We don’t just need a recovery, we need to reimagine New York City to be affordable, healthy, and safe for all residents. Everyone has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and yet communities of color were hit hardest in terms of deaths, lost jobs and wages, hunger, and more. As of September, Black and Latinx households had much higher rates of food and housing insecurity, and Asian households were experiencing considerable housing insecurity. Nearly a third of households with incomes below $50,000 were food and housing insecure. While some industries have partially recovered, that recovery has not been felt by most people of color. To recover what we love about New York City and fix what has been broken for too many, we must ensure that every New Yorker benefits from recovery.

This is why, as the first plank of my Economic Recovery Plan, I announced New Deal New York, a $10 billion capital investment program that will create 100,000 new jobs to put residents back to work and invest in projects that build a better future of communities. A smart recovery is an equitable recovery and relies on investment in a sustainable economy, not on austerity measures that tell hungry people to simply tighten their belts. With this in mind, my plan will create a 5-year centrally managed $10 billion capital spending program for public works projects. The program will fund much-needed development, infrastructure repairs, and enhancements. The fund would consist of committed unspent capital funds and new capital dollars financed by city debt.

New Deal New York will target investments based on a comprehensive analysis of capital needs across five boroughs, using metrics including racial disparities in income, unemployment, capital need, and city investment over the past decade, to ensure capital dollars are utilized in the most underinvested communities first.

See: https://mayawileyformayor.com/new-deal-new-york/

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Gig economy workers have played an important role in keeping our city running throughout the COVID crisis. I support the right of all workers to organize, and I support the classification of app-based drivers as employees, entitled to the rights and protections they deserve, including health coverage. We need to support gig and freelance workers, whether that’s by continuing to establish new protections, supporting the ability to organize, or closely regulating gig economy employers.

Everyone, including freelancers, deserves paid sick leave. Here in New York City, we have shown that it can be done in a way that provides meaningful benefits for workers and is economically feasible for employers. We need to explore models of paid sick leave that provide benefits to all workers, including gig workers. In addition, we must expand high-quality, affordable financial services to gig workers by partnering with nonprofit and mission-driven community development financial institutions, especially community development credit unions.

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As part of my Plan to End Evictions, I have proposed an eviction moratorium that includes rent subsidies and addresses the racial wealth gap by focusing subsidies and tax abatement on small landlords, who are often people of color. Our gun violence prevention platform provides a doubling of student summer employment in communities suffering from increasing gun violence and treats the problem as the humanitarian crisis that it is. We will support trauma-informed care in schools and also create a participatory justice fund that communities can direct in terms of solving these deep inequities in order to address the root causes of gun violence. While we work to create jobs, spend capital dollars in a way that solves community problems, and address evictions and also social determinants of gun violence, we must address health needs for the 600,000 New York residents who are uninsured. The Wiley campaign will be releasing a proposal for a city-supported insurance program for people ineligible for regular Medicaid, employer health insurance, or Obamacare coverage.

We must also address food insecurity head-on. Food pantries have been a lifeline for our city, but many New Yorkers experiencing food hardship do not utilize them. I would expand food pantries to satellite sites familiar to communities by partnering with community-based partners such as neighborhood-based organizations and houses of worship. I would also ensure that contracts with NYC-based small businesses are prioritized, especially those that can provide meals that meet religious dietary requirements. In the long term, the only true solution to eradicating food hardship is to address poverty, in particular in communities of color. Safe, adequate employment and access to affordable housing provide stability that ensures that no New Yorker has to decide between paying rent or feeding their families.

See: https://mayawileyformayor.com/plan-to-end-evictions-keep-new-yorkers-in-their-homes-and-fight-homelessness/

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NYC is a city of assets. Some people have resources and others have ideas and grit. To recover from COVID we must look to New Yorkers and ask them all to contribute what they can. That means that we must raise taxes on the wealthiest among us. I support expanded revenue options such as a millionaires tax, pied-à-terre tax and vacancy tax on commercial properties, and pausing or eliminating the stock and bond transfer tax rebate. These are taxes that would be resolved in Albany, but there is a new progressive wind in our capitol so the chance to pass these types of taxes has never been higher. Coalitions like Invest In Our New York are leading the charge on ending tax breaks for the wealthiest New Yorkers, and ensuring revenue benefits the most vulnerable among us. I look forward to partnering with them to ensure an equitable economic recovery, in addition to the economic reforms already laid out in my New Deal New York plan.

We need a moral budget that reflects the need to invest in our residents in order to recover our economy and remake it so that it is stronger, fairer, and more just. That means that we will cut fat and search for transforming governmental inefficiencies to save dollars. From education to human services, our social infrastructure must be protected in order to reimagine our city as a place we can all live with dignity.

