Voter Guide for the Waterfront Survey of Candidates for New York City Office September 2017 About Us The Waterfront Alliance is a coalition of more than 950 organizations working together to protect, transform, and revitalize our harbor and waterfront. This document was prepared by Waterfront Alliance with layout template provided by Decker Design. Image: Ian Douglas Voter Guide for the Waterfront Survey of Candidates for New York City Office September 2017 4 Introduction 7 Candidates for Citywide Office Mayor 7 Sal Albanese 8 Bill de Blasio 11 Nicole Malliotakis 12 Abbey-Laurel Smith Public Advocate 14 Letitia James Comptroller 15 Scott Stringer 16 Candidates for Borough President Brooklyn 16 Eric Adams Manhattan 19 Gale Brewer 20 Candidates for City Council 1 Margaret Chin 21 9 Pierre Gooding 39 31 Donovan Richards 51 Christopher Marte 22 Tyson-Lord Gray 40 32 Michael G. Scala 52 2 Ronnie Cho 23 10 Ydanis Rodriguez 41 Carlina Rivera 24 Mary Silver 25 35 Scott Hutchins 53 Jorge Vazquez 26 12 Karée-Lyn Gordon 42 37 Rafael L. Espinal, Jr. 54 4 Vanessa Aronson 27 13 Mark Gjonaj 43 Rachel Honig 28 Marjorie Velázquez 44 Jeffrey Mailman 29 38 Sara M. Gonzalez 55 Marti Speranza 30 Carlos Menchaca 56 Rebecca Harary 31 17 Patrick Delices 45 41 Henry Butler 57 18 William Russel Moore 46 5 Patrick Bobilin 33 Ben Kallos 34 43 Kevin Peter Carroll 58 Paul Vallone 47 Vincent Chirico 59 19 Khader El-Yateem 60 6 Helen Rosenthal 35 Liam McCabe 61 Mel Wymore 36 20 Peter Koo 48 John Quaglione 62 7 Mark Levine 37 22 Costa Constantinides 49 47 Mark Treyger 63 8 Robert J. Rodriguez 38 27 I. Daneek Miller 50 49 Debi Rose 65 INTRODUCTION New York is a city of water, with our waterways to act to protect our city for future generations. serving as a vital resource for commerce, It is incumbent upon our City’s next leaders transportation, education, and recreation. to invest their time and resources to make our Millions of people who inhabit our island waterways strong, healthy, and open for all. metropolis are rediscovering our maritime roots and celebrating our shared waters. In 2017, New Yorkers head to the polls to choose our leaders for the next four years. We Much progress has been made in recent years have again collected position statements from toward expanding use and access. These candidates for public office on five critical waters once teemed with ships, bringing policy questions affecting the waterfront. passengers and products from around the world. New York now claims the third largest We delivered a candidate brief, Blueprint for commercial port in the country. With NYC Our Blueways, outlining a five-point agenda Ferry bringing waterborne transit to new for New York’s waterways, to more than 200 neighborhoods across the city, the nation’s candidates That agenda, and corresponding largest fleet of urban ferries is still growing. candidate survey, called on those who seek public office to work toward a harbor that is: Thanks to progress spurred by the Clean Water Act, many of New York’s waterways • STRONG : Protected from the increasing are healthy enough for recreational use, threat of climate change, including with more people boating, fishing, and coastal flooding and sea level rise. swimming. Networks of stewardship groups • HEALTHY: Safe for recreational use, and concerned citizens have contributed meeting the Clean Water Act standards of to improving our urban habitat through “fishable and swimmable.” restoration initiatives and water testing. • OPEN: Equitable access for use and enjoyment across all communities, and But there is still a long way to go to ensure that welcoming to multiple types of vessels. the waterways continue to be an economic • WORKING : Productive gateway for Left to right: Paddling in Soundview, engine and environmental resource for all. international and regional commerce, Bronx with Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice; flooding in Bayswater, They are also a powerful reminder that we live providing good-paying jobs and Queens; decommissioned aircraft among nature, and share the benefits the environmental benefits. carrier Baylander at West Harlem Piers; riprap shoreline in Long Island waters provide and the risks they pose. The • MANAGED : Efficient oversight of diverse City, Queens. threat of sea level rise and more frequent and activities, integrating regulatory functions more powerful coastal storms require all of us with long-term planning and public use. 4 Voter Guide for the Waterfront 2017 INTRODUCTION (continued) Blueprint for Our Blueways Agenda OBJECTIVES RECOMMENDATIONS STRONG Protected from the • Adopt a regional, multi-city approach to coastal resilience increasing threat of climate • Commit to social equity when planning for resilience change, including coastal flooding and sea level rise • Commit to 80x50, significantly reducing our carbon footprint HEALTHY Safe for recreational use • Improve oversight of CSO remediation processes to reduce discharge and habitat restoration, • Prioritize green infrastructure (GI) for improved