Budget + Taxes

How would you prioritize these elements of or changes to the city's contracting and spending processes?

1: A Database of Deals for all economic development projects.
1: Greater limits and oversight for campaign donations for companies and individuals who contract with the city.
1: Living wage requirements for city contracts, with cost of living adjustments (COLAs).
1: Minority and women owned business enterprises (MWBE) programs.
3: Council and borough president discretionary funding process.
5: Participatory budgeting for all council members and borough presidents.
I do not support this initiative: Participatory budgeting at the executive level.

Which proposals would you support to change or study changes to the city's tax system?

• Reinstitute the commuter tax ($900 million in revenues annually) - and seek state legislative approval to accomplish this change.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address the budget and taxes in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

While my office does not formally participate in participatory budgeting, we consistently review our constituent cases to determine trends and what the biggest needs in our district are in order to fund those needs. For example, one year received multiple complaints from residents about the state of a playground in the district. As a result, we funded upgrades to the playground the next fiscal year.

Workers + Economic Development

How would you improve jobs for CITY employees?

• End gender and race-based pay gaps (Note that there is an 18-cent wage gap for women in city jobs)
• Move city employees in non-emergency and non-school roles to a 4-day, 36 hour work week, with 9 hour days (The NYC Independent Budget Office states that this could save $20 million a year)
• Improve evaluations and disciplinary processes
• Limit use of provisional employees
• Limit outsourcing of city jobs.

How would you prioritize creating and protecting job opportunities for NON-CITY employees?

1: Expand job placement services for veterans.
1: Expand summer youth employment.
1: Expand transitional jobs programs for the homeless and formerly incarcerated.
1: Provide workers with the right to advance notice of schedules, greater flexibility of scheduling, and access to full-time hours.
1: Support training programs to bring workers into emerging sectors.
2: Change street vendor permit rules, such as the Street Vendor Modernization Act.

How do you rank these initiatives to spur economic development throughout the city?

1: Develop the technology sector, including campuses such as Cornell, and incubators for the sector as a whole.
1: Implement Midtown East Rezoning.
2: Develop ports and waterfront jobs.
2: Support film and TV productions, including in the form of credits.
2: Support manufacturing expansion and protection.
2: Support the sharing economy.
I do not support this initiative: Reform of Scaffold Law (requires change to state law).

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address workers and economic development in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Transportation + Infrastructure

How would you prioritize upgrading NYC's aging infrastructure?

1: Airports
1: Gas lines
1: Rail and bus service
1: Roads and bridges
1: Water and sewer system

How would you prioritize proposals to address transportation and mobility in NYC? (Note that many of these proposals require state level advocacy.)

1: Ferry Service
1: Half-price fares for working adults at or below the poverty line
1: Increased funding for Access-A-Ride and ADA compliance for subway stations
1: LaGuardia AirTrain
2: Bus Rapid Transit
2: Increased Ride Hailing
3: Brooklyn to Queens Streetcar
3: Second Avenue Subway Phase 2
3: Triboro RX Subway Extension
4: Bike Lanes Expansion
4: CitiBike Expansion

Many subway riders - and associated MTA data - would argue that subway service is getting worse. At the same time, city and state officials disagree about who is responsible for fixing the system and paying the bills. What proposals would you advance to improve the subways and their governance?

• Increase city funding to the MTA
• Increase state funding to the MTA - and seek state approval to accomplish this change
• Earmark state funds for the MTA and forbid moving MTA money from subways to other projects - and seek state approval to accomplish this change
• Increase funding via toll reforms, such as the MoveNY tolling plan, seeking state approval for this change
• Audit MTA finances, including contracts with vendors and maintenance costs, to find opportunities for savings
• Develop mechanisms for community input in MTA spending plans
• Get more NYC representatives on the MTA board - and seek state approval to accomplish this change
• Move the MTA, or its NYC-specific services, within NYC control - and seek state approval to accomplish this change
• Increase personal income tax rate from 3.9 to 4.4 percent for individuals makings $500,000 or more, or households earning $1 million or more.

cm-subway-yes

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address transportation and infrastructure in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

I am an advocate for reducing the fares for the LIRR for stops within New York, and to bring back express buses lines that were cut in 2010, to alleviate the congestion off of the subway system and MTA buses.

