City Council Candidate Responses
District 39
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.
Justin Krebs
Across my many projects, I’ve always ensured opportunities for older New Yorkers to participate—from social communities around progressive politics to ensuring opportunities to participate and enjoy arts events. More recently, during the pandemic, I was one of the initial team that established the Camp Friendship Food Pantry which partners with Heights and Hills to deliver pantry bags and fresh produce to seniors twice a week.
Brandon West
Over the course of my career I have worked inside and outside of the system, both as a government employee and as an organizer and advocate. While working for the City, I held positions in the Office of Management and Budget and later the Finance Division, where I focused on budgeting for Education and Transportation. These experiences gave me a deep understanding of how city budgets are constructed and negotiated, and the ways in which it reflects the policy priorities of the Mayor and of the Council. Given that the budget is really where the rubber hits the road, I believe this experience will be critical to my being able to effectively advocate for my district’s priorities, including critical services for seniors. I have also worked to improve our city outside of my 9-5 job. I wasn’t content to just be part of the machinery of government, I also wanted to challenge government to truly serve the people. I was elected President of the New Kings Democrats, an organization created specifically to challenge entrenched machine politics in Brooklyn. At NKD, I led the “Rep Your Block” campaign to encourage people to run for their local County Committee to increase civic engagement and civic power (resulting in more than 500 people running for these spots in one year alone) and setting up spaces for dialogues across communities on how to improve our city. I intend to continue this dedication to civic engagement by holding town halls in all parts of my district, breaking down complicated issues, and making sure my constituents feel included in my decisions about policy and budget. After serving in City government, I joined the Center for Popular Democracy as a Campaign Manager for Voting Rights and Democracy Reform. At CPD, I supported grassroots organizations and coalitions around the country to protect access to the ballot and democracy reform. This year obviously presented challenges on a whole new scale, but it also put the dysfunction and weakness of our voting infrastructure into stark relief. Working in states across the country, I had to learn and then navigate sometimes dramatically different political and cultural landscapes to determine how to respond to challenges, how to shore up the system (at least in the short term), and how to prepare for the potential of violence, long lines, ballots rejected for frivolous reasons, and so on. These same skills will, I believe, enable me to understand, ally with, and serve diverse communities both within District 39 and across the city.
Shahana Hanif
My name is Shahana Hanif. I am a lifelong resident of Kensington, Brooklyn, a daughter of Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants, and a survivor of Lupus. I am a community organizer striving to create a feminist government for all, that centers care and joy and galvanizes to keep our communities safe, housed, and fed without conditions. In 2016 I helped form The Kensington Stewards, a neighborhood association in Kensington. We fought locally to transform an empty lot into a public plaza: Avenue C Plaza. Prior to the creation of Avenue C Plaza, there was (and still continues to be) a lack of viable open spaces for the Kensington community, especially for immigrant women, families, and older adults to utilize and enjoy safely. Within the district, particularly within Kensington and Borough Park, the lack of public parks and open spaces prevent community gatherings. Avenue C Plaza is a gender justice project for me as a means to reclaim public space because there is a salient need in Kensington for hangout spaces for Bangladeshi immigrant women, and particularly older women. In 2018, I incubated the Kensington Cultural Council, which hosts collaborative programming like an annual community Iftar, concert series, and free arts events for immigrant families and seniors, develops new partnerships with local businesses and other community groups, and receives technical assistance and professional development to strengthen small cultural organizations and artists based in Kensington. I come to this work as a tenant organizer and a history of building with NYCHA public housing residents with CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, fighting for increased tenant protections, especially for seniors and people with disabilities.After Trump’s election, I took my nonprofit and organizing work to the City Council by joining Council Member Brad Lander’s office. It was important for me to build power in my home community, where we experienced grave and immediate impacts of Trump’s legislative agenda targeting Muslims and immigrants. In my roles as Bangladeshi Community Liaison and Director of Organizing and Community Engagement, I’ve done direct constituent services work and have brought targeted City services into the district, especially prioritizing the district’s limited English proficient Bangladeshi constituents. I have coordinated and mobilized actions to protect neighbors against ICE and hate crimes, and led and expanded Participatory Budgeting within the district. I’ve paid close attention to working-class and limited English proficient families but my work spans across the district, including my work to secure funds for an elevator at the 7th avenue F/G stations. I organized with seniors, folks with disabilities, and disability rights advocates to demand accessibility in our district’s hospital corridor, and construction is set to begin in the summer of 2021. One of my proudest achievements is collaborating with the Older Adults Technology Services to create a Bangla computer course for Bangladeshi seniors. Immigrant seniors in the district are isolated and offering programs that meet their needs is absolutely critical. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I ceased all campaign operations and pivoted to fundraising over $40,000 dollars for undocumented older adults and immigrants in the community who are struggling to survive due to a lack of access to food, resources, and financial relief from the city, state, and federal governments. This project came about from doing wellness calls with older adults in my district. From these calls we found that many immigrant families were especially struggling to survive with the loss of jobs and family members. This financial mutual aid work was covered on ABC News.
