City Council Candidate Responses
District 9
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.
Dr. Keith Taylor
As a 12-year member of the Manhattan Community Board 10, I am proud of my service on its Senior Task Force. The Senior Task Force is committed to bringing awareness and advocacy to senior-specific issues, especially the over 18,000 seniors who live in District 9. The Task Force is committed to helping this diverse population age in place with dignity in our community. In 2018, we held a well-attended forum focused on senior-specific issues. Additionally, since 2018 I have been the board chair of the Harlem Independent Living Center which assists the communities of people with disabilities in achieving optimal independence through culturally and linguistically appropriate services by advocating, educating, empowering and being a community change catalyst.
Mario Rosser
My journey to Harlem started 2 generations ago. I’m the grandson of sharecroppers who made their way North. My mother overcame drug addiction in the 1980s before I was born. I grew up coming home to eviction notices on my front door. Each generation in my family taught me about the courage to change the things I can. I’ve dedicated my time to nonprofit leadership through America Needs You, a citywide mentorship initiative supporting first-generation college students, where I served as Chair of the New York Young Leadership Board. In Harlem, I’ve mentored high school students through my fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha’s, Young Scholars program. I make an effort to build an intergenerational element into my mentorship to connect young people with older adults, because so many young Black boys and girls don’t have any relatives who live past 60. If I win this race, the first person I’ll call is my grandmother, but too many of us are living our lives in isolation of the knowledge and experience of older generations.
Ruth McDaniels
I am a retired 25 year civil servant, living in Harlem for 50 years, serving as the VP of 32nd precinct council and member of clergy council. My focus on criminal justice reforms and returning citizens includes clemency for incarcerated seniors.
Kristin Richardson Jordan
On top of working in senior centers like the Central Harlem and A. Philip Randolph Senior Centers, one great example I have in interacting with older adults is that our campaign is currently helping out a constituent whose elderly relative is in need of obtaining much needed senior benefits. The bureaucracy this City creates is prohibitive to those who need help, and it is my great pleasure to be able to do constituent services even before the election. This interaction inspired us to look closer into how we can help seniors, and we ended up writing an 11-point plan for seniors (which you can read here https://kristinforharlem.medium.com/an-11-step-care-package-for-our-seniors-the-egregious-neglect-of-our-seniors-must-end-now-708f692b4281)
Pierre Gooding
I am an attorney and Deacon in Harlem, and former middle school teacher at I.S. 143 Eleanor Roosevelt Junior High School in Washington Heights. I have had the opportunity to hear many older adults stories while helping to run two homeless shelters overnight in Harlem and Queens over the past three years. Especially during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, older residents in our community have faced overwhelming challenges in receiving Personal Protective Equipment as well as vaccinations and I am proud to have brought these resources to Harlem from the start of the pandemic. I have worked with many non-profits to make sure we bring positive change in Harlem, including Leadership for Educational Equity, Teach for America, UP-STAND, Bridging Black Africans & Black Americans, the Harlem YMCA and many of our local churches.
2. As we live longer and healthier lives, what are your priorities with respect to promoting equity across all ages in our City?
Dr. Keith Taylor
Spending on NYC's aging services network must increase to meet the growing demand of a diverse older adult population, including the over 18,000 senior residents of District 9. One of the first equity priorities in my District is addressing the low number of COVID-19 vaccines given to senior residents in Black and Brown communities. These communities represent 22% percent of the City's population but have received less than 9% of the COVID-19 vaccines as of February 2020. Proper planning by the Department for the Aging and the Department of Health and Mental Health to address a more equitable distribution of the COVID-19 is required.
Mario Rosser
We have to allow our seniors to age in place. That means keeping folks in their homes, and supporting the caretakers who help, but also empower our neighbors to knock on the door and help where they can, and know that everything we do to support each other across generational lines is part of the fabric of a healthy community.
