Candidate Responses:

• 

  Eric Adams (D)

  Give a tax break to businesses that pay the Commercial Rent Tax if they demonstrate hardship and commit to employment levels. Implement a weekly sales tax holiday on services and products likely to be paid for in-person, incentivizing local spending.

  Yes, we need to provide more assistance, including access to healthcare, and this is why I support portable benefits fund. Ultimately, we need to push for gig workers to have all the rights and benefits of traditional employees.

  Boost the city’s Earned Income Tax Credit amount for frontline workers by increasing their share to 30% of the federal return. Increase the value of the city FHEPS vouchers so they reflect the value of housing actually available in NYC.

  Tackle New York City's budget by advocating for additional revenues while finding savings in our agency budgets. Institute a modest increase to the income taxes of city earners who make more than $5 million a year, sunsetting after two years.

  The COVID-19 pandemic did not create racial inequities in our city, it only exacerbated them. In my role as borough president, I have prioritized COVID-19 relief to NYCHA and communities of color most impacted by this pandemic.

  Restoring free CUNY has long been a point of advocacy of mine. In 2015, I asked the New York City Independent Budget Office to look into the fiscal impact of restoring free CUNY.

  I have long supported the Fair Fares program and its impact on delivering affordable transit. I would not only protect this funding but would seek to expand the program to apply to those using Access-A-Ride as well.

  I will upzone wealthier areas so we can build affordable housing in areas with high quality of life and build the small, cheaper micro-units that are common today around the world.

  We need to prioritize preventing people from experiencing homelessness by improving rent subsidies and prioritizing those who need supportive housing.

  I will do three things; sell NYCHA’s air rights to raise billions for NYCHA tenants; get more money out of the federal government for city housing; keep NYCHA tenants informed to keep NYCHA accountable.

  Rent relief needs to be paired with mortgage relief for small landlords. If we don’t do this, we will see an alarming increase in gentrification due to large developers buying up buildings as small landlords go under.

  We need to boost funding to NYC Cares and help immigrants sign up for MetroPlus and Child Health Plus through MyCity plan that connects every New Yorker with the services they qualify for.

  We will form a unified citywide hospitals network that coordinates care for indigent patients and shares data for more efficient use of the city’s collective healthcare resources in a crisis across both private and public hospitals.

  Wealthy hospitals need to pay their fair share and we will pair them up H+H hospitals so they can negotiate more financially beneficial rates with commercial insurers.

  We need to start by reducing the costs for procedures. We will reveal the true cost of healthcare by requiring greater transparency by providers both at the point of care directly to patients and in providers’ reporting to the public.

  We need to address systemic racism in our society and healthcare system. Specific to healthcare, any first-time pregnant person who wants a doula would be able to have one and we would open additional lifestyle medicine clinics across the city.

  We will minimize misconduct by being transparent about police misconduct, making it easier for cops to report when their colleagues behave badly, and empowering communities to choose their precinct leadership.

  Failing to educate leads to incarceration. In addition to bolstering alternatives to incarceration, we will go upstream to tackle crises before they begin, including major investments in pre-natal care, early childhood development, and support for New Yorkers with learning disabilities.

  I am supportive of expunging for non-violent offenders.

  We are currently waiting on a response from this candidate.

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• 

  Art Chang (D)

  1. Ensure workers can return safely: vaccinations 2. Address working families: Universal Childcare and re-opened schools 3. Professional development programs for workers employed in slower-to-return industries 4. Benefits optimization plus direct cash relief 5. Jump-start growth in small businesses.

  The city must protect nonstandard workers through a mechanism similar to California’s AB5 that requires companies to extend employee benefits to such workers. The city can avoid the Prop 22 problems by differentiating gig workers from creative freelancers.

  Manage COVID 2. Stop the eviction crisis through extending the eviction moratorium 3. Eliminate the accrued moratoria debts for tenants and landlords 4. Extend the NYC emergency food relief program 5. Optimize benefits delivery and direct cash relief.

  The city budget exploded by $18 billion (2020 dollars) since 2013. I can reallocate >$10 billion to cover the deficit and increase direct services by eliminating overhead and duplication. I will lead a digital transformation to create efficiencies.

  1. Data is critical and diverse people need to be at the table at every step from data collection to data analysis to decision making. 2. Interconnected problems require inter-agency teams united by common vision, approach and metrics for success.

