Lydia’s Platform

Taxing the Rich

 

In the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of humankind, we absolutely should be taxing the rich to fund crucial government programs, universal childcare and access to higher education. I have publicly organized for taxing the rich since 2020 (before I even ran for District Leader) and have supported the concept for as long as I can remember.

I am proud to center taxing the rich as a cornerstone of my campaign, because I wholeheartedly believe that making New York’s wealthiest residents and corporations give back to our communities by paying their fair share of taxes is the key to building a New York that we can all afford. 

Building Affordable Homes

 

That our housing system is largely for-profit leads housing to be treated as a commodity rather than a human right and incentivizes landlords to prioritize their own profits over the wellbeing of those reliant on them for shelter, and I am running for office in large part to right this wrong. I am a champion of initiatives that increase the housing supply, and a passionate advocate for the establishment of the Social Housing Development Authority, the passage of the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, and increased federal funding for NYCHA.

As a tenant myself, I am deeply familiar with the stress of living in an unregulated unit with minimal tenant protections, and I am committed to supporting and implementing improved tenant protections, and an advocate for further stabilization and regulation of existing and new housing units through the REST Act.

Protecting Our Communities from the Climate Crisis

 

Climate justice is an issue of paramount importance to my campaign, and I am familiar with how it feels to be disappointed by our complacent representatives’ lack of aggressive action. As District Leader, I supported resolutions to advance the New York HEAT Act when my opponent failed to get all components of the Act passed, and I have also supported plans to swiftly replace "peaker" power plants and other outdated, polluting facilities, and to prioritize the construction of renewable energy systems.

I have been a vocal advocate for climate justice in my community and in my personal life, as the climate crisis is close to home, and I have seen too many of my community members impacted by Assembly District 52’s lack of climate resiliency. As an Assembly Member, I will work incessantly to increase our district’s climate resiliency by protecting our waterfronts from flooding, furthering the fight for public renewable power, and taking a stand against bad actors, polluting facilities, and corporations who are doing the majority of the damage to our climate. I look forward to aggressively advocating for the full implementation of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the Community Risk and Resiliency Act, and a Cap-and-Invest program, as there is no more time to waste.

Delivering Health Care for All

 

At age 16, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and for the rest of my life I will have to navigate the insurance system as a "high-risk individual." I know as well as anyone that the United States insurance system prioritizes profits over saving lives, especially for those of marginalized or disabled statuses.

Despite the signatures of a majority of Democratic lawmakers in the Assembly, the New York Health Act has stalled in committee for years due to the inaction of those afraid to draw the ire of private interests, but I will never waver from my steadfast commitment to the New York Health Act, and will keep pushing until universal healthcare coverage is a right for all New Yorkers. I am thus also deeply committed to passing the Coverage for All Act to extend healthcare coverage to New Yorkers who have previously been excluded due to immigration status, and committed to fiercely protecting access to reproductive health care throughout New York State.

Protecting Our Immigrant Communities

I will continue to be a ferocious advocate for legislation that would protect the health and safety of immigrants in New York State, regardless of documentation status — including the New York for All Act, the Coverage for All Act, the Dignity not Detention Act, the Access to Representation Act, and the Building Up Immigrant Legal Defense Act. I will use the power of my office to mobilize my constituents to regularly participate alongside me in ICE watch and immigration court watch shifts, as well as Know Your Rights canvasses, as well as to join me in protests calling for the total abolition of ICE nationally.

To comprehensively protect undocumented New Yorkers and our communities at large from the violent encroachment of ICE, we must build coalitions that collectivize our capacity to resist, and I look forward to collaborating with colleagues, neighbors, and community organizations to ensure that Brooklyn, NYC, and New York State are places that anyone and everyone can safely and freely put down roots.