Mamnun M Haq
I’m a labor organizer, a public health advocate, an immigrant, and a working class New Yorker. I immigrated to NY almost 30 years ago from Bangladesh and settled in Kensington, here in District 39. Like many immigrant New Yorkers, I began driving a yellow medallion taxi cab. As a driver, I quickly saw and experienced the hardships of the work – long hours, low pay, exploitation by brokers, and a dangerous work environment overall. My own experience, and the experience of my fellow cabbies, encouraged me to co-found the New York Taxi Workers’ Alliance, the largest taxi cab union in the country. I worked fiercely for drivers rights including co-organizing two of the largest taxi cab strikes in New York City and advocating for the Taxi Drivers Protection Act after a passenger stabbed me with a 10 inch hunting knife. The act was finally passed in 2014 by the NYC council. For the last 12 years, I’ve been working in public health as a Community Health Worker, connecting directly with Bangladeshi and South Asian New Yorkers. My job is to help them manage and prevent chronic health issues and navigate our complicated healthcare system. Many of my clients are limited English speakers, new immigrants, low-income, and undocumented – along with health issues, our work as community health workers has led to securing housing, navigating SNAP benefits, and even teaching clients how to use the subway. Through my work, I’ve engaged directly with older adults teaching them how to mitigate and prevent chronic health issues like diabetes, engage in exercise, build awareness around mental health and more. I have deep relationships with mosques and organizations in our neighborhood and across NYC and have worked directly with them to conduct focus groups with older and aging adults, connect with older adults, and spread awareness for social services. Our mosque committee members who are older adults have learned to measure the blood pressure of congregants and engage in conversations around healthcare. In Queens and within District 39, I’ve worked with mosque’s and their senior programs/senior members to teach congregants about health management and building habits for healthier futures for themselves and their families. I’ve also assisted multiple older clients in securing housing, whether that’s applying for public housing, getting in touch with a landlord on their behalf, or getting them into a shelter and finding permanent housing. I’m proud to also conduct all of this work in Bangla as well.
2. As we live longer and healthier lives, what are your priorities with respect to promoting equity across all ages in our City?
Justin Krebs
We need to prioritize mitigating isolation. Both the practical impact of being isolated in terms of access to groceries, medicine, exercise; and the mental toll exacerbated by the pandemic. The isolation is already there for many seniors; it's now exacerbated by COVID; and it compounds all the other difficulties of living on precarious economic and health footing.
In my work helping establish the Camp Friendship Food Pantry, I've seen the work of groups like Heights & Hills to support seniors. And in my long history in the theater and entertainment world, I've admired how the Actors Fund has pioneered and prioritized caring for seniors. I'd turn to organizations like that to help guide the resources and programs that meet seniors' real needs with dignity, and include their need for contact and conversation. It's a resource issue, of course; it's also an issue of developing communication channels, born out of community investment and perhaps fueled by social capital, that make sure seniors are being heard and hearing from others.
In much of my work -- from Living Liberally to The Tank to MoveOn to the pantry -- the core of the work has been about making sure folks are connected, respected, heard; developing ways to listen; and creating inclusive and joyful relationships. I'd bring that spirit to this work.
I’ll use that experience to get it done, and lean on the arts to help connect seniors with folks across NYC. Imagine our tens of thousands of unemployed and underemployed artists, creators and entertainment professionals offered the chance to be a Creative Corps that bring a surge of person-power into our schools, supported small-group-cohort learning and additional academic and social-emotional support for our students; became a 1-to-1 source of engagement for homebound seniors suffering from the extreme impacts of isolation.
We need innovative thinking to tackle this challenge and I’m excited to work alongside the council to address the diverse set of challenges that seniors face in the city.
Brandon West
Firstly I believe housing is a human right, and as such we need more permanently affordable housing options where people can age in place without fear of surprise rent increases or evictions. This includes existing public housing and other large subsidized developments (many of which are NORCs or formal senior housing) - we need a massive infusion of funding for needed repairs at NYCHA, and we need to ensure that other large developments stay in regulatory agreements. We also need to allocate more funding for new senior and supportive housing options, and generally explore more social housing and home ownership models to promote long-term community stability.