  1. Create a city-sponsored refinancing facility to lower interest rates, perhaps building in a forbearance or payment-free period at the outset. 2. Invest in CUNY to expand matriculation. 3. Review college guidance in the high schools to focus on debt.

  1. Public transit must meet the needs of working people, which are increasingly cross borough, which can be addressed by less-capital-intensive bus service. 2. Yes, fully fund Fair Fares for subways. 3. Make bus service free or very low-cost.

  1. 10’ projected sea rise by 2100: re-envisioning New York with truly mixed income and mixed use communities. 2. Near term, focus on low-income housing: fixing NYCHA and RS housing and an ambitious construction program with creative thinking about social ownership.

  The next mayor must work toward the goal of constructive elimination of homelessness by ensuring that there is sufficient quality housing in true community settings for no- and low-income New Yorkers, coupled with intensive delivery of supportive services.

  1. Initiate data-driven programs to make maintenance issues transparent. Make maintenance accountable, including satisfaction of terms of RAD agreements. 2. Give NYCHA residents first right to new low-income housing as a way to incentivize vacancies to make repairs more efficient.

  When landlords experience financial hardship, property taxes and other fees owed to the city become delinquent. The city must exert its first lien position to take control of these properties. Refinancing can include conversion to social ownership of these buildings.

  Technology can solve this problem. The city knows the income of every adult and should therefore be able to automate the calculation of all benefits, including health insurance.

  NYC residents experience inequitable two-tier healthcare in which quality and availability is concentrated in Manhattan’s research hospitals. Two alternative approaches: 1) incentivize new quality hospitals outside Manhattan; 2) improve community health for resiliency, reducing the need for more intensive responses.

  The city’s health care “rainy day” fund must be restored to its original intent, to shore up the financial stability of New York Health and Hospitals and other healthcare needs.

  I would task the Corporation Counsel’s office to create a legal facility to pool these claims and address them in bulk with the respective claimants. The Corporation Counsel would enlist private lawyers to represent on a pro bono basis.

  Maternal mortality is correlated with structural inequities and its associated stresses. Until we solve those structural problems, we must consider pregnancy care for women in communities experiencing high maternal mortality as an extension to my Universal Childcare policy.

  1. Empower the CCRB to serve as a disciplinary board for civilian complaints, structured as a semi-autonomous body like the CFB. 2. In all other matters, like insubordination, the mayor would serve as the final arbiter.

  1. Re-envision crisis response with unarmed responders to 911 calls and put these unarmed responders on the streets. 2. For non-violent and first-time offenders, prioritize restorative justice. 3. Safety must work hand-in-hand with communities, on a foundation of trust.

  I am fully in support. I am currently focused on the impending legalization of pot, which must be accompanied by expungement, and restorative justice for individuals, families and communities hurt by prior enforcement.

  We are currently waiting on a response from this candidate.

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• 

  Shaun Donovan (D)

  We will get New Yorkers back to work quickly by creating 500,000 jobs by 2025. Through partnerships with Business Improvement Districts, apprenticeship programs, and an NYC Job Corps, we will get back the jobs we lost due to COVID.

  We must ensure that all workers, including gig workers, are paid fairly and have access to good benefits. I’ll work closely with labor organizations, businesses, and policymakers at every level to bolster existing protections and establish new ones where necessary.

  I will leverage my strong personal relationships with the Biden administration and Congress to get the federal support New Yorkers need, and make sure that our first investments go to those communities where investment has historically lagged.

  I’ll collaborate with federal government colleagues to end Trump’s tax cuts and getting relief our city so badly needs. We cannot borrow our way out of this crisis and will look at any tax proposals through a lens of equity.

  We’ll apply a lens of equity to every policy, work closely with leaders from every neighborhood to ensure every perspective is heard, focus investment in historically neglected communities, and name a Chief Equity Officer to coordinate efforts and measure progress.

  Tackling the student loan crisis will take a national effort, and I plan on fully leveraging my relationships to get a package that will bring relief to struggling New Yorkers.

  Fair Fares is a critical program and now more than ever, working New Yorkers need access to the transit system. As mayor, I would fully fund Fair Fares and ensure that New Yorkers know this program is available to them.

  We must improve housing protections and vouchers, invest in preserving and expanding our affordable housing, and revise land use policies to ensure the production of affordable and equitable housing occurs across the entire city.

