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Brewer Joins Candidate Forum as City Council District 6 Race Heats Up


Gale Brewer

Gale Brewer (photo: Gale Brewer on flickr)


The five Democratic candidates running for City Council District 6, a seat based on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, appeared Thursday night at a forum hosted by the West Side Democrats. The six Democratic candidates running for Manhattan Borough President in this year’s election also appeared before the club. The primaries will be in June and will feature ranked-choice voting.

Forum participants answered questions focused on a range of issues, including public and private housing, homelesssness, transit, land use and development, small businesses, the city’s Open Streets program, concern over federal aid, and more.

The five candidates for City Council District 6 are Gale Brewer, the term-limited Manhattan Borough President and former City Council District 6 representative seeking to retake that seat; Sara Lind, a member of Community Board 7 and an attorney; Jeffrey Omura, an actor, activist, and labor leader; Zack Weiner, a screenwriter, actor, and film producer; and David Gold, the executive director of a non-profit and a former litigator.

Gale Brewer
Brewer kicked off the District 6 portion of the forum with discussion of her 12-year experience on the City Council following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which she said prepared her to tackle the current coronavirus pandemic. “Between the zoning, small business, schools, all the issues of affordable housing, I think I can contribute with some knowledge, so we don't make mistakes of the past,” Brewer said.

With 12 years in the City Council and eight years as Manhattan Borough President, Brewer is considered the candidate to beat in this race. There has been some grumbling about her desired return to the Council, though, in terms of it blocking the way for new leadership in the area to flourish.

Asked about helping small businesses crushed during the pandemic and generating tax revenue for the city, Brewer said her numbers-driven approach as a “data nerd” coupled with her goal of increased transparency for the city budget, including capital and expenses, will prove pivotal in setting policies to help the local economy. She listed a series of solutions, such as budget cuts, including removal of non-essential services, eradicating the commercial rent tax below 92nd Street, prioritizing “mom and pop” tenants via unspecified zoning regulation, and legislation that would create a database tracking empty properties.

“I have perhaps more land use experience than anybody I know,” said Brewer, when asked about her view on City Council deference to the local member on land use proposals that need Council approval. Brewer did not directly answer the question on member deference, but went on to express her full support for City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s new comprehensive planning proposal, pointing to the inadequacy of 197-a plans as seen in Columbia University’s expansion into West Harlem despite community protest. “That [community] board did a 197-a plan and Columbia University just rolled all over them,” Brewer said.

“I have perhaps more land use experience than anyone I know,” said Brewer, reflecting on her career. She highlighted a bill she spearheaded to create a city charter revision commission in 2018; while the charter commission generated modest reforms, she admitted it was a “disaster” on land use policy because “members appointed by the mayor were a hundred percent against [comprehensive planning].” She continued, “Comprehensive discussion planning is what's needed,” again referring back to the new Council proposal, which the charter commission did not pick up at the time to present to voters on the ballot along with what it did advance.

Brewer described herself as a “strong advocate” for open space, which she called a “silver lining” of the pandemic in terms of enabling socially distanced outdoor activities, but that regulation of it is also in need of reform, referring to incidents where police officers unfairly enforced social distancing rules on the Upper West Side. She also said that she believes more streets should be closed off to vehicle traffic, and that she is a long-time supporter of bike lanes.

Asked if she would seek the City Council Speaker role if elected to her former seat, Brewer said, “The answer is I hope to get elected to the City Council, and then we’ll see. I’m not ambitious to be the Speaker. I’m ambitious to get the work done.”

Sara Lind
Lind, a former corporate and immigration attorney, as well as a community board member for District 7, has made housing a main focus area of her campaign for City Council. She said at the forum that she will pursue “bold action” to address the range of issues that COVID-19 has worsened, including the lack of affordable housing, homelessness, climate change, outdated transportation, and public education.

Citing her diverse professional experience, which includes working as a policy consultant for the CIA, a liaison to the 20th Precinct of the NYPD, and a member of the city-wide participatory budgeting committee, Lind said she has learned that “no neighborhood is immune from city-wide problems.”

Lind discussed various strategies for achieving her vision, such as employing “creative zoning and pedestrian enhancements” along Broadway, “driving foot traffic to the street, which will create a thriving retail and arts and culture district.”

