2025 NYWFP NYC City Council Questionnaire

2025 New York Working Families Party NYC City Council Questionnaire
This questionnaire contains issue sections that outline the WFP’s priorities for 2025. Your answers to our questions don’t have to be perfect — just honest. You are strongly encouraged to provide additional thoughts on any of your answers; there is a space for optional comments provided next to each response. You will also have an opportunity to expand on your responses during candidate interviews.

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Campaign Purpose & Strategy
Anyone who aspires to have a governing role in New York City Council will have the challenging task of regaining the trust of New Yorkers after four years under the chaotic and harmful leadership of Eric Adams, while simultaneously using the levers of local government to protect New Yorkers and the city from the dangerous attacks of an emboldened Trump regime.

The vast majority of New Yorkers are living paycheck to paycheck, and confronting a worsening affordability crisis. New Yorkers are deeply frustrated with a political system that keeps asking everyday people to keep waiting for relief that never comes. And they are tired of politicians who promise to deliver safety and material gains for working class New Yorkers, and instead use the levers of power to help their friends and donors. Their discontent was evident in the most recent elections, where close to half a million New York City residents who voted in 2020 skipped the presidential election in 2024, and Trump gained almost 100k new votes.

This moment requires grounded, honest, courageous leaders determined to make New York City a bulwark against an aggressive and dangerous Trump administration, and equally committed to making sure that New York City is a place where working families can live and thrive.

The Working Families Party is committed to helping elect leaders who will be focused on improving the lives of workers and their families, instead of leveraging the power of government for the benefit of the rich and well connected.

In 2021, New Yorkers elected the most progressive and most female city council in the city’s history. However, many of the priorities of the council were stymied by Mayor Adams, who forced multiple rounds of budget cuts, and vetoed or blocked some of the most important legislative accomplishments of the council. In order for progressive and bold council members to be able to deliver for their communities, we must elect a mayor who shares the same vision and commitment to use the levers of government to support working families, not advance the interests of the rich and well-connected.

As we look to the primary elections in 2025, the NY-WFP will lean on the opportunities that Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) offers to engage and unify the multiracial mosaic of New York City around a vision for a New York where working families can live and thrive. The WFP will identify and champion a slate of mayoral candidates who embody a commitment to fight for New York’s working families, and we are looking to support city council candidates who will help build a functioning governing coalition.

We are looking for bold leaders who will champion working families across the city; who come to the table with big ideas, grit, and ambition; who will bring to fruition ideas previously thought unachievable, while staying grounded and deeply connected to the communities that elect them. If that's you, please fill out the following questionnaire so our multiracial coalition of community and union leaders, neighborhood activists, and working-class New Yorkers can better assess your candidacy.
Tell us about who you are, why you are running, your core values, and overarching vision for New York City? What are the top three issues or policy priorities that animate your campaign?*
The WFP is a coalition of community organizations, labor unions and individuals fighting for a government that prioritizes the needs of working families. WFP’s political strategy is in service of advancing a policy agenda to improve the lives of workers and their families. Our policy priorities include increasing wages and worker protections; universal healthcare and childcare; affordable housing and tenant protections; fully funding public education from pre-k to college; protecting the rights and freedoms of all people, including immigrant New Yorkers; and enacting tax policies that make the wealthy to pay their fair share and put money back in the pockets of working families; and more. Why are you seeking the endorsement of the Working Families Party?*
The NY-WFP will lean on the opportunities that ranked-choice voting offers to engage and unify the multiracial mosaic of New York City around a vision for a New York where working families can live and thrive. What is your strategy to win with Ranked Choice Voting?*
One of the lessons of 2021 and from the 2024 presidential election is that a fractured multi-racial working class and progressive movement will lead to the victory of candidates that represent the interests of billionaires and corporations. How will you engage as a candidate in both your campaign and in the mayoral race to prevent fracturing a winning coalition that leads to the same result as four years ago?*
How will your campaign brand and narrative identify with the NYWFP? Will you work the the NYWFP to help bring your volunteers and base into the Party during and after the campaign? *
If endorsed by the WFP, will you commit to abide by a code of conduct that supports strategic alignment and collaboration with like-minded candidates around the shared purpose of building a functioning governing coalition that will serve and fight for all New Yorkers, not just the richest few?*
Please list all endorsements from unions, organizations, and elected officials you have received up to this point.*

WFP Priorities
With so many Democratic voters sitting on the sidelines of the presidential race – and a significant number of New Yorkers shifting support to Donald Trump – it is very clear that people are frustrated with the status quo. New Yorkers deserve leaders who will listen to their frustrations and use the levers of government to meaningfully address their concerns. A successful candidate will have to:
- Provide concrete and actionable solutions to make New York City more affordable and livable for working families.
- Present a vision for public safety that acknowledges the sense of fear New Yorkers have, strengthens the city’s precarious safety-net, and provides evidence-based holistic solutions to keep New Yorkers safe.
- Embody honest leadership and the courage to protect all New Yorkers in the Trump era–prioritizing the interests of working-class people above the demands of the wealthy and well-connected.
Please explain how your campaign meets these priorities