Accessibility is also extremely important and often overlooked in our city. The MTA needs funding to add elevators to subway stations, and the TLC must do better on ensuring the accessibility of our taxi and for-hire-vehicle fleets. The fact that the MTA is considering rationing Access-a-Ride shows that the City’s priorities are out of whack when it comes to serving the most vulnerable among us.
Shahana Hanif
Promoting equity across all ages means addressing and recovering from COVID-19: a nursing home in Cobble Hill, in my District, had the highest rate of COVID deaths in New York. I want to provide more funding towards culturally competent senior healthcare to resolve these disparities, paying particular attention to undocumented seniors and seniors who are essential workers. I also want to establish a more robust NYC neighbor network to pair and partner isolated seniors with Council staff or paid community members for check ins, to combat the loneliness of isolation and ensure that seniors have access to groceries and needed services. We’ve started a version of this during my time at Council Member Brad Lander’s office.
Outside of COVID, my priorities with respect to promoting equity across all ages is (1) expanding healthcare and mental health services for all, and (2) ensuring language accessible services and resources are reaching everyone. I will expand more on #2 later in this answer, but I want to briefly note that language access should be a priority for all those who care about equity across all ages, particularly in a district like mine where there are many older adults aging in a country they did not grow up in.
(1) Healthcare
Many New Yorkers, particularly New Yorkers who are low income, undocumented, and uninsured, rely on hospitals and clinics in the Health and Hospitals system for their healthcare needs or do without any medical care. The Council must expand and direct funding towards programs like NYC Care. Funding must also be expanded towards health centered community organizations and clinics (ex. free/low cost community based clinics) and outreach that informs all New Yorkers about their right to access care regardless of class, immigration status, and health insurance. City Council must also ensure that reproductive health information and care are accessible to all New Yorkers. The City Council can invest in and fund community based clinics to provide free or low-cost services such as STI/STD testing, condoms, and access to birth control. The City Council also needs to advocate for inclusive, intersectional, and comprehensive sex education in schools. Lack of language accessibility and culturally informed outreach often bars many New Yorkers - especially New Yorkers of color and immigrant New Yorkers - from accessing City resources. It is crucial for the City Council to work with City agencies like the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Health & Hospitals to make health resources available for working class folks. That outreach must be done in an accessible and culturally responsive manner. City Council has the responsibility to expand mental health services for elders – like through partnering with community-based organizations to host workshops that deconstruct stigmas with mental health care. I will also host public programming for elders in the district at open spaces like Avenue C Plaza and Prospect Park to address loneliness and social isolation.
(2) Language accessible services
Up to date, language accessible services and resources are not reaching everyone. As Council Member, I want to expand language access throughout the City. Limited English proficient constituents, and particularly isolated older adults, should not be barred access to their government and its resources due to the government’s failure to be accessible. A lack of language access permeates every public service that the city fails to provide.
I’m committed to continuing language accessible services and legal aid both as a means to get vital immigration-related information (like when a judge blocked changes made by the Trump administration to fee waiver rules) to my District and challenge voter suppression by helping community members on their path to citizenship or bring them into the campaign to fight for noncitizen voting access in municipal elections. While the City promises translation and interpretation services, the majority of limited English proficient speakers do not receive the services they need. The implications of this are stark - staff at COVID-19 testing sites have not been able to provide accessible communication for folks whose primary language is not English. It is not enough to simply tell folks to get tested and be protected from COVID-19, it is important that folks are able to access the resources and services they need to survive the pandemic.
Mamnun M Haq
I’m committed to increasing funding and programming for youth and older adults across NYC. When we think about equity we need to target the needs of each age group while taking culture into consideration as well. For young people, we need community based, affordable/free afterschool programming. This includes expanding Beacon programs at local schools across the city, funding non-profits to continue their work and build capacity for more work, and expanding the age of youth who are reached and able to participate in programming.
For parents, there needs to be reliable translated outreach and materials for social services, legal and housing services, as well as affordable childcare.
And for aging adults, there needs to be investment in multilingual programs, outreach, and direct home care services for elders. An equitable NYC means that we’re taking a holistic approach to programming and resources. We need to take into consideration the culture, language, and accessibility of an age group and neighborhood and couple that with the needs of that age group. Within Kensington in District 39, there has been increased arts and culture programming for youth and elders. But, many youth, especially older youth, still crave safe spaces to practice the arts and explore their identities. There has also been some programming for the elderly but we need to continue to invest in social programming for elderly to combat isolation.