“It is possible to end homelessness. We know this because other cities in the world have done it,” Lind said. She spotlighted her housing plan as designed to achieve this goal, starting with moving away from the shelter system, which “perpetuates homelesnes” while costing “billions of dollars.” As alternatives to the shelter system, Lind suggested “permanent affordable housing for everyone,” “addiction and mental health treatment,” and more broadly, rent-regulating some currently market-rate apartments to make the city affordable for everyday people. Lind has been vocal about boosting affordable housing in affluent neighborhoods to off-set burdens placed on low-income and communities of color and proposed to upzone portions of the 6th Council District so that more housing can be built.

When asked how she would raise revenue for the city, Lind said that she would prioritize investment in a Green New Deal. “If you put that investment into building new environmentally-friendly housing, updating our transportation systems, building out a sustainable, resilient city, you also create jobs, and that boosts the economy,” she said. She also said that the city needs to reform its property tax system “so the wealthiest among us are paying their fair share.”

Asked about the problem of idling police vehicles on pedestrian sidewalks, Lind said she would encourage the Department of Transportation to enforce traffic rules rather than having the police enforce themselves.

“I absolutely support a comprehensive planning process,” Lind said when asked about City Council member deference, because “piecemail decisions” fail to “tackle problems at a city-wide level.” Additionally, she said, “I think that everyone should, of course, listen to the member from the district because they know the district best,” but added, “I would not always defer to members.”

Jeffrey Omura
If elected, Omura would be the district’s first openly gay City Council memebr, as well as the first Japanese-American to win elected office in New York State, he said. A self-described “artist, activist, and labor leader,” Omura cited his experience as a union officer for the Actors' Equity Association, negotiating “record-breaking wage increases” and helping secure a “$15 billion indirect art relief found in the most recent federal relief package” as part of a coalition of organizers.

When asked how he would create revenue for the city in lieu of additional federal aid, Omura proposed a “multi-pronged approach,” including sales tax on goods and services sold online, taxing digital advertising, which he pointed out has become a large and profitable business, and “legalizing and taxing marijuana.” Omura suggested a tax on vacant luxury apartments and expressed tentative support for Municipal Assistance Corporation bonds; the MAC closed in 2008 after the $10 billion worth of bonds that were sold to keep the city afloat during the financial crisis of 1975 were paid off. Omura also said,” We need to start taxing our ultra millionaires and our billionaires on their wealth.”

Omura expressed concern about the survival of small businesses, saying “we need to make sure that they have access to PPP loans,” in reference to the pandemic federal relief program. “We also need to avoid minimum rent provisions in mortgages,” which prevent landlords from lowering rents, he said, and suggested incentivizing small business owners with “tax breaks to business owners who have three or fewer locations so that it can compete with large chain stores.”

Omura spoke in favor of installing transit signal priority software at all intersections to reduce traffic and pollution and help buses move faster. Noting that car ownership has risen during the pandemic, he suggested creating a parking permit system that would prioritize parking for residents instead of commuters. He also said that he is in favor of expanding bike lanes and resdesigning streets such that pedestrian traffic is increased along commercial corridors.

On Council member deference, Omura said that he is supportive of comprehensive planning, saying, “we need to include the community in all of our planning processes.” He added that his experience as a union leader qualifies him to galvanize community input in planning decisions.

Zach Weiner
Weiner, a screenwriter, actor, and film producer, said the most important issues facing the Upper West Side are homelessness and vacant storefronts, which he aims to solve via a “four-pronged plan.”

Weiner struck an optimistic tone on the prospect of additional federal aid to the city, saying, “I’m really hopeful that the Democrats, now that they control the Senate, thank god, are going to be bailing us out and doing what they need to do and what should have been done nine months ago and provide relief to businesses that had no other options right now but to close.”

But Weiner pointed out that many stores that were forced to close were struggling prior to the pandemic, which is why he is advocating for an initiative called “start-up retail,” describing it as a “revenue-sharing agreement between entrepreneurs and landlords, where the entrepreneur will be able to pay for the utilities and pay 10% of their revenue to the landlord.” The initiative would include short-term leases, which is a growing trend in the real estate industry, according to Weiner. This will reduce barriers to entry for aspiring entrepreneurs, he said.

