NYC Council Elections 2021: Billy Freeland Seeks UES Seat

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Voters in New York City's 5th Council district, which includes parts of the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island, will see seven names on their ballots when they vote in the June 22 primary election.

One of those names will be Billy Freeland, an attorney, activist and community board member who is among the Democrats seeking to replace term-limited incumbent Ben Kallos. (Kallos is running for Manhattan Borough President.)

Patch reached out to all candidates in the election to create these profiles. Freeland's responses are below.

Age (as of Election Day)

34

Position Sought

City Council

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Neighborhood of residence (i.e., East Village, Astoria, etc.)

Upper East Side

Family

Chelsea Minuche (fiancée)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Columbia College; Columbia School of International and Public Affairs; NYU Law

Occupation

Attorney (2015-present)

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Community Board 8 Officer and Secretary

Campaign website

https://billyfreeland.com/

Why are you seeking elective office?

I’m running because I believe NYC needs new leaders with fresh ideas, not the same politics that got us here in the first place. As a lawyer representing marginalized neighbors and as a Secretary on our Community Board, I’ve seen firsthand how our City is failing us. I’m running because in this pivotal election, we need leaders who will prioritize affordability over luxury development; small businesses over predatory landlords; and climate justice over profit-driven pollution. And, we need leaders who remember that old Mayor La Guardia saying: “There’s no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning the streets.”

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The affordability crisis is the most pressing issue facing us. This means affordability for tenants, for small businesses, and for families. One in five tenants in our district are severely rent-burdened, paying more than 50% of their income in rent. I’ll expand Right to Counsel to ensure everyone has legal protections from unjust evictions and I’ll require real affordable housing in new developments. For small businesses, I’ll sponsor the Storefront Bill of Rights and advocate for a vacancy tax on landlords that push out longstanding businesses. And for families, I’ll champion universal child care to ensure families do not need to pay more than 7 percent of their income on child care.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

The critical difference is in my experience and my ideas. Uniquely in this race, I have served our most marginalized neighbors as a lawyer, including winning more than forty housing repairs for a public housing tenant and successfully representing clients in civil rights cases. I am proud to be a Secretary of Community Board 8, our most local form of government, which has given me insights into every nook and cranny of our district. I am a junior board member of the Isaacs Center and volunteer with Roosevelt Island’s Haki Compost Collective, which has taught me about the severe food insecurity that exists in our neighborhoods. And I believe our ideas and plans are the deepest, boldest, and most specific and actionable in the race. I hope people will check them out at billyfreeland.com/policies.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

Our most local officials, like Council Member Kallos, did a great job keeping us informed and supplying our neighborhoods with PPE. I was proud to partner with Kallos’s office, and local neighborhood organizations, to deliver food and PPE to neighbors in need. From Lexington Houses to Robbins Plaza, Holmes Towers and Isaacs Houses to the corner of 86th and 2nd, I joined local officials to make sure our neighbors were fed and protected.
My criticism is mostly saved for other local officials. I think the City should have shut down earlier (this would have saved 17,000 lives, according to a Columbia study), the process for closing schools was chaotic and poorly communicated, and even the vaccine rollout was marred by confusion over how to sign up and get an appointment. I have other criticisms, but I believe that we needed clearer communication and more decisive leadership at the top. Going forward, we need an Office of Pandemic Preparedness, better collaboration among private and public hospitals, and an audit of our preparedness and our supply chain.

Do you support or oppose the New York Blood Center’s proposed tower and rezoning? If you oppose it, should it be scrapped entirely, or just revised?

I oppose it. We know the Blood Center can expand their own operations under existing zoning laws, without requiring any change (which amounts to “zoning for dollars,” or a government handout). I think they should scrap their plan and adopt a plan that doesn’t require a zoning change.

Ben Kallos worked to bring a Safe Haven shelter to the district — would you have done the same, and would you do so again for another shelter, if elected?

