At this urgent moment, a five-alarm fire for our democracy, we need a representative in Washington who fights harder for change, and who makes government work better to deliver it. Someone who knows that the fights for democracy, against economic inequality, and for a government that actually delivers are inextricably linked. Who has the courage to stand up to Trump,  ICE, AIPAC, corporate greed, NIMBY resistance, and bureaucratic kludge. Someone who is a team player, who can both win real change in Washington, and help Mayor Mamdani deliver on the affordability agenda for New York City at this moment of local excitement and opportunity. We don’t have that now, and we need it. 

Over the past three decades, I have served the residents of NY-10 as a non-profit housing leader and abundance-oriented public official. Before I was elected to the City Council, I led the Fifth Avenue Committee and the Pratt Center for Community Development, where I built hundreds of units of housing for low-income families, kept thousands of tenants from being evicted from their homes, and launched programs that have helped over 10,000 people get living-wage, career-path jobs. I learned that the work for justice and opportunity is built from the bottom-up, not from the top down. By organizing and working with communities and stakeholders to empower people, win big fights (policy, budget, and land use), make systems work better, and deliver real outcomes for working families. 

In the City Council, I co-founded the Progressive Caucus, secured the passage of the Community Safety Act to end discriminatory stop and frisk, won paid sick leave, a fair work week for fast-food and retail workers, first-in-the-nation minimum pay laws for deliveristas and Uber drivers, and the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act” to protect freelancers from wage theft. We brought participatory budgeting to New York City, and integrated the middle-schools of Brooklyn’s District 15. One of my proudest fights in the City Council was to pass the Gowanus rezoning, one of the largest mixed-income housing rezoning efforts of the past several decades, generating nearly 9,000 units of housing, 3,000 of them affordable to low-income and working-class families (and which passed with strong community board and stakeholder support, thanks to our efforts).

Under my leadership as New York City Comptroller, our pension funds took the boldest action of any large U.S. public pension fund to create and preserve affordable housing — saving the 35,000 rent-stabilized units put at risk when Signature Bank failed with an innovative pension investment, and building over 12,000 units of low-income housing by issuing $5 billion of the City’s first-ever social bonds. We also divested fossil fuel reserve owners, supported the rights of workers at companies we own, and increased investments in MWBE asset-management firms by over $10 billion, while significantly outperforming our benchmarks and growing the pension funds to over $300 billion. 

As Comptroller, I worked hard every day to make government deliver more effectively for New Yorkers. My audits rooted out Eric Adams’ corruption, canceling his $432 million crony contract to DocGo, and saved the City billions of dollars. We created the first NYCHA Resident Audit Committee, launched new work to make NYC more accessible for people with disabilities, and brought the lawsuits that helped implement congestion pricing. When Elon Musk stole $80 million from New York City, I found it, and forced the Adams Administration into court to get it back. We found creative ways to support immigrant New Yorkers, helping strengthen the network for immigrant legal support, child care, and services – and then I joined court-watch groups weekly, putting my body on the line in partnership with a remarkable network of people standing up for our immigrant neighbors. Time and again, we worked with community and advocacy groups, deploying the tools of the office to rise to the key challenges of the moment.

I publicly supported and advocated for City of Yes, and for the 2025 ballot propositions, because New York City’s affordability crisis is crushing families and straining the City’s economy. We must make it easier to build the housing New Yorkers need.

The Mayor’s race obviously did not go exactly as I had mapped out! But I am hugely proud of the work we did together to prevent Andrew Cuomo from being elected mayor – and to support Zohran by cross-endorsing in the primary, and then working hard to help him win in the general election. That’s what Democrats are supposed to do: compete in primaries, and then unite in the general election to make sure we win together. In this case, I supported a candidate to my left. In so many swing districts, though, I have supported Democrats much more moderate than me. I’m a proud progressive, but also a strategic team player. The incumbent has failed this test on multiple occasions. 

It did not take a primary challenge for me to support Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and a wealth tax. I didn’t make millions of dollars trading stocks as a Member of Congress before proposing legislation to stop it. It did not take two years of devastation, tens of thousands of deaths of women and children, and videos of starving families before I spoke out in support of Palestinian human rights and freedom; and I certainly would not have voted to censure a Democratic Member of Congress for speaking up for them. I’m a proud Jewish New Yorker, and I support the vision of a Jewish and democratic Israel. But I believe that unrestricted U.S. support for Israel’s destruction of Gaza and occupation of the West Bank has been disastrous (for Palestinians, for Israelis, for the region, and for American credibility in the world), and that AIPAC has come to play a corrosive role in our politics and foreign policy. 

