As someone who has worked closely with frontline essential workers for years to deliver critical services, I know that we have an obligation to protect workers and build a work environment that allows them to thrive. I will create expanded protections for workers, including free childcare for working families, and more strongly enforce our paid sick leave and fair work week laws. I will double-down on job growth and economic mobility, building a pipeline from our city’s community colleges and trade schools to good-paying jobs in biotech, green infrastructure, and renewable energy.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

New Yorkers in nonstandard work arrangements, such as gig workers, freelancers, and undocumented workers, deserve quality, accessible healthcare and I will support and expand the services that New York City's public healthcare system – the Health + Hospitals Corporation – provides to everyone, regardless of income or employment status.

I will also work with the federal government, state government, and employers to make more options available. On the federal level, we are lucky to have a Democratic majority and I will push for more generous financial assistance for insurance market plans to put insurance within reach or pass an affordable public option. On a state level, I will advocate for expanded eligibility criteria for Medicaid. We also need employers to support access to employer-sponsored plans for non traditional workers or to pay into a portable benefits fund. Additionally, independent workers should receive a refundable tax credit for 10 days of work – equivalent to what many employers offer for paid sick leave. This credit was offered as part of the COVID relief bill passed by Congress in 2020 but should be made permanent.

Starting a business is already hard – but for entrepreneurs of color and specifically for black women, limited resources and biases that make it harder to secure investor support make the path to success even more challenging. To address the lack of access to banking, we will need to work with Albany to increase access to credit and non-dilutive capital for the city’s vital and at risk enterprises at amounts less than $100K and support innovative financial mechanisms that serve small businesses. We will also provide an increase in financial assistance (loans, grants) and financial literacy workshops where vendors can learn on how to apply for loans/grants, which loans best suit their needs, and how to calculate loan repayment.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

The core of my COVID-19 recovery plan is to support the most vulnerable New Yorkers with meaningful economic relief. First, we need to provide free childcare for working families, so that guardians, especially women, can get back to work. Second, at the local level, I would work to simplify rental assistance programs, improve housing counseling services, offer targeted property tax forgiveness for landlords who forgive rent arrears, and allow landlords to draw down on city-mandated reserves to forgive rent. In addition to these measures, the Right to Counsel program has been tremendously successful in preventing evictions. I would expand eligibility for that program so that more New Yorkers would be eligible.

COVID-19 also showed us the severe lack of access to the internet, and how it’s a barrier to education, employment, and health services. The Internet is now a public good. We need to build universal broadband, and provide an affordable public option, so that everyone has access to the same resources.

We also need to unlock barriers to small businesses and arts and cultural institutions so that they can reopen and bring people back to work. We will increase access to credit, streamline all laws and regulations governing restaurants and nightlife establishments, and cut red tape for all permit and licensing processes.

Looking ahead, we need to think bigger than the Summer Youth Employment Program and create jobs pipelines for justice involved youth, CUNY, and trades schools to graduate into permanent jobs in both the public and private sectors.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

Racial equity must be a part of every single policy proposal – from education, police reform, and housing to transportation, climate, and even governance. My fundamental approach will be to dedicate resources equitably to ensure that all communities receive the best quality services – that means allocating resources to better serve neighborhoods that have been historically underserved. I also believe that we do not need to lay off workers, or cut critical services. We can find savings in our existing budget, and leverage the resources we have more effectively.

When I was at DEP, I identified and implemented more than $100 million in recurring annual savings over four years – that's nearly 10% of the utility's operating budget, without a single layoff. We identified opportunities to right-size maintenance practices, more efficiently deploy field staff and use DEP’s buying power to negotiate better rates for products used to deliver clean, safe, and healthy NYC drinking water. And all of this work happened in partnership with frontline workers and their union representatives — and resulted in no layoffs. We need to take this approach throughout the city. That said, my priorities will be refinancing the debt, working with unions to find productivity savings, and reducing redundancy that has proliferated under the current admin (i.e.: we don't need a Chief Technology Officer, Chief Cybersecurity Officer, DOITT Commissioner etc.). As far as federal support, I think NY deserves to see the equivalent of the revenue shortfall related to govt closures of business.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

The key to all policy making is to bring all the stakeholders to the table. The communities most impacted by COVID must have a say in how we move forward, and will have the best insight into what is actually needed on the ground, and then how to best implement the solution. The rollout of the vaccine distribution plan is an excellent example of what happens when you don’t include communities in the process – vaccines are not getting to the people that need them most, are not accessible, and are not trusted.