My top priority relative to New York’s aging population would be to support and advocate for policies designed to functionally end homelessness for New Yorkers 65 and older. We do not just need equity across all ages, but equity among cultures within age cohorts. Too many of our Black and Brown seniors lack adequate access to preventative care, healthy food options, and affordable prescription drugs. I will work for more equitable outcomes across the board.
Ruth McDaniels
Mental health initiatives and quality of life. Mental health would include housing, food, employment.
Kristin Richardson Jordan
Some policies I’m proposing included automatic enrollment of eligible seniors into the SCRIE program, ending caps on Access-A-Ride usage, a citywide grocery discount for seniors, and increasing funding for sidewalk repairs and maintenance and for home health aides.
Pierre Gooding
Ensuring that our older adults in Harlem have accessible and truly affordable housing is a top priority. Homelessness among individuals 55 and over increased 250% from 2004 to 2017 and is expected to do so again by 2030 without serious intervention. Since 2017 I have advocated to lower the Adjusted Median Income to move into New York City housing from $63,000 to Harlem’s median income of $35,000 and to adjust the credit rating system that is currently pricing many Harlemites out of our community’s own “affordable housing.” I am for immediately moving our homeless into New York City’s 15,000 currently vacant apartments, as well as a Right to Housing mandate.
I also believe we must dramatically increase access to quality health care for our seniors. Right now our community members are having problems accessing vaccinations due to a physical bottleneck occurring because residents have to access an online system to create an appointment, even for in-home vaccinations. Common sense policies such as ensuring that our community members can call for an appointment or walk-in will dramatically increase life expectancy in Harlem.
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.
Dr. Keith Taylor
The city's Department for the Aging budget has remained at less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the overall budget for many years, even as the demand for funding for senior citizen centers and additional staff has remain unanswered. Additionally, more funding is needed for home-delivered meals, case workers, and local non-profits which serve senior populations who have been especially isolated due to COVID-19 challenges.
Mario Rosser
Yes. The US Census Bureau shows more than 14.5% of the City’s population is over the age of 65, but the city only spends 1% of the total budget on the DFTA. I would argue that DFTA is the most underfunded agency in the city
Legislatively, I support doubling the budget to a minimum 2%. In addition to increasing funding to programs that get our neighbors off the street, I want to see the money go to programs that allow our seniors to age in place, and eliminate homelessness among older adults. I want New York’s aging population to be housed with dignity in our own communities.
Ruth McDaniels
I do support increasing the budget. Specifically more senior-centric activities made available, more senior-centric affordable housing, and greater access to caregivers and information geared for the senior demographic.
Kristin Richardson Jordan
Yes! In a city of plenty, we cannot forget those who helped build the city we now live in. It is unconscionable that we allow seniors to be underfunded through the DFTA, and it is not only good policy to increase funding to the Department, but the right thing to do.
Pierre Gooding
Yes. In our $90 Billion City Council budget we must prioritize the issues that matter, and ensuring equity for our elder population is at the top of my list. We currently have food pantries that have lines down the block on 116th, which is both inefficient and gets some of our older residents sick as they wait in line. I am for massively increasing funding to ensure that we can use public private partnerships to get this food delivered. I will also increase funding for smart information dissemination in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities regarding programs for elders so that our community will be aware and able to access New York City programs that they qualify for.
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.
Dr. Keith Taylor
Yes. The cuts to the ICR funding initiative must be restored in order to stabilize NYC nonprofit senior service providers, which impacts their ability to support the NYC senior community. Additionally, the ICR funding restoration must include ICRs within HDM contracts, and all DFTA and human services contracts, and the restoration of the COLA for all human service contracts of at least 3%.
Mario Rosser
With the federal stimulus dollars helping communities like ours recover from the budget shortfalls caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as we build back stronger than before, we have to make sure that wages are adjusted for the cost of living in the City of New York.
I support the full implementation of the COLA program and ICR initiative.