You can trust that I will work tirelessly and effectively for the policies and priorities that we share. More than that, I will not just vote the right way, I will continue organizing; putting my body on the line; supporting housing, transportation, and renewable energy projects; identifying and working to change places where government bureaucracy is getting in the way of public goals, building strategic coalitions to achieve real change; putting in place effective systems to implement that change; and conducting oversight to make sure its working.

Voters in NY-10 are hungry for someone who will put their body on the line to stand up to Donald Trump, take on corporate interests on behalf of working people, fight hard for affordability in their community, work hard on the ground to represent their neighbors, and who won’t compromise on anyone’s humanity at home or aboard. Voters in NY-10 believe I will do that, because they’ve seen me and organized with me to do it. They do not believe that the incumbent will.

Despite being the challenger, I have already built a broader coalition of support, and one more aligned with the district, than the incumbent. I am backed by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. More state and local elected officials are supporting my campaign than the incumbent, and I have the backing of many strong labor, political, and advocacy organizations, including the Working Families Party, Indivisible, MoveOn, United Auto Workers, CWA, and SEIU 32BJ.

The communities that make up New York’s Tenth Congressional District know me from decades of public service. That is why we have over one thousand volunteers committed to this campaign, over 12,000 people have contributed, and why we will win this race.

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The sky-high cost of housing has made New York’s Tenth Congressional District deeply unaffordable for working-class and even solidly middle-class families. A majority of residents in my district are tenants, and they are struggling to afford the insane rents (median asking rents are well over $4000) and don’t imagine they would ever be able to buy something in the community (as Meg and I were able to do back in the 1990s). This requires an “all tools in the toolbelt” approach: We must build more housing at all income levels, with as much of it affordable as possible. We must preserve the affordable housing we already have. We must protect tenants from eviction and displacement. We must implement more effective strategies to end homelessness. And we must focus on ways to grow the economy and create good jobs. 

I’ve been working on those goals for the past three decades, in a way that has been aligned with the abundance agenda long before it had that name. Before I was elected to the City Council, I led two not-for-profit, affordable housing and community development groups, where I built hundreds of new social housing units for low-income families and kept thousands of tenants from being evicted from their homes. In the City Council, I led the Gowanus neighborhood planning and rezoning process that is currently generating 8,500 new housing units, almost 3,000 of them affordable to low-income and working-class families. As Comptroller, I initiated the largest-ever pension and bond investments in affordable housing, creating or preserving over 50,000 homes, including the 35,000 mostly rent-stabilized units that were put at risk when Signature Bank failed. And I established the first-ever “Responsible Property Management Standards” for investor-owned housing, praised by national tenants rights organizations and adopted by our investment managers.

I will bring that experience with me to Congress, where I will be a leader in the fight for bolder, abundance-aligned housing policy. I’m proud to be endorsed by Senator Elizabeth Warren, who recently passed such a housing policy in the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support. In addition to the legislation outlined above, all of which I enthusiastically support, I will work to (a) revive and expand the “Partnership for Sustainable Communities” which knit together siloed programs across HUD, DOT, and EPA; (b) implement our “responsible property management standards” on housing financed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other federally-supported entities; and (c) create “street-to home vouchers” (modeled on federal VASH vouchers for homeless veterans) to end street homeless for people with serious mental illness through a “housing first” approach that connects them immediately to supportive housing.

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I have been an abundance champion in public transit across my career, most notably helping to lead the fight for congestion pricing. When Governor Hochul put the program on pause at a critical moment, I convened a coalition of lawyers and advocates who brought two successful lawsuits which helped ensure that the program went into effect before Trump took office, leading to an extremely successful program which is reducing traffic, cleaning our air, and generating $15 billion in transit investment. 

I will continue this leadership in Congress. I have put out the most comprehensive transit policy in this race to secure federal funding for public transit, invest in transit operations, fix critical infrastructure, and move America forward toward a more sustainable, thriving, and affordable future. From the MTA to the BQE, our transit systems and our infrastructure desperately need more visionary federal investment — with a stronger eye toward securing a more sustainable, safe, affordable, connected, and thriving future. 

I will fight to increase the percentage of federal dollars allocated to public transit, invest those dollars in operations to ensure high-quality service, upgrade critical transportation infrastructure like the BQE, and foster sustainable jobs and growth.

