City Council Candidate Responses
District 29
1. Please briefly share your background and note any experiences you may have in engaging older adults, whether professionally or personally, and in connecting with the non-profit sector.
Douglas Shapiro
I have spent my career fixing public sector problems with smart economic solutions here and abroad. My work experience has shown me that a moral budget can improve everyone’s quality of life. At the International Monetary Fund I help address economic inequality through policy advice on debt sustainability and prioritizing inclusive growth. I represented the organization during discussions with national leaders and helped make the case that Guinea-Bissau should receive technical assistance. As a federal consultant I helped make sure our neighbors that suffer from food insecurity received their food stamps in a timely manner so poor folks had the necessities to survive. And currently I advise chief executives to better run their businesses. I've connected directly with hundreds of older adults in my community over the last few months.
Donghui Zang
During this time of when many New Yorkers are experiencing food insecurity, I have set up healthy food distribution (through UA3 organization). I hand delivered boxes of food to some of the elderly people who were unable to pick up the food on their own. Food insecurity is especially difficult for the elderly if they have a hard time walking unassisted.
Aleda Gagarin
My name is Aleda Gagarin. I am a Queer mother of three, a local activist and community organizer, a nonprofit leader, and a volunteer CYO basketball coach. I work for a nonprofit that connects people working to make the world a better place with resources to help them do it. I believe that building a just and equitable future for all is not only possible, but absolutely necessary. I’m running for Council because we are facing multiple crises across public health, our economy, the environment, and our criminal justice system. Each of these crises disproportionately affects the working class and New Yorkers of color. Each requires bold leadership from leaders who answer to the people, particularly those disproportionately affected, and who will fight tooth and nail to make sure that New York City works for all New Yorkers. I believe that with these challenges comes the opportunity to reimagine what it means to be a New Yorker, and how we take care of each other. A decade ago, when I was a young mother of a toddler and baby, I left work to raise my children full time when their great grandmother fell ill. She had been helping my mother-in-law watch my baby so that my husband and I could work. When she had her heart attack, I became a full-time mom, and part-time helper for my mother-in-law, who worked full time as a nurse in the Bronx. Our matriarch, Ramona, was everything to our family. When she was in a rehab facility in Forest Hills that was desperately understaffed, I went daily to change her bandages and talk to doctors. This experience was so hard on my family, and helped shape the elder care platform that we’re running on today. My core values lie in a deep sense of community, in the creed that all people have the same fundamental rights, and in the conviction that our liberation is bound. I believe that healthcare, education, housing, and food security are human rights. I believe that all work has value and that all wages should be livable. I believe that none of us are free until all of us are free. I dare to envision a future in which all New Yorkers get quality education, healthcare, and housing; a future where seniors can age in place with dignity; and a future that is built on a caring, sustainable economy that doesn’t leave New Yorkers suffering on the margins. I was asked to run by my neighbors because of my deep sense of community and unwavering belief that all people have the same fundamental rights. The 2021 elections will give New Yorkers a once-in-a-generation chance to replace failed leaders who have left us defenseless during a pandemic and ignored rising demands for economic and social justice, and elect a new City Council that will hold our next mayor accountable to the people. I recognize that today’s crises require bold vision, strategic collaboration, and community building.
David Aronov
I’m a first-generation American, a community activist, a proud public school graduate, and a nonprofit founder, who has spent the last decade serving the people of this district. For over seven years I worked for Council Member Karen Koslowitz and advocated regularly for seniors while delivering resources back to the community. Over the last year, I was the Queens Lead Organizer for the City's 2020 Census efforts. I fought to ensure we receive our fair share in federal funding for senior centers, hospitals, schools, and parks. I am proud to say Council District 29 received one of the highest self-response rates across the city. I am a founder of a nonprofit organization and I have worked with many nonprofits over the years, so I am very well connected with the nonprofit sector and the needs of our service providers.
2. As we live longer and healthier lives, what are your priorities with respect to promoting equity across all ages in our City?
Douglas Shapiro
Support Our Seniors' is our campaign slogan. That means considering every issue through the lens of how it will affect folks that are 60+.