Land Use + Real Estate + Housing

As a council member you'd have influence over land use decisions and the process for decision-making in your district, and competing concerns may arise in the process. How would you rank various land use priorities as you make these decisions?

1: Expand classroom seats at pace with the increase in housing units.
1: Expand infrastructure, such as transportation and utility capacity, at pace with the increase in housing units.
1: Increase affordable housing units.
1: Keep/grow small businesses, including mom and pop retailers.
1: Limit building heights to stay close to those of surrounding buildings.
1: Make sure development and zoning is in line with a DISTRICT-wide land use plan.
1: Preserve landmarks and/or institute neighborhood review to recommend which landmarks matter most.
2: Keep/grow community spaces, including parks and gardens.
2: Make sure development and zoning is in line with a BOROUGH-wide land use plan.
3: Increase market rate housing units.
3: Make sure development and zoning is in line with a CITY-wide land use plan.
I do not support this initiative: Expand presence of chain and big-box retailers.
I do not support this initiative: Increase luxury units.

Do you support any of these proposals to reform ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure)?

• Increase transparency and refine procedures before ULURP applications are filed and/or during the certification stage
• Change the ratio of mayoral appointees to the City Planning Commission, or change the term lengths or limits of commissioners
• Increase oversight of community benefits agreements between developers, community groups, and government officials - and make them enforceable.

What proposals do you support to address housing costs?

• Increase number of city-subsidized units set aside for middle and moderate income families (eg 3 person households with income between $69,000-141,735)
• Expand the city's Mitchell-Lama program
• Increase number of city-subsidized units set aside for low and mixed income families (eg 3 person households with income between $34,360-51,540).

Which proposals do you support to change the city’s homelessness service delivery?

• Find funding for NYCHA's $17 billion capital budget deficit
• Increase accessibility of shelters to those with disabilities
• Increase the number of Section 8 and public housing placements.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address land use, real estate, and housing in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Environment + Sanitation

What proposals do you support to address the environment and environmental justice in the city?

• Fees for plastic bags (note that a city law was passed, but a moratorium was enacted at the state level)
• Expand green infrastructure to prevent storm runoff
• Expand green energy usage for public facilites, such as solar and natural gas
• Tax credits for private green energy usage, such as solar and natural gas.

How do you prioritize proposals to improve NYC's waste management?

1: Improve education about residents' role in waste management.
1: Increase e-waste recycling facilities.
2: Increase compost collection sites.
I do not support this initiative: “Pay as you throw” charging for collection of waste other than recycled materials, similar to charges for utilities and water (estimated to raise $337 million annually, by the Independent Budget Office).
I do not support this initiative: Expand commercial waste zones.
I do not support this initiative: Recycle styrofoam.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address the environment and sanitation in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

I believe that recycling Styrofoam is not enough; we should ban it. Last session I voted to ban it as there has been no reliable data to show that post-consumer Styrofoam is recyclable and that a competitive market for recycled Styrofoam exists. I also believe that we also must focus on creating more green infrastructure and our waterways. As the former chair of the Waterfronts Committee, and now with oversight over maritime uses, I think we need to make sure that our waterways are clean and accessible. I’ve been a staunch advocate for an additional CSO tank in my district. The current infrastructure does NOT support the needs of my district, and as a result, our local waterway, Flushing Creek is in poor condition. In addition, I have a bill, Intro 201, which would require recycling carpet to reduce the amount of refuse going into our landfills.

Public Health + Safety

What public health and safety issues do you believe are in most need of addressing?

1: Access to healthy food.
1: Community-police relations.
1: Continuing sanctuary city policies.
1: Funding for safety net hospitals.
1: Integrity and proper management of buildings and construction inspections.
1: Keeping hospitals and emergency care in neighborhoods.
2: Emergency preparedness.
2: Epidemic of addiction, including opiates.

