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Greater Harlem Unite mayoral forum kicking off. Folo along for a live thread.
Folks we need a hashtag for these forums.
First Q for first panel: How would you grade the city's vaccination rollout and what would you do differently?
. @KGforNYC said she would give the rollout a F. Says her 80-year-old dad who is eligible was getting a question about whether he's a migrant worker, which shouldn't matter.
. @KGforNYC says city needs mobile vaccines and didn't use community-based orgs well enough to reach vulnerable, internet-less ppl.
. @eddiecullen4nyc also says he'd give the city an F. Says technology exists to keep census of everyone actually getting the vaccine.
. @ShaunDonovanNYC says he wouldn't give an A-F, but rather an R for racist. "We need a mayor who actually can get the vaccine that we need in NYC." Says he's "unique" in this race due to his DC connections including ppl working for Biden on vaccine rollout.
. @PaperboyPrince gave the vaccine rollout an L for love and I know no one is going to believe me but that was my guess and I'm feeling rather proud right now.
. @PaperboyPrince now saying he agrees w/ @ShaunDonovanNYC that the vaccine rollout was racist and takes a dig at Donovan saying he had a hand in implementing racist housing policies in his roles at HPD and HUD.
. @ShaunDonovanNYC says he "led the fight for fair housing" as HUD secretary and said Biden highlighted his work on that legacy recently.
Next Q is about climate justice. @ShaunDonovanNYC calls for shutting down peaker plants, which disproportionately impact communities of color.
. @KGforNYC calls for more green roofs and expansion of composting.
. @PaperboyPrince says New Yorkers need more time spent on farms. Says the city needs to "take a true, large step like going to the moon and that's what I want to do with making the city more green."
In Q on mental health, @eddiecullen4nyc says police officers should not be responding to mental health calls.
. @ShaunDonovanNYC says mental health challenges have impacted his family and friends and said he's rolling out an alternative to 911 plan tomorrow. "This is one of the many examples of how we have to stop criminalizing behavior that should be responded to with caring."
. @KGforNYC proposed pairing mental health professionals with police officers to respond to any 911 call for someone in distress. "I will quote Paperboy Prince" as to the importance of love.
. @PaperboyPrince says these solutions are not enough. "We need a love team to replace the police." Said police should be abolished, and cops never view Black ppl as having mental health problems.
. @eddiecullen4nyc says he believes in the principle, not the terminology, of "defund the police" and believes communities should be empowered to negotiate w/ police and have mayor act as mediator.
. @ShaunDonovanNYC says police role must be reduced - not in schools or responding to mental health calls. Says policing should be ... wait for it ... "reimagined." That is the word of the cycle. Transcendent, you have been replaced.
. @ShaunDonovanNYC says he tried to close Gitmo w/ Obama as he discusses closing Rikers. Said he gave housing vouchers to ppl coming out of Rikers.
. @KGforNYC says she has proposed several police reforms that she called "awfully practical." For ex: increasing age of officers to 25, requiring residency in NYC and increase training. "But we still need police to solve crimes," she says.
On co-managing NYCHA w/ private sector, @ShaunDonovanNYC says he would spent $2B a year in city capital for NYCHA and he is "unique in my ability" to get more $ from DC. Says he is "open to creative partnerships" w private sector but it must remain city-owned.
. @KGforNYC says she would support expanded use of RAD "because it gets $ into NYCHA now and that's so critical." RAD involves federal subsidy for private sector managers to take over management of bldgs.
. @PaperboyPrince says his priority is turning NYCHA "into mansions" because aesthetics are important to health and happiness. Says "affordable housing" is just a term politicians use but it's rarely affordable to ppl who need it most.
For 2nd time @PaperboyPrince calls out @ShaunDonovanNYC for getting rich off of Black/brown ppl, which Donovan refuted and cited his record working for city and federal governments on housing issues.
"The problem is not money. Our city has the resources. The problem is our priorities" @Dianne4NYC says. Says City Hall does not deal with root problems of structural inequity, racism, poverty.
. @QuandaFrancis laments the "leadership crisis" at City Hall and offers analogy that there was a hole in the roof before Covid and now it's leaking and city officials are simply holding a bucket, not fixing the hole.
. @cmenchaca opens w/ his work in City Council, including support of recent street vending bill that will provide more availability for vendors to operate legally.
. @RayForMayor opens w/ his rags-to-riches story - from growing up poor to single mom in Dayton, Ohio, to Harvard, to coming to NYC w/ no $ to executive role on Wall Street.
Do you support defunding NYPD? @Dianne4NYC, yes. @QuandaFrancis, no. @cmenchaca, yes. @RayForMayor, no. (intent, not language.)