-Increase the resources for the DFTA 50%.
-Make sure every modification to transportation in our community takes into account older folks. That means prioritizing safety and accessibility over speed and efficiency.
-Make sure our older neighbors feel safe walking and navigating our community.
Donghui Zang
I would like to see more community centers for children and the elderly. Many older people, after retirement, are unable to access the assistance they need, especially if they need translation help with forms if English is not their native language. I propose to open such centers and also, if elected, my City Council office will have multi-lingual staff members to assist anyone who needs help.
Aleda Gagarin
Building an equitable city is one of the central reasons I am running. To me, building equity across ages and across senior populations brings up several key areas:
NORC’s: NORC’s are uneven and inequitably placed throughout the city. Many neighborhoods lack a single NORC, even though they have a high population of seniors (including parts of my district).
Almost 30 percent of NORC’s are concentrated within three community districts; we can do more to evenly and equitably invest in NORC’s around the city.
NYCHA - NYCHA is home to 78,000 seniors (making it the single largest provider of senior housing), yet doesn’t adequately meet the needs of its elders. Basic investments and improvements are needed such as:
New ramps and elevators to improve accessibility across its buildings
Coordinate with providers to assist residents affected power, gas, water or other service interruptions, which can be incredibly damaging for seniors.
Expand senior center services in NYCHA complexes
Senior Centers - Like NORC’s, senior centers are not equitably distributed throughout NYC. Central and eastern Queens have relatively few senior centers compared to our senior population. Furthermore, senior centers do not adequately accommodate non English speakers or provide culturally relevant programming to the extent they should.
Participatory Budgeting - I believe in participatory budgeting as a way to support our community, but think the current system puts funding projects that benefit seniors at a disadvantage. One of the most obvious ways I see to rectify this is by expanding participatory budgeting to include both capital and expense budget projects. This would go a long way to helping our elders and the organizations here who care for them.
David Aronov
We should be thrilled that people are living longer and healthier than ever before. But with an increase in life expectancy comes an even greater need for ensuring that services and social programs exist in order to maintain a high quality of life for people of all ages and for those in varying degrees of health. That’s why supporting our seniors is a major aspect of my campaign. As part of my platform, I believe we should be making it easier for seniors to apply for critical services and programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, HEAP, SCHE, SCRIE, DRIE Cash Assistance, and Home Health Aides.
We shouldn’t just be focused on making these types of programs easier to access, however. We should also make it a priority to secure and increase funding for them as the strain on many of these programs will only grow as folks live longer. I also support a property tax freeze on homeowners 65+, automatic enrollment for those eligible into SCRIE, and expanding the Senior Citizens Homeowners Exemption tax abatement program. Our seniors should not have to worry about how their age and good health could cause financial concerns by not being able to access the resources necessary to get by as they get older because of budget cuts or the city or state’s financial constraints.
3. Do you support increasing the budget for the Department for the Aging (DFTA), which funds programs such as Senior Centers, NORCs, home-delivered meals, and more? Please give rationale for your response and specify any specific funding changes you are most committed to achieving.
Douglas Shapiro
Yes, we should increase the DFTA from about $300 M by about 50% to $450 M. We need to ensure high-quality home-delivered meals with better Kosher options.
Donghui Zang
Yes. A society is judged by the way we take care of our elderly and vulnerable. During the height of COVID pandemic, I saw it first hand that seniors needed help obtaining food due to physical restraints and felt depressed due to the lack of social interaction. Instead of building skyscraper jail, we should have home-delivered meals so that they don’t go hungry and open more senior centers so that they have a place to socialize with fellow peers.
Aleda Gagarin
Yes! The services DFTA provides are crucial, and with an ever-increasing senior population, the funding DFTA receives needs to be expanded. One of the reasons I accepted my community's call to run for office was to fight for a just budget. A budget is nothing if not a moral document; a statement of priorities. I support right sizing our police budget, and reinvesting in social services and our elders. We don’t need police officers responding to mental health emergencies, policing our schools, or cleaning up graffiti. There are myriad tasks that are currently handled by the NYPD that are not in any way effectively solved by policing and fail at “keeping our communities safe”. I would work to restore resources to our health, housing, and community wellness programs for our elders and for all NYC residents.