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All of my policy proposals center racial equity. The cornerstone of my economic recovery agenda is New Deal New York, an ambitious WPA model capital investment program that centers both job growth and needed infrastructure investments and repairs in communities of color that have been left behind on both fronts. I will implement an enforceable targeted hire strategy to ensure that the most impacted New Yorkers get jobs in their neighborhoods — a goal that past administrations have failed to achieve. The plan also includes an expansion of MWBE contracts to local small businesses, including those in the city’s manufacturing sector, which provides good-paying jobs to men of color, and should be expanded. Communities of color will be invested in, rather than extracted from, and centered as drivers of economic growth.

I will also invest in the care economy — women of color make up the majority of careworkers in New York and have borne the brunt of job loss, yet there is a growing need for careworkers in the city. For example, 62% of Black immigrant domestic workers reported job loss. I will ensure worker protections and community wealth building by expanding on the successful model of Cooperative Home Care Associates, the largest worker co-op in the nation, located in the South Bronx. I am committed to learning from the mistakes that our city made after past crises — a simple focus on expanding the tax base, rather than investing in its people.

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The level of student debt in the county and our city is unsustainable. It is placing terrible burdens on and creating barriers to access for communities of color, first-generation students, and low-income students. The federal government needs to take immediate action. I am heartened by initial signals from the Biden administration that it understands the severity of the problem and is prepared to act. But we need bolder solutions. Here at the local level, I will be an advocate for state and federal relief and take direct action to ensure college affordability — lessening burdens for New Yorkers. Starting with our own City University of New York system, we must make bigger investments in students’ success by building on proven programs and interventions relating to student retention, academic support, financial aid, and remedial instruction. We have good models, like ASAP, that provide a comprehensive set of services and need to be brought to scale in order to serve more New Yorkers. And there are new models that will be developed with our support. Of course, success in college must begin with high-quality early childhood education and big improvements in our K-12 system — these are the places where students begin to develop the knowledge and experiences that will help them be successful in higher education.

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I support the continued expansion of the Fair Fares program and will fight to protect it as mayor. The city should continue to guarantee that everyone can share the benefits of public transit by vigorously promoting Fair Fares to all who are eligible, studying the program’s impacts, and carefully considering expansion to New Yorkers living within 200% of poverty.

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I will use every tool available to help build more affordable housing in New York. That includes zoning and land use mechanisms where appropriate. I am open to making substantive changes to zoning and set aside requirements with input from advocates and community members who have worked on these topics for years. ULURP provides inadequate opportunity for substantive community input. While changes require legislation or charter reform, I will work closely with the incoming City Council to identify an appropriate process to make the changes recommended by community advocates that ensure an equitable land use process.

The lack of affordable housing is a crisis that drives gentrification — displacing Black, Latino, and Asian New Yorkers and undermines our creative economy: the artists, musicians, actors, and writers who make our lives richer and our economy more vibrant. In order to address this crisis, we need a multi-pronged approach. First, we need rent subsidies to address the immediate eviction crisis facing our families. I will stand up with fellow advocates to fight in Albany for universal rent protections and to preserve affordable rentals. Second, my platform will support homeownership strategies and innovations, such as nonprofit development, ways to increase access to credit, and community land trusts. Third, as mayor, I will endorse creative solutions to expand our affordable housing stock by converting tax liens, buying up properties left behind in the wake of COVID, and stimulating more non-profit housing development. And lastly, with almost half a million people living in public housing — including many workers essential to NYC’s success — we will prioritize the stabilization and restoration of this critical asset by bringing together the expertise of residents, academics, and leaders from across the country to solve this challenge.

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In the long term, the best defense against homelessness is ensuring that New York’s housing stock is safe and truly affordable for all New Yorkers. We need to build on the success of the housing first model by moving homeless individuals to subsidized housing and then linking them to support services. We would save money by investing in permanent supportive housing and models such as supported SROS. In December, I introduced an Eviction Prevention Plan that begins by using the $251 million in Emergency Rental Assistance funding from the federal stimulus for the city. This will provide much-needed relief, but it still does not come close to addressing the massive housing crisis that has been exacerbated by this pandemic.

Public housing MUST remain public. Within that, we need to find creative solutions to fund public housing, especially with NYCHA facing $40 billion in capital needs. As mayor, I will center NYCHA tenants in the decision making and policy process. Too often, NYCHA tenants have had decisions made for them without them. Instead, I would elevate the voice of local residents while fighting for federal funding. NYCHA must be considered as part of a holistic approach to housing. While NYCHA has its own specific needs based on federal oversight, it represents a significant chunk of our city’s affordable housing stock and that must be recognized. The current model of siloing public housing from affordable housing strategies has been a failure. As mayor, I would shift the oversight of public housing and affordable housing strategy under one umbrella.

https://mayawileyformayor.com/plan-to-end-evictions-keep-new-yorkers-in-their-homes-and-fight-homelessness/

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With almost half a million people living in public housing — including many workers essential to NYC’s success — we will prioritize the stabilization and restoration of this critical asset by bringing together the expertise of residents, academics, and leaders from across the country to solve this challenge. We will center residents in our planning processes, and create governance structures that involve residents in the evaluation and prioritization of interventions, as well as the direction of investments.

We will also fight for increased federal and state investment in our public housing, on top of the $2 billion in new and accelerated spending we will direct toward NYCHA as part of New Deal New York. Furthermore, NDNY recognizes that investing in climate-resilient public land includes investing in public housing. 28% of NYCHA developments are located in the city’s floodplain and public housing residents in waterfront communities are among those most vulnerable to effects of climate change, sea-level rise, and coastal flooding. Capital investment would begin to address decades of underinvestment and would provide residents safe living conditions while also making vital climate resilience updates to a substantial portion of our city’s housing stock. Investing in NYCHA would mean investing in job-ready skills and career pathways, promoting local hiring, and developing a model for long-term, safe and sustainable public housing.

https://mayawileyformayor.com/new-deal-new-york/

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We need support for tenants and for the small landlords who house them. Stable housing is key to a strong economy and a city where all New Yorkers can live in dignity.

Protecting housing from speculative interests, especially housing owned by small landlords of color, is crucial as the city recovers from COVID-19. I will ensure that both tenants and small landlords do not fall victim to speculation and its destabilizing impacts on the housing market. My strategies include bailing out tenants and small landlords, creating new opportunities for community control of housing through supporting COPA at the city level and TOPA at the state level, and expanding cease-and-desist zones in communities of concern across the city, modeled after the success of the cease-and-desist zone policy in East New York.

I have proposed the creation of an ambitious citywide rent and tax relief program for small landlords and nonprofit landlords. We will invest the $251 million dollars of federal stimulus money in a direct rent relief program. This new program, administered through the City Departments of Finance and Housing Preservation & Development, will be a landlord-based application system, allowing qualifying landlords to receive relief directly for any back rent owed regardless of who their tenants are. While federal aid also provides financial resources to landlords, it doesn't guarantee tenants will not be evicted, so we will ensure that these protections are enacted.
We will ease the burden for participation by determining qualification in the program based on existing filings and application processes to ensure that small landlords are not unfairly eliminated from participation because they are unable to navigate a complex and bureaucratic application process. We will provide technical assistance for applicants by partnering with trusted and experienced neighborhood-based organizations with translation capacity, and ensure that the moratorium is observed.

https://mayawileyformayor.com/plan-to-end-evictions-keep-new-yorkers-in-their-homes-and-fight-homelessness/

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Healthcare is a human right. We have hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers without health insurance. And health insurance costs are one of the top three biggest expenses for city residents. I am working with experts to explore strategies that could create affordable health insurance options for New Yorkers not covered by existing programs, including undocumented immigrants. I want to expand on the city’s efforts through NYC Well, and improve on the patchwork of programs that currently exist to serve city residents. And do so at a reasonable cost.

In addition to the establishment of a new program, we also have to invest in our public hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities that provide critical care to low-income communities decimated by COVID and are so necessary to the health and well-being of the communities they serve. COVID is impacting not only physical health but mental health, and this crisis has brought into sharp focus the need to make affordable mental healthcare accessible for everyone who needs it.

These efforts to expand affordable access must always include reproductive services (and other city policies must ensure such services are available). This is particularly true at a time when access to reproductive healthcare is likely to come under renewed threat from a conservative majority on the United States Supreme Court. I am looking into a new health insurance plan that will be available on a sliding scale, including to freelancers who do not otherwise have access to affordable insurance. This will provide an alternative for those who cannot otherwise afford insurance.

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One of the reasons Elmhurst Hospital took such a hit during COVID is because there are only 1.5 hospital beds per 1000 residents in Queens. And that’s because of the raft of hospital closures over the last 20 years. My administration will not close any NYC H+H hospitals and will take immediate steps to support hospitals that serve low-income and uninsured populations.

We are particularly concerned about the viability of the private safety net hospitals serving Queens, Brooklyn, and Bronx communities. These hospitals’ weak financial situations have been further undermined by the consequences of COVID. I am considering a proposal to create a city-administered revolving loan fund to reduce dependence on short-term, high-interest bank financing. Through the city’s regulation of zoning, sanitation, and construction permits, the mayor can pressure larger, better-endowed hospitals to support their less fortunate brethren. Keeping the hospitals serving working-class communities open will be a central concern of the Wiley administration.

