Beginning June 12th, residents can begin voting in the primary election for our next City Council member.

There are seven candidates running in the Democratic primary: Shahana Hanif, Mamnun Haq, Justin Krebs, Briget Rein, Doug Schneider, Jessica Simmons, and Brandon West; as well as Matthew Morgan, who is running as a Libertarian. You can view their bios and find their website information here.

The candidates have participated in a number of forums (see, e.g., CHA Forum, PoliticsNY Debate), and multiple news outlets have published articles on the race and candidate interviews (see, e.g., NY1, Brooklyn Paper). In these contexts, the candidates have addressed many important issues that impact the entire City, borough, and district – including Cobble Hill. These include, among others, affordable housing, education, development, transportation, small businesses, and climate change.

The CHA reached out to the candidates to ask a few questions that were Cobble Hill specific. This was by no means an exhaustive list, nor was this intended to suggest that these issues are any more important than all of the others impacting the district. All of the candidates have invited community members to reach out directly with questions, and you should absolutely take them up on this.

The questions we asked were as follows:

1. Councilmember Lander sponsored and currently chairs a LICH Construction Task Force, where once a month the developers involved in construction at the former LICH campus (Fortis and NYU), join with the CHA, city agencies (DOB, Parks, DOT, NYPD), and other elected officials to discuss the progress/timelines for each project and any issues that have arisen. If elected, will you continue to sponsor/lead this Task Force?
2. Councilmember Lander provided financial support and additional assistance to the Court-Smith BID Formation Effort. Unfortunately, the BID is still having difficulty getting enough signatories. This is because it is landlords who must sign on, not tenants. Many of the landlords are not local and are either difficult to reach, or don’t see the direct benefit a BID would have to the community. If elected, would you continue to support the Court-Smith BID Formation? And, if so, what ideas do you have to encourage landlord participation?
3. The Mayor’s appointed BQE “expert panel” included in their list of recommendations, reducing traffic lanes on the BQE from three to two in each direction. But the Mayor disputed the concept of induced demand and didn’t implement the lane reduction. As a Council Member with the BQE running through your district, would you support reducing lanes as an immediate solution for the BQE while the city and state plan for long term transformations?
4. Do you support the current DOE plan to rezone District 15 elementary schools?
5. With so many elementary schools in District 15 over 100% capacity, do you have ideas about how we will be able to accommodate the huge influx of families due to arrive in District 15 as a result of of the massive housing developments in both Cobble Hill (former LICH site) and Carroll Gardens (Gowanus) housing developments?

 

The candidates’ responses to the below questions can be found below:

1.   Councilmember Lander currently chairs a Construction Task Force, where once a month the developers involved in construction at the former LICH campus (Fortis and NYU), join with the CHA, city agencies (DOB, Parks, DOT, NYPD), and other elected officials to discuss the progress/timelines for each project and any issues that have arisen. If elected, will you continue to lead this Task Force? 

 

SH: Yes, continuity of the Construction Task Force is vital, especially as this work continues. Before I suggest any improvements or changes to the task force, I will sit down with the Cobble Hill Association, understand the group’s priorities and ways to improve the working relationship with the Council Member’s office, and establish an effective and collaborative partnership. I will designate a staffer to follow LICH and participate on this task force, and provide support directly as needed. Because most of these agencies will have new heads and staff, building relationships with these shifting agencies will be my first priority, alongside offering recommendations for agency restructuring to better meet the direct needs of the 39th district. I will be proactively responsive to the needs of our neighbors, local businesses, and community members.

MH: Yes, absolutely. Additionally, if community members aren’t already involved, I’d like to ensure I’m in discussions with them as well. As a representative and leader of such a task force, I would see it as my job to represent neighborhood voices for such an important development. I’d also have developers and partners provide more regular updates in addition to the monthly meetings using online forums, social media, zoom, etc. 

JK: The task force is a good example of what good government can do when we prioritize transparency and communication. It’s one of my priorities to follow in Brad’s footsteps and work to lead the Task Force. But building on that, it is a good model for how we can and should be designing new government interventions and thinking about how we link the public and private sector.