What do you think is the greatest health, safety, or emergency preparedness challenge facing NYC, how does it impact your district, and how would you address it?

While air quality has improved overall in the city, the number of individuals with respiratory illnesses, especially asthma, is still a major health issue that’s facing NYC now. As a health professional, I’ve seen more young individuals diagnosed with asthma and as we continue rezoning manufacturing districts into residential districts in order to create more affordable housing, we need to ensure that the air quality is safe for future residents. I’ve been working with various CBOs to address factors contributing to poor air quality in our district and have also brought up the issue of air quality with City Planning when looking at potential development sites for housing.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address public health and safety in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Stronger need to make sure that information is available in various languages to address our community’s needs. Notifications in languages other than English and Spanish usually take longer or need to be requested specifically.

Education + Children + Youth

How would you rank the significance of these alleged problems in NYC schools?

1: Class sizes are too big.
1: Inadequate racial and ethnic diversity.
1: Not enough classrooms and/or seats.
1: Parental involvement mechanisms, such as Community Education Councils, need strengthening.
1: Restrictive environment for children with disabilities.
1: Student achievement gaps based on race and income.
1: Too much student testing.
1: Too much testing to measure student and/or teacher performance.

What solutions would you advance to solve the problems you marked in the previous question?

I think we need to invest in not only our schools, but also in supplemental programs that help lead to educational attainment and success.
I think we need to invest in not only our schools, but also in supplemental programs that help lead to educational attainment and success.

Where do you stand on charter schools?

• While charter schools have given parents an option for their child’s education, we really need to examine why some families are choosing charter schools over public schools and how we can improve our public schools overall so all students can attend their local school and know that they are receiving the best education possible.

Should the city subsidize any of these services for children and their families?

• Childcare for all, from birth to age 4 (Pre-K)
• Universal free school lunch
• Expanded alternative education/GED programming
• Longer library hours
• After-school programming for all students
• More youth employment and apprenticeship opportunities.

What proposals do you support to ensure the safety of children under the purview of the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) in the foster care and juvenile justice systems?

• Caseload reductions of front-line workers
• Greater transparency of data regarding caseloads
• Increased resources for parent and family advocacy in navigating these systems.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address the children, youth, and education in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

I believe that we have to increase the wages for our human service workers, including teachers, front-line workers, and social workers. These are demanding fields, and we are losing talent because the pay is not competitive enough with the private sector. As a result, many leave, resulting in increased caseloads and pressure on those who stay.

Arts + Parks

Which proposals do you support regarding arts and cultural institutions and initiatives in NYC?

• Increase the city's overall arts budget
• Increase funding for small and/or community-based arts and cultural organizations
• Increase funding and/or partnerships for art and music education in schools
• Fund cultural institutions and museums based on the diversity of their board members and employees
• Change film permit requirements to reduce frequency of shooting in much-used neighborhoods.

What proposals do you support regarding the management and funding of city parks?

• Redistribute privately donated funds from well-financed to lower-financed parks conservancies
• Make community gardens into permanent park spaces
• Standardize financial data reporting from private partnerships that care for parks - such as the Central Park Conservancy and Prospect Park Alliance
• Institute shadow laws to prevent parks from losing sunlight because of shadows from new, tall buildings.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address arts and parks in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

I believe that we should increase funding to smaller community-based arts and cultural organizations, especially for those in the outer boroughs that may not be in every tourist guide. I also believe that while we should support policies that increase the diversity of board member and employees at our cultural institutions and general, we must be careful that these policies aren’t negatively impacting those institutions who historically have done so—which was an unintended consequence of a similar policy. Regarding our parks, I think that the amount of parkland in one’s district should also be taken into consideration when considering funding for our local parkland.