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.
Justin Krebs
Yes. A budget is about priorities, and we need to start championing programs that help seniors. The Department for the Aging needs more funding, period. But I would personally champion increasing funding for its home-delivered meals program -- right now, funding just does not reflect its increased demand due to COVID and its continued demand in a post-COVID world.
Brandon West
Yes, when I worked at Council Finance, it always seemed that this type of funding was high up on the chopping block if cuts were needed. We absolutely need to increase DFTA’s budget - our communities shouldn’t have to rally to keep their senior centers open and to make sure our elders have food. Depending on what projections you look at, the next few years may be rough for the City’s budget. That is why I am calling for the City to reinvest $3 billion from the NYPD budget back into our communities. This much-needed funding can ensure that the social safety net remains strong. The NYPD doesn’t need a $75,000 robot dog while people are going hungry.
Shahana Hanif
Yes! The Department for the Aging (DFTA) receives less than 1% of our City’s budget, which is appalling. I am committed to fully funding EISEP (Expanded In Home Services for the Elderly) to ensure that the Department of Aging is able to provide at-home care to elders and limit the wait list.
Mamnun M Haq
Yes, we need to increase funding for DFTA, senior centers, NORCs, home delivered meals and more. Seniors and aging New Yorkers are vital members of our community. They embody the richness and history of NYC and deserve to live dignified lives with substantial support from city services. No one should be forced to live alone, forgo meals, or face isolation and health issues alone. We need to prioritize and invest in:
Multilingual programs, outreach, and direct home care services for elders
Invest in and create social and virtual programming to combat isolation and loneliness, including tech and digital training programs
Expand mental health services and outreach
Map the needs of seniors based on location, cultural needs, and linguistic needs
Target free meal distribution to buildings that house older adults but don’t have senior centers
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.
Justin Krebs
Yes. ICR was a great first step to cover the indirect cost of programs and provide real stability to non-profits that often deliver critical services to seniors. However, nonprofits deserve clarity from the city about reimbursement rates in the coming decade. Programs like this, which allow organizations across the city to operate effectively, cannot be slashed because of budget shortfalls.
Brandon West
Yes. The City depends on its contracted workers and non-profits for direct service delivery. Many of these people were essential workers during the pandemic, putting their safety on the line for others. These workers (like all workers!) deserve to be treated fairly, including receiving backpay for emergency work as appropriate.
Shahana Hanif
Yes - I support increasing pensions and retirement funds based on increased inflation. I was happy to see the Mayor and Speaker launch the Indirect Funding Initiative to increase financial security amongst human service workers. I support this initiative because nonprofits must receive complete funding for indirect costs, like administrative services.
Mamnun M Haq
Yes, I support this. The recent COLA increase was just 1% which equates to an extra $15 a month. That is not a significant increase and will not make an impactful difference in a retiree’s life. Living in NYC is unaffordable for many New Yorkers, and especially for retired and aging New Yorkers, we need to be able to support them to afford rising rents and cost of living. As for ICR, yes we need to fully implement this initiative for non-profits. Community based non-profits are vital to serving vulnerable New Yorkers, most often those who are immigrants, low-income, and people of color. The city council passed a budget to support ICR and cover overhead costs for nonprofits so that the financial burdens not covered by city contracts would be handled. Now, in the midst of implementing the initiative for retroactive costs, the city council has cut $20 million from this budget. This hurts nonprofits that are necessary at a time when many New Yorkers are suffering and rely heavily on community based nonprofits and city agencies.
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?
Justin Krebs
It’s clear that there are a variety of social, emotional, and economic advantages to keeping seniors in their homes. But this is a complicated issue that will require a groundbreaking approach to maintaining existing affordable housing, building more throughout the city, expanding protections for PWDs across housing, and increasing funding for services that support seniors in their homes.
We need to increase investment in deeply affordable units; protect from displacement from non-rent-stabilized units; create and invest in a social housing trust -- accelerating the creation of affordable housing citywide at the scale of Mitchell Lama; and support efforts to cancel rent. Overall, though, the city needs comprehensive planning that centers community needs, rather than a system responsive to developers' desires. The city has to be looking at racial impact as well as environmental impact, and we need timelines that include significant and accessible public comment, ones set by community needs.
