Some year-end accounting
The end of the year is always a good opportunity to do some accounting. Too often, we think of accounting as a narrow, technical function. But really, it’s just asking: Did we hit the goals we set together? Are we honest about what we achieved, and what we did not?
That’s the role I’m hoping to play as NYC’s next comptroller: accounting for our values, and trying to do it together. So it seemed appropriate to give you an accounting for 2019, of some of what we did best and some of the places we fell short. Looking ahead to 2020 we have the opportunity and the responsibility to follow through on our commitments for a more just and equal city and country.
I’m looking forward to working together with you to pass the Reckless Driver Accountability Act, to save lives from traffic violence. To protect workers from being fired without a good reason. To reform NYC’s capital projects management. To plan for a more sustainable and equitable Gowanus. And, of course, to do everything we possibly can to win back the White House and the Senate, so we can start next year with the hope for the future that we all deserve.
2019’s best things
Progressive change in Albany, especially the rent laws: After the disastrous 2016 election, we worked extra-hard in 2018, as part of a large coalition, to kick out the IDC and take back the State Senate. And lo and behold, democratic activism really worked. With bold new members & leadership, the legislature delivered meaningful progress on voting reform, women’s reproductive health, protecting immigrants, bail reform, combating climate change, and more. My favorite: dramatic reform to protect tenants is already keeping people from being kicked out of their homes. A pretty great holiday present.
District 15 middle-school integration plan: 65 years after Brown v. Board (and of course, as we were sharply reminded by the 1619 Project, 400 years after the first enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas), we’ve finally started grappling, a little, with the legacy of racism and segregation right here in our own NYC school system. While we sure should not pat ourselves on the back, the work our community is doing by adopting the District 15 middle-school integration plan is a real step in the right direction. The first set of numbers are in, and they show the plan is working.
A path to closing Rikers: Less than five years after formerly incarcerated New Yorkers launched an audacious campaign to close Rikers Island, the City Council voted on a plan to dramatically shrink the number of people we imprison while awaiting trial (from 15,000 down to 3,000), and to close Rikers for good in 2026. This one was contentious. I grappled with the argument that we should go even further/faster. And of course none of it matters if we don’t stay the course and get Rikers closed. But I think we’ll look back on this as a really big deal.
Big wins for workers: Because of New York City Council legislation that we won together, Uber & Lyft drivers took home an average of $750/month more thanks to our driver pay law (more than $500 million in total). Hundreds of freelancers collectively won millions of dollars through the Freelance Isn’t Free Act. Fast-food workers won a big settlement from Chipotle, which was cheating on our #FairWorkWeek law, and are using the momentum to organize a union. We’re showing here in NYC how to build a more fair economy. (All of those victories are testament to the extraordinary leadership of our friend Hector Figueroa, who we lost suddenly in 2019, and who I’m thinking about a lot today).
Bringing ranked-choice voting to NYC: After nearly a decade of pushing, we finally got ranked-choice voting on the ballot, and you adopted it by 73% of the vote! That means higher-vote turnout, more inclusive campaigns, and more diverse representation. I’m excited to run in the first ranked-choice primary in 2021.
Local Progress is sweeping the nation: Beyond NYC, I’m proud to be the board chair and one of the founders of Local Progress, a national network of progressive local elected officials. We now have over 1,100 members in 45 states. Check out this amazing year-end report on how Local Progress in police reform, immigrant protection, and affordable housing is sweeping the nation.
Our activism continued: Many people said we would not be able to sustain the level of activism we saw after the 2016 election. But think about the organizing we did together over the past year. The youth-led #ClimateStrike was the largest climate action in history. We elected Jumaane Williams as public advocate, and almost elected Tiffany Caban. Both the Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders rallies in NYC offered a glimpse of presidential politics for a more fundamentally equal country. And the working groups of Get Organized BK continued in extraordinary fashion, most recently with Red2Blue doing some amazing work to win the Virginia State Legislature. We are seeing the impact of sustained organizing everywhere.
2019 worst things:
Too many died needlessly in traffic crash deaths. After years of coming down, the number of cycling and pedestrian deaths rose in 2019, especially in Brooklyn, every one reflecting a life stolen, and a family shattered. We did not move aggressively enough, and too many of our neighbors paid the price.
Prisoners kept freezing (or boiling). In February, we protested outside the federal Metropolitan Detention Center, where prisoners were freezing in a building without heat or power. In August, we protested outside the Brooklyn House of Detention, where temperatures were in the 90s. As we end the year, we’re still incarcerating people in inhumane conditions, still using solitary confinement even though we know its harmful impact.
Homelessness remains near all-time highs. There’s no feeling good about a city as rich as ours, where 65,000 people are homeless every night, 20,000 of them children (meaning that 114,000 kids were homeless for some part of last year).
Antisemitic hate crimes are on the rise. The brutal, alarming attacks against Orthodox Jews in Monsey, Jersey City, and on the streets of Brooklyn in recent weeks have shaken all of our communities. Rising antisemitism -- like Islamophobia and racism -- is a harbinger of larger threats to inclusive democracy.
Donald Trump is still President. I’m glad the House of Representatives impeached him (and props to our friend Jerry Nadler for leading the way), because mechanisms for accountability decay if they aren’t used. But the cul-de-sac of nihilism that the GOP, rising inequality, tribal polarization, and weak democracy have dragged us into is a wretched and dangerous one.
The climate crisis is growing, and we are not doing anywhere near enough. On Christmas Day last week, more Antarctic ice melted than on any single day in recorded history. Thousands of Australians and Californians had to flee their homes last year in wildfires. The #ClimateStrike mobilization was extraordinary, and New York State and City have finally passed strong legislation -- but we are nowhere close to the level of action required.
So, we’ve got our work cut us for us. We have so many inspiring examples of the difference our activism makes, so many areas where we’re called to do more, and some truly can’t miss moments of existential importance in 2020.
I’m looking forward to working together to build the progressive political power we need to win a better future.