Christopher Marte grew up on the Lower East Side, where his father owned a bodega. From a young age, he began building a record as a community activist, culminating in a City Council run in 2017, which he lost by only a few hundred votes. Since then, Mr. Marte has played a leading role on local issues such as opposition to the de Blasio administration’s plan for a large new prison facility in Lower Manhattan, and support for affordable housing.
The Broadsheet asked him to address a range of issues that are of concern to Lower Manhattan residents. Here are Mr. Marte’s answers.
Broadsheet: What is your position on the proposed jail that the de Blasio administration wants to build in Lower Manhattan?
I’m the only candidate who has stood against this flawed plan from when it was first announced as a compromise to closing Rikers Island. I’ve organized my neighbors and a lawsuit to temporarily halt its construction. New jails do not end mass incarceration or advance criminal justice reform. The City violated its own zoning procedure in order to fast track a plan that would have built the tallest jail in the world. I co-founded Neighbors United Below Canal (NUBC) and worked with tenants, small businesses, and community leaders to ensure that Chinatown was not left out of the planning process. We advocated for greater transparency and accessibility so that this immigrant community could have a say in the future of our neighborhood. Together with thousands of neighbors, we led the largest march in Chinatown in over 40 years, with thousands of new and old tenants demanding, “No new jails!” We are at a pivotal moment in our City’s history, where we can close Rikers without building new versions of it.
Broadsheet: Do you believe residents living within the toll zone that will be created by congestion pricing deserve a discount — as is already done for all other residents trapped within similar toll zones (e.g. Staten Island, Broad Channel, the Rockaways, and Grand Island)?
Congestion pricing cannot be controlled by the City Council, and is not a priority issue for my campaign. However, we must start seriously investing in public transportation infrastructure before we force working people to pay the price of our country’s inaction on climate change. Taking an individual sticks and carrots approach to reducing our City’s carbon footprint is not going to cause enough change fast enough. If there’s going to be exemptions in congestion pricing, then Lower Manhattan residents shouldn’t be treated differently than other areas. I will be a strong advocate to advancing public transportation’s funding and accessibility so that fewer residents have to be so dependent on cars.
Broadsheet: The City derives enormous financial benefit from selling government-owned property in Lower Manhattan to developers, but returns little or none of this windfall to the local community. Will you commit to sharing revenue from such deals in the future, by directing a portion of these funds to projects identified and prioritized by Lower Manhattan community leaders?
Lower Manhattan has been on the receiving end of many broken promises from private developers. Even when concessions are promised to the local community in exchange for development rights, they rarely materialize. Greenwich Village is still waiting for the new public school promised by NYU, and the Lower East Side is still waiting for their new school promised at Essex Crossing. Instead of auctioning off our City’s assets, we should use them for the local community’s immediate benefit. As Lower Manhattan’s Financial District and Battery Park City have grown into increasingly residential areas, we should be using our public property for more community space. Whether this is affordable housing development, new community and arts centers, afterschool programs, or educational facilities — I’ll advocate for the City to use its land to support the community surrounding it.
Broadsheet: Nearly every major fast-growing city and suburb in the United States (apart from New York) has implemented “impact fees,” which charge developers a levy for the additional burden their projects will place on local infrastructure. These funds are then earmarked to build schools, libraries, community centers, cultural facilities, etc., within the specific communities where the development is taking place. Will you support such a proposal, along with a guarantee that these funds will be spent locally (and not City-wide)?
Yes, I strongly support impact fees. The City Council should use all the leverage it has over land-use to get developers to give back to the communities they’re looking to profit from. As mentioned in the above response, Lower Manhattan has a lot of potential projects in need of funding, and impact fees are a great strategy to get funding for them.
Broadsheet: The de Blasio administration has lavished more than $100 million in subsidies on its NYC Ferry Service. The latest iteration of this plan is to create a new route connecting Staten Island to Battery Park City to Midtown, which will compete with the existing (and free) Staten Island Ferry, while overburdening Battery Park City’s already-at-capacity ferry terminal. What is your position on this project?
Battery Park City’s terminal shouldn’t be overburdened. I hope that our ferry system can be improved under the next Mayor so that it better serves the transit deserts it was meant to assist, and that locations for new terminals are sited based on where people live and commute to, and not just shop. We should be investing in our subways before we further subsidize these ferry routes.
Broadsheet: Each year, dozens of middle-class retirees are forced to leave Battery Park City, because their fixed incomes cannot keep up with the spiraling cost of living here. Will you commit to creating a “naturally occurring retirement community” (NORC) in Battery Park City, and modify the financial requirements so that middle-class retirees (rather than only those living below the poverty line) can remain here?
Yes. Our senior population can be at huge risk of displacement and NORCs are our surest ways to help elderly residents age in place. In addition to helping restrict the rising cost of living for our fixed-income senior population, we must also invest in making our neighborhoods more accessible to seniors. More frequent buses, subway stations with elevators, and affordable grocery stores will all additionally help seniors to live in the communities they helped create.
Broadsheet: A similar dilemma confronts middle-class young adults who grew up in this community and recently graduated from college. Many would like to return and begin families here, but the relentlessly escalating structural costs make this prohibitive. Are you willing to study a new housing model (in effect, a NORC-in-reverse) that would enable young people to live here, and give preference to those who grew up here?