David Aronov
Absolutely. A major part of my platform is focused on increasing funds for Senior Centers. During COVID, our seniors have not had the ability to interact with many of their family members and neighbors, let alone their friends and people they know from senior centers they attend and the programs they participate in. I am calling for Senior Centers to be fully funded, and I will work to make sure that happens. I will also push to increase DFTA funding to 1% of the City budget.
Making sure folks in the community don’t have to worry about putting food on the table is also something that is incredibly important to me. Throughout the pandemic, I’ve partnered with local organizations like Commonpoint Queens and Masbia of Queens to not only provide on-site food distribution to folks who need it but also deliver meals to peoples homes. We have to think about those who are unable to venture out on their own and access services that require them to be able to easily get around. It’s so important that we provide enough funding and resources to these types of programs so we can take care of everyone in our community.
4. Do you support implementing a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) increase for city-contracted human service workers and the full implementation of the Indirect Cost Rate (ICR) initiative for non-profits? Please explain your response.
Douglas Shapiro
Yes, we should not shortchange non-profits on their core expenditures.
Donghui Zang
Yes. The cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) should be increased for the elderly to accurately reflect inflation and present day cost of living. Some retirees on a fixed income do not have alternate sources of income other than Social Security. I think we should have a Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the elderly to calculate Social Security COLAs.
Aleda Gagarin
I completely support the Cost of Living Adjustment. Worker’s rights are human rights, and the workers in the human services sector need to be paid a living wage.
I also support the Indirect Cost Rate initiative. As I mentioned above, budget justice is of central concern to me. Last year we slashed 20 million dollars from this initiative, leaving non-profits and the human services sector at large out to dry. I find it despicable when we attempt to balance our budget on the backs of vulnerable populations. Providers take care of our communities and need to be paid by city contracts the revenue they need to remain afloat. The ICR does that, and I believe it needs to be fully implemented.
David Aronov
100%. There is no reason why some of our city’s hardest-working employees should continue to be under-appreciated and under-valued, which means our human service workers deserve a COLA increase and our non-profits deserve full implementation of the ICR initiative.
COVID hit our district and our city hard. But even before the pandemic, NYC’s cost of living ranked 129% higher than the national average, and basic costs like housing, transportation, childcare and food rose at nearly twice the rate of incomes between 2005-2017. Even if COVID had never occurred, our city’s workers deserve a COLA increase, but the urgency of the matter has only increased now as we work to get through the pandemic. (https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/affordability-index/)
The same can be said about fully implementing the ICR initiative, which we need to support and provide more stability for. By pushing for full implementation, we can ensure that human service providers are receiving all the resources they need and not running into a situation where unexpected or unaccounted costs impinge on the ability of any non-profit to keep its doors open and provide vital services to the community.
5. Given that many older New Yorkers rely on limited fixed incomes and would prefer to age in community, rather than entering costly nursing homes, how will you address the need for affordable senior housing with services for a growing older population? How will you evaluate/respond to affordable senior housing proposals during ULURP?
Douglas Shapiro
Philosophically, I am a strong supportive of net new multi-residential housing for both seniors and non-seniors. We have to make it easier to build affordable housing in our community, including senior housing.
Donghui Zang
ULURP – the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure should look at development of residential buildings for senior housing as well as more projects for affordable housing.
Aleda Gagarin
Allow older adults to apply for affordable housing for seniors at age 50 - Often affordable housing lists take more than a decade, yet people cannot apply for SCRIE or put themselves on a waiting list until age 60. By reducing the application age to 50, we allow more New Yorkers access to affordable housing before they are in a housing crisis.
Support more Seniors by expanding the SCHE income limits - Certain Seniors are eligible for a property tax exemption called Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption (SCHE). It is only eligible to seniors who earn a combined family income of under 38,000. Expanding that income limitation to 50,000 would support more low income seniors and families.