Ruth McDaniels
I am unable to support either without further review of how current funds are currently being utilized.
Kristin Richardson Jordan
Yes! Any program the City has that has a public benefit needs COLAs, otherwise the services they provide will only get worse over time. By keeping up with inflation, we can ensure that we are always maintaining the same level of service.
Pierre Gooding
Yes. Our human service providers worked and are still working tirelessly through the pandemic to make sure our community got the care that it needed in a time of pure chaos. Recent proposed budgets in New York City show a willingness to cut funding for a Cost of Living Adjustment and the Indirect Cost Rate, and this is the wrong approach. New York City needs to help its workers by restoring full funding to the ICR and providing an updated 2021 Cost of Living Adjustment so that City residents can afford to stay in NYC.
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?
Dr. Keith Taylor
There are many tens of thousands of seniors are waiting lists for affordable senior housing, highlighting this housing crisis. More than 50% of older New Yorkers are renters, with 60% experiencing rent burden. Of the 1.1 million NYC residents over the age of 65, at least 20% are living in poverty. At current estimates, the number of NYC's homeless adult population is expected to double within the next ten years. The "Affordable Senior Housing with Services" housing model, in various forms, allows older adults the opportunity to maintain independence through on-site support services which controlling rent costs is the best approach to address the affordable senior housing need through expansion of programs like the Senior Affordable Rental Apartments program and HPD's Housing Plus, and on-site services through the expansion of HRA Senior Affordable Housing Tenant Services. The Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption must be promoted to increase enrollment. At the federal level, I would accelerate the usage of Section 202 to finance the development of new supportive housing for seniors who are low-income.
Mario Rosser
I want to see our seniors age in place. But to support seniors aging in place, we have to make sure their homes and needs are being serviced, from getting groceries delivered to getting the bills paid in an increasingly automated and digital age, we have to build the care economy and the community around our seniors to keep them integrated in our neighborhoods.
If elected, I will advocate for the expansion of the ULURP process’ definition of environmental impact to include a broader array of issues impacting New Yorkers. I commit to prioritize affordable senior housing proposals during ULURP, especially in low-income communities of Color which are the most impacted by gentrification and the consequent rise in homelessness and displacement.
Ruth McDaniels
I would make sure that it is recognized in the spaces they already reside in and that landlords/managements are accommodating their specific needs. I would make sure during ULURP that the needs of this demographic are addressed and considered at all times.
Kristin Richardson Jordan
Besides automatic enrollment in SCRIE, I also propose a program that will allow for seniors to have their current homes retrofitted with wider doorways for walkers and wheelchairs, shower bars, and more. For more specific housing information, I would suggest looking at my Actually Affordable Housing platform, which includes policies like universal rent control, an open and transparent ULURP process, and redefining affordability by moving away from AMI to a more zip code or neighborhood-based way of analyzing affordability, which will either directly or indirectly help seniors age in community.
Pierre Gooding
Access to affordable senior housing starts with information. Online publicity is simply not good enough in a community where many still do not have access to the internet. I will dedicate funds to awareness campaigns such as mailers, flyers, and television so that our residents will know when there are opportunities to move into senior apartments, creating equity. Through legal advocacy I will also protect our seniors that are being forced out of their housing by landlords.
The Uniform Land Use Review Procedure must include our residents that the use impacts. Elder residents need to be involved with making sure that new projects include significant percentages of senior housing as well as building accessibility. I will adjust ULURP to reflect the need for resident input at every stage of the process, and vote in favor of responsible proposals that bring needed senior housing to the district.
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?
Dr. Keith Taylor
The accessibility of technology, including low-cost computer tablets and internet access, and appropriate training to use both, is a huge priority for senior citizens on fixed incomes. This is critically important to address the financial barriers to fixed-income seniors who require technological connectivity due to the pandemic public health crisis.
