Ray McGuire

Mayoral Candidate Questionnaire

 

Rebuilding New York City

Question 1

Please describe what steps you will take to rebuild the economy.

We will have to make smart investments to accelerate our city’s comeback. My economic recovery plan will allow the city to Go Big, Go Small, and Go Forward. I will Go Small through a Comeback Job Accelerator that will subsidize 50,000 jobs and a Comeback Bank that provides low-interest loans through CDFIs. My plan will give immediate financial support for struggling local businesses, and streamline permits, inspections, and approvals to help businesses open quickly. I will also create a menu of financial relief options that can be made available to small property owners in exchange for forgiving or lowering rent for small business tenants. I will Go Big by introducing a major infrastructure program that will create jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges, fixing subway elevators, building and renovating affordable housing, and making our city more sustainable. I will raise and invest $100 million a year to provide 15,000 New Yorkers with seats in bridge programs, which pair education with jobs training, and put these New Yorkers on the path to a good job. I will Go Forward by creating a $50 million loan fund targeted to small MWBEs and ensuring affordable childcare for all. I will institute a “shot clock” for the small business permitting process, requiring City agencies to complete reviews and inspections for most small businesses within 180 days.

 

Question 2

There has been a seismic shift in female representation in the workforce due to COVID-19. Particularly, women of color have lost jobs or have been left to care for their families. What is your plan to spur job growth and small business ownership for women?

I will appoint a Deputy Mayor for Small, Minority-, and Women- Owned Businesses to ensure that every agency meets or exceeds MWBE requirements. I will focus on categories of businesses for which the city has fallen short in reaching its targets, especially Black and brown women-owned businesses. I will designate $50 million in advances or low-interest loans to help these business owners access city contracts, and will direct agencies to break up larger contracts to allow smaller MWBEs to serve as prime contractors. Lastly, I will work to implement a Rooney Rule, requiring agencies to consider at least one contractor from that category for any contracts for at least one year. With regards to workforce development, my plan to provide 15,000 New Yorkers on the path to a good job will prioritize underserved populations including women of color. We also need to focus on eliminating the wage gap. As mayor, that starts with my senior team. Next, I will work with labor unions to expand pay equity to all city workers. Any business from then on that wants a tax incentive or city contract will need to show their records on pay equity as well.

 

Question 3

How would you have handled the Amazon deal differently? Please describe your approach to recruiting companies to NYC.

I will treat tech companies as partners in economic growth – something our current mayor has not done. I will use the mayoral bully pulpit and global network of business relationships to promote New York City as the best place for tech talent. In 2020, tech companies took enough new office space to accommodate over 22,000 workers, which makes it the only industry that has increased its footprint during the pandemic. I think we need to use every tool in the toolkit to bring these tech jobs and that includes financial incentives that are tied directly to job creation. I will also work with tech companies by creating a task force of tech community leaders to advise the city on policy and how we can anticipate emerging technologies, capitalize on them, and mitigate collateral effects. As Mayor, I will ensure that the communities most impacted by potential development are at table from concept to completion with strong, measurable community benefits built into these deals.

 

Question 4

Municipalities across the country have had systems and data held hostage for ransom, do you think NYC is sufficiently protected? If not, what is your plan and what is your position on paying ransom?

Cyberthreats are evolving rapidly and we need to make sure we are investing in cybersecurity measures that can keep up. The good news is New York City is home to a rapidly growing cybersecurity industry – I want to invest in that and help grow good, accessible jobs for New Yorkers. One way we do that is by enlisting local companies to help improve the city’s protocols and protections, which means tax dollars will go to local jobs.

 

Question 5

How do you plan to address the issue of affordable housing when nearly 30 percent of people are spending half their income on rent? How do you define affordable housing?

My plan would increase the amount of housing in NYC by 10 percent – or 350,000 units – over the next eight years. This will include new rent-regulated housing that will be affordable to New Yorkers at a range of incomes; market-rate housing that will help meet demand and drive down prices, including in neighborhoods where market rents are accessible to middle-income New Yorkers; and existing space that can be activated for affordable residential dwellings. To reach this 10 percent target, I will deploy a number of coordinated tactics that include: 

• More than doubling the amount of city capital funds being spent on affordable housing construction and focusing the majority of that $2.5B each year on building housing that is affordable for people at 50% or less of Area Median Income. 
• Leveraging the market to build more middle and moderate-income housing, including by offering zoning bonuses through a citywide planning process. 
• Expanding parameters for legal basement apartments and other accessory dwelling units, such as garage apartments, and expanding no-interest loans to help property owners bring these units up to code. 
• Changing zoning requirements and housing regulations to prioritize construction of housing on existing undeveloped and underdeveloped city-owned properties.

