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Abundance New York 2026 State Legislative Candidate Questionnaire

Patrick Martinez

State Assembly, District 30
  • Please briefly describe your background and why you are running for this office.
  • I was born and raised in a union household in Elmhurst, and attended New York City public schools. Environmentalism and International Studies, core tenets of my childhood, were explored further in college in rural Vermont. After college I lived in Incheon, Korea teaching English. While teaching at a public school in Asia I became fascinated with modern, high-density living, and how it could be applied to New York, particularly in terms of Housing and Transportation. Upon returning to New York, I began working in the digital space, mostly at startups, but also at a nonprofit  which was focused on tech training and job placement for underrepresented groups, and joined Queens Community Board 2, where I’ve worked to make Queens more affordable for working families by helping guide land-use decisions.

    I’m running because I’ve seen how government can help uplift working people – and how it can fail to do so.  I want to fight to ensure my district, our city, and New York State has a government that provides security, stability, and opportunity to all its residents. Defending immigrant communities against ICE, ensuring high-quality education for our youth, and expanding reliable public transportation and housing we can actually afford are all priorities to help keep New York a hub of opportunity, the envy of the rest of the country, and the best place to call home.

  • How are you differentiated from your opponent(s)? What does your path to victory look like?
  • The 30th Assembly District – comprising Woodside, Elmhurst, Maspeth, and Jackson Heights – is one of the most diverse districts in the City. My campaign will be rooted in coalition building and organizing to build a movement that unites these diverse communities around our common interests: reigning in ICE, fighting for accessible healthcare and housing we can actually afford, investing in our schools, and building a better future for working New Yorkers. 

    Our political and communications strategy is to stay laser focused on these issues and unite political and grassroots leaders across the district, borough, and City who share my commitment to them. In my work as a District Leader, I’ve already been organizing around these issues and throughout my community, and from working with the Filipino-American Democratic Club to helping elect the city’s first Nepali-American District Leader, I’m proud of the coalitions I’ve already built across the 30th District.

    We are engaging in the state’s public matching program, and will be using our budget to run an aggressive paid communications and field program that doesn’t just push our campaign to victory, but also helps build political power throughout my community.

    Red Horse will be serving as my general consultants, and are helping us ensure we continue to build a smart campaign focused on field, coalition-building, and a multi-lingual, progressive message.

— DEMOCRACY AND DELIVERY —

  • Respecting the Democratic Process. We believe in a democracy that delivers, and that includes maintaining a commitment to democratic norms. New York should not take steps to limit access to the ballot. The legitimacy of free and fair elections should not be subverted, and their results should not be challenged after being audited and/or upheld in the courts.
  • Agree

  • Increasing Focus on Outcomes: New York should revisit and update outdated rules on hiring, procurement, and approvals for infrastructure changes to ensure our protocols are aligned with our values—and should focus on actual outcomes achieved rather than money spent.
  • 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. (See agenda item #2)
  • 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.(See agenda item #4)
  • Agree

  • City Charter Reform: New York City voters should approve “COGE” ballot questions 1-4 to accelerate nonprofit contracts, building permits, outdoor dining application review, and bike lane creation.
  • Agree

— HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS —

  • Expanding Housing: Addressing the housing affordability crisis requires increasing production of all kinds of housing, including market-rate units, across all neighborhoods and municipalities.
  • 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. (See agenda items #8 and #9)
  • Agree

  • Property Tax Reform: New York state should reform the property tax system to be fairer, especially for renters; easier to understand; and more progressive. (See agenda item #11)
  • 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. (See agenda item #12)
  • 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. (See agenda items #15-17)
  • Agree

  • — PUBLIC TRANSIT AND THE PUBILC REALM —

  • Reducing Car Dependency: New York should aspire to reduce the number of cars on the road and vehicle miles traveled, by expanding access to high-quality, affordable, and safe public transit and micro-mobility.
  • Agree

  • 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. (See agenda item #19)
  • 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. (See agenda item #20)
  • Agree

  • Parking: New York City should charge more for parking and reduce or eliminate free street parking, and should eliminate parking mandates for new homes. (See agenda items #18 and #26)
  • Agree

— CLEAN ENERGY AND RESILIENCY —

  • Abundant Clean Energy: New York should prioritize private and public sector construction of new renewable energy, grid electrification and transmission upgrades, and resiliency infrastructure to meet our climate goals and adapt our infrastructure for the future.
  • Agree

  • 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. (See agenda items #32 & #33)
  • Agree

  • New Energy Development: Beyond solar, New York should expand its nuclear energy capacity—including by building new reactors and extending the life of existing plants—and advance geothermal projects in order to hit the goal of 100% zero-emission electricity generation by 2040. (See agenda items #39 & #40)
  • Agree

  • Resiliency Authority: The State should create and empower a public authority to address New York's resilience needs led by a Chief Resilience Officer and guided by a collaborative statewide resilience plan that prioritizes protecting socially vulnerable communities. (See agenda item #37)
  • Agree

  • — RECORD AND PRIORITIES —

  • 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?
  • Through my work in Queens Community Board 2, I've often been an advocate for responsibly increasing the housing supply wherever possible. More importantly, when looking at Mandatory Inclusionary Housing I would make it a point to emphasize deeper affordable housing options be included so that those with an income well below AMI have an opportunity to find permanently affordable housing in these new developments. I've been such a voice for deeper affordable options, that it was included in our Board's recommendation for OneLIC as well as all ULURP proposals brought to our board in the last year.

  • Legislative Priorities: If elected (or re-elected), what are your top three priorities? Please be specific about the policies you would advance and what you hope to achieve.
  • Top priorities include the Tax the Rich package, New York Health Act, and fighting for New York For All. New York For All would help ensure the security of our immigrant communities who are under attack from the current administration. The New York Health Act is a great way to expand healthcare to ensure a healthier New York State. The Tax the Rich package, including the Progressive State Income Tax Bill, would help ensure that policies remain on more sound financial footing.