Mario Rosser
President Biden’s proposed infrastructure spending would help the City of New York get hundreds of thousands of folks connected, especially seniors. If passed, we have to make sure that the folks who are contracted to build out the infrastructure in our communities come from our communities. Harlem is home to many intergenerational households, and families don’t let their loved ones age without dignity. But if a family is living without dignity, they are not able to support the aging. We have to strengthen the Harlem family to better support all members of the household, especially the aging.
Ruth McDaniels
By making information readily available and to push out literature and advertising the fact that we offer free classes to help bridge the gap.
Kristin Richardson Jordan
I have a proposal dealing with this issue exactly. I propose working with all local library branches in providing free technology courses that will allow seniors to learn how to navigate our new digital world. I also propose working with the Manhattan DA and State Attorney General offices in education programs on internet and phone scams, which exploit the lack of knowledge seniors have with technology.
Pierre Gooding
The lack of access to the internet and technology was a major problem during the Covid-19 pandemic. New York City should become the first city in the nation to offer access to the internet for every resident, and I support legislation aimed at this endeavor. Now is the time to create public private partnerships and work with companies such as Google to bring access and training programs to Harlem and New York City that will help our aging population increase job, housing and education opportunities.
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?
Dr. Keith Taylor
The City must improve the technology infrastructure of senior centers and other Department For The Aging providers to better prepare nonprofits and older adults in the event of a future emergency. This specifically includes senior center computer rooms, as well as the technical literacy classes and guidance necessary to broaden technology access among older adults.
Mario Rosser
The pandemic put seniors at such risk because we’ve neglected the needs of our aging neighbors. We don’t have all the answers, but some of this is just human decency.
We have to build the care economy, strengthen the intergenerational household, and increase the resources we have to allow our seniors to age in place.
The City can an action plan to partner with nonprofits and community organizations to develop emergency policies and procedures that deliver services to seniors. Retaining emergency preparedness protocols with each organization would help us take quick and decisive action to keep our aging adults safe, and out of harm’s way.
Ruth McDaniels
By making a plan for emergency responses with nonprofit programs. We should use the learnings of COVID-19 as a template on emergency responses for future so that we mitigate any surprises.
Kristin Richardson Jordan
I think the City should work with nonprofits to engage older adults in the event of a crisis like COVID-19 in making sure that no citizen in the city is without an internet connection, and through the policy proposal I listed above, so that they can still enjoy the services provided by our senior centers. Isolation is a terrible thing to live through, and we should work to minimize this as much as possible.
Pierre Gooding
As I stated during the pandemic, the Covid-19 crisis must be used as a teachable moment in terms of protecting our community in the future. We have not been purposeful with which entities are opened and close, which is why the Harlem YMCA remains closed as well as our needed senior centers. We should be using our facilities to ensure vaccinations, monitoring the Covid and vaccination rates and then allowing our residents to frequent their senior center, as well as offering services such as Abbott Rapid Testing before entering the facility to ensure safety. For the next crisis, New York City needs to work directly with community members to understand and addresses the challenges in real time, as well as create a rainy day fund to provide a New York City Stimulus for residents should it be necessary.
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.
Dr. Keith Taylor
One of the first priorities will be to address the waiting list for community based long term care services by providing adequate funding and infrastructure. This would include adequate services in the following areas: affordable senior housing, home delivery services, personal home care, case management, employment services, long-term medical and mental wellness care, and transportation as District 9 residents age in place in their homes. There is an important need for a NYC aging service network of non-profit organizations which is sufficiently funded to support the needs of NYC's increasing senior population is a top budget priority.
Mario Rosser
If elected, I will take the following measures to improve quality of life for Harlem’s seniors: (1) ensure events and Community Board meetings in my district, whether virtual or in-person, are accessible to seniors whenever feasible; (2) direct federal infrastructure dollars to the walkability and accessibility of the district: (3) create more shaded areas in Harlem’s parks; (4) advocate for additional elevators at subway stations and accessible buses; and (5) advocate for the creation of more senior centers.