That’s why I met with NYCHA and community leaders when I was developing my proposal for an equitable vaccine rollout. With their feedback, I included in my plan the need for the government to publish neighborhood level data on which communities were receiving the vaccine and what type of vaccine they were receiving, to make sure that we were keeping our promise to prioritize the Black and Latino communities most impacted by COVID. Unfortunately, Gothamist recently reported that early data showed a stark disparity in racial distribution of the vaccine. More egregiously, the city then stopped publishing the data.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

Student loan debt is something we will have to grapple with in order to allow people to access economic mobility. My administration would advocate for the federal government to forgive debts, as well as provide economic relief for renters and small businesses so that they can have a fresh start as part of our economic recovery. In particular, I support federal legislation to forgive student debt for our nurses, who have sacrificed so much in the past year.

Equally as important is preventing family-related debts, which is why I believe New York City should provide free childcare for working families, so that people, especially women, can go back to work with peace of mind. I would also encourage families to take advantage of college savings accounts for children, and provide resources for them to learn and set them up as part of the pre-school admission process.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

We need to expand and strengthen our public transit system for all New Yorkers. I will work with state and federal governments to fully fund the Fast Forward program and press for real reform at the MTA. We need to prioritize installation and maintenance of elevators throughout the MTA to move toward a fully accessible public transit system, and make intersections safer with fully accessible curb cuts citywide. We also need to better integrate transit systems. I will be working with the MTA to create a one-swipe in-city transportation network that integrates LIRR and MetroNorth service, and explore Citibike and NYC Ferry fare integration and OMNY fare integration. Finally, we need to kick start planning for new transit to create opportunities for new housing and job growth, including the Utica Avenue and expanded Second Avenue subway and new ferry terminals in East Harlem, Inwood, Hunts Point and northern Queens.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

We will focus city investment where it’s needed most and create 50,000 units of deeply affordable housing (<50% AMI). We will also make it easier, faster, and legal for private partners to build more housing. We have added 500k New Yorkers over the last decade, but only 100k units of new housing – we cannot reduce the housing prices without increasing supply. We will end apartment bans and discriminatory zoning, and allow duplexes and triplexes to create more options for families. We will legalize basement apartments, accessory dwelling units, and single-room occupancy (SRO) apartments as a safe, sustainable and efficient means of providing housing to single-adult households – approximately one-third of households in New York City. Finally, we will accelerate approvals for new housing construction, streamline the ULURP and environmental review process as well as permit applications and inspections at the Buildings Department and sister agencies.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

We need to address street homelessness as a housing issue, with urgency and compassion, and the right solutions for families, single individuals and people living with mental illness. At the top, we will ensure that homeless services and economic development and housing all report into the same deputy mayor, who will be held accountable to treating housing issues with one comprehensive approach. Currently, DHS and HPD are overseen by two separate deputy mayors – the Deputy Mayor for Health & Human Services and the Deputy Mayor for Housing & Economic Development. Although preventing homelessness requires multiple strategies, linking together housing and homelessness will focus our affordable housing efforts.