David Gold
“I'm running because we're at a rare moment when there's not only a need for real change, but also a hunger for real change, and I think we need to think really big and really creatively about it,” said Gold. A lifelong New Yorker who grew up on the Upper West Side, Gold told the West Side Democrats, “I share your values and I have the skills to fight for them.”

Gold spotlighted two aspects of his policy platform: The first is called “democratic resource allocation,” which would function similarly to participatory budgeting but on a larger scale, addressing systemic issues like the demise of local businesses and housing insecurity. The second involves pushing New York City as a leader of a nationwide movement to “remove the right wing bias from our federal election system, to get rid of the electoral college, and make Congress democratic.”

When asked how he would generate revenue for the city in the absence of federal aid, Gold said, “It's exactly the anti-city federal election system that's preventing us from getting the aid that we need at a time to handle a crisis that's not of our own making. So, we need to change the federal election system in the meantime.”

Gold added that his proposed democratic resource allocation could be applied to the issue of empty storefronts, characterizing it as a participatory system that would collect residents’ views on which kinds of businesses should receive additional aid and which “have it too easy as it is.” The results would take effect via the property tax system. According to Gold, “It would also be a way of saving scarce resources because it wouldn't actually require an increase in revenue to save businesses.”

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by Allison Smith for Gotham Gazette
 @GothamGazette

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‘I'm On A Mission’: Ritchie Torres Goes to Washington to Save Public Housing


1cm ri nycha wagner

Rep. Ritchie Torres (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


Ritchie Torres, a Bronx Democrat, was sworn in early this month among the new class of the House of Representatives, becoming the first openly-gay Afro-Latino member of Congress. After seven years advocating for his district on the New York City Council, Torres now takes to the halls of Congress to exert whatever influence he can for his constituents, particularly through a plum committee assignment not often given to freshman lawmakers. One of his chief priorities remains the state of public housing in New York City and he is optimistic that with full Democratic control of the federal government, the New York City Housing Authority will finally get its due.

The future of NYCHA is a deeply personal issue for Torres, who grew up in public housing and went on to chair the City Council’s public housing committee. “My highest priority is affordable housing. I would not be where I am today but for affordable housing and the stability it gave me and my family,” Rep. Torres said in an interview.

NYCHA houses more than 400,000 New Yorkers, largely people of color, and is a crucial lifeline for families in a city with a housing affordability crisis. But, owing to decades of disinvestment by the federal government, the state, and the city, as well as mismanagement by city government and its chosen NYCHA leadership, public housing developments across the city have fallen into a state of deep disrepair. Tenants have been forced to live with problems that include rat infestations, mold, lead paint, broken elevators and other key infrastructure, and a lack of heat and hot water.

NYCHA Chair and CEO Gregory Russ estimated in January last year that repairing and maintaining the aging infrastructure will cost as much as $40 billion, and watchdogs have warned that many NYCHA towers could soon be so dilapidated that repairing them is more expensive than building anew. 

The housing authority is currently under federal monitorship over a lead paint crisis spanning many years, though that oversight and the threat of receivership did not come with additional federal dollars. Various partial NYCHA rescue plans from de Blasio, Russ, and Russ’ predecessors have shown limited results, in part because the mayor has not put his political capital behind them. But the federal government has also been largely missing in action.

Enter Torres. And his Democratic colleagues. 

On the City Council, Torres led the Committee on Oversight and Investigation and the Committee on Public Housing before that, and has spent years holding the de Blasio administration’s feet to the fire over its repeated failures at NYCHA, while consistently calling for more state and federal funding. As a member of the House, he is now among those who hold the authority’s purse strings after he was appointed to the House Committee on Financial Services, which includes public housing within its purview. 

In an interview with Gotham Gazette, Torres acknowledged that NYCHA has a tough path ahead. The authority is dealing with multiple crises and while de Blasio’s administration brought its operating finances into far better shape, much of its capital costs remain unresolved. The mayor and NYCHA leadership have sought other avenues for funding through the NYCHA 2.0 plan, which would implement about $24 billion worth of repairs over ten years. But in that slow-moving plan are measures that have proved controversial including the sale of air rights, allowing private development on NYCHA-owned land through the infill program, and converting properties to private management through the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration program (RAD).

