Manhattan Borough President Race 2021: Ben Kallos Seeks Office

NEW YORK, NY — Voters in Manhattan will see seven names on their ballot when they vote in the June 22 primary election for borough president.

One of those names will be Ben Kallos, who has represented the Upper East Side on the City Council since 2014. He is running to succeed Gale Brewer, who is term-limited as borough president and running instead for her old City Council seat on the Upper West Side.

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

Age (as of Election Day)

40

Position Sought

Manhattan Borough President

Party Affiliation

Democrat

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

Upper East Side since 1985

Family

Married, one daughter

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Bronx High School of Science
State University of New York (SUNY) Albany;
State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo Law School

Occupation

New York City Council Member (finishing 2nd term)

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

New York City Council Member and Progressive Caucus Co-Chair

Campaign website

www.kallos.nyc

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am running for Manhattan Borough President because anywhere else in America, people struggle to get out, but here in New York City we are struggling to stay, and together I believe we can fix that.

I grew up in Manhattan with a single mom sharing a one bedroom and as a student at Bronx Science I was so ashamed to be on the reduced lunch line that I went hungry. That’s why as a Council Member, I won free school lunch for all students, and as Borough President I will win my legislation for universal afterschool where we will offer dinner so we can feed every child 3 square meals a day. As a new dad, I will win free universal child care to make it easier to raise a family.

I’ve been a tenant all my life and this city is so unaffordable because real estate developers get whatever they want from the politicians who take their money. I never have and never will. I wrote the law to force greedy landlords to put 50,000 units of affordable housing back on the market and I’ll require affordable housing in every new building.

Together I believe that we can win a Manhattan where no student goes hungry and where nobody gets forced out of their homes. A Manhattan for all of us.

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

I’ve been a tenant all my life and once had a greedy landlord spike our rent and force us from our home during a difficult high risk pregnancy.

Real estate developers get billions in tax dollars. Politicians get tens of thousands in big money campaign contributions. Residents pay for it all. That’s why I’ve always refused money from real estate, corporations, and the lobbyists that represent them.

As a Council Member, I helped a whistle blower come forward to expose greedy landlords taking billions in tax breaks without registering more than 50,000 affordable housing units they promised. I wrote the law to put those units back on the market and you can find nearly 1,000 affordable homes at HousingConnect.nyc.gov.

I supported the first of its kind community-led rezoning to stop supertalls with the East River Fifties Alliance and protect residents living in rent regulated affordable housing like Herndon Werth and Charles Fernandez. I took that momentum, working with Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, to block super tall towers with empty voids on the Upper East and Upper Westsides. As Borough President, I will rezone to stop billionaires row and require affordable housing in every new development.

Together we can win a Manhattan that is affordable, where no one gets forced from their homes. A Manhattan for all of us.

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

I’ve been a tenant all my life living and growing up in New York City, and once had a greedy landlord spike our rent and force us from our home during a difficult high risk pregnancy.

Real estate developers get billions in tax dollars. Politicians get tens of thousands in big money campaign contributions. Residents pay for it all. That’s why I’ve always refused money from real estate, corporations, and the lobbyists that represent them.

As a Council Member, I helped a whistle blower come forward to expose greedy landlords taking billions in tax breaks without registering more than 50,000 affordable housing units they promised. I wrote the law to put those units back on the market and you can find nearly 1,000 affordable homes at HousingConnect.nyc.gov.

I supported the first of its kind community-led rezoning to stop supertalls with the East River Fifties Alliance and protect residents living in rent regulated affordable housing like Herndon Werth and Charles Fernandez. I took that momentum, working with Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, to block super tall towers with empty voids on the Upper East and Upper Westsides. As Borough President, I will rezone to stop billionaires row and require affordable housing in every new development.

Together we can win a Manhattan that is affordable, where no one gets forced from their homes. A Manhattan for all of us.

