The Manhattan Times

Election Day: the mayor’s race and other contests in Northern Manhattan

by Daniel P. Bader

On Nov. 3 voters will head to the polls for the general election. New York City, its residents overwhelmingly members of the Democratic Party, have largely decided the contests for a number of races when they voted in the Sept. 15 primary. However there are challengers to the Democratic candidates, and in at least one particularly important position, mayor, the Democrats are the underdogs.

City Comptroller William Thompson won the Democratic Primary and is facing billionaire incumbent Michael Bloomberg who fought to have term limits extended so he could run a third time. Thompson, a Brooklyn native, has visited Northern Manhattan twice over the past few months, once to attend the New York Police Department 34th Precinct’s National Night Out event in August, and once to make an appearance at Coogan’s Restaurant on W. 165th Street and Broadway.

Bloomberg has also visited the neighborhood as a candidate, twice to receive endorsements. On Oct. 17 he visited his campaign office on W. 173rd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue to get a nod from Latino designer Oscar de la Renta. Earlier this summer he was endorsed by a group of Dominican business owners and community leaders.

To get a sense of their views on issues in Northern Manhattan, both candidates were given three questions to answer specifically about the voters north of W. 155th Street. Their answers are below.

However, there are other candidates in the race.
Besides the two heavyweights, the candidates include: Conservative Stephen Christopher; Socialist and Libertarian Francisca Villar; Socialist Worker Party candidate Dan Fein; Green Party candidate Billy Talen; Rent is Too High candidate Jimmy McMillan; and Libertarian Joseph Dobrian.
A little closer to home, both Northern Manhattan City Council seats have races. In the 10th City Council District, Ruben Dario Vargas, who lost in the Democratic primary with only 363 votes, is contesting primary winner Ydanis Rodriguez on the Independence Party line.

Two-time incumbent 7th District candidate Robert Jackson has two competitors for his seat: Libertarian Firma Shlimel and Free Just and Equal candidate Julius Tajiddin.

For other citywide seats, Democratic candidate and Council Member Bill de Blasio faces four opponents for public advocate: Republican Alex Zablocki, Conservative William Lee, Socialist Worker Party Maura Deluca and Libertarian Jim Lesczynski.

John Liu, who won the Democratic Priamry race for comptroller in a run-off faces Republican Joseph Mendola, Conservative Stuart Avrick, Rent is Too High Party candidate Salim Ejaz and Libertarian John Clifton.

Borough President Scott Stringer also has an opponent vying for his seat, Republican David Casavis, who, interestingly enough, is running to abolish the position of borough president, city wide.

Michael Bloomberg, 67

Republican, Independence party

Northern Manhattan has the second highest population of low income residents in the city, what will you as the next mayor, do to alleviate this community’s poverty?

Over the last eight years, I’ve worked hard to diversify our economy and create jobs. One of my first priorities as mayor was to cut bureaucracy and create a workforce system that addressed the business and economic development needs of New York City and its residents.

Before we made that change, we only placed about 500 people in jobs every year. This year, we will place New Yorkers in over 20,000 jobs.

If I’m elected to a third term, we are going to build on these historic gains by expanding our workforce training to place New Yorkers in 108,000 jobs over the next four years and focus our efforts 

on training and placing workers in better-paying jobs, so that low-income New Yorkers will have the opportunity to climb the economic ladder.

In addition to our workforce efforts, I created the Center for Economic Opportunity to help alleviate intergenerational poverty. Through the center, we have sponsored a number of innovative programs. One of these programs, Opportunity NYC, is the first of its kind in the United States. Based largely on a successful program in Mexico, Opportunity NYC provides monetary incentives to households when they complete activities aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty.

We also created the City’s Child Care Tax Credit to help more families afford child care and help more parents work full-time. City residents who earn $30,000 or less and pay child care expenses for children age three and under may qualify for this local tax credit. So far, over 50,000 New Yorkers have received this credit for a total of roughly $30 million paid to low-and moderate-income families.

Finally, we created the City’s Earned Income Tax Credit, which builds upon the State and Federal government’s Earned Income Tax Credits. Efforts at targeting eligible New Yorkers helped over 4,000 households claim credits worth $3.5 million.