Question 6

How will you reinvest in and expand public housing, ensuring that all have a decent home? What are your specific plans to expand and revitalize public housing in NYC?

I will invest up to $1.5 billion a year in city capital funds to NYCHA, roughly five times what has been committed in recent years, which would help the city secure billions in additional federal and state funding needed to bring our public housing back into good repair. I will also empower tenants at every development to create a plan for investment in their communities, providing them with a budget to hire a planning advisor and other necessary supports to make informed decisions on the future of their communities. Residents will have a voice in determining the future of their developments, including if and how the federal RAD program and elements of the Blueprint for Change are implemented.

 

Question 7

With the cost of living rising at nearly three times the rate of wages, 2.5 million working-age New Yorkers are struggling to provide food, housing, and other basic necessities for their families. What specific plans do you have to address poverty and the vulnerability of the working poor in NYC?

I will station teams comprising a range of city agencies, including Health and Mental Hygiene, Housing, Parks, and Small Business Services to underserved areas, and embed community engagement officials to connect people to social services and accelerate repairs and investments in public spaces. Those tailored support services will include mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment programs. Addressing educational needs like broadband and adequate wifi are critical for students in need. Their parents should also have proper childcare, and job training and placement to get back on their feet and comfortably support their family. I will ensure a pathway to permanent housing for all and will create robust food programs to eliminate food insecurity.

 

Public Health & Safety

Question 8

How do you plan to address the rise of hate crime incidents in NYC? How will your office engage with communities to promote hate crime reporting and prevention? Do you consider gender-based violence a hate crime? If so, how will you reduce and prevent it?

My commitment to New Yorkers starts with doing something most leaders don’t do enough of, listening. I will listen to each community and encourage respectful, honest and constructive dialogue. As mayor, I’ll establish a 360 Racial Justice Task Force. The taskforce will bring together leaders from every ethnic community, conduct a study to evaluate the increase in racial and ethnic bias, and develop a package of recommendations to end widespread hatred in New York City in every institution. Hate crimes have been underreported and they are not getting the attention they deserve. Speaking out is a critical first step – we need to condemn hate and discrimination every time we see it, and combat the often powerful voices in this country that stoke hate. 

We must have aggressive enforcement, which is why I would preserve funding for the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force and expand resources as needed. We also need better data – underreporting means we may not be getting the right support to victims or getting investment in the places where we can make the most difference. My Safety and Justice plan includes shifting resources within the NYPD, in partnership with local precincts, to support a volunteer bystander program. This program will encourage and empower New Yorkers to do their part in ending hate.

 

Question 9

What is your vision for preventing and reducing the crimes of sexual assault and rape? Other than improving the transparency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system, what multidimensional and innovative plans of action will you specifically implement?

Tackling serious crimes will be the number one priority for the NYPD in my administration. The NYPD will redouble efforts in combating professional criminal networks that are responsible for issues like gun trafficking, burglary rings, and sex trafficking, as well as other types of crime that have the greatest impact on New Yorkers, including sexual assault, gun violence, and online financial crime. We will support that in part by conducting a top to bottom review of the city’s entire public safety budget to identify spending that is ineffective at improving safety or does not track with my vision for a safe and just city – that money can be better focused on real public safety issues.

 

Question 10

Violent crime has risen to alarming levels, and home burglaries are up. What is your plan for reducing gun violence, sex crimes, and assaults/muggings that instill fear in the public and harm quality of life for city residents?

Our city is facing a disturbing surge in crime. Murders and shootings are up sharply. There’s a palpable sense of fear throughout the city. My approach to public safety is to tackle gun violence head on, assure a better quality of life for all New Yorkers — and at the same time to tackle the root causes of so much of the current disorder. I will shift resources within the NYPD budget to increase the number of officers focused on seizing illegal weapons and preventing, investigating, and prosecuting gun crimes, integrated into broader community policing efforts in the 10 precincts suffering from the highest incidence of violent crime. I will also invest in community-based crisis management programs in these neighborhoods, and partner with local, state and federal prosecutors to crack down on the flow of illegal guns into our city.

 

Question 11

How will you work to rebuild trust between the community and law enforcement, while also ensuring accountability for police misconduct, police brutality and sexual assault?

While we tackle the uptick in crime we also will implement new levels of accountability for both police conduct and public safety – and that will start with city hall. New Yorkers in all communities deserve policing that is respectful, accountable, and proportionate – and restoring trust in the NYPD is essential to their ability to work with communities to reduce crime. 