MM: As the council member I would continue to lead this task force. As a member of city council it is one’s duty to be an informed and present leader, and that means being involved and informed of all developments in the district.

BR: Yes because I want to be able to advocate for my community to the developers of the new construction and, by chairing the task force I want to make sure that work safety measures, compliance with local laws, and other community concerns. Moreover, the top concern I have heard from my community in my campaign is that we need more affordable housing. By chairing the task force, I will have a direct line to and with the developers and I will be able to continue to advocate that, provided they have not yet sold all of the units in the new buildings, they should set aside some for low-income housing.

DS: I will. I joined with the community in opposition to the closure of LICH. In fact, I provided pro  bono representation to Councilmember Lander, former Assemblymember Millman, and  Pete Sikora when they were arrested for civil disobedience at a “save LICH” protest. I know  how important these issues are to the community and will continue to lead the task force  and stay engaged in the process.

JS: Yes. Groups like these are how we get stakeholders to build consensus, draw on collective expertise, and tackle problems proactively. We know navigating bureaucracy is difficult – this is how we make it easier.

This is one of the ways I got things done across large school districts as an education leader, and I will bring that experience with me to office. I intend to use this taskforce as one of the models for other similar initiatives across the district.

BW: Yes.

 

2. Councilmember Lander provided financial support and additional assistance to the Court-Smith BID Formation Effort. Unfortunately, the BID is still having difficulty getting enough signatories. This is because it is landlords who must sign on, not tenants. Many of the landlords are not local and are either difficult to reach, or don’t see the direct benefit a BID would have to the community. If elected, would you continue to support the Court-Smith BID Formation? And, if so, what ideas do you have to encourage landlord participation?

SH: Yes, I would support the Court-Smith BID Formation Effort. My first step would be communicating directly with landlords, and understanding why there is an opposition to BIDs. I want to protect our district and neighborhoods across the district as a hub of small, independent businesses. I would also work with Small Business Services to explore potential alternative pathways to BID formation.

As the daughter of a small business owner, I know that the threat of big box corporations and in/out of state real estate developers entering and gentrifying our neighborhoods is real. I will support efforts that forge collective solidarity among small businesses, especially amidst displacement andCOVID-19. This solidarity must reject exclusionary policing of community members and street vendors, and welcome the expansion of new small businesses operated by working class New Yorkers.

MH: Yes, I would absolutely support the BID formation! In a post-covid world, as businesses try to remain afloat and return back to normal, BID’s will be integral in generating business. It’s a tough scenario when landlords aren’t invested in the community or as involved. I’d have to connect with the businesses and tenants to understand the walls of communication with the landlords, but it may be worth reaching out to signatories of some of the other successful BIDs like 5th ave or Atlantic Ave to chat with landlords directly. These are folks, who as landlords themselves, may be able to make a case for joining in a way that tenants and community members may not have insight on. Additionally, landlords and tenants have both had fiscal losses during COVID-19. We have an opportunity to make a case for BID’s in the context of covid – it’s an opportunity to revive business, build relationships with tenants and community members, and rethink how businesses can support one another. Open streets and outdoor dining are also an opportunity for us to think about how landlords and tenants can generate business as well. Lastly, I’m not sure if there is data available on the success of BID’s but being able to present qualitative and quantitative successes of other BID’s both from a landlord and tenant perspective might help sway landlords. 

JK: BIDs have had such a radically positive impact on our neighborhoods — I look at the 5th Avenue BID as a great example for how BIDs can work to truly transform our main streets. What the Court-Smith BID is going through is unfortunate, but not unique. Because we’ve fought these fights before, we have the toolkit to communicate with business owners about the real positive outcomes that happen to businesses in most BIDs. I’d lean on that toolkit and the expertise of successful BIDs and as council member, I’d work to be a relentless champion to form the BID. This is the work that I’ve done throughout my career, working to organize diverse coalitions as National Campaigns Director at MoveOn and bring together progressives from across the US as the founder of Living Liberally. I want to bring that experience organizing millions of members to the local level, to get real things done.

MM: As the council member of this district I support the Court-Smith BID and any other areas that would like to do the same. I want to ensure an environment where small businesses can thrive and work together. We could look into amending BID formation rules that give the tenets the right to opt-in to the BID without landlords approval, and find alternatives ways to fund the BID in those cases where assessments cannot be billed to the property owner.