My administration will build 10,000 units of supportive housing to provide permanent shelter, services and support for people experiencing street homelessness and those most at risk – including buying empty or underused private properties for conversion. For families, women and children, we will ensure wraparound services in shelters, including education, health, and job readiness. We will open 10 drop-in centers in key neighborhoods to provide bathrooms and critical services 24 hours a day and begin the engagement process to get homeless New Yorkers into shelter. Finally, we will expand support for the 140 NYC schools with more than 20% homeless students. Before COVID, 1 in 10 students were doubled up, living in a shelter, or unsheltered; we cannot blame teachers for low performance in schools. We need to expand support for these schools and provide practical necessities, like installing a washer and dryer.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

NYCHA has been an emergency in slow motion for decades, leaving residents to live in deteriorating apartments while the city, state, and federal government point fingers. NYCHA 2.0 and the Blueprint for Change offer a strong roadmap for change but unlike the current mayor, a Garcia administration will have the political courage, focus, and decisiveness to execute. We need to cut the “planning” and focus on executing badly needed repairs at NYCHA. Residents have seen plan after plan after plan, including 3 plans under the de Blasio administration. We know what needs to be done – install new boilers, hire more plumbers, fix broken elevators, eliminate mold – and our focus will be on executing the plan.

We will increase investment in NYCHA and make existing dollars stretch to cover more repairs to critical infrastructure, including creating a new authority for capital work that accelerates lengthy procurement rules. We will also leverage substantial federal money available in Section 8 and other programs to fix units so NYCHA residents can be proud of their homes.

We cannot let relatively “minor” repairs go unattended. To execute repairs in individual apartments, I believe in returning the original model of on site teams in each NYCHA community, instead of the current centralized process. Each development should have assigned dedicated skilled trade workers such as carpenters, painters, plasterers, plumbers and electricians. The pilot program in Queensbridge, Astoria Houses, and Ravenswood needs to be expanded to the rest of the city ASAP.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

Small landlords as well as tenants will both need real and urgent economic relief in the next year so that they both come out whole, and so that our city can avoid foreclosures and evictions. Our partners in the state legislature must work on a long term solution that stabilizes housing and resets debts once our economy is back up and running.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

The pandemic has highlighted significant healthcare disparities by income and race – driven by lack of access to regular, affordable care. Some of NYC’s lowest-income communities also have the fewest hospitals and healthcare facilities. And as of the last census, 600,000 New Yorkers lack health insurance. All New Yorkers deserve quality, accessible healthcare and I will support and expand the services that New York City's public healthcare system – the Health + Hospitals Corporation - provides to all New Yorkers, regardless of income or employment status.

I will also work with the federal government, state government, and employers to make more options available. On the federal level, we are lucky to have a Democratic majority and I will push for more generous financial assistance for insurance market plans to put insurance within reach for all New Yorkers or pass an affordable public option. On a state level, I will advocate for expanded eligibility criteria for Medicaid.

I also support more investment in H+H virtual care / telehealth services to improve access to preventative and mental healthcare services. We can adapt learnings from the successful Test and Trace models to send micro teams into communities for public health screenings and services, and connect people with virtual care and wraparound services.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

We need to build more hospitals in the outer boroughs, especially in Queens. We saw the struggles that Elmhurst hospital went through. In the short term, we need to work with the hospitals to be able to flex with hospital beds- and be able to scale up quickly when necessary. Additionally, we need to be looking at the system holistically and move people to hospitals that have beds when certain hospitals are at capacity – ambulances can go over the bridges.

As I shared above, I also support more investment in H+H virtual care / telehealth services to improve access to preventative and mental health care services. We can adapt learnings from the successful Test and Trace models to send micro teams into communities for public health screenings and services, and connect people with virtual care and wraparound services. Lastly, we need our public and private hospitals to work more in tandem by creating a network whereby patient data can be easily shared.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

The pandemic has highlighted significant healthcare disparities by income and race – driven by lack of access to regular, affordable care. In neighborhoods like Knightsbridge, for example, only 20% of residents with mental health needs are connected to services. I support more investment in H+H virtual care/telehealth services to improve access to mental health care services. We can adapt learnings from the successful Test and Trace models to send micro teams into communities for public health screenings and services, and connect people with virtual care and wraparound services. We also need dedicated funds to support proven community-based approaches to reach those with high needs – such as Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams, intensive outpatient approaches, and Kendra’s Law/Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT).

