Candidates for Manhattan Borough President: From left, State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Metropolis Council Member Keith Powers, and Dr. Calvin Solar are competing within the June 24 Democratic major to succeed outgoing Borough President Mark Levine.
Images courtesy of candidates campaigns
With incumbent Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine operating for metropolis comptroller as a substitute of searching for a second time period, three Democrats are competing to interchange him within the June 24 major.
Metropolis Council Member Keith Powers, state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and political newcomer Dr. Calvin Smith are every vying for the Democratic nomination. Powers and Hoylman-Sigal have outpaced Solar in fundraising and endorsements to date.
Nonetheless, the race stays open as all three candidates work to make their case to voters. The borough president’s function is essentially ceremonial, nevertheless it comes with some discretionary funding and advisory energy over land use selections. The workplace additionally performs a key function in advocating for Manhattan’s pursuits throughout town authorities.
Right here’s a glance a the candidates and their platforms:
Keith Powers
Time period-limited from the Council, Powers is operating for borough president on a platform targeted on constructing inexpensive housing, increasing little one care, enhancing psychological well being providers, and enhancing public security.Picture courtesy of Powers’ marketing campaign
Metropolis Council Member Keith Powers is a lifelong Manhattan resident, born and raised in Stuyvesant City and Peter Cooper Village, the place he nonetheless lives. He has represented elements of the East Aspect — together with Stuyvesant City and Midtown — on the Metropolis Council since 2018. Now term-limited from operating for re-election, Powers is searching for to carry his legislative expertise to Borough Corridor.
Throughout his tenure, Powers has sponsored laws to transform town’s car fleet to electrical, strengthen animal protections, crack down on defective e-bike batteries, and forestall landlords from conducting felony background checks on tenants. He beforehand served because the Council’s majority chief and at the moment chairs the Guidelines Committee.
Powers’ marketing campaign focuses on housing, little one care, public security and psychological well being. He helps constructing 100,000 new housing items, reviving the Mitchell-Lama program for middle-income housing, and eradicating limitations to improvement. His little one care proposals embody a citywide 2K program and expanded common Pre-Ok and 3K.
He has additionally known as for increasing psychological well being care by rising inpatient beds and revising involuntary dedication requirements. On public security, Powers needs to spice up neighborhood foot patrols, improve precinct staffing, handle repeat offenders, and enhance subway safety. He has additionally proposed a free shuttle bus to LaGuardia Airport and expanded year-round OMNY card entry for all college students.
Brad Hoylman-Sigal
State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal has represented Manhattan since 2013 and serves as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He’s operating for borough president with a deal with inexpensive housing, tenant protections, public security, training, and local weather resilience.Picture courtesy of Hoylman-Sigal’s campagin
State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal has represented Manhattan within the New York Senate since 2013 and serves as chair of the chamber’s Judiciary Committee. He lives in Greenwich Village along with his husband, David, and their two daughters.
Hoylman-Sigal beforehand ran for borough president in 2021, ending second to Levine within the Democratic major. In Albany, he has sponsored greater than 350 payments on points together with tenant protections, psychological well being funding, e-bike security, gun violence prevention and hate crime enforcement.
In 2023, he performed a key function within the state Senate’s rejection of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s nominee to guide the state’s highest court docket and proposed ending Madison Sq. Backyard’s longstanding property tax break.
His marketing campaign emphasizes inexpensive housing, training, transportation and local weather change. Hoylman-Sigal helps constructing new inexpensive housing, strengthening tenant protections, enhancing college entry, and increasing pedestrian and bike owner security. He has additionally pledged to pursue native responses to the local weather disaster.
Calvin Solar
Dr. Calvin Solar, an emergency room doctor who has labored in New York Metropolis’s safety-net hospitals. His bid is specializing in public well being, inexpensive housing, training, and constructing stronger social security nets.Picture courtesy of Solar’s marketing campaign
Dr. Calvin Solar is an emergency room doctor and lifelong New Yorker operating for workplace for the primary time. He labored within the metropolis’s safety-net hospitals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and cites that have — together with a latest restoration from most cancers — as motivating his entry into public service.
Solar’s marketing campaign focuses on public well being, affordability, and emergency preparedness. He has proposed making a city-run common well being care program to ship preventive care and scale back hospital prices. He hyperlinks housing and well being outcomes, calling for extra inexpensive housing, small enterprise help, and tax reduction for working households.
On training, Solar helps tuition-free group school, expanded early childhood packages, vocational coaching and monetary literacy initiatives. He additionally emphasizes strengthening town’s social security nets and emergency response methods.
Solar briefly entered the 2025 race for public advocate earlier this 12 months earlier than withdrawing and becoming a member of the borough president contest. He presents his marketing campaign as a public health-informed different to conventional political paths.
