My Top Priorities

The Best Teachers in Uncrowded Classrooms

School construction in Lower Manhattan has shamefully not kept pace with the exploding population of school age children: close to 1,000 school seats need to be created in the next five years.  We need to invest in building new schools to reduce overcrowding, improve public education by attracting the best teachers, and encourage innovative new forms of school governance and parental involvement. Living in New York City is expensive enough–every family and child deserves access to a quality public education within walking distance of their home.

Revive the Economy by Focusing on Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Together, we need to diversify and expand our economy by encouraging entrepreneurship, promoting innovations in the social and civic sector, and strengthening our competitive advantages in higher education, research & development, the arts, and culture. The district includes NYU, the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and numerous artistic, historic, and cultural assets. We must better harness the incredible talent and energy of unemployed and underemployed workers in Lower Manhattan to rebuild our foundation for future economic growth. We need to repeal the Unincorporated Business Tax which unfairly targets the growing number of freelancers. We also need to promote portable benefits so that people with great ideas for starting new businesses aren’t stuck in a dead-end job because they are worried about losing vital benefits.

Protect Affordable Housing and Quality of Life

I’ll work to effectively steward our physical infrastructure and natural resources to protect affordable housing, create new park space, revitalize our existing parks and playgrounds, and preserve open space as part of any new development project.  We need to enforce noise regulations resulting from constant construction and nightlife.  We also need better sanitation and rodent control.  Lower Manhattan is not just a “9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday” community, so we need policies to support residents, not just commuters and tourists.

Improve Traffic and Pedestrian Safety; Invest in Public Transit

Create policies that protect pedestrian and bicyclists, improve enforcement of traffic laws, and keep trucks off residential streets.  We need to upgrade our public transportation system so that it is world class and adequately funded, curtail placard-parking abuse by government employees, ensure that the rebuilding of the World Trade Center proceeds without further delay, and implement a management plan for the hundreds of buses per day that will eventually bring tourists to the 9-11 Memorial.   Ongoing construction projects also severely affect small businesses and quality of life: we need to continue to mitigate these negative effects through cooperation between all levels of government, the private sector, and community groups.

Strengthen Our Social Safety Net

Ensure that all New Yorkers are connected to the resources that will help them survive this recession. No families should suffer because they do not know about available assistance. The district includes some of the lowest income residents in New York, primarily in Chinatown and the Lower East Side, many of whom are not aware of all available public and private assistance. For more information on how I have worked to help tens of thousands of low-income residents in New York City and across the country to access public and private assistance, move out of economic crisis, and begin to build assets, please click here.

What are your top priorities?

Please share with us! Email suggestions@pjkim.com.