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

I was very glad to see that after reporting by the media, Northwell Health announced it would pause suing patients during the pandemic and rescind legal claims filed in 2020. However, this is not a long term fix to the problem. I remember after I gave birth to one of my children, I received a surprise anesthesiologist bill – even though I had health insurance and was in network. Once you receive a bill, and sometimes multiple bills, it’s incredibly confusing to navigate, and requires a lot of time and resources that most people cannot afford. I support legislation such as the Patient Medical Debt Protection Act which would require hospital bills to be consolidated into a single bill and presented in plain language, shrink the window for hospitals to sue patients from six years to two years, prevent out of network surprise bills, and create financial aid for low income patients.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

We cannot allow the maternal mortality crisis for Black and Brown mothers to continue. In New York State, Black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. In New York City, Black women are estimated to be up to 8 times more likely to die from a pregnancy related complication than white women. This is completely unacceptable.

First, we must expand access to quality, prenatal care. We will increase access to pre-and-post natal community health workers and pilot other low cost models for providing culturally appropriate maternal care. We will also advocate for innovative maternal care and new payment models to support women in coordination with state Medicaid payment reform. We will target the expansion of home visiting programs to communities with the highest rates of maternal mortality and morbidity and promote best practices and safety standards across public and private systems.

As a mother, I understand that when someone is in labor, it is an incredibly intense and vulnerable process. Mothers need a dedicated advocate to look out for their needs and concerns and coordinate with healthcare staff to make sure those needs are met. For Black and Brown mothers, they have an additional hurdle of implicit bias. We must expand access to doulas so that every mother has at least one person in her corner. We must also issue a communications campaign to normalize their use.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

Within the first 100 days, I would replace NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea. I resigned from City Hall because of mismanagement at the most senior level. Lack of management translates to chaos for the public. The mayor has completely lost control of the NYPD. I believe it is time for new leadership at the Department, and I have seen first hand the difference that new leadership can bring to a uniform agency. When I joined Sanitation, there was barely any use of technology in the operations and I was told it would be “impossible” – but I worked hand in hand with labor to bring our entire operation into the 21st century.

Additionally, I would work to overcome the “us vs. them” mindset by implementing the following reforms: (1) Require NYC residency for new cops and increase community policing – we need every member of the NYPD to be fully bought into rebuilding the city and fully committed to the community they serve. (2) Increase the recruitment age from 21 to 25 – the age at which you can rent a car – Police officers face the most challenging moments of the human condition; we need to make sure new recruits have life and job experiences that bring a mature perspective.

We can fundamentally change policing by embedding qualified professionals that can help address non-violent situations, focusing on mental health and domestic violence. Each year we have tens of thousands of calls that don’t require an armed professional – and we can use data and predictive analytics to make sure that we are sending a combined team of mental health professionals and police officers to the calls that are most likely to need that combination. The close working relationship between civilian and uniformed professionals will help shift the culture from a "warrior" to "guardian" mindset.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

The first place we can prevent New Yorkers from being entangled in the criminal justice system is at school. We must make more efforts to set students of color up for success. That means hiring more teachers of color, shifting resources from administrative costs to the classroom, and connecting youth in underserved areas with paid internships that lead into permanent, good jobs. For youth that become justice involved, we must invest more in programs such as Friends of Island Academy, which provides pre and post release care for youth and works to reduce the likelihood of justice involvement by connecting them with daily needs services such as school, housing and mentorship.

For older adults that are justice involved, I would work through the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice to connect them at multiple points with resources: at release, at application of social services, and maintain sustained contact after release. Every District Attorney’s office has an alternative to incarceration unit. We need to support and defer people to substance abuse, job training, or community service programs. America Works is an excellent full service model that trains and places people with employment.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.

I would be open to legislation that expunges records, particularly for youth offenders, and would also like to look at a mix of sealing records for certain offenses and after a certain period of time. Additionally, I would support programs that incentivize the hiring of justice involved people, and would expand job training programs for those who are justice involved.

We are currently waiting on a response to this question.