Federal funding for public transit is allocated ineffectively. While operation costs typically make up two-thirds of a system’s expenses, federal dollars can only be spent on maintenance and repair. I will fight to fund transit operations, not just maintenance. Finally, I will also fight for a scoring system favoring projects that “fix it first.” This would prioritize allocating funding for repairs to existing infrastructure before building new sprawl. It will make a big impact on communities in Brooklyn that continue to deal with the impact of aging and faltering infrastructure, like the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

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The climate crisis is not “coming,” it is already here. From Superstorm Sandy that stole lives and cost billions, to extreme heat and wildfire smoke, to rising insurance costs, New York’s Tenth Congressional District (like the rest of our city, country, and planet) is already facing the impact of extreme change. 

New York’s Tenth Congressional District and its extensive waterfront and low-lying housing are deeply vulnerable to more frequent and more powerful storms. In this work, we must remember that climate change does not hit everyone equally. During Superstorm Sandy, we saw homes just a neighborhood apart experience very different outcomes. Vulnerable communities were more likely to flood and struggle to recover. Any serious climate strategy must prioritize those hit first and worst. 

As New York City Comptroller, and Councilmember before that, I made climate a top priority: leading successful efforts to ban plastic bags and styrofoam, divest our pension funds from fossil fuels, invest over $15 billion in climate solutions, adopt the boldest net-zero plan of any U.S. pension fund, pressure banks, utilities, and asset managers to adopt credible decarbonization plans, implement congestion pricing when it was put on pause by the governor, and creating Public Solar NYC, an innovative “public option” for rooftop solar (winning a federal grant to launch it, rare for a Comptroller’s office). 

I also supported other New York City and State efforts, including Local Law 97, the CLCPA, and “Make Polluters Pay” legislation. As Comptroller, I collaborated with NYC Environmental Justice Alliance and a dozen grassroots climate justice groups (including Red Hook Initiative, WEACT, GOLES, and others) on a policy report focusing on the need to support frontline community organizations in the work for resiliency. When Governor Hochul put congestion pricing on pause, I teamed up with Riders Alliance, Transportation Alternatives, and many others to bring two lawsuits that helped end the pause and get it implemented before Trump could kill it. Finally, I worked closely with climate finance groups to develop the pension funds’ net-zero implementation plan (the boldest by far of any U.S. public pension fund), and held our asset managers accountable. 

I proudly support the Green New Deal because it pairs aggressive emissions reduction with job creation and economic justice. In Congress, I will continue organizing for climate justice and work closely with a broad coalition of advocates and community groups to mobilize against the Trump Administration, bring people together, and develop and implement strategy to fight back. I will fight to protect clean air, clean water, and a livable climate, while righting historic climate wrongs and holding corporations accountable for the toxins that continue to plague too many communities in the district and across the country. When Democrats take back the majority, I will use oversight hearings to focus squarely on the ways that Trump and MAGA Republicans have destroyed agencies like the EPA and regulations that protect our environment and work to build stronger and more participatory versions of these agencies, which are less vulnerable to corporate capture or bureaucratic drift. 

Tragically, after meaningful (though still insufficient) progress at the federal level thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, Donald Trump is dragging us dangerously backward, canceling not thousands of IRA-funded decarbonization projects, but now also the (true) scientific “endangerment finding” that climate change endangers human health and the environment, ending the federal government’s legal authority to control the pollution that is dangerously heating the planet. It is a truly catastrophic decision that will delay action, lead to more disasters, cost many lives, and trillions of dollars.  

I will fight to advance climate action and climate justice together. NYLCV, State Senator Liz Krueger and I worked to pass “Make Polluters Pay” legislation, to hold corporations in New York City responsible for climate damage and help cover the costs. In Congress, I will support Representative Jerry Nadler and Judy Chu’s Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act, which would require the worst corporate polluters to pay into a fund dedicated to fighting climate change. Brad will also support the Justice40 Initiative, which ensured 40% of federal investment went to frontline communities, and make sure resilience funding reaches low-lying, working-class neighborhoods like Red Hook, Sunset Park, and the Lower East Side. Having seen firsthand the devastation of a climate disaster (including the death of the daughter of a good friend during Superstorm Sandy), but also having witnessed firsthand how the power of our shared action can be harnessed into a powerful action for change, I am deeply committed to this work. 

Finally, on nuclear energy specifically, I believe that to transition away from fossil fuels fast enough to prevent catastrophic climate damage, safe nuclear energy has a role to play and I support nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels, with strong attention to safety.

