Jabari Brisport (Incumbent) - NYS Senate District 25

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

I am running to make our state work for working people, not just corporations and the wealthy. I have and will continue to stand with tenants: in organizing buildings, in supporting negotiations, and in fighting evictions or rent-hikes, both from the side of a legislator and an activist.

What are the top three priorities of your campaign?

Universal Childcare, passing Good Cause Eviction, The New York Health Act.

How do you define affordable housing?

Much of what we are told is affordable housing is not. I define affordable housing as housing that is largely government subsidized and available to a wide range of incomes (for example between 0 and 200,000 a year) not just some percentage of the AMI because in a lot of gentrified districts (including district 25), this standard leaves most middle class and poor people out of qualifying for "affordable housing". I define as affordable housing as housing that poor and middle income people can actually afford (for example, no more than 30% of their income). This must include provisions for people who make no income and our homeless population, who also deserve housing.

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?

A top priority in my district is the funding of public housing. For far too long, the city, state, and federal governments have failed to fulfill their commitments to NYCHA residents. I support fully funding public housing with the money that we have long owed to residents. I will continue to work with our federal representatives to secure funding, and fight to include $3.4 billion in capital funding and $2.8 billion in operating funding in the state budget so that NYCHA can remain financially solvent, spend all budgeted capital, establish vocational resident training programs, support resident management, and address its unacceptable work order backlog.

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

I would pass Good Cause Eviction to prevent landlords from evicting tenants where they have no “good cause” to do so, and would give tenants the power to fight back against the astronomical rent hikes facing so many in my district. We came very close to passing it in the last legislative session and I believe we can succeed in passing it in the next cycle.

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

Our office responds directly to tenants queries and complaints first by making sure their work order is processed and expedited and by following up with them. We then see if there is an opportunity there for organizing : for instance, do theirs neighbors also need these repairs and expanding the network of those served by our office in this way.

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?

It is crucial that we center the demands of Black and Brown people in the fight for housing justice. Everything I advocate for in terms of housing policy is considered through this lens. I will always put my community above the interests of real estate developers which is why I have advocated tirelessly for : Good Cause Eviction, the expiration of 421-A, the tenant opportunity to purchase act (TOPA), Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP), funding for NYCHA and public housing, among other important legislation.