  We must reimagine the right to shelter as a right to housing, improve emergency rental assistance, coordinate better across our own city agencies, and operate a well-run homeless system that efficiently gets people into permanent housing as quickly as possible.

  We must properly invest in improving conditions in affordable housing, accelerate energy-efficiency and resiliency efforts (which will produce savings that can go into other housing improvements), and maintain constant communication with communities.

  We will make proper and long overdue investments in HPD and NYCHA to develop and preserve affordable housing in our city, and we will strategically acquire distressed properties that can be converted to affordable housing.

  We will work to close the coverage gap by expanding eligibility for the Essential Plan to all low-income New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, and invest in quality community health centers in each neighborhood.

  One of the key goals of my administration will be to reverse the historic racism that has been pervasive in city planning. We will be committed to reducing disparities in health outcomes.

  I’ll call on the state to increase the share of the Indigent Care Pool to H+H and other safety-net providers, like FQHCs; increase the number of insured; maximize insurance reimbursement; and support H+H financially to care for all.

  I’ll seek to end surprise billing, and support new regulations to address billing by the city’s not-for-profit hospitals, especially for people with limited income or resources. Meanwhile, I’ll work to ensure that our city’s safety net hospitals are financially sustainable.

  We must ensure that quality prenatal care is available to everyone, have social workers available to identify patient needs and social health determinants, empower healthcare providers, and expand supportive services for those who most need them.

  I’ll prioritize a community-led approach to safety, expand the network of professionals asked to address emergencies, appoint a commissioner that shares my view of public safety, and build an NYPD leadership team that is representative of the city’s diversity.

  We’ll rethink which emergencies police should respond to, remove police from schools, invest in safety programs that prioritize reducing violence and redirecting individuals to support as opposed to punishment, and help people get housing as part of their reentry.

  I support Clean Slate legislation to seal or expunge most criminal convictions after a set time period, and commend CSS’s work to advance these policies. I’ll also seek to ensure that returning citizens have access to housing and healthcare.

  We are currently waiting on a response from this candidate.

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• 

  Kathryn Garcia (D)

  I will expand protection for workers, instituting free childcare for working families; and more strongly enforce paid sick leave and fair work week laws. Additionally, I will build job pipelines from our city’s community colleges and trade schools.

  I will expand support for Health + Hospitals and work with the federal government to create an affordable public option, and with the state government to expand eligibility criteria for Medicaid.

  As Food Czar, I saw firsthand how COVID-19 impacted families’ abilities to provide the basics. We must unlock barriers: provide free childcare, opportunities for economic mobility, free broadband, and jobs pipelines for youth.

  I believe we can overcome the budget deficit without cutting services or jobs by streamlining government and eliminating inefficiencies. At the core of our fiscal outlook must be racial equity.

  As I have always, I will bring stakeholders and communities to the table to inform our policies, and make sure we are hearing directly from those who are impacted and on the ground.

  We need the federal government to provide student loan debt relief, as well as relief for renters and small business owners. In NYC, we must focus on preventing family debt, such as by providing free childcare.

  We need to invest our public transit dollars wisely to advance equity and serve more New Yorkers. I will reallocate the ferry subsidy toward and expand Fair Fares.

  We need to create 50,000 units of deeply affordable housing (<50% AMI) as well as increase the overall housing stock to bring down rents by legalizing basement apartments, SROs, and streamlining ULURP.

  We need to address homelessness as a housing issue. I have already committed to move Homeless Services, Housing Preservation and Development from reporting to separate deputy mayors to reporting to a single deputy mayor.

  We need to leverage all funding streams to get dollars into NYCHA for badly needed infrastructure repairs, and execute on urgent repairs. For minor repairs, we need to bring back a decentralized model of dedicated skilled site team workers.

  We must provide economic relief for both small landlords and renters.

  We must expand services of Health + Hospitals, and invest more in telehealth for preventative and mental health care.

  We need to build more public hospitals in the outer boroughs and invest more in telehealth to improve access to preventative and mental health care services.

  NYC Health + Hospitals is a critical city asset and also treats a disproportionate share of high cost, difficult to serve populations. We will advocate to the state for equitable distribution of funds to sustain our vital public hospital system.

  We need to pass legislation that prevents surprise hospital bills, makes bills easier to navigate, and provides financial aid for low income patients.