Torres insists, however, that the best solution is more federal funding. Currently NYCHA only receives about $1.5 billion every year, a drop in the bucket compared to its needs. Just last week, according to a Brooklyn Paper report, Democratic U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez introduced the Public Housing Emergency Response Act to provide $70 billion for public housing nationwide, including $32 billion for NYCHA alone. But, while Torres also said that the federal government should not “micromanage” the agency, he believes any additional assistance should come with adequate oversight so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated. 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

GG: Congratulations on being sworn in. Glad to see you’re safe after the insurrection at the Capitol.

Rep. Torres: “It's been a much more eventful week that I had a plan for...I never thought that as a freshman member, my first order of business would be to defend democracy itself.”

GG: I saw your account in the Daily News. My only question was, did you get a safety briefing when you were sworn in? An evacuation plan for such a situation?

Torres: “No...We're living in a dangerously unprecedented time for which the normal rules no longer apply.”

GG: What do you think you can do for NYCHA now that you're in the lion's den so to speak?

Torres: “There are four exclusive committees in the United States Congress. Ways and Means, Appropriations, Energy and Commerce, and Financial Services, and for a freshman member to be appointed to an exclusive committee is a rare occurrence. I specifically sought to be a member of Financial Services so that I can continue the advocacy for public housing that I began in the City Council. For me, the New York City Housing Authority is a singular institution in the life of America. It is the largest provider of affordable housing in the country...If NYCHA were a city unto itself, it would be the largest city of low-income Black and brown Americans in the United States. But the federal government has so systematically starved public housing of funding in New York City, that it has $40 billion worth of capital needs. So for me the highest priority is to ensure that NYCHA gets its fair share of federal funding, that it gets enough federal funding to address the humanitarian crisis. I spent seven years in the Council shining a spotlight on the humanitarian crisis in public housing. I'm now, as a congressman, I'm on a mission to secure funding to address the crisis. But for me, my goal is not simply to rebuild public housing in the same form. There's a historic opportunity to reinvent public housing as the greenest city in America. Imagine public housing with rooftop gardens, energy efficient retrofits, electric heating systems, rooftop solar panels. Public housing can become the gold standard of sustainable affordable housing in the United States. NYCHA can become the gold standard of sustainable affordable housing in the United States.”

A spokesperson for Torres confirmed after this interview that he supports the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, legislation that was introduced by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The bill would invest about $172 billion over ten years to retrofit more than 1.2 million units of public housing to make them energy efficient. Torres spokesperson said in a statement, "The Congressman looks forward to signing on the legislation once it is reintroduced in this session of Congress."

GG: This will require billions and billions of dollars. Do you think the federal government will provide more than the $1.5 billion or so it does every year?

Torres: “I do because all the stars are aligned politically. We have the makings of an FDR moment: a Democratic presidency, a Democratic House, and a Democratic Senate. And there are going to be opportunities to make massive investments in public housing, in NYCHA, through both a future stimulus package and a future infrastructure package. There's a widespread recognition in Congress that housing is infrastructure and that housing is a human right. So that newfound appreciation for housing, I think works to the advantage of NYCHA, more funding for NYCHA.”

GG: If the federal government provides funding, is that going to obviate the need for NYCHA infill or the RAD program? Do you think all of that is still necessary? Is it going to work in concert?

Torres: “It's up to the city to decide here. I'm not here to micromanage what the city should do. There is a value in creating affordable housing apart from the revenue it generates. But there's no substitute for federal reinvestment in public housing. It is a moral imperative. It's an existential imperative for not only NYCHA, but the City of New York. NYCHA is the core safety net of deeply affordable housing in the city of New York.”

GG: Talking about RAD, do you agree with the de Blasio administration’s request to give over two-thirds of NYCHA stock to private management? [NYCHA Chair Greg Russ made that request to the state Legislature in December, estimating that it could help raise $25 billion for repairs]

Torres: “Historically, I've been supportive of RAD because I saw it as the best tool for securing billions of dollars in federal funding for NYCHA housing. But with a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House and a Democratic president, we're going to be in a position to directly fund public housing in the traditional form in which it exists. But I’m open to exploring reforms that can ensure public ownership in the context of RAD...It’s something I’m thinking through at the moment.”