Increasing our housing supply is one essential component in combating our dire housing shortage, which is why I have supported efforts like the Gowanus Rezoning, City of Yes, and recent ballot propositions (with a goal of generating 500,000 new homes). 

I am most proud of initiating, championing, and building broad community and political support for the Gowanus neighborhood planning and rezoning process that is currently generating 8,500 new housing units, almost 3,000 of them affordable to low-income and working-class families.

That work wasn’t always easy. Across my time in the City Council and as Comptroller, I have faced many issues that people in our communities disagreed about strongly, like the Gowanus Rezoning. You can see some of that disagreement, and the work we did to navigate it, in the film Gowanus Current.

But by organizing together, we can accomplish big things. We proved this in Gowanus, where we won a $200 million commitment for the comprehensive modernization of Gowanus Houses and Wyckoff Gardens as part of the rezoning, one of the only places in New York City where residents are getting a comprehensive modernization while remaining Section 9 public housing.

Another example is the fight for congestion pricing. When Governor Hochul put the program on pause at a critical moment, I convened a coalition of lawyers and advocates who brought two successful lawsuits which helped ensure that the program went into effect before Trump took office, leading to an extremely successful program which is reducing traffic, cleaning our air, and generating $15 billion in transit investment. My opponent was missing-in-action during the fight for congestion pricing (but showed up after it was over). 

I will take the same approach as a Member of Congress. I will be deeply engaged with and accessible to the communities within NY-10, and also organize with them to champion the projects that we desperately need.

The housing crisis: The affordability crisis is felt most strongly in housing where rent-burdened tenants continue to spend a disproportionate percentage of their income on rent and buying a home appears impossible to so many. We must do more to build new housing, reduce obstacles to new affordable units, and ensure the supply of housing matches the demand. I supported CIty of Yes because it was a crucial step in that direction but we can do more to ensure greater affordability. I also initiated the Gowanus neighborhood planning and rezoning process that, as mentioned previously, is currently generating 8,500 new housing units, almost 3,000 of them affordable to low-income and working-class families. In Congress, I will fight for a national approach to housing that reduces obstacles to new affordable units and combines the progressive and abundance values we share.  

Defending immigrant neighbors: Our neighbors are under attack. The federal government continues its unconstitutional assault on our neighbors, kidnapping New Yorkers off the street and at their hearings. Families in our community are being ripped apart. A third of households in this Congressional District include at least one immigrant. 192 thousand immigrants live in this Congressional District and a third of households here include at least one immigrant. The district includes Manhattan’s Chinatown and Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, two historic and continuing communities of Asian-American New Yorkers, significant Latino communities, and of course the Lower East Side. We have both a present duty and a historic one to fight against Trump/ICE’s authoritarian and increasingly violent assault on immigrant neighbors.

When I heard in June that masked ICE agents were abducting our neighbors at 26 Federal Plaza without due process, and that NYPD officers had arrested ministers and volunteers who were there to bear witness, I knew I needed to show up as well. So I started participating weekly in courtwatching and accompanying neighbors. After I was arrested the first time while accompanying an asylum-seeker named Edgardo out of the building, I organized a civil disobedience action with 15 more elected officials and 70 other New Yorkers – and I am currently taking that case to trial. Donald Trump thinks he can use armed agents to intimidate us – but he is wrong. I am running for Congress to show Donald Trump that the greatest immigrant city the world has ever known will not back down. When we win the majority in the House, we must commence investigations immediately to hold ICE accountable for its crimes.

Access to affordable healthcare: Healthcare is a human right and New Yorkers deserve high-quality medical coverage. Too many of our neighbors are unable to afford the treatment that they need, cannot access preventive care (which worsens their health and quality of life, and increases the cost of care later), and wind up forced to take on extreme debts just to receive essential medical care. We can change that, but it requires doing more than tinkering around the edges of a broken system. 

My dear friend Ady Barkan, who died in 2023 after the most courageous 7-year battle, led the way in fighting for universal healthcare (including coverage for long-term care with living-wage pay for care workers), cornering Senator Jeff Flake on airplane, taking arrest in the hall of Congress many times, and delivering moving testimony at the first-ever hearing in Congress for Medicare for All. Be A Hero, the organization he founded, is organizing Americans to fight for the universal healthcare we all deserve.   

In Ady’s memory, alongside Be A Hero and other allies, I will champion Medicare for All in Congress to bring transformational changes to our broken healthcare system and make a reality out of our commitment that healthcare is a human right.