Provide funding for Age friendly home renovations - Allowing Seniors to age in place benefits everyone. Providing funds for renovations such as ramps or wider doors for wheelchairs is far cheaper to taxpayers than to pay for costly nursing homes. I wrote a Letter to the editor on my proposal to fund these renovations, which ultimately was covered by The Forest Hills Post
Require landlords to make age friendly renovations for seniors - NYC requires landlords to install window guards in units that house young children, the city should seek to require landlords to make age friendly renovations for senior renters. Any modifications should not qualify for major capital improvements that would be used to increase rent.
Increase funding for senior centers and provide non English and culturally competent programing for Seniors around the city.
Expand senior centers services to provide evening and weekend meals for seniors. For seniors on a budget, often senior centers are the most reliable accessible nutritious food.
Build more Adult Playgrounds - We need to fund adult playgrounds with weight lifting machines suitable for seniors.
Assessing ULURP applications - For me, the factors to assess when considering any new development proposal are 1) Labor standards 2) Sustainability 3) Equity 4) Affordability and 5) Community input. I would weigh each of these carefully when considering how to vote on a new development. In terms of senior housing, the application would need to have deeply affordable units for low income seniors for it to have my support.
David Aronov
Affordable housing is at the forefront of issues my campaign is focused on, and as part of my platform, I am incredibly focused on ensuring that folks who are able and want to stay in their homes as they age are able to do so. As such, I’m calling for an increase in the number of senior affordable housing units available in the district, and I’ve called for making it easier for folks to be able to apply for and have access to programs like SCHE and SCRIE, which are resources folks in the community are able to access right now and should receive more funding. ULURP should be amended to include a needs assessment for senior housing.
6. While many older adults wish to be connected, many lack the financial resources or training necessary to fully access technology, exacerbating the digital divide. How would you encourage the City to address this?
Douglas Shapiro
Meeting people where they are. The city has many existing resources for folks that ae interested in learning about how to use computer technology, for example. Often times, people simply are not aware of what is available. So the city needs to meet people where they are - often that may be in a faith community or other civic social gathering.
Donghui Zang
Senior citizens centers, libraries, community centers and schools should absolutely be funded to provide access to training in technology, computer use, WiFi access, as well as more computers. Many libraries have waitlists for their computers and usage is timed. We also have seen this digital divide when trying to book appointments for vaccines
Aleda Gagarin
I am a supporter of universal broadband. Internet is no longer a luxury; the pandemic has increasingly shown it is a necessity. Many vital services and events have all moved online, and yet there are still nearly one million New Yorkers, many of whom are seniors, without access to reliable internet.
I would seek to introduce or support WiFi for all legislation that expands the fiber optic digital infrastructure necessary to all parts of NYC and provides free or subsidized WiFi to all New Yorkers.
Fiber Optic infrastructure was supposed to be finished in 2014, and yet there are still areas without this infrastructure. For universal WiFi, we can require schools, libraries and other institutions to share their wifi with the public. We can also seek to subsidize WiFi, so that residents who cannot afford it can still have access. It’s time to start treating WiFi like a necessary utility.
As for training seniors in technological literacy, I think increasing funding for libraries, senior centers and local CBO’s to hold more frequent workshops and training sessions will go a long way in expanding accessibility.
David Aronov
I believe the NYC Department for the Aging should create a division within itself which looks to directly address the digital divide, by creating a Technology Education Corps whose main priority is to make outreach to low-income and/or those who have lower technology literacy.
Not only would such a program be a fantastic jobs program for younger folks, especially those who have at least some baseline level of technology literacy, but it would increase interaction between folks of different ages in our community and work to solve the overall problem itself. This can be set up in senior centers as well as throughout community-based organizations.
7. During COVID-19, Senior Centers continued to work remotely, offering services in new ways to ensure their clients’ needs were met. To date, providers have not been authorized to operate in-person, despite restaurants, movies, and other entities, which older adults could also attend, being open. Further, community-based organizations, in many cases, have not been leveraged in the new meal delivery system. What are ways that you feel the City should work with nonprofits and engage older adults in the event of a future emergency?
