VOTE411 Voter Guide

Along with helping local families who may need assistance in accessing government programs, I have six key priorities as a legislator:

* Ensuring that all of our families have access to affordable quality housing. * Supporting expanded access to affordable childcare for our families. * Protecting access to quality affordable healthcare for all New Yorkers. * Reforming our prison system to provide fairness and safety in our community. *Standing up to ICE to protect our immigrant neighbors from harsh federal policies. *Advocating for policies and state legislation that will ease the cost of living pressures that our families are facing each and every day.

Climate change is already impacting our daily lives and it is essential for state government to take bold steps to ensure the long term safety of our families. I oppose efforts to lessen New York's tough climate law and I have introduced legislation that would:

*Encourage energy conservation by providing tax exemptions on everyday ENERGY STAR appliances to ease the burden of rising energy costs ( Assembly Bill A.3075)

*Reduce air pollution and fossil fuel consumption by doubling state-level rebates on electric vehicle purchases to help offset the loss of federal incentives (Assembly Bill A.10353-A)

* Establish the New York Citizens Utility Board to protect the interests of ratepayers and encourage New York's electric utilities to be more environmentally sensitive when making investment decisions (Assembly Bill A.10389)

I have also cosponsored several key pieces of legislation that would make it easier to develop solar energy as a less polluting alternative to fossil fuels.

Racial injustice is at the heart of the inequities that prevade so much of our society today, but the negative impact upon people of color is perhaps most visible in our criminal justice system. As the chairman of the Assembly's Corrections Committee, I have fought to reform our state's prison system and won enactment of the Omnibus Prison Reform Act of 2025, the most sweeping prison reform legislation to become law since the Attica Prison riot took place more than 50 years ago. That reform law was enacted in response to the murder of two incarcerated individuals, Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, who were killed by the very correction officers responsible for their safety. We all know that there is still more to be done in the fight for racial and social justice, but I am proud to have contributed to the progress we have made. I look forward to working with families throughout Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Cypress Hills, and East New York as we build a better tomorrow.

Voting rights are human rights and the Supreme Court's Callais decision was an egregious error that strips away key parts of the federal Voting Rights Act and allows redistricting to be used as a tool to block people of color from getting a seat at the table where key governmental policy decisions are being made. We need to use every avenue possible to reduce the negative impact of the Court's decision and I will be working with my Democratic colleagues in the Assembly Majority to develop a strategy to protect New York from the consequences of the Callais decision.

Keep people in their homes: Across Bushwick and East New York, investors have gotten rich by displacing thousands of our neighbors. We can stop this, but we have to stand up to the real estate lobby. Together, we will build tenant power, defend rent stabilization, and protect our most vulnerable homeowners from harassment and displacement.

Protect our neighbors from ICE: We need to stand together against ICE. We will pass New York for All to prohibit local police from collaborating with ICE, Access to Representation to guarantee every New Yorker a lawyer in deportation cases, and Dignity Not Detention to ban immigration detention facilities from our state.

Invest in community safety: Real public safety comes from community investment. We must address the generational cycles of poverty and inequality that cause crime in the first place. We will invest in youth programming, fund violence interruption, expand access to job training, mental healthcare, and substance use treatment.

We are experiencing the effects of climate change on a daily basis in Bushwick and East New York. Every year, worsening storms and rising temperatures cause devastating floods and heat-related deaths. As if that wasn't enough, the City's energy monopolies are using this as an opportunity to price gouge: Con Ed prices have risen every year, with additional increases planned through 2028. Enough is enough. Together, we will fight back against the fossil fuel lobby, we will build public power through the New York Power Authority, and we will demand both the green infrastructure and environmental remediation that our community deserves.

Racial justice is deeply intersectional and so any serious racial equity platform has to be deeply rooted in conversations about housing, healthcare, safety, and more. The disparities that exist in our city are undeniable. From one neighborhood to another, life expectancy in NYC varies by over 17 years; maternal mortality rates are 5x higher for Black women than white women; and the median wealth of a white resident is 15x higher than their Black counterpart. So when we talk about racial justice, we have to talk about the systems that perpetuate injustice in every area of public policy.

This is the wealthiest city on Earth and we do have the resources to care for each other, but we must stand together as part of a multiracial, working-class movement to demand that our government meet everyone’s needs.

The Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais is a backwards and unjust undoing of our democratic process. By gutting the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court capitulated to Trump’s authoritarian efforts to silence Black and dissenting voices across the country. The decision also initiates a race to the bottom in which states are competing to out-gerrymander each other, manipulating our elections to produce more seats for their majority party.

I believe that it is crucial for Democrats to regain control of Congress in the 2026 elections. However, if our democracy is going to survive, Democrats must win by delivering a message that resonates with and delivers for working people—not by contributing to the erosion of our democracy. New York Democrats should set a national example by embracing a platform that centers working people, rejects U.S. imperialism, and taxes the rich to pay for the things we all need.