  We must close the maternal mortality gap between white and Black and Brown women by expanding access to prenatal care, particularly to ensure mothers have doulas in the room to advocate for them.

  When I was Sanitation Commissioner and oversaw a uniform agency that was 98% male, I had a zero tolerance policy. I would approach the NYPD in the same way, while also working to transform the culture from warrior to guardian.

  I believe education is the great equalizer. We must give people the support they need to be successful from preschool through high school, and then connect them to jobs pipelines.

  I’m open to legislation that would expunge records, in addition to sealing of records and job training programs.

  We are currently waiting on a response from this candidate.

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• 

  Ray McGuire (D)

  Ray’s Comeback Plan will bring back more than 500,000 good jobs through immediate financial support, wage subsidies, targeted job training, cutting red tape, and launching a major infrastructure program.

  We need to expand government support services and the social safety net to make sure workers are not falling through cracks.

  We need to invest in workforce development programs that serve communities with the greatest need, focus on in-demand skills, and have good-paying jobs waiting at the end. Ray will create a leading-edge workforce training system to prepare us for the comeback.

  There must be a comprehensive review of the city’s budget to minimize wasteful spending, incorporate additional state and federal funding, and increase taxes on those who can afford it, if necessary.

  My vision for the city includes requiring communities of color in all boroughs and industries to have a seat at that table and concrete opportunities to live, work, and thrive.

  On the city level, Ray will look for opportunities to create or expand loan repayment assistance programs to help recruit New Yorkers to work in underserved communities.

  Ray supports the expansion of Fair Fares.

  Ray will prioritize housing for low-income New Yorkers and will leverage subsidies and city-owned property to build housing that is actually affordable to people who live in the neighborhood in which it is being built.

  Ray believes that we have a moral responsibility to care for individuals experiencing homelessness.

  Ray will invest in the construction of new housing that is affordable for the lowest income New Yorkers and in the preservation of affordable housing.

  Avoiding a joint eviction and foreclosure crisis requires a number of interventions that would help both small businesses and small property owners.

  Ray will engage in conversations with local nonprofits within immigrant communities to ensure language and cultural competency in our healthcare system. He will aggressively push to get more people signed up for coverage through NYC Care.

  Ray is committed to supporting high quality healthcare facilities in underserved communities and addressing social determinants of health.

  Ray will invest in our public hospitals and health centers and will address the many intersecting issues that drive up the cost of healthcare for New Yorkers.

  Ray will work with the federal government and fight for greater hospital funding to help hospitals forgive debt.

  Ray’s administration will focus on the unacceptably high rate of maternal morbidity for women of color in New York City, especially maternal mortality.

  We need to bring real reform to the NYPD and put an end to police violence. We need to ensure that our city has policing that is respectful, accountable, and proportionate.

  We need to shift investments to programs that prevent New Yorkers from becoming entangled within the justice system in the first place. That needs to start early with a cradle to career approach to education.

  Ray believes that there are numerous types of non-violent crime for which we should consider expungement and he will work with Albany to support the right approach.

  We are currently waiting on a response from this candidate.

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• 

  Dianne Morales (D)

  In order to even begin to rebuild, we must first sign onto the demands for rent cancellation and debt relief to be paid for by taxing the wealthiest and/or federal aid. Additionally, we must expand city-based relief funds.

  A Morales administration would build out programs to ensure that all workers are guaranteed quality healthcare, workplace protections, and access to a safety net when they are under- or unemployed.

  We must resist austerity. The eviction moratorium must continue; NYCHA should be completely reimagined; and we need an integrated and holistic approach to food justice. I’d prioritize rebuilding our social safety net.

  I’m on the record for defunding the NYPD by $3 billion. Some other ways to increase municipal revenue include supporting progressive tax policy such as a wealth tax, vacancy taxes, financial speculation taxes, and a land value tax.

  I will work to create safe communities that increase access and opportunities for low-income, Black and Brown communities by providing housing for all, desegregating education, building a democratized, solidarity economy, and divesting from police and investing in communities.

  In order to eliminate student debt, we must look at both the short-term and long-term processes. As mayor, I will work to expand the Student Borrowers Bill of Rights and make CUNY tuition-free.

  New Yorkers that qualify for the Fair Fares program should not be burdened by losing their entitlement. As mayor, I would advocate for a transportation budget that would allow us to expand the program.

