Johanna Garcia Announces Bid For Upper Manhattan City Council

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — Johanna Garcia launched her candidacy for City Council on Sunday. Garcia, the chief of staff for Sen. Robert Jackson, made the announcement from J. Hood Wright Park in Washington Heights.

Garcia is running for City Council District 10, which consists of Inwood, Marble Hill, and Washington Heights. Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez is currently the representative for the district, but his term ends in 2021.

Garcia was born and raised in the Upper Manhattan community, and made her candidacy announcement across the street from the Washington Heights elementary school she attended growing up.

"Together, we can reject the failed policies and politics of legacy seats and backroom deals," Garcia said during the announcement. "We can break down the old way of doing things that left too many people excluded, anxious, and afraid. At this critical point for our city, we have to stop tinkering and start transforming our city's policies and chart a new course forward."

Garcia is a founding member of the group, Northern Manhattan Not for Sale, and has also taken a leading role in the fight for education equality within Upper Manhattan.

She includes the following topics as her priorities:

• Dismantling racism in the public education system.
• Replacing existing landlord written housing policies with systems that ensure affordable housing for all.
• Ensuring an economic recovery from COVID-19.
• To introduce new legislation to make it easier for working parents to support their children's remote learning.

You can find out more about Garcia on her campaign website.