Douglas Shapiro
We missed a big opportunity to bundle COVID-related information with existing delivery services to seniors. We need more informal working groups that cut across city agencies. Only then will we be able to understand the total impact that the city can have in delivering the services that people need.
Donghui Zang
Elected officials must be in contact with and press for community senior centers to be fully open. They should be tasked to keep telephone and other contact information and keep track of older adults. These organizations (some faith-based) provide real service and must be fully funded so they can continue providing necessary services, including food delivery.
Aleda Gagarin
Here are some ways I believe NYC can work with providers in the future to better engage seniors for future emergencies:
Assuming in-person events are a health risk, and senior centers are closed, we should turn them into community kitchens to better fight food insecurity among our aging population.
Have specific targeting to buildings that house older adults with disabilities for services and meal distribution.
Strengthen our emergency preparation to pre-supply older adults with food, technology and other necessities prior to emergency situations.
Redirect senior center staff to engage older adults and work to combat social isolation.
Work with CBO’s to create intergenerational programming to increase connection and community.
Fund Language access for Senior Centers and CBO’s so that older adults can get required information in their native language.
Fund non-profits providing services to seniors with no interest loans and grants, so they don’t need to worry about financing while in the middle of trying to serve seniors during an emergency.
David Aronov
Not only does NYC need to do an incredible amount of work in terms of preparing itself to prevent and mitigate the effects of a future pandemic, but it clearly needs to do more to ensure it’s prepared to handle any emergency which threatens its ability to interact with resource providers in the community and engage with older adults.
In order to be able to address the challenges brought on by events such as future pandemics or emergency scenarios, it’s critical that NYC must proactively set up contingency plans to establish which community-based organizations are willing and able to lend their services when the next crisis strikes, so no time is lost in identifying the ways that organizations are able to help, and to not be oblivious to organizations and individuals that have the desire and capacity to help when they are needed most.
8. With 1 in 5 New Yorkers over the age of 60, what are the changes you would seek to make to create a more age-friendly district? Please consider addressing the physical infrastructure of your district (walkability, accessibility, etc.), health care access, safety net resources, and other district specific items of note.
Douglas Shapiro
We must rehabilitate Parkway Hospital to deliver physical and mental wellness services. Strong focus on safety at intersections during the Queens Boulevard bike redesign. Longer times for pedestrians to walk across major boulevards in the district, including Queens Boulevard.
Donghui Zang
A more age-friendly district, to me, means safe streets, accessible transportation, proximity to health care clinics and centers with translation services and computer savvy employees to assist seniors in applying for assistance programs and taking care of or routing their complaints to the appropriate channels.
Aleda Gagarin
Install bus shelters and benches at all stops - For people with mobility impairments, a bench at a bus stop can mean all the difference between staying in or going out. Only 27 percent of stops have shelters or benches, yet they are relatively inexpensive to create.
Finish the Queens Boulevard redesign - Historically known as the boulevard of death, redesigning that street to make pedestrian crossing easier and safer must be a priority.
Resume and expand the E-hail pilot project to allow people with mobility impairments to book on demand rides for the price of a MetroCard swipe.
Implement safer streets models - In 37 neighborhoods, DOT has lengthened walk times, installed medians, created turn lanes and implemented other street improvements that prioritize pedestrian safety. We need to bring these safety improvements to all districts!
Bring back, and increase funding for participatory budgeting, and include expense, not just capital projects, so that the community organizations serving our elders on the ground (and other neighbors) receive the funding they need to help residents thrive.
David Aronov
There are a few things we could do right now to immediately improve the age-friendliness of our district. We need to transform our transportation systems by pushing for ADA-accessible subway and bus stations throughout the district, think critically about the Queens Boulevard Bike Lane Design and implementation plan to ensure pedestrians and their needs aren’t pushed aside, work with aging apartment buildings to ensure they are following ADA compliance requirements, and ensuring that seniors have easy access to safety net resources and health care programs through a one-stop shop approach online.
As part of my platform, I’ve also called for creating a senior and disability registry in apartment buildings which allows for folks to provide their contact information if they so choose in order to have an easy way to contact folks during an emergency.