Constituent Groups' Needs

The city offers services to address constituent needs - how would you address funding for these services?
Increase funding:

• Additional staff, including social workers, for senior centers.
• Extended hours at senior centers.
• Additional meals at senior centers.
• Education regarding availability of Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE).
• Education regarding availability of Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE).
• Education regarding availability of evaluations for Individualized Education Plans (IEP) for students with disabilities.
• Education and job training for individuals with disabilities.
• LGBTQ community centers.
• Housing for homeless LGBTQ, particularly youth.
• Sexual health/HIV and AIDs services.
• Drug abuse and addiction services.
• Mental health training for city employees.
• Department of Veterans Services.

Fine as is:

• (Candidate didn't select answers in this category)

Decrease funding:

• (Candidate didn't select answers in this category)

Do you support any of these changes to NYC's human rights law?

• Amend the definitions of gender and sexual orientation (City Council Intro 1186)
• Prohibit employer retaliation if an employee requests a "reasonable accommodation on the basis of a religious observance, disability, pregnancy, childbirth, medical condition, or their status as a victim of domestic violence, a sex offense or stalking, among other possible reasons" (City Council Intro 1479)
• Clarify which employees are protected by the human rights law, including interns and particular independent contractors (City Council Intro 1016).

NYC provides a variety of services and information to immigrants, but not always in the languages spoken by the city's many immigrant communities. In which of these areas do you believe the city should provide resources in more languages?

• Elections and voting
• Health care
• Educational and youth services
• Senior services
• General community notifications.

The current city budget supports funding for legal services for immigrants facing deportation. What do you think about that?

I support this funding for immigrants not convicted of serious felonies.

Women make up half of the population, but are slated to make up less than one-third of the NYC Council's next class. Do you think this is a problem? And if so, what would you do about it?

I believe that the City Council should reflect the diversity of our great City, and that includes gender diversity. I support programs that foster and develop leadership skills in women--like through the Council’s Young Women’s Initiative--and also believe that we must provide opportunities that get women into the pipeline towards leadership positions and elected office. I am proud to have a capable female Chief of Staff, and most of my Council staff is comprised of women.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address the needs of constituent groups in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Policing + Criminal Justice

Which of these strategies do you think NYC should implement to prevent crimes?

• Broken windows policing, or cracking down on low-level offenses to prevent more serious crimes
• Reduce youth exposure to violence
• Invest in education and workforce development for young New Yorkers, to steer them away from making money through criminal activity
• Strengthen partnerships between the police, government entities, and community organization working with at-risk youths.

Which of these proposals do you support to change policies of the New York Police Department (NYPD)?

• Improve existing oversight structures such as the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) and Inspector General
• Improve diversity and special needs training for communities of color, LGBTQ and disabilities communities, and residents with mental health issues.

Which of these proposals do you support to address pretrial detention, case processing, and trials for criminal defendants?

• Simplify the process to pay bail
• Develop risk assessment tools to measure defendant's possible risk of re-offense, violence, and domestic violence
• Institute best practices to manage the timeline of criminal cases, including triage for cases likely to go to trial and speedy resolution of other cases, courts monitoring the timelines of cases, and holding attorneys accountable for moving cases along
• Use specialized courts that deliver services to address recidivism and provide alternative justice models, such as Community, Youth, Reentry, Drug, and/or Mental Health Courts.

If Rikers Island were to close, where do you think a jail should be sited in your borough, how would you discuss this with your constituents, and what do you think should be the use of Rikers Island?

My understanding is that the Queens Detention Complex is currently underutilized. I think we should consider this location first as the infrastructure is already there, it’s proximity to the various court houses, and it’s location is easily accessible. This is something that my constituents would care deeply about and I welcome their thoughts, and look forward to joining the conversation when it arises. Regarding what to do with Rikers Island, I think that we need to study what is feasible for that location, but ideas include an extension of LaGuardia Airport, training center or educational complex, or even a convention center.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address policing and criminal justice in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Government Structures

How do you think NYC's system of checks and balances is working?

• The system generally works, but could still use some improvement.

How would you fix NYC government's system of checks and balances and keep officials accountable to the public?

