Alfred Taylor (Incumbent) - NYS Assembly District 71

Why are you running and why are you the best candidate for tenants?

As a community organizer, I have continuously fought for housing equity. Housing is a human right that every New Yorker should have access to regardless of socioeconomic status. We need to advocate for our tenants in the city to ensure access to affordable housing and quality living conditions. As a previous tenant of public housing in Dyckman, my love for my community has allowed me to represent the same community I grew up in and understand the challenges of my respective community. I know the importance of housing and tenant rights and why I am a strong advocate for renters in our city.

What are the top three priorities of your campaign?

Housing, healthcare, education, and community safety.

How do you define affordable housing?

Affordable housing can be defined as equitable housing, where residents have the ability to access quality services and have the equal opportunity to a place that they call home, whether that's in a newly built affordable housing structure, NYCHA building, section 8, subsidized housing, public housing, low-income housing tax credit housing, Mitchell-Lama rental buildings or Private home. Affordable housing provides families access to transportation in addition to their jobs and fights to make sure households are not using 30% to 75% of their income on household and transportation. The AMI is not an equitable measure. We also need to make sure community members have access to the resources they need to protect their quality of life.

What do you consider the most important issue facing New York State in terms of housing supply and affordable housing, and how would you address it?

We need to reimagine our communities and re-invest in our housing. Our city cannot thrive unless we stop the systematic housing barriers and provide New Yorkers access to affordable homes. The most important issue facing our housing supply is the lack of genuinely affordable housing. Affordable housing structures in our city cost up to 2K a month and have income restrictions barring our most vulnerable from the housing they need. To address these issues, we need to shape policy to address the systemic barriers to affordable homes and work with the city council to increase our city's investment in affordable housing and re-invest into our voucher programs and subsidy programs like CityFHEPS, SCRIE and DRIE to help our low-income New Yorkers and working families.

If you had the power to enact one change to our rent and eviction protection laws, what would it be?

Our city is currently facing a housing crisis that has been exacerbated by COVID-19. The city has prioritized luxury development and has not invested in real affordable housing. Good Cause is how we combat this trend and put the people before profit. We have to do the work to protect our renters. Many of our renters are victims of unjust evictions due to a significant increase in rent in our city. However, many of our renters are afraid to speak out against abuse because of the threat of eviction. This is unjust and unfair. We have to give our renters back their voice. The good cause eviction allows us to empower our renters and give them back their voice in our city.

If elected, what services and resources will you commit to help tenants organize and receive timely repairs?

In addition to Good Cause Eviction to protect our most vulnerable tenant, I want to work towards the expansion of programs like SCRIE and DRIE and expand programs like CityFHEPS by partnering with not only my colleagues but also grassroots organization and political organizations, and unions to help protect and reshape housing in New York City. Secondly, we have to re-invest in agencies like HPD and work to provide additional protection for the most vulnerable in our city who fall prey to rental abuse, lack of heat, gas, water, and privacy in their own homes. Lastly, we need to expand programs like ERAP and provide additional economic relief for tenants who face the risk of housing instability or even homeless and expand programs that offer rental arrears, temporary rental assistance, and utility arrears assistance.

The tenant leaders and staff at Tenants & Neighbors are predominantly Black and Brown women, and this is not just coincidence. Because of centuries of structural racism and ongoing discrimination in the housing market, people of color are far more likely than white Americans to face evictions and experience homelessness in the United States today. What is your plan to remedy these injustices and promote housing stability for communities of color?

To remedy the systemic violence against women of color and people of color in our city and state. I work every day to ensure that their stores are brought to the front. Many people of color in New York are not only the most vulnerable, but they are also critical care providers and essential workers. They are the backbones of our communities and the staples of our critical care services. To remedy the injustices that women of color and people of color face in housing, we have to hear their stories and implement policies that address their concerns about the injustices they face in the housing market. We need to develop other advocacy to ensure that these vulnerable constituents get the representation they need in our courts. We need to expand programs like SCRIE, DRIE, and CityFHEPS while increasing the amount of rent-stabilized apartments in our city and investing in our voucher system. We need to expand programs like HEAP and ERAP that provide safety nets for the most vulnerable. We need to work on dismantling the currency housing structure today that perpetuates cycles of inequality and poverty and build more pipeline programs that allow renters to one day become homeowners and will enable many families of color to start to build generational wealth. To combat the present injustices, we have to identify the systematic inequalities in our city and state and work towards increasing the programs that combat these inequities and hold them accountable.