FIGHTING FOR WORKING PEOPLE
TAX THE RICH | AFFORDABLE HOUSING | ICE OUT OF NYC | UNIVERSAL CHILDCARE
TAX THE RICH & CORPORATIONS
While so many of our neighbors live paycheck-to-paycheck, the richest 1% have grown exponentially richer. Landlords and speculative real estate developers have contributed to increases in rent and property values that make living a comfortable life in Brooklyn virtually impossible for regular people.
We must demand that the rich and giant corporations pay their fair share.
12 billionaires control half as much of the wealth as 50% of the world’s population. In NYC, those making $60 million per year pay the same NYC marginal tax rate as those making $60,000 per year. Why? Because we live in an oligarchy in which corporations and the wealthy donate to politicians, and politicians therefore refuse to tax the rich. This must end. As your assemblymember, I would fight for a progressive city and state tax system in which the wealthiest New Yorkers pay their fair share.
RAISE TAXES ON THE 1%
RAISE THE CORPORATE TAX RATE
Giant Corporations use much of our public resources like water, roads, and electricity, but rarely pay their fair share to help maintain this infrastructure. They also receive huge tax breaks and incentives to build their businesses in our state. In Albany, I will push to raise the corporate tax rate and ensure that companies who want to build in Bay Ridge and Coney Island have the best interest of our communities in mind.
UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE & CHILDCARE
As costs rise, wages stagnate, and our neighbors are priced out of our neighborhoods, we must fight to make life in Brooklyn more affordable. We must address the largest costs of living for working families - healthcare and childcare. Providing these essential services will only require the richest 1% and large corporations to pay a minor increase in taxes. Raising taxes on these groups will only have a positive economic impact on our communities.
UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE
Healthcare is a human right. And yet, over 600,000 Americans face bankruptcy every year due to medical-related costs. People are getting sicker and dying because they have to choose between healthcare and other basic necessities. This is why I enthusiastically support the New York Health Act (S3425 Rivera / A1466 Paulin) which would ensure every New Yorker has healthcare. This bill would save New Yorkers money they are currently allocating to healthcare and health insurance by cutting out insurance middlemen. This bill will save lives.
UNIVERSAL CHILDCARE
In New York City, the average family spends over $20,000 per year on childcare. As a father of two young children, I have felt these costs firsthand. In Albany, I will fight to permanently fund Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to provide universal childcare to all New Yorkers. This will have an immediate impact on the lives of working families in South Brooklyn and beyond.
BUILD & PROTECT AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Every New Yorker deserves to have a roof over their head. We have been in a housing crisis for far too long and status quo politicians are not doing enough. We must take innovative, bold steps to demand new affordable housing be built as soon as possible. We need radical changes to the bureaucratic system of housing development that encourages new building while securing significant percentages of permanent affordable housing. We must also protect tenants’ rights and ensure existing public housing is safeguarded and gets the necessary funding for repairs.
SOCIAL HOUSING AND MITCHELL-LAMA PROGRAM
The current incentive system has not created a fraction of the housing we need. We need new pathways to affordable housing development that don’t rely on luxury developers who don’t care about our communities.
In the State Assembly, I would support the Social Housing Authority bill (S5674 Cleare / A6365 Gallagher), which would create a new, well funded public authority to build, acquire, and renovate permanently affordable housing for public and community ownership. We should also build upon the Mitchell-Lama housing model, a hugely successful program that has created permanent, community-owned affordable housing across the city.
In addition to building homes, we need to protect tenants and expand tenant rights. We should expand Rent Stabilization throughout the city and state. This would prevent out-of-control rent increases while also helping tenants stay in their homes and communities.
The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (S401 Myrie / A6100 Mitaynes) would give tenants the right to make the first offer on their property if the landlord sells it. I am proud to support this initiative, which would give our neighbors greater control of their future by providing them the option to purchase their home.
PROTECT TENANTS
INCREASE NYCHA FUNDING
Much of NYCHA’s funding comes from the federal government, but Trump and his allies have placed this funding source in jeopardy. In this desperate situation, New York State must step up by increasing State funding of NYCHA to fill the gap where it can. At the same time, we must make our voices heard and elect leaders at all levels of government who oppose the cruel policies of this administration.
DEFEND DEMOCRACY & PROTECT OUR NEIGHBORS
Our president has sold us out to the oligarchs and questions if we even need elections. Corporations can legally bribe politicians and lobby for their interests, undermining the will of the people. Our democracy is degrading before our very eyes. As your state assemblymember, I will do everything in my power to protect our democracy, fight for our communities, and get corporate interests out of politics.
F*CK ICE, PROTECT OUR IMMIGRANT NEIGHBORS
Over the past year, ICE has deployed masked agents into our communities who have terrorized and committed crimes against Americans. We must demand that ICE gets out of New York. We should ensure that ICE and other federal agents who commit crimes in New York are investigated for violations of the New York State Penal Law, when appropriate. We should also prevent any collaboration between the police and ICE.
I will also use my platform as a candidate and an elected official to lead Know Your Rights trainings, arming our neighbors and small businesses with the knowledge they need to protect our community. I stand for abolishing ICE completely, and will be vocal about this position in the state assembly.
