Racial Justice – #BlackLivesMatter

As a proud queer black man I proudly proclaim that #BlackLivesMatter. The criminal justice system in the US and in NYC is broken. It is not a justice system at all, it is a carceral system. The NYPD policies and practices that result in the disproportionate and horrifying number of Black and Brown people harassed, ticketed, arrested, imprisoned, and murdered is a profound failure in moral and organizational leadership. The power of pro-carceral forces cannot be underestimated. Their interests are vested and have been mobilized to manipulate Democrat and Republican lawmakers. My pledge is to work tirelessly to focus on funding schools and not jails. We must commit to ending the cradle-to-prison-pipeline and that means focusing on family planning and health services, childcare, and early childhood education.

Support Small Business

As a small business operator in NYC, I know the consequences of COVID-19 continues to have on our community members and local businesses and how it directly impacts their employees. In an already unsteady economy plagued by inflated commercial rents, regulatory burdens, high taxes, and rising healthcare costs, staying afloat during the pandemic was extremely challenging. Now we must help our community keep their local businesses alive and New Yorkers working. That includes funding a Small Business Restart & Recovery program to aid our small and minority-owned businesses.

One immediate step we can take as the New York City Council is to pass the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA). SBJSA is a straightforward and pragmatic policy. The act addresses the root cause that impacts the closure of the established business (businesses that have been open for 5 or more years) the commercial lease process. 

The Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA) is a bill that has been introduced in the NYC City Council that would give commercial tenants three specific rights: 

1. A minimum 10-year lease with the right to renewal, so they can better plan for the future of their business.

2. Equal negotiation terms when it comes time to renew their lease with recourse to binding arbitration by a 3rd party if fair terms can not be found.

3. Restrictions to prevent landlords from passing their property taxes on to small business owners. 

New Yorkers deserve a City Council that acts boldly to save our small businesses and the New Yorkers they employ.

Stop defunding our NYC School System

As a father, I must protect my daughters and the 1.1 million other school children's right to quality education. New York City is the nation’s most extensive school system, setting a model for our nation. In the latest City Council budget, they have removed $1 billion in funding for the fiscal years 2020 and ’21– gutting schools, youth services, and counselors in a time when schools need additional resources to provide a safe learning environment for our kids. I am determined to fix this dramatic reduction. I am also an advocate for allocating funding for curricula relevant to the communities of the school, oriented towards racial and social justice, working-class and labor history, LGBTQ+ studies, multilingual education and immersion, and vocational training.

Protecting our LGBTQ+ Community

As an LGBTQ+ community member, I know the struggles our young LGBTQ+ community face. Without strong leadership to protect their rights, safety, mental & physical health, employment equality, and community centers that provide safety for expression, our community will continue to be disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 crisis. As a business leader, I have always been an advocate for hiring and mentoring an inclusive and diverse staff. As a city councilperson, I would continue to advocate for these causes, support programs for our community, and expand the protections of the Community Safety Act.

Reduce Crime

As a gun violence survivor, I know the pain these attacks have on the families and communities involved. Now, violent crimes are on the rise in our neighborhoods. Every week we see more shootings, stabbings, and random acts of violence against our community. I commit to investing the funds to investigate these problems, continue to expand the Crisis Management System currently in place, and find a solution to these problems I’ve also partnered with my local community members to start the NYC Whistle Defense Program to help deter, prevent, and call on local community members from falling victim to these crimes.

Criminal Justice

It’s no secret that factors such as the pandemic, high unemployment rate, and instability in our economy have increased crime in the city. But this isn’t the time to backtrack on our mission to end mass incarceration and the unequal treatment of people of color in the criminal justice system. We’ve made progress in pursuing bail reform, plans to close Rikers, eliminating stop & frisk policy, and more. I believe in investing in restorative justice programs, enacting “Ban The Box”, decriminalize petty offenses, and diverting funds.

Erase Barriers for Disabilities

It's simple: people living with disabilities in our district shouldn't be held back by them. As a Councilmember I will fight to ensure that all modes of transportation are completely accessible. This extends to our buildings as well, which should have requirements for new construction and mandatory revisions enforced over time for existing structures. People with disabilities also face many of the same hurdles as communities of color, which are even more difficult to overcome when someone identifies as both. We need to support job training programs and incentivize hiring to ensure people with disabilities can support themselves to live here, and we need to enact protections that make it more difficult to evict them from homes that likely need to be upgraded for accessibility themselves. We should allow all those who are disabled either free, pay as you can, or discounted access to both city and private cultural institutions, so that there are no financial barriers to entry.

Stop Evictions - Housing is a Human Right

Now more than ever, homelessness and affordable housing have become issues we must address. As a resident of this district for more than 16 years, I have seen how these issues continue to worsen. We need funding for shelter programs, drug and substance abuse programs, and funding for job resource programs to solve this problem. We need to protect families with policies that preserve affordability, and safeguard renters from predatory landlords. This isn’t an issue going away by converting small local hotels, desperate for business, into temporary shelters. This is a systemic issue that needs to be addressed.

Enhance EBT/SNAP Benefits

Community members receiving EBT and SNAP benefits are some of our most vulnerable. We need to expand these benefits to ensure they have the assistance they need to support themselves and their families. As a Councilmember, I would fight for more income to the EBT card each month, as many families run out of food in the third week, and essentially starve until the next EBT deposit. Families who need these benefits should additionally be able to use them at retail locations for essential goods such as clothing and school supplies. I would also advocate to include a specific discount at the check out register when the EBT card is presented as payment when used to purchase food. Lastly, we should take a page out of the books of other big cities like Boston and Chicago to offer card holders access to cultural institutions across the city to provide children with more educational opportunities.

Gender Equality

I advocate fighting all forms of oppression, especially gender and gender identity rights. As a father to my young daughter, and for all of our children – I will fight to promote diversity, a safe workplace, and equal pay and representation. I will support programs and laws that protect the rights of women and develop measures for accountability for sexual assault, harassment, and rape, in the workplace and schools, as well as provide medical treatment, including a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) available 24 hours at every hospital.