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NYC’s public hospital (NYC H+H) system is unique. Only in NY is there both an open door and the capacity to take care of everyone, regardless of insurance, immigration status, or medical problem. While H+H houses one-fifth of the beds, it provides more than half of the care to uninsured New Yorkers. Being the only universal provider puts it in a precarious financial position. Payment for care meets half of NYC H+H’s operating expense. The other half comes from public allocations to institutions that care for the poor and uninsured, and $1.6 billion directly from NYC tax levy funds. The substantial financial need is a continuing challenge for both city government and hospital managers. Some have suggested the only solution is to close hospitals, lay-off staff, and reduce the scope of services. Not only would that deprive a significant number of people of access to care but it would reduce H+H’s income and increase its deficit. As mayor, I will see NYC H+H not as a financial burden, but as an important part of a healthcare solution. Private hospitals cannot continue to benefit from public largesse in the form of Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement, tax waivers, and enhanced public services. As mayor, I am committed to seeing the oneness of the system and developing mechanisms to more equitably spread both the rewards and the burdens of caring for all New Yorkers.

As stated earlier, I am also considering a proposal to create a city-administered revolving loan fund to reduce dependence on short-term, high-interest bank financing. Further, through the city’s regulation of zoning, sanitation and construction permits, we can pressure larger, better-endowed hospitals to support their less lucky brethren.

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As mayor, I would explore ways to provide free and low-cost legal support to those New Yorkers facing cases like these and enforce laws prohibiting discriminatory policies. As a preventive measure, providing universal healthcare would cut down tremendously on these types of cases, and I am committed to ensuring that all New Yorkers are insured.

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Black women are 8 times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women and are at 3 times greater risk to have a serious complication. The root causes are institutional racism and gender inequality. Maternal health begins before birth. Expectant parents must have access to basic necessities such as food and stable housing. We must ensure that parents who are expecting to give birth have access to reproductive community health centers where they can be connected with necessary prenatal healthcare.

As mayor, I will build upon and strengthen support for the NYC DOHMH Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee and the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Steering Committee. I will also work with DOHMH to increase oversight of New York City hospitals and require data collection and public reporting of maternal mortality rates by geography. Additionally, I will ensure that the Department of Consumer Affairs and Worker Protections is strictly enforcing all applicable laws so that expectant parents can take the necessary steps to attend to their health without risking their livelihood.

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We need to put the public back in public safety. This means a top-to-bottom restructuring of the NYPD, beginning with strong civilian oversight at the front end of policing — policies that make clear what policing is and is not, what conduct will not be tolerated, as well as the priorities of policing, which I describe as problem-oriented, rather than punitive. As mayor, I will demand law enforcement accountability and culture change. I believe we can demilitarize the force while still effectively responding to and investigating serious crime.

When I am mayor, I will do the following:

1. Run a full audit of the NYPD’s budget — including the out of budget expenses such as settlements — to assess the facts and make necessary cuts, including to the number of uniformed officers.
2. Move mental health calls, routine traffic violations, and school safety out of the NYPD. Assert civilian oversight of all policies and priorities of the NYPD on the front end. We cannot only assert civilian oversight to engage in discipline. We must prevent the nefarious acts from happening at the outset.
3. Hire a police commissioner that has not just moved up the ranks of the NYPD rank and file. We need a new model of leadership to work as a partner with the people to transform policing.
4. Create a shift from “containment and control” policing that produces strategies like unconstitutional “stop and frisks” and make “community and problem-oriented policing” the model, which requires collaboration and partnership with other agencies and communities.

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As mayor, I will ensure that poverty does not continue to be treated as a crime; and that the NYPD no longer acts as a first responder for mental health crises or other functions that need trained professionals and do not require a badge or a gun. Furthermore, we will support and grow ATI and community based rehabilitative services, and create opportunity by investing in job creation, training, mental health services, and other initiatives that interrupt cycles of injustice.

Under my administration, I will work to ensure that New Yorkers have their basic needs met, which means they must have access to affordable housing, which is why my administration will take every step necessary to increase our city’s affordable housing stock. Then, to ensure that those with mental health conditions do not come to the attention of the police, we must provide access to affordable, accessible mental health services. And lastly, we must ensure there are adequate jobs and pathways to getting those jobs in every neighborhood. This includes infrastructure needs like broadband, so that every child, regardless of their neighborhood, can access school.

We should also increase funding to and partner with programs like those provided by the Red Hook Initiative, which engages over 450 adolescents each year, and runs from middle school through young adulthood, to interrupt cycles of injustice and to build hope.

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I support this legislation and support every New Yorker’s right to employment.

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