Abundance New York 2026 State Legislative Candidate Questionnaire
Jay Jacky Wong
State Assembly, District 65
Background
Please briefly describe your background and why you are running for this office.
I am the District Leader for Assembly District 65 Part B and a longtime Lower Manhattan resident.
I immigrated from Hong Kong as an adult and have spent more than 20 years living and working in the communities I now hope to represent. For over a decade, I worked as a journalist covering housing, government policy, and neighborhood issues across immigrant and working class communities in Lower Manhattan. That experience shaped my belief that public officials must be accessible, accountable, and willing to ask hard questions on behalf of the people they serve.
After journalism, I worked in nonprofit housing management, overseeing a senior housing building and supporting low income and elderly residents. I also served on Community Board 3 and chaired the Land Use Committee, where I was involved in key development and housing decisions affecting the Lower East Side.
Since the pandemic, I have been actively advocating for public safety, especially for seniors and other vulnerable residents. Over the past year, I have also partnered with local elected officials and legal organizations to organize immigration legal workshops for NYCHA and Section 8 residents, helping communities navigate changes in federal policy.
I am running because too many residents in this district, especially immigrants, seniors, and working families, feel unheard or misrepresented. At a time of rising costs and growing uncertainty, our communities need strong, practical representation in Albany that will focus on affordability, public safety, housing, and language access.
How are you differentiated from your opponent(s)? What does your path to victory look like in your district?
am differentiated from my opponents by both my background and the coalition I can build in this district. I am not coming from an ideological or activist bubble. My experience comes from journalism, housing management, land use, and direct community advocacy in Lower Manhattan. I have worked closely with seniors, tenants, immigrant families, and working class residents, and I understand how government decisions affect daily life on the ground.
On policy, I bring a practical, operations minded approach. I am pro housing supply because we cannot seriously address affordability without building more housing and easing pressure on rent. I am pro transit and public infrastructure expansion, and I believe I am the only candidate consistently raising the need to improve bus service and transit access in the far eastern part of the district, which is often treated as a transit desert. I am also pro clean energy and climate infrastructure. As a former biology major and someone with management experience, I believe in advancing environmental goals in a way that is responsible, achievable, and grounded in real world implementation.
I am also strongly focused on government efficiency and accountability. When the city is spending enormous sums per person in the shelter system while affordable housing remains underbuilt, it shows the need for leadership that will ask harder questions about how public dollars are spent and whether government is delivering results.
My path to victory is through a broad, practical coalition. AD65 is a diverse district, and many voters are looking for effective representation, not slogans or ideological branding. I already have an established electoral and community base. I won a District Leader election in part of this district with over 2,000 votes, and I have deep, longstanding networks in Chinatown, where I lived near Grand Street for over 15 years, as well as the Lower East Side and now the Seaport and Financial District. I have also raised over $50,000, positioning me well for public matching funds and giving me the resources to run a serious, competitive campaign. Together, this provides both the field strength and financial foundation to build a winning coalition across the district.
Government Delivery Reform
SEQRA reform: New York should reform the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) to reduce the time and scope of environmental review for housing, transit, renewable energy, and resilience projects.
Agree
Civil Service Reform: New York should make it easier for the government to hire the staff they need by making exams more job-relevant, allowing work experience to count instead of degrees, and enabling temporary appointments.
Agree
Capital Project Procurement Reform: New York State should give NYC more procurement flexibility (such as expanded challenge-based procurement and "other transaction authority" style contracting) in order to speed up the delivery of capital projects.
Agree
Additional context
(No response)
Housing
Expanding Housing: Addressing the housing affordability crisis requires increasing production of all kinds of housing, including market-rate units.
Agree
Homelessness/Expedited permanent supportive housing: Addressing the homelessness crisis requires a housing-first solution such as expedited permanent supportive housing for those in need, because shelters are not a permanent solution.
Agree
Transit Oriented Development: New York should allow for more housing to be built near existing transit stations including near commuter rail stations, even if that requires changing zoning.
Agree
Build Code Reform: New York, at the city and state level, should embrace building code and licensing reforms (e.g., smaller elevator size requirements, modular construction, mass timber) that make it cheaper to build housing while maintaining safety.
I'll support this if we ensure that the buildings are going to go up safely, be accessible for all abilities, equitable across the state.
Additional context
(No response)
Transit
Transit Cost Containment: New York should act in a coordinated fashion to reduce the cost of building new transit projects, including reducing the size of stations and allowing the temporary disruption of street traffic to more quickly complete projects.
Agree
Busway Expansion: New York City should: 1) expand the number of busways (routes where private cars are banned); and 2) eventually pursue bus rapid transit lines to increase bus speeds throughout the city.
Agree
Automated Camera Expansion: New York should allow New York City to expand automated camera enforcement, including red light cameras, bus lane cameras, and bike lane cameras, to make streets safer.
Agree
Parking: New York City should charge more for parking and reduce or eliminate free street parking.
Agree
Additional context
I support a more balanced and data-driven approach to parking policy. In high-demand areas, it makes sense to manage curb space more effectively so that it actually serves residents, small businesses, and deliveries, rather than being tied up all day. At the same time, we have to recognize that many working families, tradespeople, and small business owners rely on their vehicles, especially in neighborhoods like Lower Manhattan where alternatives are not always practical for every need.
I would support targeted reforms—such as better turnover, smart pricing in the busiest corridors, and dedicated loading and commercial zones—but I do not support blanket increases or eliminating free parking across the board. Any changes should be phased, neighborhood-specific, and focused on improving access, not simply raising costs.
Clean Energy
Solar Energy: New York State should preempt local regulations that effectively ban solar projects by establishing a ceiling on restrictions and should streamline solar permitting by adopting automated systems in order to enable more solar energy.
Agree
Nuclear Energy Development: New York should expand its nuclear energy capacity by building new reactors and extending the life of existing plants in order to hit the goal of 100% zero-emission electricity generation by 2040.
Agree
Additional context
(No response)
Candidate Statement
Abundance Examples from Your Work: Please describe a specific example from your record (legislative, professional, or community work) where you championed a project or policy that is aligned with our agenda. What obstacles did you overcome, and what was the outcome?
I am strongly focused on government efficiency and accountability. For example, the proposed homeless shelter at 91 East Broadway is a contract that would cost the city roughly $344 million over 30 years to house only about 120 individuals. That same level of public funding could instead help create over 500 permanently affordable housing units, housing thousands of low income New Yorkers for generations to come.
I have been leading the community fight and legal challenge on this issue for the past five years, and the shelter still has not opened. To me, this is not just about one site. It is about whether government is spending public dollars effectively, transparently, and in ways that actually solve problems. We need to make people more aware that government effectiveness and accountability are not abstract concepts. They directly affect housing, safety, quality of life, and whether working class communities are being served fairly.
Legislative Priorities: If elected (or re-elected) to the State Assembly/Senate, what are your top three legislative priorities? Please be specific about the policies you would advance and what you hope to achieve.
If you visit my website, you will see my priorities as below:
1. Increase Housing Supply Through Smarter Development
Support more mid-density, mid-rise housing development to expand supply. Push affordability requirements beyond the current 25% under the 485-x tax incentive program. Also pursue the conversion of underutilized hotels and office buildings into permanent housing.
2. Fix the Shelter System with Accountability
Strengthen oversight and accountability to ensure public funding is used effectively and services are properly delivered, with a clear focus on measurable outcomes, including placement into permanent housing.
3. Expand Transit Access and Reliability
Improve transit access in underserved parts of eastern AD65, ensure fair reinvestment of congestion pricing revenue into impacted communities, and advocate for neighborhoods like the Lower East Side to be included in future free bus pilot programs.