GG: What about infill and the sale of air rights?

Torres: “I think the federal government has to be careful not to micromanage local and state governments. Our overriding role is to provide federal funding to state and local governments, which are on the front lines of administering public services.”

GG: Do you generally agree or disagree with the infill program? There’s some criticism that it’s going to privatize public property?

Torres: “It depends on the context. If you're creating 400 units of affordable housing on public housing land, am I going to oppose? No. If you're creating luxury towers on public housing land, I would have concerns. If you're creating affordable housing on public housing land, then that seems to advance the social good.”

GG: Considering the years of not just underfunding, but also rife mismanagement at NYCHA, do you think there need to be additional controls?

Torres: “Yes, of course. NYCHA needs more money and better management. But my singular focus is on more money.”

GG: Something like the federal monitor? Do you think there needs to be permanent oversight?

Torres: “Everything’s on the table. I'm a policymaker so I'm going to take a hard look at both, not only funding but the management of public housing, of course.

GG: Do you have any legislation in the works already?

Torres: “We do but I never share them in advance.”

GG: What’s your first priority?

Torres: “My highest priority is affordable housing. I would not be where I am today but for affordable housing and the stability it gave me and my family…For me, affordable housing is more than brick and mortar, it's the foundation on which you build a better life for yourself and your family. So I'm a huge proponent of the Section 8 program. Housing is a human right and Section 8 is the best tool for implementing housing as a human right...Every American in need should have access to a Section 8 voucher, which ensures that you pay no more than 30% of your income toward your rent.”

GG: President-elect Biden has promised to vastly expand Section 8.

Torres: “We're gonna be on the same page when it comes to Section 8 expansion...Section 8 is a uniquely powerful tool for bringing deeply affordable housing to families in need. In addition to housing, I'm on a mission to put more money in the pockets of families struggling during COVID-19: expanding the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, providing hazard pay to essential workers, sending a stimulus check of $2,000 a month. I have a particular passion for the child tax credit. The structure of the child tax credit is so regressive that it leaves behind a third of American families, the poorest families in America. And in the South Bronx, two-thirds of American families are excluded from the full benefit of the child tax credit. So if we were to extend the child tax credit to the poorest families, then families in the South Bronx and elsewhere in the city would receive up to $300 per child every single month. Research has shown that extending the child tax credit would cut child poverty by 40% in the span of a single year...We should send a message that where you live, your zip code, should be no barrier to how far you can go in America.”

GG: Can New York City, can New York State, can America build more public housing? And will it? Shouldn't there be more NYCHA developments built in the city?

Torres: “We certainly should build more deeply affordable housing. We have to see to it that the housing we create is deeply affordable to the poorest Americans, the poorest New Yorkers. So that to me should be where the focus is, creating deeply affordable housing; deeply, permanently affordable housing. Should NYCHA run the housing? I think the priority should be to create deeply and permanently affordable housing regardless of whether it's publicly or privately operated.”

GG: We haven’t talked about lead.

Torres: “The consent decree by the settlement is an unfunded mandate. The federal government mandates $3 billion worth of lead abatement in public housing without fully funding it.”

GG: So you’re saying the city’s hobbled by that?

Torres: “Yeah. What's the value of a mandate without funding? Especially in a time of fiscal crisis, when New York City is teetering on the brink. So we have to hold the federal government accountable for funding the mandates that it imposes on public housing authorities, especially on an issue as critical as lead abatement.”

GG: Do you think some of this lets the state off the hook? That they haven't done enough to fund NYCHA either?

Torres: “It's a federal mandate. The federal government should fund federal mandates, especially when the price tag is $3 billion. Only the federal government can run a deficit and only the federal government has the resources to fund $3 billion worth of lead abatement.”

GG: Do you think the state should be offering up more money either way?

Torres: “Of course. There should be more funding for NYCHA at every level of government, but at the moment, the only level of government that has money is the federal government.”

GG: Who do you think should be the next mayor of New York City?

Torres: “I will make a decision. So stay tuned.”

GG: I'm sure if you do, one of the things you'll be urging them to do is pay attention to public housing.

Torres: “No question about it. Yes...The next mayor has to center public housing. Much more so [than de Blasio].”

GG: If you had to give the mayor a grade on public housing?