CORPORATE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS
Our two-party system has devolved into a corporate uniparty, with corporate influence dominating elections across party lines. This does not serve the interests of the working class in South Brooklyn. We must demand better by electing candidates who promise not to accept corporate, real estate developer, casino, PAC, or lobbyist donations. This is the only way voters can trust their representative is independent and not beholden to corporate interests. Unlike my opponents, I have never accepted donations from or publicly supported the casino or real estate industries, and I never will. In Albany, I will fight for working class people, not corporate interests.
STANDING WITH THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY
Our MAGA Assemblyman, along with his allies in the Trump Administration, has targeted the LGBTQ+ community. It is time to fight back. In the Assembly, I would make sure New York leads the nation on issues such as access gender affirming care and expanding rights for trans individuals. I would also lead by example; I promise to always speak out on national issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community, and to continue to support and uplift the LGBTQ+ organizations and spaces that already exist in South Brooklyn.
GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE IS HEALTH CARE
All New Yorkers have the right to healthcare, including gender-affirming care. That is why I support the New York Health Act, which would provide universal healthcare to all New Yorkers, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. I would protect the existing rights of New Yorkers to sue medical providers that deny gender-affirming care. I would also resist the homophobic and transphobic federal government that is trying to interfere with LGBTQ+ rights by supporting activism and lawsuits challenging these discriminatory policies.
New York must protect our citizens’ rights of free expression. Trans individuals face tremendous obstacles in their right of free expression, and I would fight to change that. I support the Gender, Identity, Respect, Dignity, and Safety Act, which would allow incarcerated trans individuals to be placed in a facility conforming with their gender identity. I also support the rights of trans athletes to participate in the athletic category they align with and would vote to block any legislation aimed at hindering their ability to do so.
TRANS RIGHTS
OPPOSE FOREVER WARS & FREE PALESTINE
Our country never seems to learn from the lessons it has already paid for in blood. My father was a Vietnam War veteran and I also served in the Army. My father’s generation did not deserve to be uprooted from their lives, drafted into a war, nor did the Vietnamese people deserve to have war waged upon them. And yet, we see the same cycle again and again, largely due to a defense industry that our government never stops pouring money into. At the same time, our tax dollars are used to support war crimes, such as Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This must end. In the State Assembly, I would speak out against forever wars and oppose all military aid to Israel.
PROTECT VETERANS
Wars used to last years. Now, they last decades. In the State Assembly, I will use my voice as a veteran to speak out against our country recklessly launching into regime-change wars, such as the recent war with Iran. Veterans, particularly those from working class backgrounds, bear the greatest brunt of war and we fail to adequately protect returning veterans. I would propose a Veterans Housing Authority specifically designed to meet the needs of veterans experiencing homelessness, while ensuring veterans’ access to treatment for substance abuse and mental illness.
STOP THE BOMBS
The United States has bankrolled Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. New York City residents alone contribute over $100 million in tax dollars per year that our government funnels to the Israeli military. Our tax money should be used to support our communities, not murder civilians overseas. I am opposed to the continuation of military aid to Israel. In the Assembly, I would vote for or re-introduce the Not On Our Dime Act, first sponsored by Mayor Mamdani in his time in Albany, which would prohibit New York-based institutions from monetarily or materially supporting illegal settlements and state violence.
UNION POWER & WORKERS’ RIGHTS
Workers power New York City. They deserve to reap the benefits of their hard work. But they cannot do it alone. We must protect unions and expand workers’ rights to unionize. Representatives should look out for the masses of workers they represent, but far too many look out for the corporate donors that keep their political careers afloat instead. I refuse corporate donations and my policies would prioritize the rights of workers, union and non-union alike, rather than corporations.
UNION POWER
We must both protect unions and expand workers’ rights to unionize. I support employing unionized workers in the construction of affordable housing and other programs throughout the city and state. I support the Taylor Law, which will allow public employees to exercise their union rights. In Albany, I would advocate for amending the Constitution of the State of New York to create a statewide right to strike.
Workers in this city are too often taken for granted. For example, many workers are categorized as “independent contractors,” instead of regular full time workers, which allows companies like Uber and Lyft to claim that their drivers don’t deserve healthcare or labor rights. This is wrong! I support legislation that would give these “independently contracted” workers rights as employees. As your State Assemblymember, I will also combat wage theft by protecting and expanding a wage fund to allow workers to recoup lost wages.
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
TRANSFORM OUR CRIMINAL LEGAL SYSTEM
As a former prosecutor in the most progressive DA’s office in the country, I know how to balance public safety with fairness for those involved in the criminal legal system. In Albany, I will fight to make our criminal legal system both effective and fair, emphasizing both quality law enforcement for violent crimes and effective community engagement and rehabilitation initiatives to reduce recidivism rates. This holistic approach will prevent violence in our communities in both the short and long term.
JAILS & PRISONS
The United States accounts for about 4% of the world’s population, but 20% of its prison population. In New York, draconian sentencing laws for outdated offenses such as drug possession have contributed to our mass incarceration crisis. Additionally, our jails and prisons are inhumane, focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation. These conditions destabilize communities and lead to recidivism. As a first step, I would fight to end coercive prison labor and outlaw solitary confinement for incarcerated people.
POLICY REFORM
We cannot simply police or prosecute our way out of the issues that plague our criminal legal system. Instead, we must lead with a comprehensive strategy that addresses systemic injustice and leads to actual long-term change. Uplifting our neighbors and providing robust access to substance abuse and mental health treatment will improve outcomes and lower recidivism rates. In Albany, I will fight to ensure there are no further rollbacks to bail reform, discovery reform, and Raise the Age.