Protecting & Improving Southern Brooklyn For Working Families 

 

Southern Brooklyn should always be a place where working people can raise their families with dignity, safety, and joy – and a place where generations can afford to stay. As your next Council Member, we will work tirelessly to address the challenges working families are facing everyday. ​

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Investing in Children and Families

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From 3rd Avenue to Mermaid Avenue, southern Brooklyn has always been a beloved place for working families. But let’s face it: it’s too expensive to raise a family in this city. If elected to the City Council, we will build on what works, and fight to make sure working families can afford to stay. 

 

• Create a universal childcare program, building on the success of universal pre-K.

• Fight for increased after-school and universal Summer Youth Employment Programs (SYEP) 

• Support new community centers and safe places for kids and families to gather and play.

• Continue to oversee the buildout of new schools slated for construction and make sure they have all the resources they need to provide a strong education

• Provide Coney Island schools with the resources they need for both during and after-school programming​​​​

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Improving Our Beloved Parks & Green Spaces

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Coney Island may be America’s Playground, but the heart and soul of our district are the parks and green spaces that serve the people who call Bay Ridge and Coney Island home year-round. These treasures are the pride and joy of our community and they must be improved and maintained at the highest level.
 

• Construct more accessible, safe, and regularly staffed bathrooms in more of our district’s major parks and playgrounds 

• Promote the planting of more trees in Coney Island to provide much-needed shade and water retention 

• Fund and support upgrades to the 69th street pier, including shaded areas, and bathroom facilities 

• Overhauling the historic Coney Island Boardwalk, particularly in areas of disrepair

• Revamping the most neglected parks and playgrounds of Coney Island

• Fully fund the Parks Department to increase staffing and ensure more regular maintenance of our parks and sidewalk trees.

• Add bleachers to both sides of the Shore Road Ballfields so families and groups can enjoy watching games 

 

​​​​Making Life in the City More Affordable

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People all over the city are being forced to put their life and family planning on hold because our basic needs are getting more expensive every single day. While the City Council alone cannot do everything to address this national crisis, I will fight to protect New Yorkers from its worst impacts as much as a Council Member can. 
 

• Promote the building of housing that working and middle class families can actually afford.

• Fight against utility rate hikes.

• Reduce fines and fees for trivial city penalties and fight against costly mandates that take money out of working peoples’ pockets.

• Demand greater transparency at NYCHA, work to fill vacant apartments faster, and keep people in their apartments by ensuring quick repairs.

• Implement direct deposits for residents and landlords enrolled in the CityFHEPs program.

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Boosting Small Businesses and Commercial Districts

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From bars and bakeries to movie theaters, and everything in between, southern Brooklyn’s small businesses and commercial districts create the sense of community we all love so much. For years, my husband and I operated a bar and restaurant in Bay Ridge, and we cherished the sense of community our business was able to bring to our patrons and staff. But we also saw firsthand how unnecessary government hurdles, out of control insurance and utility costs, and high rental price tags put far too much pressure on small business owners who are simply trying to serve our neighbors. We need to ensure that it is the value to the community, not just to landlords and developers - that determines a business’s survival. And we need to strengthen our commercial districts so that we can increase foot traffic to the neighborhood and ensure businesses of all sizes are thriving.

 

• Work to secure strong, flagship tenants on 86th street to bring new life to the shopping district 

• Secure more consistent and convenient access to fresh food in Coney Island. 

• Enact a plan to reduce fees small businesses face by 50%. Our smallest local businesses cannot afford the same penalties as the biggest corporate chains.

• Partner with the state to incentivize small landlords to rent and/or continue renting to longstanding small businesses with more favorable lease terms 

• Work with colleagues on the state level to explore more affordable small business rates for gas, electric, and insurance. ​

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Fighting for Clean and Safe Streets & Sidewalks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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One hallmark of any great community is safe and clean streets, but trash on the sidewalks, reckless and dangerous drag racing, and illegally modified muffler noise is putting all of that under threat. As your next Council Member I will prioritize your quality of life, and work diligently to keep our streets beautiful and livable. 

 

• Ensure there are enough public trash cans and regular pickup in high traffic areas, and crack down on property owners that repeatedly do not clean up in front of their storefronts.

• End obnoxious muffler noise by partnering with the state to add muffler modifications to the NY State Inspection, and increase the presence of sound cameras in the neighborhood that can detect and issue citations to vehicles that register over a reasonable decibel level.

• Fast track DOT traffic studies for installation of new signals, stop signs, speed bumps, and other lifesaving traffic calming measures.

• Redesign the “raceways” in our communities that drivers often travel to for the express purpose of wreaking havoc on our streets. 

• Work with the precincts to crack down on moped/e-bike/e-scooter use on our sidewalks, which endangers pedestrians.

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Protecting New Yorkers from Federal Chaos 

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I’m running for City Council because I believe government can be a force for good. But right now, many constituents in southern Brooklyn are fearful of the federal administration that seeks to divide communities and families, erode essential rights, and eliminate or reduce benefits and programs that many rely on. While a city elected official cannot vote against the federal agenda, I can protect New Yorkers and our beloved city by:

 

• Working to fully fund nonprofits that serve and protect immigrant communities, and ensure they get paid by the city on time. 

• Strengthen our city-based health and hospital services, ensuring they can still provide top quality care despite any cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

• Protect the civil rights of southern Brooklyn residents on a city level, whether they were born here or chose here, particularly when it comes to free speech, peaceful protest, and censorship. 

• Run a top-tier constituent service office that will help constituents navigate changes to policy, and connect them with resources that can assist.

• Fight to keep the VA hospital open and sufficiently resourced to keep providing care to our veterans.​
   

Ensuring Older Adults Can Age in Place 

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Southern Brooklyn is home to residents who have lived here for generations, and who want to stay here as they age. We need to support their efforts by doing the following:

 

• Fund senior centers and senior programming, particularly amidst potential federal cuts. 

• Support the creation of truly affordable housing for older adults.

• Provide older adults with regular access to free financial planning services here in our community to help prepare for major life changes.

• Fight to keep older adults in their homes by supporting rent stabilization, property tax reform, and strengthening public benefits that are crucial for those on a fixed income.

• Work with partners on the state level to modernize our SNAP system so that the grocery funds that so many seniors rely upon are protected from theft.

• Partner with legal orgs to protect seniors from fraud, deed theft, elder abuse, and other threats to a stable retirement and aging in place.

• Make sure our streets and sidewalks are safe and walkable for older adults with limited mobility. 

• Ensure that older adults feel safe in the communities that they helped to build.