Finally, we want to make sure poor communities access benefit programs, so we have enrolled more than 1 million additional New Yorkers in public health insurance programs and increased the number of New Yorkers signed up for food stamps by 75%.

The majority of businesses in Community Board 12 are

 sole proprietorships – mom and pop shops. Their biggest concerns are taxes and rent. How can you as mayor keep them in business?

This year, to help more entrepreneurs who are struggling through the national recession, we cut $25 million in taxes on freelancers and small businesses. The savings will help them make ends meet – and also help them invest more of their hard-earned money in their own businesses. We’re also providing job training funds that are helping businesses increase their employees’ skills – and their salaries. Finally, the City is providing emergency loans to small businesses struggling to keep their doors open.

What is the biggest issue facing Northern Manhattan residents and how will you address it?

I think New Yorkers are facing many issues. They want their kids to go to good public schools. They want to keep crime at record lows. And they want someone in City Hall who knows how to create jobs and turn our economy around. I’ve worked hard over the last eight years to bring new businesses into the city. I also announced improve our CUNY Community Colleges, so that local businesses can tap into our best and brightest. I know we can help the New Yorkers who need it, and I hope to have the chance to serve four more years because I’m going to work even harder to make sure this is a city of opportunity.

William Thompson, 56

Democrat, Working Families

Northern Manhattan has the second highest population of low income residents in the city, what will you as the next mayor, do to alleviate this community’s poverty?

As mayor, one of my top priorities for our low-income communities will be increasing our city’s dwindling stock of affordable housing.

My affordable housing plan will open up our city to low-income residents, and it will preserve and enhance housing for the millions of New 

Yorkers struggling to live in our increasingly unaffordable city.

I will begin by reversing Mike Bloomberg’s aggressive hikes on rent regulated apartments. Since Republican Mike Bloomberg took office, his appointees have voted for rent increases totaling 31%.

In light of the financial difficulties facing so many New Yorkers, I have called on the Rent Guidelines Board to freeze rents for two of the past three years.

As mayor, I will appoint public members who understand that it is their responsibility to keep rents affordable.

I have proposed an alternative tax on individuals making $500,000 and above. Based on estimates by my office, this would yield nearly $1 billion in 2009. Amid this recession, I believe it’s fair to ask people who make more to pay their fair share. Such an increase could sunset in better times.

The majority of businesses in Community Board 12 are sole proprietorships – mom and pop shops. Their biggest concerns are taxes and rent. How can you as mayor keep them in business?


The Mayor has done very little to address the urgent need for more affordable space.

I will build on my past work to relieve your unnecessary tax burdens. As comptroller, I backed the recently enacted Unincorporated Business Tax exemption for sole proprietors earning less than $100,000. I will work with the State legislature to index for inflation the $100,000 exemption threshold.

Rents for small stores on commercial strips have skyrocketed, forcing many small independent neighborhood retailers to close or relocate to smaller or less desirable spaces.

At the same time, deep-pocketed national chain stores – who are able to pay higher rents – are driving up costs and driving out the businesses that make our neighborhoods unique, diverse, and attractive to people looking to live here.

I will develop a centralized, online, searchable database of all available commercial space under 5,000 square feet.

I will also establish Retail Retention Zones, and offer incentives to property owners so that independent retailers can compete for rental space with deep-pocketed retail chains and banks.

What is the biggest issue facing the people of Northern Manhattan and how will you address it?

Two issues in particular will be priorities for me when I become mayor. The first is to address the issue of small businesses being forced out of the neighborhood. I will work with my colleague Robert Jackson to craft a Small Business Survival Act that protects small businesses from unscrupulous landlords and provides for significant penalties to those landlords who criminally exploit tenants by requiring so-called "key money" in exchange for the right to renegotiate a commercial lease. I will also order a top-to-bottom review of the city's ticketing policy with regard to small businesses, so that our local shop-owners aren't fined out of business by the city.

On the affordable housing front, I will work with local residents and institutions to restart the Sherman Creek Development Project. In a neighborhood such as Washington Heights/Inwood, a project of this size could have a profound impact on the availability of quality housing for local residents.

The Manhattan Times is the bilingual newspaper of Washington Heights and Inwood.