BR:Yes and to encourage participation, if it does not pass by the time I am elected, I will add a provision to the Small Business Jobs Survival Act wherein joining a BID can be a topic to be resolved during mediation.

DS: I absolutely would. One of my top priorities is helping small businesses and I released a  comprehensive economic recovery platform, which you can view at bit.ly/Doug4JustRecovery. The 5th Avenue BID is a perfect example of the difference that a  BID can make. Not only did stores and restaurant along 5th Avenue survive the pandemic,  but it actually saw more new restaurants open than anywhere else in NYC. The 5th Avenue  BID was instrumental in making this happen.  To incentivize landlords to buy into BID formation they have to believe they will get a  tangible benefit. First and foremost, we have to show them that BIDs help businesses stay  in business, which obviously means the landlord collects rent. It also has to include  services that improve the community, like additional security and street cleaning.  

 JS: Yes. The 5th Ave BID is a great example of how BIDs can help businesses and improve communities – so we should continue to form BIDs for Court-Smith and 7th Ave in Park Slope. As councilperson, I will work relentlessly to partner with people on different sides of issues to get to solutions. For example, to reach landlords and help them to see the benefit, we need to start by asking them  – what would make the BID worth YOUR while? Street-sweeping, block parties, street closures are priorities for some – let’s ask the landlords what they would find useful and then use that as a point to negotiate with them and get them to partner and sign on.  Making local government work for residents means we need to work with everyone

BW:  Landlords have a large impact on the status of a major strip in a district, but they’re also incentivized to keep the fabric of their neighborhood intact as it affects their property value. It’s important that we support BIDs, because it affects the community in the area. For example, there’s no BID on 7th Avenue, and it’s impacted the ability for small businesses to support each other. While we should support BIDs, we need to push for landlords to support the small businesses, so that the tenants are protected from being priced out. If the city provides funding relief to subsidize rent for the landlords, tenants are then relieved of their financial responsibility to their landlords. It’s better for the community, because small businesses are able to survive.

 

3. The Mayor’s appointed BQE “expert panel” included in their list of recommendations, reducing traffic lanes on the BQE from three to two in each direction. But the Mayor disputed the concept of induced demand and didn’t implement the lane reduction. As a Council Member with the BQE running through your district, would you support reducing lanes as an immediate solution for the BQE while the city and state plan for long term transformations?

SH: Yes, I would support this effort. I agree with transportation planners that increasing capacity and lanes would lead to induced demand and increased reliance on the BQE. I’m committed to traffic calming mechanisms that protect our neighbors, cyclists, parks and streetscapes, sustainable and accessible forms of alternative transportation, and long term infrastructure repairs to the BQE.

MH: The BQE’s infrastructure as it stands is not sustainable and poses a safety risk. If reducing lanes can help ease the weight of cars and trucks and prolong collapse or further damage, I’d support it. At the same time, I would want to make sure much needed repairs are prioritized as we’re dealing with a safety risk here. I do want to ensure we’re centering equity and accessibility while assessing solutions for the BQE. It is a major artery between 3 boroughs and many businesses, as well as an imperative need for people who have limited access to public transportation.

JK: Yes, the BQE is long overdue for real changes. It’s a gash among neighborhoods and we missed an opportunity during the low-traffic months at the start of the pandemic to conduct the necessary studies or dive into ambitious repairs. I do not believe we need to always expand lanes; I want to hear the experts on this but am open to reducing lanes. That said, I want to work with the local folks who have led on this for years; and push for big, transformative solutions that weave neighborhoods together again while doing necessary repairs.

 MM: I support turning the BQE from a 6 lane to 4 lane expressway. We need to cut down on car traffic coming into the city, but let’s get real if we don’t at the same time take seriously things like increasing bus lanes, building more bike lanes and protecting them, then we will have a city where nobody can get around.

BR:I would need to hear what kind of impact that would have to traffic flow on the BQE itself and the sidestreets from experts at the Department of Transportation before I can definitively say one way or another. If I am told it would have a limited impact on the already congested streets in Cobble Hill, only slow down traffic on the BQE minimally, and give more time before the triple cantilever would need to be replaced, I would be in favor of such a plan.

