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AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Education

Public Safety

Seniors

Jobs &
The Economy

Residential Property Tax

Public Transportation

COVID-19 Recovery

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AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Prior to the pandemic, we were dealing with an affordable housing crisis that impacted our communities in this section of the Bronx. Now, residents are trying to figure out not only where to live that is affordable, but how to pay their back rent. Responsible development of new housing stock and regulating existing housing stock is essential for more accessible and inclusive neighborhoods: 

  • Rental vouchers: I will support federal, state and local support of rental vouchers for residents impacted by disruptions associated with the COVID-19 fallout. 
  • Rent payment moratorium: I will advocate for moratoriums on rent payments by working with landlords to determine a feasible way to address this problem.
  • Development: Any developments in the 18th Councilmanic district with an affordable housing development will need to demonstrate how they are pegged to the local area median income (AMI) in order to ensure local residents can afford to live in these units 
  • NYCHA: Public-private partnerships need to be reevaluated to determine how effective they are in supplying residents with affordable housing options; we need to secure a repository of public housing free of a for-profit model that eventually drives up costs. 

Education

A quality education is an essential building block for a child’s future. Access—free of structural barriers—is needed for adequately funded institutions and professionals: 

  • Wrap-around services for at-risk students: We need to identify which students need more social services so that they may be engaged in order to best position them to successfully perform when at school. 
  • Trade/technical school options: I would support a model where interested students and those demonstrating a talent be offered an option to explore a program tailored to a skilled trade. 
  • Remote learning: I support the accessibility and the technology  (i.e. hot spots, computer reliable connectivity) for students to access the necessary equipment and technology so that they may successfully participate in their remote learning experience.

Public Safety

We have to balance implementing and maintaining public safety with ensuring that our residents—overwhelmingly people of color—are spared any harm or unnecessary harassment by a criminal justice system charged with maintaining said public safety: 

  • Reassess and reallocate funding earmarked for the NYPD by steering to social services programs and outreach so that police officers are no longer tasked with engaging residents in situations outside of their trained mandates. 
  • Quality of life safety in the district

Seniors

Support for our seniors cannot be overlooked when it comes to their quality of life in our neighborhoods. We need to ensure that they are offered comprehensive services for the betterment of their living conditions, access to amenities and their social lives: 

  • We need increased funding to senior centers: These institutions should be places where seniors can visit and access various services to increase opportunities for leisure and communal engagements.
  • Holistic social services: Seniors should have the ability to access services that track their health and well-being from a suite of social service professionals in more comprehensive ways.
  • Creating a database of seniors for emergency services

Jobs & The Economy

Small businesses are the driving force behind economic development in our communities, coupled with that, are larger employers seeking to invest in the infrastructure and people. We need to develop a sustainable and attractive environment for businesses, not only to attract them to our communities but to keep them here. This needs to be accomplished while ensuring that living wages are being paid for quality jobs: 

  • Fight for a living wage mandate, especially if a company receives any form of government subsidy 
  • Green jobs (Cross Bronx/recycling)

Residential Property Tax:

The property tax system in New York City lacks transparency and equity. We need a revised system that functions as an upgrade to the old, to render a fairer, sensible and trackable system for how property values are assessed and how properties are categorized:

  • Properties should be based on their sale value and not on how much income they could potentially generate
  • Create a more streamlined and coherent system that outlines tax abatements, rebates and caps so that residents can more easily understand what these are
  • Support a new tax system that places less of a burden on communities of color and more equitably distribute that burden onto other neighborhoods

Public Transportation

Public transportation is the lifeblood of a thriving community. The ability to move masses of people around, efficiently, and sustainably, not only fosters an ecological benefit, but also provides an efficient means for residents to access City services and amenities along with job opportunities. We must ensure that our infrastructure is funded in accordance with these mandates:

  • Petition state elected officials 
  • Reassessing antiquated system 
  • Efficiency

COVID-19 Recovery

The pandemic has devastated communities in a myriad of ways. From loss of life and jobs to the many logistical disruptions to accessing goods and services, the fallout from COVID-19 has changed so much. We need a coordinated response from the Federal, State and local levels to create a framework to keep people safe, bring back jobs and reestablish pipelines for desperately needed services: 

  • Coordinated and more reliable vaccination rollout
  • Rental vouchers and mortgage abatements for those suffering financially from the pandemic
  • Financial assistance for small “mom & pop” homeowners