Values-Aligned Public Leadership
Language is a powerful tool that can shape the way people make sense of their experiences. Over the decades, those in power have effectively promoted false ideas in our society, reinforcing systems of oppression and concentrating more power in the hands of the very few. NYWFP wants our endorsed candidates to use language that reflects the changes we want to see. We don't want our endorsed candidates to use racist or anti-immigrant language or messaging that reinforces right-wing analyses. Here is a helpful guide on talking about race, class, and inequality. How will your campaign discuss issues of race, class, inequality, and making the economy work for all of us?
How will you limit the influence of corporate PACs, developers, police unions, and fossil fuel companies in your campaign? Are there any sources of legal contributions you will be refusing (i.e. donations from lobbyists, corporate PACs, police unions, real estate developers, etc.)?*
How will you ensure your campaign and legislative office is free of sexual harassment, bullying, exploitation or other forms of abuse and misconduct? Do you commit to abiding by good labor practices with campaign and contract staff, including paying appropriate and timely wages and reimbursements, offering health care and time off, as well as supporting staff unions forming both in the legislature and on campaigns?*
Have you ever been accused of professional or personal misconduct? If so, please elaborate.*

YesNoUnsure
Please elaborate on your answer above (Misconduct).*

Political and Governing Approach
New Yorkers are really struggling with an affordability crisis. The prices of everything from groceries, to gas, to rent, have gone up, while wages have stayed stagnant for millions of workers. What ideas do you have to help alleviate the crushing affordability crisis?*
New Yorkers are really struggling with an affordability crisis. The prices of everything from groceries, to gas, to rent, have gone up, while wages have stayed stagnant for millions of workers. What ideas do you have to help alleviate the crushing affordability crisis? *
We believe in centering and prioritizing the experiences of communities of color and working-class people when it comes to solving the problems facing our city. If elected, how will you co-govern with WFP and organizations representing working class New Yorkers?*
How would you approach vetting and confirming candidates appointed by the Mayor to important city positions?*
What is the City Council’s role in addressing the city’s fiscal deficit, especially with potential federal cuts coming?*
What’s your vision for expanding access to childcare, strengthening public schools, and investing in CUNY?*
More and more New Yorkers are stuck paying rents so high that they have hardly any money left for transportation, food or childcare. At the same time, many low-income home owners struggle to stay in their homes because of property taxes and rising costs. Last year, 1 in 8 kids enrolled in NYC schools was homeless. How will you address the housing crisis in NYC?*
How has the homelessness crisis impacted your district and how will you work to prevent the continuation of this crisis? *
The social safety net intended to help mentally ill New Yorkers has failed and suffered from decades of disinvestment. How will you address the mental health crisis facing so many New Yorkers? *
Where do you believe that safety and security come from for New Yorkers? What role does the NYPD play in this? What budget and policy changes will you prioritize in the name of New Yorkers’ safety? *
As a local elected official, you will have a significant impact on land use in your district and city wide. What are your specific priorities for land use in your district and your broader vision for land use citywide? What, to you, is a progressive vision for land use in New York?*

Protecting New Yorkers Who Will Be The Target of Trump’s Attacks
Trump has threatened to enact the largest mass deportation program we have ever seen. How will you protect immigrant New Yorkers?*
Trump has promised to severely limit access to gender-affirming care and roll back civil rights protections for transgender people. What will you do to protect the rights and lives of LGBTQ+ people, with special attention to transgender kids and adults targeted by Trump?*
Trump has promised retribution against those he considers his political enemies. What will you do to protect New Yorkers’ right to dissent and free speech?*
The previous Trump Administration rolled back the ability of unions and workers to organize while scaling back federal enforcement of wage and safety standards. How will you work with labor unions and others to protect workers’ right to organize?*

Organizing With Your Colleagues
Winning policy victories requires working with other council members to develop a strategy that wins majority support. The NYWFP supports efforts to organize inside the council to advance an agenda that prioritizes the needs of working families. Have you considered joining the Progressive Caucus or any other caucus? Why? *
Describe at least two tactics you would use to organize your colleagues and your constituents in the fight for our shared policy priorities.*
The Council Progressive Caucus has a mission statement that calls for investments in holistic public safety infrastructure and plans to prioritize this issue in their budget advocacy. What are some examples of holistic public safety initiatives you would champion on the council?*

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2025 New York Working Families Party NYC City Council Questionnaire