Torres: “You know the answer to that question. You’ve seen my hearings. You know the answer to that question. It’s a mischievous question to ask.”

***
by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
     

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Note - this article has been updated with a reference to legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez.

Note - this article has been updated to clarify that Torres supports the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act. 

Manhattan Borough President Candidates Pitch West Side Democrats


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Lower Manhattan (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayor's Office)


The six Democratic candidates running for Manhattan Borough President in this year’s election appeared Thursday night at a forum hosted by the West Side Democrats. The five Democratic candidates running for City Council District 6, based on the Upper West Side, also appeared before the club, following the borough president hopefuls. Both primaries are among those happening for all of city government in June and will feature the first full citywide round of ranked-choice voting, which applies to special and party primary elections.

Forum participants answered questions focused on a range of issues, including public and private housing, homelesssness, transit, land use and development, small businesses, the city’s Open Streets program, concern over federal aid, and more.

Candidates vying to succeed term-limited Gale Brewer for Manhattan Borough President include Lindsey Boylan, former deputy secretary for economic development and housing in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration; Kimberly Watkins, president of Community Education Council 3 in Harlem; City Council Member Mark Levine of District 7; Elizabeth Caputo, former chair of Manhattan’s Community Board 7 on the Upper West Side; State Senator Brad Hoylman of District 27; and City Council Member Ben Kallos of District 5.

Participating candidates appeared consecutively and were given three minutes to introduce themselves, then six minutes to answer questions pre-submitted by West Side Democratic Club members. The candidates were asked mostly the same set of questions during the forum, which was moderated by club members Pablo Zevallos and Rachel Landis.

In his opening remarks, West Side Democratic President Richard Oppenheimer reflected on Wednesday’s attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, calling it “a moment of darkness and light” for democracy. Most of the candidates commented on the riot, as well, agreeing that peaceful transfers of power at all levels of government are necessary components of a healthy democracy.

Lindsey Boylan
“I came to New York, interested in urban planning, wanting to be the next Jane Jacobs and think about how to make cities work for people,” said Boylan, discussing her decision to run for borough president. For Boylan, equitable urban planning has never been more important than it is now in the midst of a pandemic that has devastated the city’s local economy on top of all the challenges the city already faced.

“The borough president's job is all about how to use all the tools at our disposal to make this borough, and as a result the city, more equitable, livable, and sustainable. I’ve been doing that my whole career,” said Boylan, noting two decades of experience managing public spaces, primarily the Bryant Park Corporation, 34th Street Partnership, and the Chelsea Improvement Company, as well as her more recent position in the Cuomo administration. Boylan left that position in 2018 and recently accused the governor of having sexually harassed her repeatedly, a charge he denied.

In 2020, Boylan ran an unsuccessful Democratic primary challenge to Rep. Jerry Nadler.

At the forum, Boylan criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program for its failure to address the city’s critical need for affordable housing via “luxury bonuses.” When asked about single-room occupancy housing, Boylan said, “This is a critical way that people live in the city. And we're not offering any alternatives.” She referenced recent housing lotteries in which applications far exceeded the number of available units as evidence of the city’s need for “deeply affordable housing.”

Boylan also expressed her disapproval of “large-scale luxury redevelopments” and “piecemeal development of public spaces and green spaces.” When asked about Speaker Corey Johnson’s recently-introduced comprehensive planning legislation, Boylan was cautiously supportive, saying, “I do think we need comprehensive planning…I'm still exploring whether or not I think this is the right avenue for it.”

Kimberly Watkins
Watkins, a local parent education leader, pitched herself as “the schools candidate,” touting a five-point plan that will address the biggest issues facing the public school system, “starting with the abolishment of mayoral control” of city schools.

Watkins said that her “people-centered platform” is focused on solving “the funding and resource issues for schools,” as well as the overlap between public education and other major sectors like affordable housing and the jobs market.

On affordable housing, Watkins expressed support for single-room occupancy housing, saying, “I think they’re great. We need more innovation in terms of increasing home ownership.” Watkins voiced criticism of the Obama-era program called Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) in which NYCHA privatizes building management of its properties while maintaining ownership and bringing in new revenue. “I also want to fight RAD, figure out a way to improve public housing without privatizing it,” she said.