In addition to building new accessible affordable housing and protecting people from displacement, we must: improve access to the DRIE rent freeze program for the disabled; incentivize landlords to make existing apartments accessible; mandate the new construction adhere to basic accessibility/adaptability guidelines like zero step entrances and wheelchair compliant doors; and expand the right to counsel to individuals suing their landlords to create or maintain accessibility.
Brandon West
As mentioned, building more affordable senior housing is crucial. HPD’s SARA program is one of the best tools we have for real affordable housing, as it serves those making 0-50% AMI and provides a 30% set-aside for formerly homeless seniors. I would absolutely support these projects in ULURP, with two caveats 1) I believe all public land should be used for public good, so if these projects are proposed for City-owned land, I would want to see the project go to a community-based, non-profit developer and/or community land trust, and 2) I would like to see permanent affordability for all affordable housing projects.
Shahana Hanif
I love this question, because as said earlier, I think all older New Yorkers should age in place, rather than having to enter costly nursing homes out of and far from community. My vision for senior care and justice in my district is to honor the agency of seniors - allowing seniors to age in place and amongst communities they care about. Instead of only expanding funding to nursing homes, I will fund community-based organizations that service elders (like the Met Council), support senior centers, advocate to expand senior transportation (like Access-a-Ride), and expand mental health access for seniors. I will fully fund programs like EISEP, which will allow more caseworkers and caretakers to make aging in community more feasible. In terms of prioritizing caregivers, I will help create better workplace protections for caretakers, particularly family caretakers, through fully funding EISEP and the Department for the Aging, and helping caretakers apply for the NY State Medicaid CDPAP.
Mamnun M Haq
Affordable housing in our district is limit
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?
Justin Krebs
First, the department of the aging should have a big role to play here. Second, this pandemic has taught us that remote is not always accessible. As NYC recovers from the pandemic, we need to prioritize hybrid options for all meetings. There’s room to invest financial resources, technological resources, and build up human capital to expand digital literacy and access, while also ensuring digital literacy isn’t required for older New Yorkers.
Also, this needs to be done in discussion with impacted communities. Working through organizations that support seniors will help us understand what seniors want and how we can best offer the education, technology, support or alternatives they want.
Brandon West
I believe the City should guarantee the right to high-speed, broadband internet for everyone. Of course this means we need to ensure everyone also has the technology to use it. We need to make sure our senior centers have technology, and that we’re funding training programs at those centers. Importantly, we also need to ensure that our municipal infrastructure is easy to access. I’ve heard lots of complaints about community boards that don’t have the technology to support digital meetings, for example. One Brooklyn board recorded a meeting on a tape recorder! In order for everyone to be connected to critical information, the tech has to be available for both the producers and the users.
Shahana Hanif
I would encourage the City to address this by partnering my constituent services arm with public libraries, houses of worship, and other community based senior centers to host technology workshops and provide drop-in tech support to help increase tech accessibility for seniors which can include helping seniors apply for benefits online or accessing care through telehealth. I have seen the power of the classes offered by Older Adults Technology Services across senior centers in my district and will continue working with them to reach more immigrant seniors. We’d already been in conversation about offering Bangladeshi seniors with a 2.0 computer class, and for that, OATS will need financial support to build out a curriculum in Bangla.
This past year has shown us how necessary it is to close the digital divide. Whether it’s students trying to attend school online or older adults trying to access vaccine appointments, we are relying on knowledge of and access to digital products and wifi. The city needs to invest and foster digital accessibility for the elderly. That should include:
Multilingual outreach and training for basic computer and cell phone use
Expand virtual programming to combat social isolation and empower older neighbors to host their own programming
Provide digital programming and support for older immigrant / non-english speaking adults to better understand and access New York city’s many resources
Expand public wifi access across the city including NORCs
Connect directly with non-profits, senior centers and NORCs to provide tech and digital training and support. This can and should include building relationships with youth to engage with the elderly and bridge age and tech divides.
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?
Justin Krebs
A few months ago, there was sound public health rationale for this policy. Now, it is just a reflection of our state’s consistently inconsistent COVID guidelines that sometimes appear to privilege special interest business groups over, in this case, seniors. While largely a state level issue, we need to allow Senior Centers to begin to operate in-person, with socially distant protocols in-place.
Beyond Senior Centers, for the past 9 months, I’ve helped establish, expand and organize in an ongoing way the Camp Friendship Food Pantry—which distributes and delivers to hundreds of clients multiple times a week.