As mayor, I will expand the type of data captured by CompStat, and my team will work with the CCRB to conduct a full review of disciplinary records, and implement an early warning system to prevent patterns of behavior from escalating to excessive use of force. When one or more officers is involved in a serious incident of misconduct, accountability measures will be taken not only against the officers involved but also their commanding officer – and that officer’s commanding officer. 

I will also increase funding and staffing for the CCRB, and ensure that they have access to disciplinary records, body camera footage (within 48 hours of request), and other evidence that will allow them to expand and accelerate investigations of misconduct. Find my full public safety and justice plan here.

 

Question 12

In 2019 alone there was a 52% increase in DV homicides and 911 received upwards of 800 DV calls a day. What is your plan to prevent, identify and keep women safe from abusive intimate partners?

The most important thing is to provide individuals who have experienced domestic violence with access to safe, affordable housing. My housing plan would expand access to supportive housing for those who need it, and would also expand rental assistance to help people move from shelter to permanent housing. I will pair the NYPD DV Unit with civilian specialists as part of my Emergency Services System plan to provide on-scene crisis intervention counseling and share victim awareness of community resources to break the cycle of violence, and get abuse victims out of their situation. We need to set up a rapid response system, provide mobile phones, personal attack alarms, security locks on doors as well as help women get an injunction such as a non-molestation order, and put a ‘marker’ on the house so an officer can get there as quickly as possible, when called out. These DV teams can also act as referral agents to other professionals, such as a domestic violence and abuse agency, housing department, a women’s refuge, a sexual assault unit, family justice center, mediation or counseling.

 

Question 13

Opioid deaths have ravished communities throughout NYC. In the first two months of 2020, 440 people died. How will you tackle this continuing public health crisis? What will you do differently than the outgoing administration to save lives?

I will launch Emergency Social Services, a citywide 24/7 network of mental health, drug abuse, and homelessness specialists that will replace police intervention for non-criminal behavior. These teams will provide rapid response to help individuals in crisis. I will ensure individuals receive the long-term

mental health and substance abuse services they require, rather than abandoning them after the immediate crisis has been addressed. I will also fund local support centers around the city to assess and refer individuals that can be stabilized without a trip to the emergency room.

 

Question 14

NYPD and EMT responded to all 154,000 mental health calls in 2020, how will you expand and strengthen Mayor de Blasio’s test programs to keep NYC police out of mental health crisis calls?

My administration will shift more resources to social services and mental health professionals who are better equipped to handle situations that today end up being assigned to police officers. NYPD officers have been forced to deal with any number of situations for which an armed response is not required. Shifting some of the responsibility for those interactions to social workers, healthcare specialists, or civilian staff is not only good for our communities and will avoid situations for which they are not properly trained. These responders would connect the person to mental health services with frequent follow ups. This will create a long-term solution by connecting the New Yorkers to care providers to treat the individual and not just the incident.

 

Question 15

According to the Coalition for the Homeless, “In January 2021, there were 55,915 homeless people, including 17,645 homeless children, sleeping each night in the New York City municipal shelter system”. What do you plan to do differently than the current administration to combat the issue of homelessness, particularly houselessness among women and households headed by single women with children in NYC?

My plan focuses first and foremost on preventing people from losing their housing in the first place. I will keep those with a place to stay in their homes by providing rental subsidies, legal assistance and advocating for additional section 8 vouchers from the federal government. It’s critical that we look at

existing housing stock to determine where vouchers and rental subsidies can help place people transitioning from other government programs such as the prison system, foster care and hospitalization.

Second, we must provide people experiencing homelessness with tailored support services. I will ensure that parents receive childcare, and that children are given access to wifi. Adults should receive mental health and substance abuse treatment as well as job training. I will leverage my management experience to simplify the bureaucracy and streamline services across agencies. We need to establish expectations for service levels at shelters and hold providers accountable for outcomes.

 

Finally, we must create a pathway to permanent housing by shortening the time that people are in shelters, which are not meant for long term use. We have to hold providers responsible for the duration of stay in their shelters and reward providers who accelerate departures. I will consider all options to accomplish this including increasing rental assistance and expanding affordable housing stock through quality basement apartments, accessory dwelling units, and communal housing.

 

Education & Childcare

Question 16

In NYC, less than half of 3rd to 8th grade students are meeting proficiency standards on ELA or Math state exams. Rates are far lower for Black and Hispanic students. What is your plan for achieving an educational system where all public school students are meeting or exceeding basic standards, regardless of race, income or zip code?