When asked about comprehensive planning legislation, Watkins voiced support for the concept, saying, “I really think getting behind the idea of broader planning is a positive thing for our city,” although she did not endorse Johnson’s proposal in specific terms. Watkins added, “What I would like to see us do more of is have the conversation sort of expand out from the individual community board, to neighboring boards, or potentially even the full borough.”

Mark Levine
“I'm running for [borough] president to fight on behalf of the west side, this borough, and the city. It's a fight that I've been engaged in my entire adult life,” said Levine, who represents a district including parts of Washington Heights, West Harlem, and the Upper West Side. A former teacher who is now the chair of the Council’s health committee, Levine touted his success as a non-profit founder of a community credit union, which resulted in “$25 million in micro loans to low-income families.” He also cited his first-term work as chair of the City Council's parks committee, in which he “fought to deliver millions of dollars to green space,” as an example of his qualifications.

He praised Morningside Heights, one of the neighborhoods in his district, for working with him to develop community-driven planning. In the wake of heated debates over development that played out all over the city this past year, and are ongoing, Levine voiced steadfast support for comprehensive planning, promising that “if it doesn’t happen city-wide, then I’m going to push it as a borough-wide, comprehensive plan.” On urban planning overall, Levine said he believes in “balanced development, which protects the integrity of neighborhoods, but prioritizes creating more affordable housing.”

Levine highlighted improving transportation as a key aspect of his policy platform. Noting that the ridership of buses tends to include lower-income people, seniors, people of color, and those with disabilities, he said, “I'm a huge advocate of investing energy and resources into buses to speed them up. I think that's probably the biggest bang for the buck.” One of his goals is to see every bus line outfitted with transit signal priority (TSP) technology, which turns lights green when a bus approaches a given intersection and “shaves 21% off the travel time,” he said. Levine also said he has plans to push a bill to create free bus fare in New York City, saying this will “boost ridership and get people on mass transit” post-pandemic.

When asked about the pandemic-era Open Street program, Levine said, “It’s a policy that should remain.” He also voiced support for a vacancy tax on property owners in hopes of lowering rents and reviving the small business sector.

Elizabeth Caputo
Caputo, citing her experience as the longest serving chair of Community Board 7 in Manhattan and other leadership roles she’s held, said, “I’m running because we need strong innovative leadership right now.” She went on to criticize “career politicians,” pitching herself as a “bridge-builder.”

When asked how she would improve garbage collection in the city, Caputo told the West Side Democrats that “composting and equity, how trash and sanitation gets built in those neighborhoods, would be a huge priority of mine as borough president.” She cited her work creating a task force to provide services and support to NYCHA residents, including sanitation, as an example.

Caputo said that one of her chief priorities as borough president would be improving transportation through increased Select Bus Service. “I work every day working on safer, cleaner, greener, and more equitable forms of transportation all over the world,” Caputo said, referring to her full-time position at World Economic Forum, where she runs its U.S. government engagement. Caputo called for more Select Bus Service and promised, “Mass transit is the greatest equalizer of our city, and I’m going to be the candidate that brings it back and makes it equitable for everyone.”

When asked about the crisis over the more than 200 men sheltering at The Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side, Caputo said, “I'm the only candidate who has actually represented this district for the last 10 years, where we have had a quality of life and homelessness crisis for a very long time.”

“Those men and those people who have lived in Lucerne have a right to stay there,” she said.

Caputo also voiced her support for the Open Streets program, citing her track record as a transportation and safe street advocate in securing bike lanes for both Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue, as well as bringing Citi Bike to the neighborhood.

Brad Hoylman
“I've been proud to sponsor some of the most consequential legislation in Albany over the last few years with our new Democratic supermajority,” said Hoylman, the only openly LGBTQ candidate in the race for borough president, and until this year the only openly LGBTQ state senator in New York. He went on to cite his work as a state senator, including the Child’s Victim Act, which allowed child sexual abuse victims to pursue charges against their abusers going back decades, and a number of other bills.

“I have a record of getting things done in Albany,” Hoylman told attendees before highlighting small businesses, public spaces, affordable housing, revitalizing the arts, and economic equity as key aspects of his platform in the borough president race.