A food pantry is a band-aid—it’s not the systemic change we need. But it has made very immediate the dire situation of many of our neighbors; as well, more hopefully, of the willingness of many neighbors to pour time, money, energy, social capital into building solutions. People want to band together and help—whether at a pantry or with bigger systemic solutions they can see, believe in and advocate for.
The city needs to begin to coordinate and work with food pantries, like Camp Friendship, to reduce inefficiencies and overlap between existing services.
Brandon West
This pandemic shined a light on how unprepared our City was for an emergency. Without the senior centers, and without being able to see family, many seniors found themselves homebound and needing help getting food and other essentials. One thing I believe we should do as soon as possible is work with non-profits and NYCHA tenant associations to fund the setup of building-based programs where “floor captains” are tasked with knowing their neighbors and their potential needs in an emergency, and checking in on them regularly and especially in an emergency situation.
Shahana Hanif
Particularly in times of crisis, we need to resist austerity budget cuts and trust nonprofits deeply rooted in communities to be partners in service delivery. Our City should’ve consulted with senior centers and community based organizations more broadly in our City’s COVID-19 response. As we map out recovery, community based organizations must be brought in to share lessons and feedback -- this is the only way we will build a recovery that is rooted in care for every New Yorker. From mental health to elder support, our community organizations have been a key part of keeping New Yorkers safe and supported during the COVID-19 crisis. Yet, decades of austerity budgeting and the destruction of our social safety net has placed serious strain on the City’s human service providers. This has a particular impact on women of color, who overwhelmingly make up the human services workforce. While the pandemic has dramatically increased the need for these services, our Governor and his Division of Budget continues to withhold payments to contracted non-profit service providers, with the expectation of deeper cuts to these organizations and their employees. New York City Council Members have a responsibility to advocate against these State budget cuts, and to demonstrate the real-life impact these cuts have on constituents. I will use my office to make these intersectional issues apparent, and will push for the State fully funding the true cost of public services.
Mamnun M Haq
We really need to invest in mapping and tracking the needs of older adults. Every community of people, including aging and older New Yorkers have specific needs that are rooted in cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic abilities. I understand that providers have not been able to serve older clients due to health risks, but opening up the rest of the cities restaurants and other entities, while ignoring seniors, exacerbates isolation. We need to find safe ways to provide in person services and increase digital access for the elderly when they’re unable to meet in person. Community based organizations are the backbone of support for the most vulnerable New Yorkers. The city should be doing explicit and direct outreach to these groups to leverage the meal delivery system and also ensure that they’re offered culturally relevant meals and groceries.
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.
Justin Krebs
A key component of my campaign has been making the city more accessible for all. That starts with championing and pressuring the MTA to expand accessible access to all train stations; creating a local network of protected bike lanes that are safe for ages 8 to 80; supporting initiatives from the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled to reform Access-A-Ride to be a more useful and fair service; prioritizing a larger percentage of accessible taxis as part of the overall fleet -- especially as the fleet begins to decarbonize; calling for strict accessibility standards for all FHVs; and, prioritizing increasing bus service and replacing eliminated lines.
The pandemic made us realize just how critical our “third places” are – those shared spaces beyond our homes and workplaces which are essential to our quality of life. For a period, it seemed to shut us out of many of those places – the cafes, bars, theaters, restaurants – while putting even more pressure on our parks and plazas.
When I worked for New Yorkers for Parks, there was a reason our focus was on expense budget and maintenance more than capital funding. It’s one thing to build a space – it’s another to keep it beautiful, accessible, clean, maintained and programmed. We don’t come to New York to live in our apartments; we sleep in our apartments and live in our vibrant city. Seniors should be able to do the same.
Beyond investment in parks and playgrounds, there are plenty of plazas within buildings that are closed off by the way they are designed that could be made accessible. There are city streets finally being turned over to restaurants, stores, and playstreets. There are school yards that are often closed as soon as the school day is over and could be kept open. But to my knowledge, while we have mapped the parks of the city, there isn’t a comprehensive mapping of the open spaces – city-owned, privately-owned yet publicly- accessible, and even informally provided – that can show us where New Yorkers are in greatest need for places to breathe, play, and gather.
And finally access to space can’t just mean geographic access, or making spaces seem/feel public – they also have to be accessible to the differently abled, and we need to ask ourselves again and again whether seniors, families with small kids, folks in wheelchairs, folks with sensory processing challenges, and people who speak a wide range of languages all see themselves in these public spaces, know how to get in and how to make use of them.
