Budget + Taxes

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

1: Participatory budgeting at the executive level.
1: Participatory budgeting for all council members and borough presidents.
2: A Database of Deals for all economic development projects.
2: Greater limits and oversight for campaign donations for companies and individuals who contract with the city.
3: Council and borough president discretionary funding process.
3: Living wage requirements for city contracts, with cost of living adjustments (COLAs).
4: Minority and women owned business enterprises (MWBE) programs.

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
• Constitute a new property tax commission to study and make recommendations on tax rates.

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.

I will bring participatory budgeting to my district. Those who pay the taxes should have a say in how the money is spent. I will urge all my colleagues to do so, and I would sponsor legislation requiring that Council members and the Mayor engage in a participatory budget process.

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).

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

1: Expand job placement services for veterans.
2: Expand summer youth employment.
3: Change street vendor permit rules, such as the Street Vendor Modernization Act.
4: Provide workers with the right to advance notice of schedules, greater flexibility of scheduling, and access to full-time hours.
5: Expand transitional jobs programs for the homeless and formerly incarcerated.
Not listed as a priority: Support training programs to bring workers into emerging sectors.

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: Support film and TV productions, including in the form of credits.
2: Reform of Scaffold Law (requires change to state law).
2: Support manufacturing expansion and protection.
3: Develop ports and waterfront jobs.
3: Implement Midtown East Rezoning.
4: Support the sharing economy.

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: Rail and bus service
2: Roads and bridges
3: Water and sewer system
4: Gas lines
5: Airports

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

1: Bus Rapid Transit
1: Ferry Service
2: Increased funding for Access-A-Ride and ADA compliance for subway stations
2: Triboro RX Subway Extension
3: CitiBike Expansion
3: Second Avenue Subway Phase 2
4: Bike Lanes Expansion
4: Half-price fares for working adults at or below the poverty line
5: Increased Ride Hailing
5: LaGuardia AirTrain
I do not support this initiative: Brooklyn to Queens Streetcar

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
• Audit MTA finances, including contracts with vendors and maintenance costs, to find opportunities for savings
• Develop mechanisms for community input in MTA spending plans.

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 the expansion of the new ferry system. Our waterways can provide efficient pathways for travel, while reducing the number of automobiles on our city's roads. Working with Senator Golden we were able to restore weekend X27 and X28 service following the MTA's 2010 cuts. I will be an advocate for improved subway service, as the R train, which serves many of the district's residents, has repeatedly been ranked among the least reliable subway lines in the city.

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

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
• Make community board input binding, rather than advisory
• Make borough president input binding, rather than advisory
• 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
• Preserve affordable housing units by subsidizing physical repairs to property
• Preserve affordable housing through financing arrangements with owners, ie tax subsidies.

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

• Find funding for NYCHA's $17 billion capital budget deficit
• Offer permanent supportive housing with links to social services to address mental illness and other health issues.

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.

I believe we need to fund and provide incentives for middle-income housing for seniors. I also support shifting funding for temporary housing, which mainly benefits the owners of second-rate hotels and the Manhattan homeless hotel industry who are willing to house the homeless, to building/renovating affordable housing. We should be directing additional funds into NYCHA, rebuilding units, keeping families together, getting kids into school, getting job training and we save those families, we keep them together, we keep them off our streets, we'll do a lot more than all these homeless hotels and warehouses for homeless where a lot of people we don't know are making an awful lot of money without addressing the long-term need.

Environment + Sanitation

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

• Expand green infrastructure to prevent storm runoff
• Expand green energy usage for public facilites, such as solar and natural gas
• Increase transparency of facilities siting through online publication of Fair Share Statements and mapping of facilities
• 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.
3: Expand commercial waste zones.
3: Recycle styrofoam.
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).

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 support the continuation and expansion of the city's recycling program, including organics. Such programs reduce the environmental burden on the city's residents. I opposed the construction of the Waste Transfer Station in Bensonhurst because of traffic and safety concerns. Expanding our recycling efforts reduces the need for theses facilities.

Working with Senator Golden, I have helped conduct recycling events on a regular basis, that include free shredding service, electronic recycling through a local ecology center, textile collection through DSNY and rain barrel events, As Council member, I would host these events and other activities intended to encourage recycling in our community.

Public Health + Safety

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

1: Emergency preparedness.
1: Epidemic of addiction, including opiates.
1: Keeping hospitals and emergency care in neighborhoods.
2: Access to healthy food.
2: Funding for safety net hospitals.
2: Integrity and proper management of buildings and construction inspections.
3: Community-police relations.
I do not believe this is a health/safety issue: Continuing sanctuary city policies.