• Give the COIB, DOI, and/or the public advocate "independent budgets" - budgets tied to certain formulas rather than the annual, political budget process of the mayor and city council, Change COIB and DOI leadership appointments, so that they are not only appointed by the mayor but also by other branches of government that check the mayor and the city's agencies, such as the city council, public advocate, and/or comptroller
• Have the city council review COIB and DOI internal rules, procedures, and findings.

Over the past several years, NYC has developed an Open Data Plan and has been releasing datasets about select city services and operations to the public through the Open Data Portal. Is there any data about city services or operations that you think should or must still be shared with New Yorkers?

I voted on the open data amendments this session and in favor of the open data law last session. Transparency is key to a healthy government and democracy. While I think that a lot of reporting bills have been passed that have brought to light a lot of data that wasn’t previously available, I think the most pressing issue now is the timeliness of that data. Is that data being published right away or within the required time frame? Or is it like the snow plowing data where the Council had to constantly follow up on it until it was published?

All cities, including NYC, are "municipal corporations" of state government - and state law dictates what authority cities have over their own government and operations. State law limits NYC government's control over rent regulation (Urstadt Law), mayoral control of city schools, transportation and traffic (the MTA and subways, bridge tolls, and speed cameras and speed limits). As a council member, how would you deal with state government when it gets in the way of your city policy goals?

• Meet with state legislators, the governor, and other state officials to collaboratively find solutions
• Meet with officials from other cities in NY state, to collectively change municipal home rule to expand cities' self control.

In 2016, the NYC Council voted to remove special stipends for chairs of council committees (which had been used as a political tool by the council speaker), while giving all council members a raise from $112,500 to $148,500 - the raise was signed into law by the mayor. If elected, how would you handle this issue if it comes up again?

• Advocate for legislation that requires salaries of council members to be voted on by New Yorkers through referendum
• Advocate for legislation that requires salaries of council members to be exclusively determined by an independent commission
• Advocate for legislation that requires salaries of council members to be tied to inflation and/or median income.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address government structures and accountability in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Elections + Campaign Finance

Where do you stand on these proposals to change voting and municipal elections in NYC?
Support - and would like to be prime sponsor on this legislation:

• Expand use of poll workers working shorter shifts (less than the current 15 hour shifts)

Support:

• Instant runoff voting

Oppose:

• Extend the vote to permanent residents
• Extend the vote to non-citizens who have applied and are waiting for green cards
• Extend the vote to non-citizens who have been lawfully present for a specified period of time
• Extend the vote to all non-citizens, including undocumented residents

Not sure:

• Nonpartisan elections

Should these elements of the public matching system be higher or lower?
Make it higher:

• (Candidate didn't select answers in this category)

Good as is:

• Contribution limit ($2,750 for council candidates)
• Doing business contribution limit ($250 for council candidates)
• Threshold of funds raised to participate in public matching system ($5,000 for council candidates)
• Threshold of donors to participate in public matching system (75 for council candidates)
• Spending limits in years prior to the election year ($49,000 for council candidates)
• Spending limits in the primary election ($182,000 for council candidates)
• Spending limits in the general election ($182,000 for council candidates)
• Maximum public funds payment ($100,100 for council candidates)

Make it lower:

• (Candidate didn't select answers in this category)

Not sure:

• (Candidate didn't select answers in this category)

What do you think about the role of bundlers in raising campaign funds, lobbyists making donations, and nonprofits of elected officials taking donations from lobbyists?

This session I voted for Intro. 985, which eliminated matching funds for any contributions bundled by a lobbyist or a person doing business with the City. This law was a big step towards reducing the worst impacts of bundling, where lobbyists and persons doing business with the City were able to legally skirt our doing business limits. I am proud of my vote and will continue to support such good government bills in the future.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address elections and campaign finance in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

We should consider lowering the thresholds for matching funds for the Mayoral races. As this year’s race shows us, it is difficult for grassroots candidates to raise enough contributions to qualify.