  A Housing for All initiative that fights to bring down and stabilize rents, prioritizes low-income earners, takes housing development and land significantly off the speculative market and instead builds needs based quality mixed income housing.

  Housing for All is not just about a roof and four walls: it’s about living in dignity. Public housing, historically, has been discriminatorily underfunded for over 5 decades.

  I support the Green New Deal for Public Housing. We need to rethink the governance structure of NYCHA and make sure that tenants have the resources and power to truly maintain community control of their housing.

  I am a strong proponent of the Vienna model for social housing. A large part of the success for this model can be attributed to the local government buying properties to keep them off of the speculative market.

  I would champion the passage of the New York Health Act, and in the interim, would see that local community-based health organizations are funded to assist immigrants with their health needs.

  Under my administration, I will be advocating for, budgeting, and pushing for the creation of more public hospitals, more community health centers, and increasing our healthcare system.

  Achieving the care we need, especially in light of the pandemic, is about resources as well as an equity strategy.

  I will support policies to regulate against these harmful practices. I will also work on the local level to ensure patients have access to free legal resources to combat these predatory practices.

  In New York City, I’m committed to seeing increased public health access, education, and support especially considering maternal health rates for Black mothers.

  As mayor, I will move to end the long history of police brutality against communities of color, especially black people. We will not allow the NYPD to protect its members from accountability for acts of misconduct.

  I support the ‘de-coupling” of mental health crises from policing through the creation of a Community First Responders Department that would be staffed by trained professionals skilled in de-escalation and intervention.

  I don’t believe that a criminal record should affect anyone’s employment opportunities for any length of time.

  We are currently waiting on a response from this candidate.

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• 

  Scott Stringer (D)

  Our next mayor will oversee a massive recovery effort that will require policy, management, and coalition-building skills, and a commitment to building back a stronger, fairer economy. I believe I have the skills, experiences, and vision to do that, uniquely.

  Our social safety net should work for everyone who needs help, period. I wholeheartedly support efforts to make all New Yorkers whole from this crisis, to strengthen workplace protections, and end the exclusion of undocumented, gig, freelance, and other workers.

  Our city has ignored low and extremely low-income New Yorkers for too long. A Stringer Administration would prioritize New Yorkers struggling on the brink who need our help most, in everything from housing and childcare, to transportation and wrap-around services.

  Balancing the budget has never been tougher. Unlike other candidates, I know the city budget back-and-forth and have a roadmap to significantly reel in agency spending, cut outside consultants, and flatten bureaucratic inefficiencies to strengthen our fiscal future, sustainably.

  As Comptroller, I created the city’s first-ever Chief Diversity Officer position because systems of accountability matter. I’ll bring that approach to City Hall by expanding CDOs to all of city government, and incorporating racial equity studies into city policymaking.

  We need loan forgiveness at the national level, but in the meantime we must do more to help students avoid debt in the first place by making CUNY free, and better connecting students to scholarships, grants and other student aid.

  I’ve always been a staunch supporter of Fair Fares and was proud to stand with CSS in their fight. I would certainly expand the program as mayor. A MetroCard should represent opportunity and affordable transportation must be open to all.

  We need to stop pretending that private developers are going to deliver the housing we need and build a new generation of social housing that is permanently protected from speculative market forces and actually affordable to working people.

  The New York City Housing Authority is the most important source of deeply-affordable housing in the city, and must be protected at all costs. As mayor I will work every day to protect and rebuild NYCHA in consultation with tenants.

  As Comptroller, I’ve audited NYCHA 15 times — more than any other comptroller before me. I have a plan for sustained revenue to jumpstart emergency repairs in partnership with tenants, but the state and federal government must step up, too.

  I believe that safe, affordable housing is a right, not a privilege, and it’s time for New York to build a new generation of social housing — in part by investing in preservation and empowering tenants to buy distressed buildings.

  We need to expand models of culturally competent care for all New Yorkers, including new immigrants and regardless of immigration status. As mayor I will make sure that everyone, in every neighborhood, is connected to quality, affordable healthcare.

  New Yorkers have a right to quality, affordable healthcare. As mayor, I’ll put capital dollars into underserved communities, invest in community-based health organizations and tele-health, and address the roots of health disparities fueled by segregated housing and environmental racism.

