency directly with residents. We willdemand the passage of the New York Health Act to provide a single-payer system that will provide coverage for all. As an environmental justice community, we will fight to invest in and implement community-led climate adaptation, mitigation, and just solutions for clean air, open space, healthy food, green infrastructure, and renewable energy.
Protecting Our Immigrant Neighbors
District 38 is a community of immigrants, those newly arrived and those who have been here for decades. All face ongoing forms of discrimination and significant barriers to services and support. Under our current administrations, families live in fear. We will fight to strengthen protections for our beloved immigrant residents and advocate for deeper investments in service and support programs like legal representation, immigration integration centers, language access and to give municipal voting for resident immigrants. We will advocate for the abolition of ICE.
Good Quality Jobs and Protecting ALL Workers
We must demand relief and support for all workers, including undocumented and contract workers. We must also ensure that any development in our District includes significant local-hire and living wage provisions. We must eliminate the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers.
An Equitable Future
NYC Budget Justice & A People’s Budget
District 38 has suffered from years of disinvestment and continues to receive insufficient resources. Many of our most basic needs are not met. We must say no to austerity budgeting that disproportionately harms working class communities like ours. We demand a people’s budget and equitable budget allocations that support the services and infrastructure needs of our District.
Resident-Led Community Vision and Plan for the District
Our district must free itself from the exploitation of wealthy real estate developers. Without an articulated, comprehensive plan for our entire district, that includes our vibrant working waterfronts, we are at the mercy of private developers and the City’s piecemeal planning approach. We must break the cycle of reactive, unresourced, slapdash, developer-led development in our District. It's time for our community to take control of our future with forward-looking alternative models for land use that prioritize communities, not private real estate interests.
Ensuring Connectivity and Community Space
Internet access is now fundamental for participation in daily life and essential to anyone seeking education, housing, healthcare, and jobs. We must guarantee internet access for all New Yorkers. I will advocate for the expansion of free municipal broadband internet service to all of District 38 and to New York City, and to launch a communications hub modeled on the Red Hook Hub, providing residents with up-to-date, consistent information in multiple languages to ensure that they can fully participate in their community.
Building our Civic Infrastructure and Political Power
We must build our community’s political power and infrastructure to ensure our District 38 residents have a voice in the policy and budget decisions that impact them. We will advocate for opening up democratic participation and allowing all NYC residents, regardless of immigration status, to vote in local municipal elections, lowering the municipal voting age, and creating new and supportive pathways for local leadership. We must integrate voter registration and civic engagement into our approach to every issue facing the District. In growing our political power as a community we will grow our influence and strength.