Yes. I live 500 feet from permanent supportive housing, with services on-site, and it works. I will build on Ben Kallos’s leadership to ensure our community leads with empathy and does our part to help our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

While police statistics show crime mostly dropping on the Upper East Side, many residents report feeling less safe in the neighborhood than they used to. Why do you think this is, and is adding more police the way to solve it?

We have gone through an extraordinarily traumatic year. It has challenged our social safety net, our courts, our budget, and each of us as an individual. We have also seen spikes in anti-semitic hate crimes and hate crimes against our AAPI community. The causes of rising crime are complex, and I don’t believe there is any one single answer, nor is there any single solution. I am not convinced that the solution is more police (crime fell even as headcount was reduced under Bloomberg). We should focus less on quantity and more on quality—e.g., how to increase clearance rates and accountability. I also think what we need are investments in programs that we know contribute to safety: Summer Youth Employment; mental health care; housing; and more. To address gun violence, we need to stop the flow of guns into our city, and we must dramatically expand Cure Violence programs, which use violence interrupters and are proven to reduce gun injuries 37% and shooting victims by 63%, according to the Giffords Law Center.

What single policy would you advocate for to make housing more affordable on the Upper East Side?

We should require affordable housing in all new developments. I’ll advocate for changing our zoning laws to require this—we desperately need to regain leverage with developers who have been building all-luxury buildings throughout our neighborhood.

Would you push to add more bike lanes in the district?

Yes. Protected bike lanes make both cyclists and pedestrians safer. If we are serious about climate change, equity, and a more liveable City, we need infrastructure that puts safety first and treats everyone with dignity.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

A big part of our platform is reimagining our streets. In so many ways, we still have 20th Century solutions to 21st Century problems. So what would I do? I would have a modern sanitation system, using on-street containers to replace the piles of trash bags that clog our sidewalks. I would have sanitation strike teams that respond quickly to overflowing trash bins, and I would replace inadequate bins with modern, solar-powered compactor bins. I support more public space, including pedestrian spaces—and reimagining Third Avenue to make it more people-centric. I think we need more public restrooms and public seating to encourage more “eyes on the street” as Jane Jacobs would say.
I think we need holistic approaches to public safety, meaning we prioritize safe, trusted housing and mental health care to those in need. Instead of spending $1,200 per night to incarcerate someone, I want us to try more effective and affordable approaches that can break the cycle of incarceration.
I also am very focused on climate justice. We need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, electrify our transit fleet, and fund universal composting.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I am tested in our community because I have served our community. As an Officer on Community Board 8, I have passed resolutions that have supported open streets, pedestrianizing the Queensboro Bridge South Outer Roadway, and improving street safety. I also co-chaired our Charter Revision Task Force, which resulted in our board making clear that we want a more robust role in land use and ensuring that we get real affordable housing, not more luxury supertalls. Through this work, I have developed a deep understanding of our district in a way that you can’t simply learn on the fly. Most importantly, I have successfully worked with colleagues to get results despite differences of opinion at times—a necessary skill for our next Council Member.
I’m also an accomplished attorney. I am proud of my work on civil rights, voting rights, LGBTQ rights, asylum, and more. But I am most proud of how I won more than forty repairs for a public housing tenant. That taught me that every tenant should have a lawyer when they face eviction or uninhabitable conditions. I will always—always—fight for tenants as your next Council Member.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

“Practice makes perfect.” It’s something my dad has always said to me since I was a small child. At the time, I think he meant it to apply to tee-ball - but I reflect on it to this day. I truly believe that practice and preparation are the keys to success. If you work hard at something, study diligently, learn from failure, and stay positive, you’ll be ready for anything.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

We talk a lot about policy, but what’s most important to me in constituent services. I believe that is the single most important part of a Council Member’s job. I will always be available to constituents—they can always email me at billy@billyfreeland.com. I will always be responsive to constituents—I read every email. And I will always fight tirelessly to make sure my neighbors get the results and relief they need. This isn’t just talk, it’s work I’ve already done. Most recently, I helped a neighbor fight back against a surprise medical bill, such that the entire bill was waived.