DS: We have to treat the deterioration of the BQE as the crisis it is before we end up with a  repeat of the collapse of the West Side Elevated Highway. Furthermore, so many cars  driving next to playgrounds and residences creates significant environmental damage.

I do preliminarily and theoretically support the reduction in lanes. However, as someone  who has made pedestrian safety the top issue in my campaign, I am very concerned about  increasing traffic in residential areas. If that happened, our streets would become less safe  for pedestrians and bikers, and could actually worsen the environmental damage. My preliminary support for the lane reduction is based upon the statistical analysis behind  “Induced Demand” that demonstrates that “Induced Demand” does not lead to such increased local traffic. I think the DOT should prioritize doing significant advance modeling to show the local community that the lane reduction will not increase traffic on local roads. 

 JS: Yes, I would support the ‘expert panel’s’ list of recommendations. As a councilmember with the BQE running through our district, I believe we need to make sure that we’re working toward a long-term solution while addressing concerns in short term and the recommendations do that.

BW: Yes, but with caution. By reducing the number of traffic lanes on the BQE, we would need to monitor city streets to ensure commuters are not finding alternative routes, leading to traffic congestion in the streets. If we find, by minimizing traffic lanes, drivers are siphoned from the roads altogether, then the immediate solution is a good one, while the city and state seek long-term solutions.

 

4.   Do you support the current DOE plan to rezone District 15 elementary schools?

SH: Yes, I support this rezoning. Racial equity requires our neighborhoods to be integrated – from transportation, to housing, to schools. I support efforts to desegregate our schools – from hiring a diverse pipeline of teachers, to supporting culturally responsive pedagogy, to decreasing class sizes. This includes rezonings, which often alleviate overcrowding and create resource equity.

 

Throughout my campaign, I have been hosting listening sessions with middle school District 15 educators, administrators, parents, and students to assess how effective and inclusive the middle school District 15 integration process has been. Across the board, teachers ask for greater investment in monitoring, anti-racist efforts for teachers, and inclusion of parents in the engagement process. Engagement must be taken seriously – in all school rezoning processes, multilingual parents must be uplifted, and there should be better parental co-governance. I support and appreciate Participatory Action Research as a way of engaging the entire community.

MH: Yes, prioritizing underserved students is imperative as we move towards a more racially just school system. If elected, I’d like to ensure I’m engaging with parents at all schools and understanding their needs and concerns. We have a long road ahead to achieving real justice and equity but this is a start to getting there.

JK: I support the direction the work is going. Building off the Middle School Integration Plan to turn our attention to elementary schools makes total sense. And the current draft of the proposals seeks to balance the importance of having elementary schools walkable and accessible while also redrawing zones to work against segregation. As someone who served on the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union which has tackled school segregation and a leader in District 15, I am fully committed to pursuing integration—recognizing that our segregated housing leads to segregated schools, so there is more work to be done than simple rezonings.

Note: In my discussions with leaders involved with the rezoning, I understand it’s still a work in progress and I’d work to make sure zones are more integrated while also making sense to the families who will be commuting, relying on local parks and facilities that weave together their schools and homes. And rezoning isn’t the end of the story—thoughtful, ambitious resourcing is critical to help schools support the diverse families and individual needs of students. With so many elementary schools in District 15 over 100% capacity, do you have ideas about how we will be able to accommodate the huge influx of families due to arrive in District 15 as a result of of the massive housing developments in both Cobble Hill (former LICH site) and Carroll Gardens (Gowanus) housing developments? 

 MM: I do support the redistricting of School District 15 in efforts to correct a history of segregation in our school system. It’s going to take abolishing zoning so we can build more housing in all NYC neighborhoods to create more diverse schools, but I believe this is a good start.

BR: As it currently stands, yes, because it works to address the issue of diversity in our schools while being phased-in in a way that does not force families to go to different schools.

DS: I understand the importance of rezoning District 15 in Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red  Hook, and Boerum Hill to deal with overcrowding and to increase diversity and support  those efforts. As for the specific plan, it was only just released on May 11. I believe it is vitally important that we hear from parents and the local community before taking a final  position, especially economically disadvantaged families and the families of toddlers, who  will be most affected by the rezoning.