stormwater capture meeting the Clean Water Act standards of “fishable • Improve ambient water quality testing and swimmable” • Prioritize green infrastructure and incentives for stormwater capture OPEN Accessible for use and • Expand on-water opportunities citywide enjoyment across all • Improve regulatory clarity for on-water access communities, and welcoming to multiple types • Improve processes for maritime cultural operators of vessels • Expand capacity for ferry service and plan for expansion WORKING Productive gateway for • Preserve and protect existing maritime uses international and regional • Improve access to and awareness of maritime careers commerce, providing good-paying jobs and • Support maintenance dredging, our “hidden infrastructure” environmental benefits • Support future growth industries MANAGED Efficient oversight • Strengthen Waterfront Management Advisory Board (WMAB) of diverse activities, • Develop comprehensive financing plan for waterfront maintenance integrating regulatory functions with long-term • Review waterfront permitting process planning and public use 2017 Voter Guide for the Waterfront 5 INTRODUCTION (continued) QUESTIONS POSED TO THE CANDIDATES Candidates were asked to answer the following questions in an open-ended format, with the option to provide as much detail as possible Our Process and Methods STRONG The effects of climate change pose a serious risk to NYC, especially its coastlines. Building resilience to these threats is urgent and should be a For the second consecutive election cycle, we priority. Five Years removed from Hurricane Sandy slow, painful, and costly rebuilding continues as does the reminder of our city’s vulnerability to have asked all candidates running for public the impacts of climate change. More than 400,000 New Yorkers have a office in New York City in 2017 to put their 50% chance of a major flood in their homes by 2060, with almost half of those at risk facing economic and social vulnerability. There is no silver commitment to the future of our waterfront on bullet in preparing for the impact of climate change, but rather a variety the record. What do our next leaders have to of strategies that must be taken to ensure we are protecting our city, now and into the future. say about growing maritime jobs, expanding How do you plan to work to hold the city accountable access to our waterways, and restoring our to its climate change goals, including mitigation and harbor? adaptation, and ensure our region receives its fair share of funding from federal and state partners? We contacted all candidates for Mayor, Public HEALTHY A clean and healthy harbor is the best way to reconnect New York to our Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, water. Over the past several years substantial progress has been made in improving the health of our water, but so much work remains. Tens of and City Council with five questions related billion gallons of raw sewage continue to flow into our water annually. With to the most pressing waterfront policy issues the absence of a federal ally in the EPA, New York needs to lead at a local and regional level the effort to clean our waterways. facing New York. Responses from more than What strategies will you pursue to help improve 50 candidates for citywide office, Borough water quality and the health of our waterways, President, and City Council have been including reducing sewage outfall and meeting green compiled on the pages that follow, forming infrastructure targets? our 2017 Voter Guide for the Waterfront. OPEN More and more New Yorkers are interested in getting not only to the water’s edge, but onto and into the water: from paddling and sailing, This guide is intended to help the public to fishing and oyster monitoring. Despite its 520 miles of coastline, New York City remains largely unwelcoming to active use by people better understand the candidates’ positions and vessels, limiting opportunities for communities to enjoy and utilize on issues related to the future of New York’s their waterways. Access to the water is unevenly distributed, with more than half of all of New York’s waterfront districts restricted from using waterfront and its capacity to support good the waterways. Counting recreational boat launches, historic boat jobs, equitable access, and resilience in the programming, ferry landings, tour and charter locations, and marinas, there’s just one place to board or launch a boat for every four miles of our face of a changing climate. city’s coastline. How will you work to improve equitable access to use All responses to the candidate survey are of the waterways, from education to recreation to transportation, and other public uses? reproduced in full, with the candidates listed in alphabetical order by last name and sorted WORKING The Port of New York and New Jersey is our region’s gateway to by party affiliation. Candidates not included international commerce, but port facilities and maritime support industries are underappreciated and tucked away from public view.