For the health of our communities, we must make sure neighborhoods are accessible and affordable to people of all income levels and ages. I would advocate for the State to develop a new Mitchell-Lama style program for Battery Park City, so that young people who grew up here and are just starting off in the professional world, as well as low- and middle-income individuals and families, can help this neighborhood continue to grow and thrive for generations to come.
Broadsheet: The City has an option to acquire the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), while assuming all of its assets and liabilities, for $1. Would you be willing to eliminate this uncertainty by waiving (finally and permanently) the City’s $1 option?
The biggest issue in this relationship is that Battery Park City residents don’t have enough of a voice on the BPCA. A lot of these issues can be resolved if good faith negotiations happen now, rather than continuing to kick it down the road. Having the $1 option gives the City negotiating powers that would otherwise be solely controlled by the Governor. I’m hopeful that a new administration can show how to use this leverage smartly, as we’ve seen the results of an incompetent Mayor who doesn’t fight for Battery Park City residents, which lets this influence go unused. The Mayor and the Governor will have the final say as to whether to transfer the land, but it will be my job as a Council member to make sure that the people who live in Battery Park City have their interests represented in the discussion.
Broadsheet: The BPCA cites its financial obligations to the City as the reason for refusing to make concessions to property owners on ground rent and payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT). Will you commit to demanding that the BPCA agree to an immediate freeze in these payments, followed by a schedule of reductions in the years ahead?
Yes, I support an immediate freeze and a schedule of reductions in coming years so that Battery Park City residents can regain some economic stability. Every time I am in Battery Park City, homeowners of all ages, and especially at middle-income levels, express their constant stress over PILOT and ground rent. We have to support the people who made BPC into a residential community if we want it to continue to grow as one.
Broadsheet: Another strain in the BPCA’s relationship with the community is the fact that the Authority’s land lease with residents, and the City’s master lease with the BPCA, both end in 2069, at which time all residents are slated to be evicted, and homeowners will have their property confiscated. This looming deadline is already undermining property values, while also making it difficult to obtain mortgages and buy or sell apartments. Will you commit to extending for another 99 years the master lease under which the BPCA occupies land owned by the City, and demanding that the BPCA similarly extend for 99 years the land leases by which buildings in the community occupy their individual plots?
Residents cannot afford to wait and see what happens when the land lease expires. We need to get ahead of this deadline, be proactive, and determine what the renewal will look like immediately. Homeowners invested in Battery Park City, many of them stayed through September 11, 2001 and Hurricane Sandy. And now because of this deadline, they’re punished for their commitment to the neighborhood. I held a rally with Battery Park City homeowners and renters, have met with members of the Battery Alliance, and am ready to take on a leading role to make sure this extension happens swiftly. I fully support extending the lease for 99 years.
Broadsheet: Even the minority of BPCA board members who happen to be residents of the community are appointed, rather than elected — in spite of the fact that this agency makes decisions profoundly affecting the lives of residents. This is in sharp contrast to a comparable community, Roosevelt Island, where the entire board of the authority that manages the community consists of residents, elected by the community. Will you avoid a repetition of this policy, by making a commitment that — when and if the Seaport City project is built — the board of the authority that manages it will consist entirely of Lower Manhattan residents?
We can’t let history repeat itself and continue to create governance structures that box out residents from having a say in their own neighborhood. If Seaport City happens, we should use it as an opportunity to model and improve Roosevelt Island’s structure so that residents are democratically represented.
Broadsheet: The Lower Manhattan community felt shortchanged by the 421g program, which created enormous financial benefits for real estate developers who converted Downtown commercial buildings to residential use, but created none of the affordable housing that was promised to local residents in exchange. As Downtown faces the prospect of another wave of conversions (of hotels and office buildings) into apartments, will you commit to iron-clad guarantees of housing that is deeply and permanently affordable and economically integrated, in exchange for any benefits to developers?
Yes. These broken promises by real estate developers can be seen all across our district, and ensuring that all these deals are followed through and that promises are kept is one of the main reasons why I am running for City Council. These conversions could be a great boost in our local economy and make a strong dent in our affordability crisis, but only if we have a Council member who is elected to hold real estate interests accountable, instead of bending to their whim. This is my track record in community activism, and I will use all of those organizing experiences to make sure our district gets the permanently and economically integrated affordable housing that is promised.
Broadsheet: Throughout Manhattan, middle-class cooperative and condominium owners are being driven from their homes by relentlessly rising real estate taxes. This is impelled by the disparity between Class 1 (single-family) and Class 2 (apartment) homes, because the latter have no protection against tax increases, while the former are subject to strict limits. Will you commit to implementing tax-hike limits for Class 2 homes identical to those for Class 1 homes, while not modifying or reducing the protections on Class 1 homes?
Yes, we need much greater equity for real estate taxes. The pandemic has affected the livelihoods of countless New Yorkers, and we don’t want homeowners to be forced to sell and move away because of continuously rising real estate taxes, while other wealthy areas with more Class 1 homes, do not pay their fair share. I support greater equity between Class 1 and Class 2 homes.
Matthew Fenton