On revitalizing small businesses that have taken a severe economic hit during the pandemic, Hoylman said he has sponsored legislation called “Save Our Storefronts” that “would allow tenants to pay a percentage of their revenue to their landlord with support from the state of New York to make up the difference.” Hoylman continued, “I piloted that at Grand Central Station, where we saved a number of small businesses that couldn’t pay rent.” He complimented outgoing Borough President Gale Brewer for her “landmark legislation” regulating retail zoning on the Upper West Side, which his new legislation expands upon.

“We certainly need to get rid of the commercial rent tax below 92nd Street, at least during the pandemic,” he added.

Hoylman also adamantly opposed the idea of moving the current residents out of the Lucerne Hotel, saying, “We cannot move New Yorkers like they are chattel.”

“It certainly has a lot of merit,” said the state senator when asked if he supported comprehensive planning legislation, championed by Council Speaker Johnson, who represents an overlapping district with Hoylman. “Community-based planning is really the heart of the borough president. I'd like to replicate and actually have every community board, should they choose, institute a 197-a community based planning process. There is no more important time than now to get planning right. We risk either becoming a burnt-out shell from the 1970s or Disneyland for the super rich.”

Ben Kallos
City Council Member Kallos represents parts of the Upper East Side, Midtown, El Barrio, and Roosevelt Island and is the co-chair of the Council’s Progressive Caucus. He’s been known for a focus on campaign finance reform, among other issues, during his two terms in the Council.

At the forum, Kallos said his firsthand experience with a variety of challenges, from the stigma associated with food assistance programs to the affordable housing crisis exacerbated by sudden rent hikes, have influenced his progressive policies and focus on trying to solve problems through legislation, citing his several laws and resolutions on campaign finance reform as examples.

Noting that he has refused money from developers, corporations, and lobbyists since his initial bid for City Council in 2013, Kallos said that as borough president, he will “prioritize a worker-led recovery.”

On housing, Kallos criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio for failing to build affordable housing in his district on the Upper East Side. “All the affordable housing initiatives that have happened in my district, I’ve had to do working with everyone but this administration,” Kallos said, touting 1,000 new units of affordable housing during his Council tenure. That is why he’s been a long-time supporter of legislation for comprehensive city planning, he said. A bill to mandate such planning was recently introduced to the Council by Speaker Corey Johnson and other members.

According to Kallos, solving the city’s homelessness crisis has been one of his chief goals since he was elected to public office. He co-founded the East Side Taskforce for Homeless Outreach and Services (ETHOS) in 2016 with Borough President Brewer, which connects city agencies with non-profits and faith-based centers providing services to the unhoused and to build new supporting housing on the Upper East Side. “They’re going to the same school my daughter will go to, and that’s a city I want to live in,” he said of children who have received housing support via this taskforce. Kallos also expressed support for getting unhoused people out of shelters and into hotels, explaining that when a hotel the size of The Lucerne (the west side hotel that has been the focus of controversy over its housing homeless men offered departure from group shelters during the outbreak) in his district opened to homeless people, he greeted them “with open arms,” adding “they are still there, and they can stay there forever.” He also wants to go a step further, citing an opinion piece he co-authored arguing that the city should buy and lease the 10,000 vacant apartments in the city to unhoused people.

“This is personal for me,” said Kallos, who said he heavily relies on public transportation and biking to get around the city, when asked if he saw more opportunities for Select Bus Service on the Upper West Side. According to Kallos, he “created a new technology system” that uses “bus time transponders to track every single bus in the system” and leverage traffic improvements.

Kallos said he is the only candidate in the race who has ever led a community-based rezoning, citing work to stop development of super-tall buildings in the Sutton Place neighborhood. Kallos voiced his support for a resident-led rezoning proposal in Morningside Heights, focused between 110th and 125th Streets, that would reduce density along the side streets and increase density along the avenues, and create affordable housing as dictated by Mandatory Inclusionary Housing. “You better believe that if I'm the next borough president, we will get this rezoning done,” he said.

Kallos also emphasized that he’s “the only candidate in this race who voted to defund the police,” referring to his vote against the current city budget, which he and several other members who voted in opposition said didn’t go far enough to reduce NYPD spending, while several others voted against it because they felt it went too far.

***
by Allison Smith for Gotham Gazette
 @GothamGazette

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