My Cradle to Career plan ensures that young New Yorkers are supported across the continuum of their life. Too many kids are falling behind before they even get to pre-K, I will expand access to affordable, high-quality child care for infants and toddlers across the city to assure they enter ready to learn. I will launch Tutor NYC with 10,000 college students or recent graduates – a program that will jointly help schools make sure students are at their appropriate reading level and create pathways to opportunity for college-bound New Yorkers. Schools will be required to provide access to tutoring opportunities to families whose children are shown to be behind. I will hold myself accountable for ensuring that every child is able to make the transition from learning to read to reading to learn by 3rd grade. I will also ensure that in every neighborhood there is an excellent school to choose from by expanding choice for parents. Finally, and importantly, I will hold myself accountable for ensuring that a New York City schools’ diploma is not just a piece of paper by rethinking middle and high school, so that they serve as a pathway to college and a career.

 

Question 17

Five years after graduates filed a complaint that their Yeshivas didn’t provide a basic education as required by law, the city produced a report that found 26 of 28 Yeshivas investigated still did not meet Substantial Equivalency standards. Beyond “working with Yeshiva leaders” what will you do differently than Mayor De Blasio to get compliance?

I believe we need to find a way to protect religious liberty and ensure all New Yorkers needs are being met. Education of our people of all faiths is the key to developing our economy and keeping New York City a leader into the future. I believe there is a way to work together with elected and appointed leadership and community partners to do both these things. I look forward to doing the work to make this happen. We support a parent’s right to choose the school and type of learning environment that best meets their child’s needs. There must be great schools in each zip code that prepare our young people to be future leaders and contributors to our society.

 

Question 18

Teen pregnancy, dating violence, prostitution and online sex harassment continue to derail students’ abilities to learn and live free of violence and abuse. What is your plan to ensure age-appropriate sex education and a healthy relationships curriculum is mandated and delivered to every NYC child?

I will push to incorporate comprehensive sexuality education in schools that covers consent, sexual harassment and assault, and resources young people can use when in a hostile or dangerous environment.

 

Question 19

What will you do to address the child care crisis that hinders women’s workforce participation, economic stability for families, and access to quality and affordable early education for children?

No family should have to choose between their job and taking care of their children. We need to make affordable childcare available to every family, creating good childcare jobs and helping parents reenter the workforce. As part of my “Cradle to Career” education strategy, I will launch Comeback: Affordable Childcare for All — an initiative that will guarantee every parent access to quality early childcare and

education for infants and toddlers. This initiative will provide operating funds and capacity building to existing programs, as well as an urgent grant program to help providers launch new programs in underserved “childcare deserts.” These programs will be designed to address all aspects of early childhood development, which will help all kids enter school on a level playing field and ready to succeed. I will also partner with CUNY to provide professional development to providers to ensure that every child in New York City has access to a high quality early childhood development experience.

 

Question 20

Please describe what steps you will take to address the disproportionate amount of Black and Brown girls who are pushed out of school and into the juvenile detention system. What do you intend to do to stop the school to prison pipeline?

We need to establish more inclusive educational climates that respect students and, ultimately, helps keep them in the classroom. Schools should not create militarized conditions for students, where students of color are disciplined and monitored in ways that create a hostile environment. I will implement comprehensive training that addresses the unconscious bias of teachers and administrators to mitigate more punitive approaches to classroom discipline.

 

Question 21

Do you support decriminalizing sex buying and promoting prostitution, and why? If decriminalized, would you designate a sex trade zone? Would you license brothels and collect taxes? What would be the process to decide which neighborhoods would be deemed commercial sex districts?

People turn to the sex trade largely because the existing economy does not offer them opportunities to succeed. They are then put into an underground economy that does not offer them a work environment with strong positive outcomes. My policies will always center around the humanity of sex workers. The key here is to ensure that all New Yorkers are part of an inclusive economy. As the law enforcement action will be deleterious toward their entry into the mainstream workforce, there has to be a clear path to having these records expunged. Law enforcement has overpoliced black and brown communities. I will work with the offices of the District Attorneys and the NYPD to ensure we are acting in way that is both just and centered on better outcomes for sex workers.

 

Question 22

Please describe what makes you uniquely qualified to lead New York City at this time.

I have the management chops to lead New York City out of this crisis and have spent my career helping companies survive and grow. I will run the city with competence, energy, and commitment. I know how to tackle large challenges with high-stakes because of my business background. We have one shot to rebuild. We need a mayor who will think big and advance bold ideas, a person who will bring in every expert and call in every favor.

My life story, management experience, relationships, and vision give me a different perspective than those who have spent years in politics. I grew up with the same economic insecurity many New Yorkers feel today. That personal story is at the heart of my candidacy. I have robust ideas for lifting our schools, saving small businesses, creating jobs, making housing more affordable, and reducing crime in a way that respects everyone’s dignity. I want every child in New York City to get the same opportunity that I did.