Ruth McDaniels
I would evaluate the infrastructure -such as the sidewalks being evenly paved, streets well lit, all subways being accessible and not just some.
Kristin Richardson Jordan
I’ve already talked about increasing funding for sidewalk and walkway repairs and maintenance and free public transit and limitless Access-A-Ride, but there are other ways we can make a more age-friendly district. This includes revitalizing our green spaces to make them more accessible to older adults, increasing healthcare access for all New Yorkers and pushing the Legislature to pass the New York Health Act, and making all subway entrances ADA-compliant.
Pierre Gooding
Harlem faces a mountain of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations that affect every New Yorker, such as a lack of elevator access at subways across the district and a lack of ramps to access buildings. These clear violations of civil rights must end in our district and New York City so that our every person, especially our older population can fully appreciate the sweat equity that they put in to the community. I will also shift focus on health care to in-person resident attention, which will create efficiency gains for the resident from a travel and time perspective.
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.
Dr. Keith Taylor
There are already significant cuts affecting NYC senior residents through senior centers and staffing, discretionary and one-time executive funding for small local non-profits, and ICR funding, and COLA funding for human services contracts. Programs affecting senior residents should not absorb further cuts going into the next fiscal year.
Mario Rosser
The largest discretionary spending should absorb the biggest cuts. That is the NYPD. We cannot defund our human infrastructure, that included the Office of the Department for the Aging. Additionally, we should first look for additional revenue before even considering any budget cuts.
Ruth McDaniels
NYPD should always absorb cuts and some fringe benefits such as company cars, but otherwise no other cuts.
Kristin Richardson Jordan
First and foremost, the elephant in the room with budget cuts is the NYPD. I propose cutting their budget by $3 billion, which will free up resources for other services that will work to actually keep our communities safe and might save us money in the long run. At the same time, we should work to raise revenue as much as possible to avoid as many cuts as possible, and I propose levying land value, vacancy, and pied-a-terre taxes to help raise needed revenue to avert those cuts. In the case that that is still not enough, I will work to make cuts where there is the least amount of negative impact possible for our communities.
Pierre Gooding
Over the fiscal years 2021-2024, New York will have a budget deficit of approximately $20B. New York City must continue to implement the initiatives that I have called for to make up this revenue, including in the areas of gambling and recreational activity. Combining these revenue generating industries with finding creative ways to get deals such as Amazon done will close that gap, create tourism dollars and a surplus that we must use in part to put aside funds to protect our residents in the future, as well as to build senior housing, community centers, functional schools and job training sites. As has been discussed publicly, the NYPD’s budget will be reviewed and allocated based on what is best for Harlem.
10. How should your constituents look to measure your success in achieving your responses outlined above?
Dr. Keith Taylor
By measuring my campaign commitments with the expected outcomes, and by looking at my previous commitments to improve the Harlem community and the outcomes of same.
Mario Rosser
My constituents should look at their daily lives. Are the streets cleaner? Are they safer with young people off the streets and out of harm’s way? Do they know who to turn to when they have a need? Can they reach their Councilperson when they need me? Do they know where to find me?
Ruth McDaniels
By the consistency of my actions and what I do for my district above and beyond my job for free. My constituents should expect for me to communicate my priorities on the first day at the City Council and for continual assessment with regular scheduled town halls and constituent outreach so they can help qualify whether I am meeting my priorities.
Kristin Richardson Jordan
I think they should measure my success by how much I’ve actually gotten done or started. I began running in the first place because I have seen too many politicians talk a good game, and then go on to do nothing or very little. I should expect to be measured in the same way, because I am from the community and I should be able to provide for the community.
Pierre Gooding
Every promise made by my campaign is based on verifiable results, and our community will be able to look to see quantifiable changes in terms of numbers of persons living in homes, with jobs, sending their children to strong schools. This data will be produced proactively by my office.