Brandon West
So much of this is critical for my district, which has a significant aging population. Walkability is critical -- I don’t think any New Yorker should feel they need to own a car to get around, even if they have limited mobility. I want to prioritize more and better bus service, particularly for areas of my district that are far from subway stations. And as I mentioned above, the MTA needs more funding to make stations accessible. Right now, the MTA avoids major station upgrades because they say they can’t afford to put in elevators as would be required, and everyone suffers as a result.
Healthcare access is also huge. I am an outspoken advocate of universal healthcare. I’ve been endorsed by the NYC Democratic Socialists of America and will continue to uplift their organizing around the NY Health Act. As a Councilmember, I will support NYC Care as a potential stopgap program of increased services on the way to Medicare for All.
The ultimate goal for NYC Care should be a program that exists outside of H&H exclusively, so that New Yorkers can get free and low-cost healthcare at private hospitals and CBO’s. As a Councilmember, I will aim to involve as many CBO’s as possible in the NYC Care primary care network. I will also aim to pressure the private hospital system to participate in the program, and support state-level efforts to the same effect.
The enrollment target for NYC Care should be in the hundreds of thousands. CBO’s involved in the NYC Care rollout would benefit from longer term contracts, allowing them to plan more expensive enrollment drives.
I will also aim to increase funding for community-based health centers across the board, and where appropriate, baseline their funding in the budget so that they can provide a consistent level of care, year to year. To the extent that community health organizations suffered from healthcare funding cuts in the 2020 City budget, I will work to restore and increase funding.
In my district, I will work to bring in resources to deal with health issues that disproportionately affect marginalized communities, such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. People need to have access to information on how best to get care that is best suited for them, and the best messengers of that information are at times those community groups that have better relationships with them than government does. Before we can reduce inequality writ large, I will work to connect with grassroots groups and allocate discretionary funding for programs that direct constituents in need to programs like NYC Care and preventative care programs.
Shahana Hanif
An age friendly district means better public transportation, and creating a more accessible, networked transportation infrastructure. I will advocate for the expansion of the on-demand Access-a-Ride (AAR) pilot program to serve all AAR users and allow all users to request service whenever they need one, not 24 hours in advance. I will also work with state partners to demand the MTA create a fully accessible subway system, including installation, repair and maintenance of elevators across the subway system. Finally, I will make parks and open spaces more accessible to people with disabilities, by widening bike lanes and walkways, adding more ramps by staircases, and funding programs that teach folks with disabilities how to safely ride bikes.
Mamnun M Haq
It’s clear that we need to expand healthcare access beyond the traditional hospital and clinic service and focus on preventative care and health management. We can’t wait for the next global pandemic – we need to address the issues that communities were already facing and will continue to face. That includes care for seniors and aging neighbors.
This is where Community Health Workers (CHW’s) come in. Community health workers are frontline public health workers who are trusted members of their communities and have familiarity with their neighborhoods. They’re connectors, facilitators, and motivators who help mitigate chronic health issues and connect community based and clinical care to those who need the services most. CHW’s have been shown to reduce the burden of illness in patients with chronic health issues and help them manage their health better. My plan is to recruit, hire, and train members in low income communities, communities of color, and immigrant communities to become frontline health workers who can help mitigate chronic health issues, prevent chronic health issues, and support mental health. This is a program that can, and should, be adapted and utilized for our aging neighbors and neighbors with disabilities. As a CHW myself, I know how imperative this kind of support is to a client and providing more of these resources will not only help bridge the healthcare divide but ensure that we fold in our aging neighbors into larger public health initiatives. Additionally, I’d expand funds for NYC Health + Hospitals and community based clinics to provide low cost healthcare for uninsured people.
Additionally, we need to think about accessibility and support – more public seating, increased intergenerational engagement, continued prioritization of senior times at local restaurants and grocery stores and more. It’s crucial to engage with our aging and older constituents to understand their needs directly as well.
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.
Justin Krebs
Like I’ve said before: a budget is about priorities. We need to begin any conversation around our values and priorities, not around cuts. Schools, health, mental health, senior services, environmental justice, workforce development are some of the areas we need to prioritize. Departments like DFTA need more funding, not less.
That means partnering with lawmakers on all levels to make the wealthy pay their fair share; it means directing resources away from corporations, and funneling workforce and economic development dollars into small businesses; and using the “cheap money” of low interest rates to invest in critical infrastructure that can also put folks to work.
And, we need to move billions from the police department so that we can invest in schools, health, mental health, senior services, environmental justice, workforce development. We need to rethink how law enforcement is serving our communities and that includes how we fund them -- and we need to move funding from the police and fully fund programs that address systemic challenges and inequities.