Championing Palestinian Liberation

 

The Israeli government is committing a genocide on the Palestinian people through their war in Gaza, displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank, and general occupation of Palestine. It is incumbent on anyone in a position of power to stand up for Palestinian human rights. My Jewish values teach me that all life is sacred and that every life is an entire universe. Every single life extinguished by Israel has been an entire universe extinguished. I also believe that there is no way to separate liberation for one group from another group’s liberation — safety for Palestinians is safety for Jews and vice versa. Apartheid and genocide dehumanize everyone involved and endanger Jews around the world alongside Palestinians.

As one of the first New York Democratic Party officials to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, I have been and will continue to be a champion of the Not On Our Dime Act — unlike this district’s current representative — and am committed to fully divesting New York State from genocide. It is shameful that New York subsidizes Israel’s illegal settlement expansion and state violence against Palestinians, and I have dedicated myself to organizing in my personal and professional capacities to bring an end to New York’s funding of war crimes and human rights violations once and for all.

Improving Our Public Education System

 

I am a proud graduate of New York public elementary, middle, and high schools, and I know firsthand that our state's funding of charter schools and underfunding of public schools comes at the expense of the millions of students growing up in our public school system, especially those impacted by the profound inequities of New York’s school segregation.

I will oppose any legislation that threatens New York's ability to fund our public schools, and will relentlessly advocate for the desegregation of schools, the reform of the specialized high school system, smaller class sizes, and the expansion of equitable funding for public schools by organizing to ensure that the voices of our public school communities — students, parents, and teachers — are no longer overlooked in the legislative process.

As District Leader, I authored and passed a resolution supporting the New Deal for Higher Education to fully fund CUNY and SUNY and make our public colleges free, and I look forward to fighting alongside fellow legislators and organizers to secure free public higher education for New Yorkers and defend CUNY and SUNY from budget cuts.

Defending Our Democracy

 

My experience as a District Leader where the opportunity to appoint poll workers was taken away from me by the party boss left me highly motivated to contend with New York’s election laws. To ensure that New York’s elections are truly democratic and not influenced by political machines, the NYS Board of Elections is in need of professionalization and our Democratic Party in need of reform, and we must also fix the judicial selection process so that New York State Supreme Court Judges are accountable to the public, rather than being chosen directly by District Leaders, a practice that leaves the door wide open to corruption.

I am proud to have written a resolution in the NYS Democratic Party in support of introducing ranked choice voting in more of our elections to make our democracy more equitable, and I would be dedicated to continuing this work as an Assembly Member, as part of which I would fight to preserve and enhance public campaign financing, as well as organize relentlessly to advance the Democracy Preservation Act and the Democracy During Detention Act.

This is also a moment in which New York State’s democracy is being threatened by the federal government. I would be committed to using the powers of the Assembly office to ensure that New Yorkers are comprehensively protected during instances of federal overreach, and would incessantly organize my colleagues to work alongside me in advancing emergency protective measures — including legislation such as A9347/S8533, which would prohibit deployment in New York of National Guard units under the command of another state’s governor for military purposes unless the Governor of New York has given permission, and the New York Civil Rights Act — while mobilizing my community through public advocacy, protest, and civic disobedience to further pressure elected officials into supporting those measures.

Protecting LGBTQIA+ Rights

As a queer New Yorker, I am wholeheartedly dedicated to protecting and advancing LGBTQIA+ rights in New York State at a time when these rights are under attack nationally. I have been a strong supporter of the Lorena Borjas Transgender and Non-Binary Wellness and Equity Fund, as well as the 2023 resolution passed by the New York State Democratic Committee calling for a LGBTQIA+ inclusive curriculum in New York public schools, and I am committed to continual support of initiatives that protect LGBTQIA+ youth and adults alike, as well as a proud continual participant in public demonstrations for LGBTQIA+ rights across the board.

Recently, I have been horrified to hear about the decisions made by hospital systems here in New York City to acquiesce to the Trump administration and stop providing gender-affirming care to trans youth, and will do everything within my power to defend every New Yorker’s right to live freely as themselves.