  Together with a broad coalition of progressive Albany partners supporting my campaign, I will work to deliver Medicaid reimbursements that will close the Health + Hospitals deficit and transform our system for higher quality, more affordability, and greater access.

  We need universal healthcare coverage for all. In the meantime, going to the doctor should not be like a game of roulette. Patients deserve clear, transparent information about billing and financial assistance that is robust and easy to access.

  New York City must bring maternal mortality to an end. As mayor, I would invest in proven community-based healthcare such as doulas and midwives, expand primary care, and shore up our hospitals to rid bias and disparities in service.

  I will appoint a commissioner who understands NYPD isn’t autonomous and cannot act with impunity; strip the NYPD of final say on discipline, empowering the CCRB with authority; and redouble resources to investigate and prosecute other claims, including racial profiling.

  We need a public health-first approach to public safety focused on keeping New Yorkers out of our criminal legal system by building out long-term investments in the supports that build community safety: housing, education, healthcare, and jobs with family-sustaining wages.

  I support expunging criminal records five years post-sentencing and other efforts to end the cycle of prison, poverty, and recidivism, and strengthen community safety. We must also vigorously enforce existing anti-discrimination protections and connect justice-involved individuals with meaningful employment opportunities.

  We are currently waiting on a response from this candidate.

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• 

  Maya Wiley (D)

  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 build a better future for communities.

  Gig economy workers have played an important role in keeping our city running throughout the COVID crisis. As mayor, I will support the classification of app-based drivers as employees, so they have the rights and protections they deserve.

  We can do more than rebuild our economy. We must transform it. Economic justice must be central to our response. I've dedicated my career, both inside and outside of government, to addressing these issues, and I will continue as mayor.

  NYC is a city of assets. 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.

  All of my policy proposals center racial equity. The cornerstone of my economic recovery agenda is New Deal New York, a capital investment program that centers both job growth and infrastructure investments in communities of color that have experienced disinvestment.

  The level of student debt is unsustainable and is placing terrible burdens on communities of color, first-generation students, and low-income students.

  I support the continued expansion of the Fair Fares program and will fight to protect it as mayor.

  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 will have a universal approach to housing that includes affordable, public, and non-profit housing and homelessness as a single policy and planning strategy. The best defense against homelessness is ensuring that housing stock is safe and truly affordable.

  My administration will prioritize NYCHA's restoration by fighting for increased investment from the state and federal governments, on top of $2 billion invested from New Deal New York, and create governance structures that involve residents in evaluating and prioritizing interventions.

  I will expand cease-and-desist zones to communities of concern, provide $251 million in relief to small landlords whose tenants cannot afford to keep up with their rent and use TOPA/COPA to put housing into the hands of residents.

  Healthcare is a human right. 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.

  My administration will institute a unified, citywide hospital infrastructure. We will not close any NYC H+H Hospitals, and will use zoning, sanitation, and construction permits, to pressure larger, better-endowed hospitals to support their less fortunate brethren.

  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 Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement, tax waivers, and enhanced public services.

  As a preventive step, providing universal healthcare would cut down tremendously on these types of cases, and I am committed to ensuring that all New Yorkers are insured.

  Implicit bias and discrimination undermine health. As mayor, I will build upon and strengthen support for the M3RC and Steering Committee and make additional investments like universal health insurance for New Yorkers and support for community-based peer health support networks.

  When I am mayor, we will no longer police poverty. We will put the public back in public safety with a transformed and right-sized NYPD, and reassign functions that should not be police functions, such as school safety officers.

  We will no longer police poverty and will shift from punitive to problem-oriented policing. We will grow ATI programs, and create opportunities by investing in job creation, training, mental health services, and other initiatives that interrupt cycles of injustice.

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

  We are currently waiting on a response from this candidate.

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• 

  Andrew Yang (D)

  I will be the anti-poverty mayor. That means a basic income program that uplifts 500,000 of our most vulnerable out of poverty, a People’s Bank, the nation’s first city-backed financial institution, and making NYC the leading COVID comeback city.

  The pandemic further exposed the reality that too many in our economy are working without a safety net. We need to remedy this by exploring a portable benefits model to protect independent workers who for too long haven’t had protections.

  I will be an anti-poverty mayor. My basic income program will reach our most vulnerable and our People’s Bank will help small businesses recover. We will build affordable housing with consideration for affordability levels and community input.

