I ran for comptroller on a simple idea: if we want to make New York City more affordable, we need to do a better job spending our money. If we ensure City Hall invests in programs aimed at making life easier for working people – while auditing agencies to root out waste and what’s not working – we will have a better city. It’s not brain surgery. And while I lost, our vision resonated with 350,000 New Yorkers. Not bad for a punk rock kid from Brooklyn.
Here’s what I know: rich people aren’t fleeing New York City, working families are. And if we continue hemorrhaging everyday New Yorkers to other cities where life is easier, our economy will crumble because working people are the backbone, not billionaires.
Our city budget is a moral document and ultimately about choices. For too long, under Mayor Eric Adams, we’ve been stuck in a cycle of bloody battles simply to restore cuts to core services. But when we move past the endless game of triage and actually focus on addressing our city’s undeniable affordability crisis, we can build a budget that puts working families first…