2025 City Council Election: Allie Ryan's Candidate Statement
Today's statement is from Allie Ryan, who is running to be District 2 City Council member.
This op-ed is part of East of the Bowery's 2025 City Council Democratic primary coverage, where candidates answer: "What specific policy goals will your office achieve within 4 years to improve the Lower East Side?"
Today's statement is from Allie Ryan, who is running to be District 2 City Council member. District 2 covers the East Village, Greenwich Village, Gramercy, Rose Hill, and Kips Bay.
Allie Ryan: A "Residents First" Plan For Lower Manhattan
Hi, My name is Allie Ryan and I am running for City Council District 2. This is my third time running for office, not endorsed by special interest groups, so I have a freedom to create "Residents First" policy goals and specific capital projects to improve quality of life, I would like to accomplish within four years to improve not just the Lower East Side but Council District 2, which also includes Kips Bay, Rose Hill, Gramercy, Flatiron, Union Square, Greenwich Village, NoHo, and the East Village and positively improve the city.
With two decades of experience as an Environmental/Bicycling/Land Use Activist/Organizer, part of seven lawsuits suing for good government/community improvements and a Non Profit Creator, I represent a return to putting constituents first; a leader who listened and tackled chronic problems and simply tough problems and noticeably improved residents’ day to day lives as they walked out their front door. I will not continue the tradition of being an elected official who passes lobbyist-written bills and votes with the Democratic Machine at the detriment and ire of constituents, attends events to get the photo op, espouses ideology while campaigning for her or his next job.
Over the past four years I have maintained the same stances, even when unpopular to the Democratic Establishment. It amuses me that in this race, some of my opponents have taken on many of my stances as their own.
Here’s my some of my policy goals, which are influenced by the top priority to reduce our collective cost of living and improve our collective quality of life to enable residents to enjoy living and working here for the long term:
Public Safety: Residents are legitimately concerned about public safety as they walk outside their front door, as Crime Stats are up for parts of our district. As council member, I will support the police as they enforce the laws; Introduce a resolution for NY State to put caps on legal cannabis retail licenses per community board; Remove harm reduction services near playgrounds & dog runs; Support transparent community civil and NYPD task forces to address chronic crime in different areas of CD2, such as the Interagency Village Task Force; Introduce a bill to ban self-service kiosks in retail stores to deter shoplifting; for the 14th St Corridor: consult with lighting experts to see how lighting can be improved in the area to remove the three flood lights; reducing the number of hotels turned homeless shelters in CD2 will reduce crime in the northern end of the district; Call for a commission a report on how to improve police recruitment and retainment.
Housing / Homelessness:
Regardless of age, residents are concerned about paying rent and aging in place. As a council member, I will address the Jacob Riis Houses because they still have brown polluted water supply; Create a health survey - residents have significant health problems; Need to determine if health problems are related to the NYS EDC remediation of the soil; Calls for real affordable homeownership and Mitchell-Lama-type housing programs, while addressing “warehoused” housing to resolve the manufactured housing crisis; Increase the subsidies given to small property owners to renovate their vacant apartments; Define a schedule to fully fund repairs for all 17 NYCHA housing developments in CD2, which will release desperately needed low-income housing to help the 126,000 New Yorkers living in the homeless shelter system & end the use of midtown hotels serving as homeless shelters; Opposes the de Blasio administration’s SoHo/NoHo Neighborhood Plan, favoring community-driven plans like the SoHo/NoHo Community Plan and Chinatown Working Group Plan to protect artists and small businesses; Introduce legislation to repeal the draconian SoHo NoHo Artist Fund Fee; Create legislation to mandate new corner new construction to adhere to certain aesthetic design codes; fund mandatory gardening, art, and music therapeutic programming for people living in temporary housing and supportive housing as a pre-step to occupational training. As a council member I will have a dedicated staff member to help tenants in CD2.
Affordability / Small Businesses:
Small businesses are what make NYC unique and one of the main reasons why tourists travel to NYC; small businesses also enable small business owners to create generational wealth and to be of service to their communities. Reintroduce the Small Business Jobs Survival Act to help small businesses negotiate fair leases; Introduce a resolution for the State to create caps on legal cannabis retail licenses per community board district; Eliminate the commercial rent tax for small businesses whose annual rent is less than $500,000; Eliminate tax deductions for income loss for landlords whose storefronts are vacant for one year or more as a means to hold out for higher rent as well as a similar bill for buildings warehousing apartments; research the implementation of zoning restrictions on chain stores; Survey job training & opportunities within the Congestion Relief Zone and promote so residents can seek work close to home. As a council member I will have a dedicated staff member to help small business owners in CD2.