  I believe these are complementary goals. With a guaranteed minimum income and a public bank guaranteeing loans to small businesses, we will improve services to low-income New Yorkers. Doing so will make New York’s economy stronger and fiscal future brighter.

  As New York City’s anti-poverty mayor, I will bring a strong and principled racial justice lens to governing. We must rethink outdated systems such as healthcare and housing discrimination that will have no part in a thriving future New York.

  I will advocate at the federal level to cancel student debt and invest at the city level in our world-renowned CUNY system to make sure this resource is accessible to all New Yorkers and offers the programming our communities need.

  Fair Fares must be restored and expanded, starting with expanding the program to CUNY students. Enabling safe and affordable access to the city’s buses and subways will be crucial to getting our economy back-on-track.

  Housing, land use and development, and zoning decisions need to be driven by community needs, not solely by what developers think our city needs. We must realign priorities to give adequate consideration to affordability levels, not just number of units.

  I am committed to preserving public housing and ending homelessness. For too long the city has treated NYCHA residents as an afterthought and approached homelessness as a temporary problem rather than addressing the systemic needs of our most vulnerable.

  I have launched a plan to secure the $40 billion needed for NYCHA capital repairs from the federal government while ensuring that new infrastructure and upgrades meet the highest energy efficiency standards, and to expand resident democracy for NYCHA residents.

  The city needs to support CBOs and CLTs that want to purchase properties and manage them for the benefit of tenants. I also support efforts to give small landlords rent relief and will advocate for community-driven rezonings that prevent displacement.

  NYC Care is an important resource to extend healthcare to uninsured New Yorkers. I will extend NYC Care to cover people seeking care at providers other than only H+H.

  The pandemic revealed long-standing inequities and injustices in our healthcare system. I am committed to addressing these disparities, starting with advocating for equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and addressing systemic harms that cause these systems.

  We must get H+H’s finances under control. I will call for Albany to reverse the $400 million in Medicaid cuts to NYC Hospitals and work with H+H leadership to identify where we can trim costs while maintaining world-class service.

  I will ensure that hospitals don’t exploit patients seeking healthcare, healthcare workers help patients utilize all forms of coverage, and patients are made aware of their rights and never find themselves in court because they sought healthcare in NYC.

  I will expand NYS’s doula pilot program by providing support to parents who seek doula care with one-time grants to cover the service and, with DOHMH, create a pipeline for more people of color to become birth workers and doulas.

  As mayor, I will appoint a civilian NYPD Commissioner whose background is not one primarily in law enforcement, remove final disciplinary power from the Commissioner and decriminalize certain crimes to prevent overcriminalization of certain communities.

  We need more diversion programs in NYC. Individuals struggling with substance use should go to drug treatment facilities and we should work closely with communities and advocates to create alternatives to the typical court and incarceration system.

  During my presidential campaign I called for expunging records for individuals imprisoned for nonviolent marijuana offenses. I’m happy New York has moved in that direction. We need to do more and that’s why I support the Clean Slate New York campaign.

  We are currently waiting on a response from this candidate.

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• 

  Carlos Menchaca (D) Campaign Suspended

  Employing the municipal Green New Deal which will make sure our recovery is founded on good paying jobs.

  Implementing Universal Basic Income.

  Implementing Universal Basic Income.

  Growth.

  There is no economic recovery without economic justice.

  The federal government needs to cancel student loan debt.

  We need to have the funds for the program. I will work as mayor to make sure we can budget for this.

  Housing is a human right, and we must treat it as such.

  The next mayor must commit to fully funding public housing renewal and development.

  No RAD.

  More protections for tenants.

  My plan as mayor is to build up our public health infrastructure to meet the need for health and mental health services.

  To make sure our communities are healthier and safer, we must start by bridging the healthcare divide, destigmatizing mental health, and compensating the healthcare workers who keep our communities healthy and safe.

  Funding must go towards getting the hundreds of thousands of people who go undiagnosed or undertreated the appropriate care they need: insured, diagnosed, and treated.

  We must make healthcare universal.

  Work with community partners to ensure culturally competent care.

  We must see crime exactly for what it is and what it means. We must depart from the old ways of management and policing which have failed us.

  As mayor, I will put an end to broken windows policing that has torn families and our city apart. We must address criminalization and over-policing of communities of color, as well as excessive force in otherwise harmless situations.

  I am open to this.

  We are currently waiting on a response from this candidate.

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