HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS

Julie will work to preserve the character and appearance of neighborhoods by emphasizing community voices in land use decisions.

To combat racism in housing, Julie supports ramping up enforcement of fair housing and anti-discrimination laws. The lack of affordable housing is the biggest driver of homelessness as well as an economic burden on everyday New Yorkers. To address the housing affordability crisis, Julie would expand Accessory Dwelling Unit and Basement Apartment programs to cover the entire city.

The brave New Yorkers who serve in the military should be able to generate income from their co-op apartments while deployed. Julie would fight for an exception to co-op bylaws to allow deployed service members to sublet their apartments. Julie also supports expanding the coverage of the Right to Counsel law to help protect all New Yorkers from unfair housing practices. As census director, Julie helped negotiate a first-ever agreement with the NYC Department of Social Services and the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure that every homeless resident in the shelter population was counted and not left behind.

In order to combat homelessness, we need to promote supportive housing with adequate resources for job training, mental health services, child care, and health care. For children in the shelter population, we must prioritize their education and keep their families intact.