 JS: Yes, assuming that there is significant community engagement across ALL communities affected by the re-zoning. This engagement needs to happen in partnership across the school district, Office of Planning, CEC, PTAs and family groups, and students.  I am the only candidate who has served on a Community Education Council and participated in a process for zoning changes in 13. Racial equity means that everyone in our community has access to equitable housing, health care and education. A plan that has at its focus equitable access to schools across the district, like this one, is one that I support.  

BW: Yes, but we should include our communities into the conversation early on and throughout the planning process, so that it’s seamless, allowing us to avoid what happened with the middle schools in the district.

 

5. With so many elementary schools in District 15 over 100% capacity, do you have ideas about how we will be able to accommodate the huge influx of families due to arrive in District 15 as a result of of the massive housing developments in both Cobble Hill (former LICH site) and Carroll Gardens (Gowanus) housing developments?

SH: I’m so excited about the influx of Foundation Aid funding which should be used to provide our schools with infrastructural support to create smaller class sizes and reduce overcrowding. I am glad that the Gowanus rezoning includes a zoning tool to incentivize the development of new schools within the rezoning as new school-seat need arises, so that new development should not contribute to crowding in existing schools. I will take an active role in ensuring that the School Construction Authority evaluates new development projects before permits are issued to make sure that adequate school seats are provided. Nonetheless, equipping our schools to support all our students is an important investment. Aside from creating smaller class sizes, this means helping schools create healthy students and provide wraparound services, by funding nurses, guidance counselors, librarians, and outdoor learning spaces to accommodate more classrooms with smaller classroom sizes. Preparing for a huge influx of families also means creating a better transportation system, like bringing back the B71 bus, creating protected bike lanes, and investing in open streets. Finally, being a district that supports working families means investing in arts and culture, from extracurricular programming for students, to public programming in parks and open spaces.

MH: We can’t afford to push our schools to the brink any further and need to prioritize more space. I’d like to invest in new construction and / or expansions in the district so that our children have more space. We also need to ensure smaller classroom sizes and that includes increasing pay and benefits for teachers.

JK: We need more funding for our schools, period. This means adding new: working to ensure promises for classroom space made as part of the Gowanus rezoning are kept; expanding current schools thoughtfully; and rejecting overcrowding as a norm. So funding for building new schools and expanding schools; funding for maintaining them; funding for staffing them to ensure smaller class sizes, universal enrichment, and nurses and counselors at every school. Schools is always going to be my #1 priority, and I’ll be working tirelessly to make sure that we stop being reactionary, and start proactively developing the best education system in the country for our kids.

 MM: With the large influx of new students, I think New York needs to be open to school choice. We should be looking at funding the students directly and not the system. Parents should have more options of schools whether it be public, private, charter, or homeschooling, and they, and not the city, should be able to choose what they believe is best for their children.

BR: As part of my education plan, I have said on I have called for more schools within the district. I will work with the School Construction Authority to look for available office space, properties, and land throughout the city to open more schools and classrooms.

DS: This is a big concern given the failure to build infrastructure before building luxury condos.  The reality is that these new housing developments will bring more families with school aged children, which will only exacerbate the already existing overcrowding. Building new  elementary schools would certainly alleviate the overcrowding. But this highlights the  problems with how NYC approaches development. Analysis of the impact of development  on the existing infrastructure must be a major part of the planning and evaluation process  and that must include capacity of our schools. 

 JS: Providing all students an equitable education is the center of my platform.  Having worked in education for over 20 years, I am familiar with the variety of solutions school districts use to address overcrowded/enrolled schools – creating new school space/building schools, re-zoning, increasing temporary classrooms – these are just some of the solutions communities use. What is most important to me as councilmember, would be talking to constituents and hearing the solutions they prefer – schools are the centers of our community for many of us, we want to make sure we’re creating schools that serve all students equitably, and quality of school choice isn’t determined by where a child is born. 

BW: We have to invest in transit, housing and a lot of infrastructure in a resilient way, as it relates to climate change, so that we are accommodating the influx