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?

Given that New York is a coastal city, it is imperative that we improve our ability to handle the extreme weather events that seem to be occurring more frequently, endangering people, property and infrastructure. I believe that one way to improve our resiliency is through the introduction of "resiliency tax credits." Similar to "energy tax credits", such a plan would offer incentives to property owners to make their properties more resilient. Such incentives would lead to the creation of additional jobs in industries that serve to improve properties against extreme weather. This impacts my district because it is a shore front district, and many areas were damaged by Super Storm Sandy

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.

While the statistics tell us that crime is on the decline, we must do more to keep our neighborhoods safe. The NYPD, which is the finest law enforcement agency in the world, is stretched thin due to its anti-terrorism responsibilities and the need to keep New Yorkers, and the 50 million people who visit our city each year, safe. That’s why I’ve proposed the creation of an “Eyes on the Street” video database where folks with cameras on their houses or driveways can not only file a police report when their car is rummaged through, or their package is stolen from their stoop, but they can give video to the police to upload to a database we can all view to help identify the suspects. I would also advocate for increasing the staffing levels in the 62nd and 68th precincts and have a petition asking for more cops on the street.

Education + Children + Youth

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

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

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

Under Mayor DeBlasio, the Department of Education has proven to be unresponsive to parental concerns. Reasonable parental requests are rejected; incompetent administrators remain in place, and educational policy is made without considering how it impacts upon children. Community Education Councils need to be empowered so that they can respond to the needs of the students. The DeBlasio administration has done little to address the achievement gap that exists in our schools. The effort must be made to improve all public schools.

Where do you stand on charter schools?

• Since charter schools are funded publicly, the government should have more oversight of their finances and operations
• They should NOT be co-located with public schools.

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

• Universal free school lunch
• Longer library hours
• After-school programming for all students.

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 use of city council's oversight authority.

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.

As the husband of an Assistant Principal in the New York City public school system, I have an understanding of the challenges that face our children, parents and school staff every day. I believe that the New York City public schools must continue their historic role of preparing our children for the challenges of tomorrow. While I believe that Charter Schools are here to stay, they should be subjected to the same standards of transparency and accountability as our traditional pubic schools.

Arts + Parks

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

• Increase funding and/or partnerships for art and music education in schools
• Allow the city's cultural institutions that have free admissions - such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art - to charge admissions for non-city residents
• Increase reporting and notification of film permits, their locations, and related data
• 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?

• Make community gardens into permanent park spaces.

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 supported Mayor Bloomberg’s initiative to transform school yards into playgrounds. I represented Senator Golden at a number of planning meetings held at the local community boards, and I continue to support initiatives such as this. In fact, I have made personal use of this initiative by taking my children to the playground at P.S. 185, which is less than three blocks from my home.

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.
• Education regarding availability of evaluations for Individualized Education Plans (IEP) for students with disabilities.
• Drug abuse and addiction services.
• Department of Veterans Services.

Fine as is:

• 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 and job training for individuals with disabilities.
• LGBTQ community centers.
• Housing for homeless LGBTQ, particularly youth.
• Sexual health/HIV and AIDs services.
• Mental health training for city employees.

Decrease funding:

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

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

• 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?

• Health care
• Educational and youth services
• Senior services.

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

I do not support this funding.

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 women should run for public office. That is why I am supporting Nicole Malliatokis for Mayor. I have supported her in her campaigns for the Assembly, and I have supported other women, such as Rosemary O’Keefe when she ran for this seat in 2003.

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.

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

• The system is working as it is and there is no need to change it.

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

• Simplify the process to pay bail
• 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?

I do not support the closure of Rikers Island.

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?

• Elections are not enough to keep government accountable.

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
• Conduct an extensive review of the city charter to balance and update government structures
• Strengthen the role of community boards in neighborhoods' land use decisionmaking, while enhancing oversight of community boards.

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?

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.

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?

• Vote against giving council members another raise
• Advocate for legislation that requires salaries of council members to be exclusively determined by an independent commission.

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:

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

Support:

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

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
• Instant runoff voting

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

• Threshold of funds raised to participate in public matching system ($5,000 for council candidates)

Good as is:

• Contribution limit ($2,750 for council candidates)
• Doing business contribution limit ($250 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?

Bundling should not be permitted. Lobbyists should be considered as donors doing business with the city and should be subject to those limits. Elected officials should be prohibited from being involved with non-profits.

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.