Last-Minute Guide: Here's Where Downtown's Council Candidates Stand
Candidates for City Council in Council District 1. From left: Susan Lee, Christopher Marte, and Ursila Jung.
Tuesday, June 27, is Election Day. The Trib sent questionnaires to the four announced candidates for City Council in District 1, which covers Lower Manhattan. One of them, Pooi Stewart, did not respond. Candidate statements were furnished to the Campaign Finance Board’s “City Council Voter Guide.” For more information on the candidates, go here.
Candidate Statement:
“I am running to represent District 1 because I believe we can do better! As a parent, a New Yorker and a community member, I believe we need strong leadership to have a safe, clean city where we are not afraid for our kids. We deserve affordable housing, better schools, and vibrant neighborhoods. The time for extreme politics is over. Despite the polarization we see in the media, like most of this country, I am a centrist and I believe we need to work together towards bringing NYC back.”
Current occupation:
Education Advocate
Previous occupation:
Public Policy Consultant
How long have you resided in the 1st Council District and in which neighborhood?
23 years in Battery Park City
Describe your previous and current community involvements within Council District 1:
I have been an advocate for more parental voice in public schools for over a decade and ensuring that our schools work for all children. In recent months I have been focusing on ensuring that schools have the resources to support both new asylum seekers as well as currently enrolled students. I have also been involved in community clothing and necessity drives for the families of these students.
You have indicated that your three top issues are:
1. Public safety and government accountability.
2. Parents deserve high quality public schools.
3. Neighborhood stores make NYC great.
Please describe how, within your power and function as a City Council Member, you would help achieve those goals. Please be as specific as possible.
The most important powers a City Council Member has is the budget and oversight. The budget each year is an expression of our priorities and I would plan to use it as a way to provide a clear direction and message for New Yorkers that we hear their concerns and are taking active steps to address the most pressing among them. Additionally, the oversight powers of the City Council are vital to ensuring proper implementation of that budget and set of priorities. As a Council Member, I plan to take that oversight responsibility very seriously so that we can address problems as they happen and have them corrected transparently.
How would you evaluate the City Council’s recent record on those issues?
I believe that the current City Council has dropped the ball on a number of issues.
It’s clear that public safety has taken a backseat. Hate crimes, particularly against the Asian and Jewish communities, have continued to grow and go unreported. Violence on the subways also continues to be an issue. We need to ensure that all New Yorkers feel safe for themselves and their families. When it comes to education, we continue to see a lack of educational choices for parents. NYC schools spend over $37,000 per student each year, yet 40% of 4th graders aren’t reading at grade level. They’ve been unaccountable for student success. We’re failing our children by not helping them prepare to be globally competitive.
How would you evaluate the Adams Administration’s record so far on those issues, and in general?
The Adams Administration’s record on these issues has been a mixed bag. I think we all recognize the monumental challenge of managing a city the size of NYC, but I think overall we are seeing a lack of clear management and efficiency. For example, suggesting across the board budget cuts for every department without looking for inefficiencies to reduce costs first is going to end up causing cuts to important programs that New Yorkers rely on around the issues of public safety, education, and small businesses. I believe we can be more targeted to make government work better.
Candidate Statement
“I am a community advocate, a non-profit leader, and a moderate Democrat that have never shied away from standing up for those in need. As a lifelong New Yorker, I have seen the best of times and the worst of times. And I also know our city will recover but it will take hard work and dedication. In a time of unprecedented challenges, strong, effective leadership is more critical than ever. I will never stop working to make the district a better place for all, I hope to earn your vote this election.”
Current occupation: Nonprofit Grant writing/Fundraising Consultant
Previous occupation: Nonprofit Grant writing/Fundraising Consultant for over 15 years
How long have you resided in the 1st Council District and in which neighborhood? 6 years in Tribeca
Describe your previous and current community involvements within Council District 1.
After college, I worked at an international law firm in Lower Manhattan and was charged with supervising the 9/11 recovery efforts for the legal assistant department. Additionally, I leveraged resources at the firm and worked on several pro bono matters referred by Human Rights Watch and Safe Horizon. While pursuing my graduate degree at NYU, I rose through the ranks at AAFE [ASIAN AMERICANS FOR EQUITY] Community Development Fund, first as a graduate intern and was then promoted Program Manager for Development. I have worked on housing and advocacy issues at AAFE CDF for about three years. My background in International Public Finance played a crucial role in securing grants for AAFE CDF. Most recently, I formed the Alliance for Community Preservation and Betterment, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life, public safety and neighborhood conditions in and around Manhattan’s historic Chinatown. I am the co-founder and Vice-President of SDR Park Alliance, a community group with a vision to beautify and enhance public safety within Sara D. Roosevelt Park, through landscaping, capital improvement, and design. Under my leadership, SDR Park Alliance was awarded $3.3M from New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiatives. The renovation of public space will be a green sanctuary for use by a multicultural and multigenerational neighborhood.
You have indicated that your three top issues are:
1. Protect communities from rising crime
2. Improve quality of public schools
3. Ensure economic opportunities for all
Please describe how, within your power and function as a City Council Member, you would help achieve those goals. Please be as specific as possible.
