ICE’s abuses of power, affordable housing, and the planned demolition and redevelopment of NYCHA’s Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses were front and center at the Chelsea Reform Democratic Club’s Zoom forum on Monday, Jan. 27, featuring the four candidates for the Democratic nomination for City Councilmember representing Council District 3.
The candidates are Leslie Boghosian Murphy, an Emmy-winning broadcast journalist for major TV networks and current chair of Community Board 4; Lindsey Boylan, urban planner, former chief of staff at the state Empire State Development Corp., and the first woman to accuse former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment publicly; Carl Wilson, West Side community leader and chief of staff for current Councilmember Erik Bottcher; and Layla Law-Gisiko, district leader for A.D. 75 Part A and president of the City Club of New York.
The district includes Chelsea, the West Village, Hell’s Kitchen, Flatiron, Hudson Square, and parts of Greenwich Village and Times Square. Bottcher is leaving his seat to run for state Senate.
None of the candidates had a good word for ICE, whose bullying tactics have been seen nightly on national TV. Boghosian Murphy would “ensure that our schools, hospitals, courthouses, and other public places are safe from ICE assaults.” Boylan has said numerous times that we need to abolish ICE altogether.
Law-Gisiko also wants to abolish the agency and was shocked that the Hudson River Park Trust allowed some of its property to be used by ICE (for parking). “I am the only immigrant in the race, and I’ve become a citizen, but I have this fear that probably all immigrants have,” she said. And Wilson said that he would “work closely with city agencies to insist (ICE is in) full and consistent compliance with New York City’s sanctuary protections.”
The candidates’ views diverged sharply on the controversial plans by NYCHA, The Related Companies, and Essence Development to replace the housing authority’s current Fulton Houses and Elliott-Chelsea Houses with new buildings. Wilson pointed out that NYCHA has a major capital deficit and that he’s seen first-hand the serious problems in these developments’ apartments. “My main concern,” he said, “is for tenants’ rights, especially for the seniors.” (NYCHA has promised apartments for current residents in the new buildings.)
Law-Gisiko, on the other hand, strongly opposed to demolition and would take steps to end the plan “on day one.” In addition to the hardship it would cause the tenants, “the state’s conservation agency has found that soil below these developments is very contaminated, with five times higher lead levels than usual,” she said.
Boghosian Murphy, interestingly, said, “I think demolition vs. no demolition is too simple. We have to scrutinize when a private entity comes into a public space.” She added that originally, a working group of stakeholders came to an agreement on the project, but then Related “backed out” and sought revisions. “We should have put out another RFP,” Murphy said.
Boylan said she was one of the first legal funders of Fight for NYCHA, but added that we are in a narrow leeway as far as these housing developments are concerned, and that pulling out of the agreement could keep the city tied up in lawsuits for years. “I am always on the side of the tenants, but I want people to know how limited our options are,” she said.
By and large, the candidates supported continuing and fully funding Section 9 housing (government-funded public housing) and believe that the government’s current method of determining AMI (annual median income) is flawed, leading to “affordable” apartments that the average person can’t afford.
Boghosian-Murphy charged that most of the so-called affordable apartment buildings built in the area are either studios or one-bedrooms. “We need more family units that will keep more families here and prevent what I call `the middle-school exodus,’” she commented.
Law-Gisiko said, ‘I strongly believe the Mitchell-Lama model must be reawakened. I would partner with the unions.”
Similarly, Wilson said, “We need more Penn Souths. We need more Manhattan Plazas.” He emphasized the importance of passing Councilmember Bottcher’s Artist Housing Bill.
On the topic of education, all four candidates support more funding for schools and higher pay for teachers.
Other Issues
In other issues, Boghosian Murphy, was active in the successful fight against casinos in Manhattan. She wants to restore the original, non-Medicare Advantage plan for city retirees. She supports Priscilla’s Law, a bill that would require all e-bikes and electric scooters in New York State cities with more than a million people to be registered and display license plates. She seeks to focus on urban environmental issues, such as protected bike lanes and green energy.
Boylan, too, wants to restore city retirees’ Medigap benefits as they existed before Adams did a “bait and switch.” When asked what committees she’d like to serve on, she praised Botcher’s focus on mental health, said she’d “love to serve on the Disability Committee,” and added that she had a strong background in parks. All in all, there are reasons to be sad because President Trump is “overwhelming the rule of law,” she said. Locally, however, “every powerful force supported someone for mayor who would have been worse for everyone,” but Mayor Mamdani still won, she reminded the group.
Wilson, speaking about public safety, said he would prioritize tech-related measures that make people safer, such as scaffolding reform and making sure streetlights are working. Asked about supporting city parks, he said, “I support Mayor Mandani’s plan for 1 percent of the city budget going to parks. We need to encourage community stewardship, we need to see friend groups at every park.” As the only member of the LGBTQ community in the race, he said, “I want to bring the LGBTQ community front and center, especially with the threat from Washington.”
Layla-Gisiko also supports giving city retirees the original Medigap services they were promised. “Municipal employees were promised healthcare—it’s not like we’re doing them a favor.” On the subject of public safety, she said, “Over-policing is not the answer. We need proximity policing. We need to get cops out of their cars.” Boylan also talked about getting cops out of cars and into the streets.
Asked by another audience member about drug dealing outside the now-closed bodega on 8th Avenue and 21st Street, Layla-Gisiko said she supports forming a multi-agency task force to deal with the problem.
