Last night showed us the power of believing in New York—both at Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks made a comeback of historic proportions, and in streets and parks across the city, where thousands of New Yorkers came together to watch the game alongside strangers, toughing it out when we were down 29 points and celebrating ecstatically when we clinched the game in those final five seconds.
The Knicks’ run has brought out the best in the city—diverse communities who come together over a shared love of the game, and who congregate, physically, because of the city’s dense, walkable neighborhoods and abundant public space. A joyful city is a policy choice: it requires electeds who will vote to make the city more affordable for more people, to build denser housing and invest in transit and public space.
This Saturday, as we prepare to win the championship in game five, we also have the opportunity to vote for candidates who share that joyful, abundant vision of New York, as early voting kicks off.
And, at the risk of being a downer, the cost of maintaining the status quo is steep. Because New York has become so unaffordable, the state has been losing population—and with it, electoral representation. In 2020, New York lost a Congressional seat by 89 people. After the 2030 census, we’re projected to lose two Congressional seats, and therefore two Electoral College votes. Red states, like Texas and Florida, are growing, which means they will gain our electoral college votes and have more federal power. Beyond the impacts on our federal representation, we are at risk of a policy-driven death spiral: unaffordability drives population loss, which shrinks our tax base, which worsens public services, which leads to even more population loss.
In a bright-blue city like New York, the Democratic primaries determine who will be drafting and voting on legislation either to make New York more affordable—or to maintain the status quo. At the federal level, Congress can condition federal subsidies on local zoning reform, creating powerful incentives for states and cities to build more. On transit, it can set construction and procurement standards that push down costs, which in New York are among the highest in the world. On clean energy, it can reform permitting rules that currently make it slower and more expensive to deploy renewables. New York suffers disproportionately from all three of these cost crises—and an abundance-oriented delegation could change that, not just for us, but nationally. Candidates like Antonio Reynoso, Brad Lander, Alex Bores, and Micah Lasher would bring abundance energy to Washington—and back home to New York, as well.
At the state level, the Assembly and Senate control the policy levers most directly tied to abundance issues: zoning law, tax abatements for affordable housing development, MTA funding, and the state budget. Candidates like our co-founder Ryder Kessler, Tunisia Morrison, Jessica González-Rojas, and Steven Raga would prioritize the reforms that will make it faster, easier, and cheaper to build in New York. The State Comptroller oversees a $300B pension fund—the third largest in the country—and can audit any program that touches taxpayer dollars. After 20 years of the status quo, we’re excited to support Drew Warshaw, who would use the power of the office to advance a pro-growth vision of the state.
Who represents us in these offices shapes whether New York emerges from our affordability crisis stronger, or cedes ground (and people) it won’t get back. We’ve endorsed a slate of candidates, up and down the ballot, who believe in a growing, thriving New York—a city and state that can build and deliver more than enough of what New Yorkers need.
These races will be decided by a small slice of New York voters—which means your voice, and your network, carry more weight than in almost any other election. With early voting starting on Saturday, we need you to get the word out about abundance champions on the ballot.
Here are a few ways you can do that:
Relational Organizing: With just a few clicks, you can identify registered Democratic voters in your email contacts and send them an email about relevant races on their ballot. Check out our new, secure voter contact tool here!
If you’re curious about how this tool works, we’re hosting 20-minute training sessions today at 5pm and tomorrow at 11am where we’ll walk you through the tool.
Early Voting Volunteering: After this week’s heat wave, spend the weekend at poll sites encouraging folks to vote for abundance champions! A few volunteer opportunities:
Volunteer for Comptroller candidate Drew Warshaw on Saturday morning at Brooklyn Borough Hall
Volunteer for State Assembly candidate (and Abundance co-founder!) Ryder Kessler in lower Manhattan between now and Election Day
New York needs a comeback just as badly as the Knicks did last night. Starting this Saturday, we get our shot.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.