I am the founder of Phone Free New York and a progressive former state legislator, a graduate of Harvard Law School, a former ACLU lawyer and a tech entrepreneur with deep experience in both the public and private sectors. My career has been defined by a commitment to making government work for everyday people—whether by fighting for voting rights or building businesses that create jobs. I am running for Comptroller because New Yorkers are tired of politicians that tell them to passively accept failing infrastructure, skyrocketing utility costs, forever wars and opaque government services. 

As Board Co-Chair of 5Boro, I’ve always believed that New York City’s future depends on our ability to say yes to smart, inclusive growth. I helped lead our coalition to champion the City of Yes initiative because I knew that tackling our housing and climate crises required a bold, unified vision that transcends borough lines. By bringing together diverse stakeholders and focusing on the pragmatic economic benefits of modernization, I helped 5Boro become a leading voice in ensuring our city remains a place where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

I believe the Comptroller shouldn’t just be a bookkeeper; New Yorkers deserve a Chief Financial Officer that is ready and willing to leverage the power of the audit and the pension fund to make the Empire State work for its people.

While my opponents represent the traditional political establishment, I am the only candidate in this race who has both served in a state legislature and also founded and scaled a technology-driven business. This dual perspective is essential for modernizing the state's archaic systems. My path to victory is built on a diverse coalition: the progressive left who want to see the pension fund used for social and environmental good and immigrant, Muslim and South Asian communities who want their retirements protected and greater economic opportunities and who see in my candidacy a reflection of the New York dream. By winning in the city and showing up in the often overlooked parts of Upstate and Long Island, we will build a statewide mandate for reform.

We have also far outpaced all of the other insurgent candidates on fundraising. We have more projected raise than all of our opponents running to the left of DiNapoli combined. We have $3.5 million in matching funds as of the last filing, and we are well on our way to exceeding $5 million. We also have over 1,200 small dollar donations and we have more New York donors than all other insurgent candidates combined.

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I believe we must move toward eliminating free street parking to better manage our urban space and reduce congestion, but this transition cannot be balanced on the backs of working-class families. Any new parking policy must include protections or offsets to ensure that New Yorkers who rely on their vehicles for work are not unfairly penalized by rising costs.

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I recognize that nuclear energy serves as a vital, carbon-free baseload of power that can play a significant role in New York’s clean energy transition. As we work toward the ambitious and necessary goals of the CLCPA, it is essential that we evaluate every tool available to reduce our emissions. My focus is on finding a pragmatic balance—one that harnesses the power-generation potential of nuclear energy while remaining transparent about the substantial fiscal investments required to maintain and secure our state’s reactors. We must ensure that our path to a zero-emission future is as cost-effective as it is sustainable for every New Yorker.  While the prospect of utilizing nuclear power as a consistent clean energy source is compelling, we must approach its expansion with a commitment to addressing long-term feasibility and safety. I am encouraged by the role nuclear plays globally, yet I believe we must remain mindful of the decades-long timelines often required for new capacity and the ongoing need for permanent, secure waste storage solutions. By exercising a strategy of careful oversight and prioritizing the immediate scaling of high-growth renewables like wind and solar, we can build a diverse energy portfolio. My goal is a grid that is not only resilient and safe but also provides a truly affordable green transition for all New Yorkers.

During my time in the legislature, I championed comprehensive energy efficiency and renewable energy policies. The obstacle was a powerful fossil fuel lobby and a political culture that viewed green energy as a luxury rather than a necessity. I overcame this by building a broad coalition—uniting environmentalists with rural landowners and manufacturing leaders—to frame renewable energy as an economic development engine. We passed a Renewable Portfolio Standard that moved the needle on energy independence. This is the same approach I will bring to the Comptroller’s office: identifying the bottlenecks—whether they are SEQRA hurdles or procurement delays—and building the coalitions necessary to clear them so we can build the housing, transit and other public services that New Yorkers deserve.

At the heart of my policy priorities lies a determination to tap into the highly underutilized power of the Comptroller’s office to create meaningful change for all New Yorkers, particularly the working class backbone of this state. Currently, the Comptroller’s office is invested in companies like Palantir that facilitate the surveillance and targeting of activists and marginalized people both here and abroad. As Comptroller, I will move to divest state funds from entities that fuel the surveillance of Americans or profit from the erosion of our civil liberties. Furthermore, I will launch forensic audits into state contracts and utility companies like ConEd because working class New Yorkers are often the hardest hit by predatory rate hikes. My office will be a watchdog that ensures state resources are never used to fund discriminatory practices or corporate greed that squeezes working class families.

I reject the false binary that says we must choose between high returns and our values. My primary fiduciary duty is to ensure the long-term solvency of the pension fund for our retirees. However, long-term returns are imperiled by systemic risks like climate change and economic stagnation. By investing in New York’s clean energy transition and affordable housing, we aren't just catering to the demands of a social justice caues—we are de-risking the portfolio and investing in the very economy that sustains the tax base that funds the pension. I will leverage the fund's power to demand transparency and sustainable practices from the companies we invest in, ensuring that our $300 billion works for the future of the people who built it.