Beginning August 13th, residents can begin voting in the primary election for our next State Senator.
There are two candidates running in the Democratic primary: Andrew Gounardes, a current State Senator and David Yassky, former City Councilmember and former head of the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission.
The candidates have participated in a forum hosted by Schneps Media, which you can view here. There the candidates addressed many important issues that impact the entire State, City, and district, including, among others, safety, criminal justice reform, property tax reform, affordability, and the Brooklyn waterfront.
The CHA reached out to the candidates with some general and neighborhood specific issues that we felt residents would benefit from knowing their positions on. 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.
The questions we asked were as follows:
- Cobble Hill has a mix of long-time homeowners, new homeowners, and renters, all of whom would be impacted in different ways by changes to the property tax system. What are your views on the structural property tax reforms proposed by the New York City Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform and the coalition created by NYC Comptroller Brad Lander?
- Assembly Bill A6304 would establish a BQE authority to coordinate improvements and transformation of the expressway between the various agencies, City, State, and Federal governments. This bill has been stalled in the State Assembly for over a year. Do you support this bill and what is your plan to move it forward?
- What infrastructure changes would you support to make it safer for pedestrians to travel throughout District 26?
- Do you support mayoral control of New York City public schools?
- Both of you have previously held elective office in the metropolitan New York area for several years. Looking back, (a) What, among your many accomplishments, are you most proud of? (b) Is there anything you would have done differently?
- Every candidate has their priorities but in order to fund them, some things must be cut. In your opinion, where could New York State stand to cut the budget?
- How can we improve our record on battling the climate crisis? What specific steps would you promote or support at the local level?
The candidates’ responses to the below questions can be found below:
