Abundance New York 2026 City Council Candidate Questionnaire
Layla Law-Gisiko
City Council District 3
Background
Please briefly describe your background and why you are running for this office.
I am an immigrant and the daughter of immigrants, a longtime West Side resident, and a civic leader who has spent years working on housing, land use, and public accountability. I serve as President of The City Club of New York and previously chaired the Land Use Committee of Manhattan Community Board 5, where I focused on transparency and the long-term impacts of development decisions. I am also the author of five books and a documentary director and producer, which has shaped how I approach public life: follow the facts, ask questions, and make complex issues understandable.
I am running for City Council because too many decisions that shape our neighborhoods are made without sufficient transparency, accountability, or respect for the people who live here. Whether it is the treatment of public housing residents, the affordability crisis, or the strain on our infrastructure, I believe we need leadership that is independent, rigorous, and grounded in the public interest. I am running to protect tenants, strengthen oversight, and ensure that this city works for the people who call it home.
How are you differentiated from your opponent(s)? What does your path to victory look like in your district?
I am differentiated by a combination of independence, experience, and a clear commitment to a social agenda grounded in housing justice and public accountability. I have spent years working on land use and housing issues in this district, reading the fine print, showing up, and insisting on transparency when decisions are made. I am not aligned with political machines or outside spending campaigns, and I am prepared to ask difficult questions and challenge decisions that do not serve residents.
I do worry about the growing influence of neo-liberal approaches to housing policy that prioritize market solutions without sufficient safeguards. New supply matters, but not if it comes at the expense of existing tenants, public housing, and long-term affordability. My approach is to protect what we have, strengthen public housing, and ensure that any new development delivers real, enforceable public benefit.
My path to victory is a coalition of voters across the district—public housing residents, rent-stabilized tenants, co-op residents, and homeowners—who are looking for serious, independent leadership. This is a district with a high number of seniors and long-term residents who value stability, accountability, and quality of life. Through direct voter contact, a strong ground operation, and a clear message focused on affordability, tenant protection, and good governance, I believe we can build the broad support needed to win.
Government Delivery Reform
Streamlining City Approvals: The City Council should support efforts to reduce the time and complexity of the city's permitting and approval processes — including environmental review (CEQR), building permits, and interagency sign-offs — for housing, transit, and clean energy projects
The city should support efforts to preserve existing affordable housing.
Civil Service Reform: The City Council should support efforts to modernize New York City's hiring process — including opting into state programs like NY HELPS, funding DCAS to offer exams more frequently and score them faster, and updating job titles and classifications to reflect modern roles — in order to fill the more than 13,000 current vacancies and strengthen the city's ability to deliver services.
Agree
Capital Project Procurement Reform: New York City should streamline its capital construction delivery process by giving all builder agencies (DOT, HPD, DDC, Parks, DEP) procurement and delivery flexibilities similar to those of the NYC Construction Authority, including reforms to procurement rules, delivery methods, ULURP, and zoning.
Disagree
City Digital Services: The City Council should fund and support the modernization of how New Yorkers access city services — including permitting, benefits applications, and 311 — by investing in the Office of Technology and Innovation, embedding digital service teams within agencies, and replacing paper-based processes with user-friendly digital tools.
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.
Disagree
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.
Disagree
Transit Oriented Development: New York City 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 City 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.
Agree
Additional context
(No response)
Transit
Fair Fares Expansion: New York City should expand the Fair Fares program to cover all New Yorkers with household incomes at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, ensuring that the cost of public transit is not a barrier to employment, healthcare, and education.
Agree
Streets Master Plan and Busways: The City Council should hold DOT accountable to meeting the benchmarks set in the NYC Streets Plan, including 150 miles of protected bus lanes and 250 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of 2026, and support expanding busways and bus rapid transit lines to increase bus speeds across the city.
Agree
Pedestrian-First Streets and Vision Zero: New York City should recommit to Vision Zero and dramatically expand pedestrian-only, cyclist-only, and low-traffic streets and neighborhoods across all five boroughs — including completing previously identified Greenways and building out the city's protected bike lane network.
Agree
Parking: New York City should increase the number of metered street parking spaces and use demand-based pricing to manage curbside space more efficiently and generate revenue for transit improvements.
Disagree
Additional context
(No response)
Clean Energy & Climate Resilience
Solar on Public Buildings: New York City should accelerate the installation of solar panels on city-owned buildings, public schools, and NYCHA rooftops, and meet or exceed its existing targets for renewable energy generation on public property.
Agree
Coastal and Climate Resilience: The City Council should prioritize funding for coastal flood protection and stormwater infrastructure — including completing the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency projects, expanding the Bluebelt program, and investing in flood protection for vulnerable neighborhoods in all five boroughs.
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?
Congestion pricing. I was the lead plaintiff on the litigation against Gov. Hochul to un-pause the program. The litigation argument was extremely strong and the Gov. abandoned litigation and unpaused the program.
Legislative Priorities: If elected to the City Council, what are your top three legislative priorities? Please be specific about the policies you would advance and what you hope to achieve.
Recommit to funding NYCHA Section 9 housing.
Build additional Section 9 housing (Faircloth Act quota allowance generously permits that)
Enact legislation to support community land trusts.