I signed onto a letter to defund the police department by $1 billion in June 2020 and worked within MoveOn as MoveOn to organizationally move towards these goals as well. I stand by that and would vote for budgets that moved $2-3 billion more than that into other priority areas.
Brandon West
As I mentioned above, I’m advocating for a cut of $3 billion to the NYPD’s budget to be reinvested in our communities. I have my own ideas about how to reinvest this funding, including education, affordable housing, and the social safety net - but it will be important to me that our budget is a People’s Budget and that my constituents have a chance to really weigh in on their own priorities.
Shahana Hanif
One of my first priorities to increase revenue as Council Member will be to defund the police by 3 billion dollars and reinvest funding into other agencies such as the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Department of Homeless Services (DHS), and Health + Hospitals -- agencies that will need the most resources to help New Yorkers get through a global pandemic. Despite countless protests and calls to action from Black and brown activists and organizers this summer, who have called for these specific cuts, the City Council failed to listen to their constituents and passed a budget that gave the NYPD a substantial amount of funding. While other agencies in the City like the Department of Education have had to make deep cuts to staff and resources, the NYPD was able to hire 900 new cadets in October.
We also absolutely need to tax the rich to generate revenue, and we need public pressure to do so. I will work to build broad coalitions with my colleagues in the State and to work on a resolution in support of a pied-à-terre tax for the City’s millionaires and billionaires, which would provide an estimate of $390 million of annual revenue to the City. I will also work with the State to create a “mansion tax” that would bring an estimated revenue of $300 million annually.
Mamnun M Haq
We need to divest from policing first and foremost and reallocate that funding for necessary services, including services for older New Yorkers. We cannot continue cutting from essential needs like housing (that includes public housing and NYCHA), DOE (we need to provide tech access for students and increase mental health and social support in schools), and healthcare and DHS (there is a growing issue of homelessness in NY that is exacerbated by the pandemic as well as an increase in chronic and mental health issues). These agencies/programs cannot afford to absorb more cuts, but the NYPD budget can and should be cut to support these programs.
10. How should your constituents look to measure your success in achieving your responses outlined above?
Justin Krebs
Hold me accountable and judge me by our budget.
Brandon West
My goal is for myself and my staff to be extremely available to my constituents. I want to do regular town hall meetings in all parts of the districts so that I can hear from them directly what their issues and priorities are. I want to make sure I’m breaking down the complicated workings of government so folks understand and feel included in what’s going on. They will have many opportunities in these meetings to hold me to account! I am running as a movement candidate, so I see that as centering organizers and those most impacted. If I am not meeting the needs of my constituents and those most marginalized, then I’m not doing my job.
Shahana Hanif
This is a difficult question to answer, because as we know many of these initiatives (like increasing funding to the DFTA or defunding the police), require cooperation from a city government that will be entirely new in 2022. I can’t promise any legislation, but I can promise to be a responsive, trust-worthy constituent-driven Council Member. Given the district’s multi-neighborhood coverage, having pop-up offices across the district is crucial. I intend to have rotating mobile offices in every neighborhood in partnership with existing community spaces to anchor my office’s reach and constituent attention. The constituent services team will work in close partnership with a radical communications team to uplift the progressive demands of our communities. As District 39’s Council Member, I will ensure that constituent outreach can provide resources to the community without having to rely on policing (ex. creating a hotline for domestic violence survivors in the district office, ensuring that constituent services staff are able to direct constituents to local grassroots based mental health services, etc). Hiring staff from our community with bilingual language fluency is also critical in building trust with immigrant constituents, while ensuring meetings include interpretation and literature are translated with support from community-based language access providers. Constituent services means providing better public services, but it also means robust political education: when I provide legal aid workshops to asylum seekers or recent immigrants in my District, we also talk about the violence of this administration, or the NYPD.
Mamnun M Haq
Constituents should look to actions, outcomes, and engagement. I want to carry over my grassroots and communal knowledge working with older and aging adults into actual reform and action. Within our district, that should look like: More programming for older adults and aging adults aimed at tech and digital access Multilingual outreach and strategic and creative approaches (i.e. going to seniors where they congregate) Connection and collaboration with older adults. We will not only listen to older adults but have them craft and develop programming based on their needs Regular engagement with the community. If elected, I want to ensure I am in the district, regularly meeting with constituents about the issues that matter to them most Engagement and advocacy for and with nonprofits, city agencies, and community based organizations and leaders who serve older adults and seniors.