Transportation and Street Safety:
As an avid cyclist, I am teaching my daughters how to bike on the streets of NYC and aware that CD2 55 and older population is the largest demographic in CD2, safe streets and sidewalks is a top priority for me; we will save lives immediately by passing Priscilla’s Law to register, license, and insure e-bikes; Terminate the pilot program of allowing eBikes in parks; To combat vehicle congestion without taxing New Yorkers, introduce a bill to cap for-hire app e-vehicles (such as Uber and Lyft); Introduce legislation to repeal Local Law 55 (2021) Open Streets; and research legislation to mandate an Environmental Impact Study on the Open Restaurants program.
Environmental and Park Protection:
As a parent, I have spent almost everyday in a city park with my children, as do all families because most families do not have a backyard. As a council member, I am committed to fight to dedicate 1% of the City budget to the Parks Department (restore 800 Union jobs); Introduce a legislation package to prevent historic parks from being demolished and guardrails for cutting down mature trees; Protect community gardens, by zoning them as community land trusts; Support Councilmember Marte’s “Touch Grass” bill to ban artificial grass; Introduce a bill that parks of 10 acres or larger must have a full-time dedicated on-site park manager and full-time dedicated on-site Union gardener (This legislation would protect these jobs within the City budget;) Evaluate empty lots of land above 14th Street and negotiate to buy an empty lot and turn it into a park / playground; Fund a capital project for Tompkins Square Park: repave the pathways in the park, replace the fencing with lower fencing so park goers can use more of the park and initiate a capital project to build a new bandshell AND fund music programing; Redesign and allocate money to build Accessibility Pedestrian Pathways over FDR into East River Park; buy more trash bins for Tompkins Square Park.
Education and Youth Programs:
Since Covid (2020) the NYC Public School system has lost 300,000 students and the current educational progressive policies are failing our children and not preparing them for the real world. As a council member I will fight for children to learn and excel to the best of their abilities. Introduce a bill that an independent firm create a study that addresses knowledge loss between grade levels and learning loss due to COVID and prior to COVID. Fund academic recovery for students to catch up to grade level. Fund social dance and weekend team sports programs for adolescents to promote community engagement. Research to see what curriculum is being taught to encourage NYCPS students to entering the healthcare industry to become doctors as a means to address the decline of physicians and nurses entering the workforce and there will be a significant shortage in 10 years; The screen and program, Diversity in Admissions, should be evaluated and a report should be released to the public; did it achieve the goals set out by the School Diversity Advisory Group in 2017? We need to learn from this screen before creating new policy; Allocate funding to create public schools in every borough dedicated to children diagnosed with dyslexia; Allocate more funding to CUNY - fund more a dyslexia teaching program and dedicate scholarships to teachers who major in dyslexia; Expand academic recovery initiatives.
Community Preservation:
As a private citizen I have a long track record of volunteering my time in the environmental scene, underground music scene and art scenes. As a council member, I will work to enable and celebrate the fine artists, performing artists and musicians to continue to live and work in CD2. I have worked to save community gardens, such as Elizabeth Street Garden, and opposed rezonings that disregard resident input; Emphasizes strong community ties and accountability in leadership to ensure policies reflect constituent needs; Increasing the baseline funding of all community boards. If it requires legislation to protect the baseline increase, I am happy to introduce such legislation. Furthermore, I would create a line item for technical support to accommodate and facilitate hybrid meetings; Create a pilot program, “Mayor of the Block” to hire a resident who lives on each block to clean up the trash after sanitation picks up the trash, cleans up the graffiti aka inspires personal responsibility and cooperation amongst neighbors.
Healthcare:
Over 126,000 registered voters live in CD2, so probably 200,000 live in our district, healthcare is an essential service. As a council member, I will introduce a resolution that NYS should buy Beth Israel Hospital and NY Eye and Ear Hospital and turn them into a SUNY or CUNY teaching hospital and to create and pass legislation at the state level that there should be a certain number of hospitals and services per square mile per capita as well as an analysis on teaching hospitals and residency programs; Ask the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget how they plan to support Bellevue when Mount Sinai closes. (The city is legally required to fill any budget gaps for the public hospitals run by Health and Hospitals.)
Historic Preservation / Land Use:
Lower Manhattan has been in existence for over 400 years, many buildings were built before the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. As a council member, it is a top priority to preserve and protect the historic buildings in CD2. I will work to turn South of Union Square into a Historic District; Pass a bill that requires the Dept of City Planning to create a comprehensive report to evaluate all of the rezonings ushered through during the deBlasio administration.
If you like what you see, you can follow Allie's work and advocacy on Instagram and her website. Thank you Allie for participating!