CRIME: I will work with our partners in government to get illegal guns off our streets and close illegal smoke shops that have proliferated in our communities, especially around schools. Police reform should be grounded in meaningful discussions between the community and the police department. I am a proponent of community policing with the goal of creating more opportunities for police and community members to engage in positive ways. It will build relationship and trust between the public and police. By having officers on the streets and in the community, it offers greater transparency. In addition to community policing, we need to increase training in our police department. When elected to City Council, I will: Reinvest in the NYPD’s training; Support the recruitment, retention and promotion of minority supervisors; and Work with our state elected officials on revising the current bail reform. While I believe that we should not impose bail on non-violent offenders; we must ensure public safety by setting bail for repeated offenders and those who committed violent crimes. We need to give judges judicial discretion when setting bail if he/she have reasons to believe that the defendant may be a harm to themselves and the general public.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: I support: 1. Using SHSAT as the sole criterion for admission into specialized high schools. It is an equalizer, which gives students of low-income and immigrant families, a fair chance for advancement. 2. Expanding the Gifted & Talented Program throughout New York City. By doing so, it will provide quality instruction to advanced learners beginning at a young age. It would also reduce the current disparities by preparing more students for success in the SHSAT and entrance into specialized high schools. 3. Investing in underserved schools by expanding after-school programs and enrichment courses. 4. Collaboration between public and private partners to address technology and resource gaps in our schools. 5. Fully fund social and mental health service to all students in our public schools.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY: This will be a multiprong approach through affordable housing, services to seniors and support for our small businesses.
How would you evaluate the City Council’s recent record on those issues?
This year, the City Council has made significant strides in addressing women’s health and reproductive agenda. They have supported and tackled some of the issues faced by working class New Yorkers. However, improvements can be made addressing public safety, quality of life, and affordable housing issues.
How would you evaluate the Adams Administration’s record so far on those issues, and in general?
The Adams Administration is handling the above issues well; however more can be done with affordable housing and helping with small businesses.
Candidate Statement:
“It’s an honor representing the communities that raised me at City Hall. In one year, we’ve secured over $15M for public housing improvements, expanded street cleaning, new parks, and public school repairs. Instead of meeting with lobbyists, we’ve written legislation to end 24 hour workdays for home attendants, faced down billionaire developers from the Seaport to Two Bridges, and are serving thousands of people at our storefront office on East Broadway. We have hit the ground running, but we are only just getting started!”
Current occupation: City Council Member
Previous occupation:
New York Director, Arena. Pension Fund Manager, IBM
How long have you resided in the 1st Council District and in which neighborhood? 34 years on the Lower East Side and Chinatown
You have indicated that your three top issues are:
1. Stop the displacement crisis
2. End sweatshop conditions in NYC
3. Enforce responsible environmental resiliency
Please describe how, within your power and function as a City Council Member, you would help achieve those goals. Please be as specific as possible.
Stopping Displacement: Housing is the biggest issue facing Lower Manhattan. We need a comprehensive land use plan so our neighborhoods can develop responsibly - creating new affordable housing units and defending the ones we already have. I was elected by a unifying coalition that has organized against displacement from Tribeca to the Lower East Side, who recognize that when City politicians are in the pockets of developers, people lose their voice in shaping the future of the neighborhoods they helped create. To defend our neighbors against displacement, I co-sponsored legislation that just passed, allowing hundreds of tenants in former Mitchell-Lamas (like Independence Plaza) to apply for affordability programs that will stop rent increases for seniors. I have advocated relentlessly to make sure the ground lease in Battery Park City is negotiated in good faith, so residents can finally have stability. To plan for a future based on our community’s needs, I have fought for 100% affordable housing at World Trade Center 5, negotiating with all stakeholders and bringing together new partnerships. I have brought City agencies together and started working on the Chinatown Working Group Plan, which will implement affordable housing development while preventing displacement across Chinatown and the Lower East Side.
Ending sweatshop conditions: It is unconscionable that 24-hour workdays are currently legal in NYC. Thousands of immigrant women of color who work as home attendants are forced to work 24-hour shifts, sometimes for days in a row. These sweatshop conditions turn the workers into patients themselves, destroying their bodies due to the hard physical labor, and damaging their mental health as they develop insomnia and depression from the isolation. I introduced No More 24 Act, which will end these inhumane shifts by mandating that agencies split the shifts into two 12-hour periods. Women who have never had their voices heard in City Hall came and testified for our 8-hour hearing. Since then, we have organized multiple rallies outside City Hall, urging Speaker Adams to bring the bill to a vote in the Council.
How would you evaluate the City Council’s record on those three issues?
The City Council has a long way to go to address our affordability crisis and egregious working conditions. We need more politicians that let tenants, residents, and workers influence their decision-making, and not lobbyists, developers, and sweatshop bosses.
How would you evaluate the Adams Administration’s record so far on those two issues, and in general?
It’s been disappointing to see the mayor’s support for the Rent Guidelines Board's consecutive rent increases. Given the struggles that many rent-stabilized tenants already face in affording rent, the last thing our city needs is more rent hikes. To combat the displacement crisis, we require rent rollbacks instead of increases, along with stronger tenant protections to prevent evictions. Additionally, there is a pressing need for more genuinely affordable housing, yet the mayor has failed to introduce a plan that adequately addresses the shortage of affordable housing being constructed. Furthermore, it is unacceptable for him to veto the Council's legislation aimed at removing the 90-day requirement for homeless shelter residents to qualify for a CITYFHEPS voucher. This unnecessary barrier prevents thousands from accessing affordable permanent housing, and there is no justification for vetoing a bill that the majority of the City Council approved.
Regarding the issue of sweatshop conditions in NYC, the Mayor has expressed support for establishing a minimum wage for app-based delivery workers and providing public charging stations to eliminate the risk of fire hazards caused by charging lithium-ion batteries inside homes. While these are commendable initiatives, we have yet to witness the actual implementation of public charging infrastructure. The Mayor has not made his position clear on Intro 175. I hope he would vocally support my legislation to put an end to this form of modern-day slavery.