9. In the event of a budget shortfall, how would you push for the City to close the gap? Are there agencies or programs you feel should or should not absorb cuts? Please be specific.
Douglas Shapiro
First the city should look to Albany and Washington, D.C. to get the resources we deserve. Queens is a net donor to NYC, NYC is a net donor to Albany and New York is a net donor to Washington, D.C. So our next city councilperson needs to loudly demand fair resources from all levels of government for our community. Secondly, we can reduce taxes on 98% of households and have the City close any near-term budget gaps by making the ultra-wealthy pay their fare share.
Department for the Aging and Department of Education should never absorb any cuts.
Donghui Zang
The City should not cut programs for children or the elderly, funding for school programs or after schools, food banks/pantries (healthy food from farms to pantries). There are other ways to deal with budget shortfalls such as cutting out funding for the hotels housing the homeless and former inmates (which costs roughly $170 to $250 per night per room). According to the Department of Social Services (DSS), prior to the pandemic, the City paid $17 million PER month to rent approximately 3,500 double-occupancy rooms for homeless single adults. City is now proposing to expand this plan to single-occupancy rooms that will increase the cost to $28 million PER month.
Aleda Gagarin
In general, I entirely oppose austerity as a means of dealing with budget shortfalls. We know that service cuts and austerity have facilitated one of the greatest wealth transfers in American history while actively harming working class New Yorkers.
In immediate and specific terms, I'm running to reinvest our money into our communities. In the face of the largest civil rights movement in more than fifty years, our current Council voted to nearly fully fund our police department while making nearly $2 billion in cuts to housing, parks, education, and health and human services. I also believe we need to scrap the borough based jails plan, and re-invest that $11 dollars into community health and wellness.
In terms of new revenue streams, there are a few central options I see, aside from reprioritizing our budget. The first and most obvious is advocating that my colleagues in the state legislature raise taxes on ultra millionaires and billionaires. The second is to create a public bank, so that New York’s money can grow and ultimately be invested in New Yorkers.
David Aronov
During a budget shortfall, the City should work with the State on different revenue raisers. In addition, the City should cut wasteful contracts that aren't producing results as well as eliminate the outsourcing of city jobs to private consulting firms. Areas such as senior services, workforce development, youth services, housing, and healthcare should not absorb cuts.
10. How should your constituents look to measure your success in achieving your responses outlined above?
Douglas Shapiro
Do we have a workable plan for rehabilitating the Parkway Hospital? Did we increase the resources to DFTA? Did my office help you receive the benefits and services you deserve from the government?
Donghui Zang
If elected, my constituents will see safer streets with NYPD officers patrolling and keeping seniors and families safe.
Aleda Gagarin
If I have the honor of serving on the City Council I will treat seniors as key legislative partners throughout my term, will have an open door office, and will proactively seek input from elders on legislation and budgetary issues. I am a working mom fighting for all of us. I am not a Democrat who will ask for your endorsement and only show up for photo opps; I believe in co-governance to build a city that works for all. I am running because I was asked to by my community. I know what it’s like to feel like your elected officials are absent, or don’t care about constituent needs. Therefore, there are two markers of success to me. The first, and most obvious is if I am able to accomplish the legislation I outlined above. The second marker is if seniors, and all members of my district, engage with my office as partners in pushing for a better city, and feel as if they have a trusted ally representing the district.
David Aronov
I’m someone who has always been focused and driven by results above all. If given the honor and blessing of being able to serve this district, I would ask my constituents to look at the effectiveness of the programs and initiatives I have proposed and implemented, and I’d ask them to tell me whether they have had a positive impact on their lives. Every issue that I run on and that I stand for is based on the idea that it will help improve the lives of folks in our community, and make sure that city government acts as a resource in making that happen rather than a hindrance. At a time when faith in our elected officials and our city government is an all-time low, I am running to provide a new generation of leadership that focuses on providing real results and not just platitudes. I don’t make promises I can’t keep, and I promise to fight every day for our neighborhoods and our communities.