City/Town of Residence
Brooklyn
Current Political Office (if applicable)
Council Member of the 39th District
Education
BA, Brooklyn College
Experience and Qualifications
I grew up in this community and have served our district my entire professional life. As your council member, I’ve delivered hundreds of units of affordable housing, pushed back against Eric Adams’ cuts to schools, parks, and libraries, won millions in investments for our neighborhood schools, and built protected bike lanes and other traffic calming measures. In City Hall, I’ve passed legislation protecting abortion rights, trans healthcare, workers, and immigrant New Yorkers.
Community Involvement
As a college student, I organized my Kensington community to successfully build important community gathering spaces and public plazas, and worked as an interfaith organizer, bridging the divide between my Muslim community and our Jewish neighbors. Before I ran for office, I served as Director of Community Organizing in the office of my predecessor, Brad Lander, and ran participatory budgeting, which allows this community to have a say in how discretionary funds are spent.
Party Affiliation
Democrat
Key Endorsements
NY Working Families Party, AOC, Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani, Antonio Reynoso, Jumaane Williams, Andrew Gounardes, Ruth Messinger. Planned Parenthood GNYV PAC, 4 Democratic Clubs, and 12 Labor Unions.
CampaignWebsite
shahanafrombk.com
Instagram
@shahanafrombk
Affordability: The skyrocketing cost of housing is forcing families to leave the neighborhoods they call home. Simultaneously, the cost of childcare has made it too expensive for families to stay in New York City.
Trump’s attacks on NYC communities: President Trump has targeted LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, immigrants, women, and the working class. His actions have undermined longstanding civil rights protections and critical programs that New Yorkers rely on.
Quality of life: From street safety, to sanitation, to scaffolding, there are a multitude of hyperlocal issues that make life in Brooklyn more challenging than it needs to be.
Affordability: As a housing organizer, I built tenant power and helped keep New Yorkers in their homes. In the Council, I passed a law to end forced broker fees, strengthened NYCHA investments, and created new affordable units in District 39. I am currently urging the Rent Guidelines Board to issue a rent freeze for rent stabilized tenants. If re-elected, will continue to advance legislation that protects tenants and builds more truly affordable housing. And I will work to make free public childcare a reality. I am working hard to ensure that every family who applies for a public 3K seat this year gets one at a high-quality provider in their neighborhood. I’m also working closely with allied colleagues to establish 2-Care a new public childcare program for 2 year olds.
Fighting Trump: As Progressive Caucus Co-Chair, I have led the fight against Trump in City Hall. I wrote and passed the nation’s most robust municipal abortion protections, created a $1 million abortion access fund, and established new protections for patients accessing gender-affirming care. As Chair of the Immigration Committee, I fought xenophobic housing and workplace discrimination. In my next term, I will work to pass measures to protect New Yorkers including my bill the NYC Trust Act to stop city agencies from collaborating with Trump’s cruel family separation agenda.
I will continue to deliver excellent constituent services to help my constituents deal with issues big and small. I’m working to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers by making all intersections more visible through universal daylighting. I’ll continue working closely in neighborhoods on a case-by-case basis to improve issues like trash collection, rat mitigation, and noise pollution. In City Hall, I’ll continue working on practical solutions to address the root causes of these issues.
Making sure every family gets a free, high-quality, and easy to access 3-K and Pre-K placement for their child.
Implementing the Progressive Caucus’s Crisis to Care plan to expand emergency mental health response capacity and eliminate waitlists for urgent programs.
Addressing gaps in services created by Trump’s budget cuts. We must make sure that the City steps in to make sure key programs like nutrition support, rental assistance, and after-school activities continue uninterrupted.
We need to bring down the cost of housing in New York City. This will require a thorough, longterm, and multi-pronged approach including:
1. Protecting tenants from harassment, exploitation, and wrongful eviction
2. Enacting a rent-freeze for rent stabilized tenants
3. Swiftly implementing the FARE Act to ban forced broker fees
4. Strengthening pathways to homeownership and homeowners services
5. Adding more permanent affordable units to our housing stock
6. Preserving affordable units through social housing programs
The real estate lobby continues to work to rig the housing market against renters and middle-income homeowners. In order to make housing affordable, the City and State government need to prioritize the people over the profiteers by strengthening protections for tenants and combating the shortage of affordable housing.
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