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

The road to recovery will be marked by a thousand opportunities to help, to be creative, and create a better more equitable city that finally works for all of us. We will need to increase access to health care from re-opening and building lost hospitals to passing Medicare for All, just to start.

Actions speak louder than words and we took action.

When coronavirus started, the calls kept coming in and we had to be there. Doctors and nurses in the district called me saying they were fighting a war with no armor, so we launched a clearing house connecting the city, state, and hospitals with PPE.

Residents were afraid of being turned away from care, so we opened 550 beds in the neighborhood and never had to turn anyone away.

When people were afraid they had coronavirus and needed testing, we got a new lab certified to expand capacity.

When people lost their jobs and seniors couldn’t afford skyrocketing groceries, we delivered food from pantries.

When parents and students were afraid to go back to school, we supported them in securing full time nurses, a delay in the re-opening of in-person classes, and childcare.

With businesses on the brink of shuttering, we advocated for and won outdoor dining, and recently passed an optional fee to help them stay open.

And we still distribute masks and hand sanitizer every week through our community partners.

What’s one policy you’d push for to make housing more affordable in Manhattan?

I am running for Manhattan Borough President because I was afraid if I didn’t, I was going to get sold out by politicians for campaign cash, and my family would get forced out of the city where I grew up. I’ve been a tenant all my life and spent much of the pandemic in a market one-bedroom with my wife and daughter. I can tell you first hand even with thousands of vacant apartments the affordable housing crisis isn’t over. That’s why I’ve always refused money from real estate developers, corporations, and the lobbyists that represent them.

The one policy I would push to make housing more affordable in Manhattan would be to continue my work on rezoning. As a Council Member working with Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, I was able to rezone to stop billionaires row from expanding to the East River Fifties, then led a second rezoning to protect the Upper East and Upper West Sides. In so doing we protected countless tenants living in rent regulated affordable housing like Herndon Werth and Charles Fernandez.

I have led to stop Billionaire’s Row where it is and to require affordable housing be built in wealthy neighborhoods on the Upper East Side have been stalled pending the results of this election. I have spent the past 7 years fighting to require any building over 210 feet on the Upper East Side to include affordable housing on site and would like to expand this requirement throughout the borough. As Borough President, I would also require new buildings to replace the rent regulated affordable housing that they have been otherwise displacing and bring my experience to work on these issues around the borough.

In your first year, what would be your top funding priority through your discretionary budget?

Growing up with a single mom on free and reduced lunch, getting into Bronx Science was a ticket to a better life, and when I got there in 1994 I fell in love with the computers they had hooked up to this new thing called the Internet. I taught myself to code and by 16 I was featured in the New York Times in a story about the new after school job.

As a Council Member, I’ve spent more than a million a year on public schools in the district, even if they didn’t have kids from the neighborhood, to make sure they all had laptops. When the pandemic started, every student who goes to school in my district went home with a laptop if they needed one. Then I asked Spectrum to give every child who needed it free Internet and they did. I’ve introduced legislation with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Borough President Gale Brewer to guarantee every student who needs one a laptop with Internet. If I don’t get the law passed before I become Borough President, I will buy every student who needs one a laptop on day one and end the homework gap for students.

We’ve also funded more than $5 million dollars for security improvements, youth, and senior centers serving public housing, which I would also continue. We’ve even secured almost $10 million to renovate the century-old East 67th Street library where I got my first library card and build a whole new library for Roosevelt Island.

I’ve never limited myself to the small million dollar budget and always focused on the larger billion dollar budget. As the chair of the Contracts Committee, I won $120 million in funding for nonprofits that have been on the front lines of the pandemic supporting those who need it most.

As Co-Chair of the East River Esplanade Taskforce with Congresswoman Maloney who endorsed me we’ve secured half a billion dollars to rebuild a resilient waterfront.

As Borough President I will invest in our children, in our seniors, in public housing, in our libraries, in our non-profits, and in our parks. I want every tax dollar to benefit as many New Yorkers as possible.

As Borough President, would you recommend approving or disapproving the following ULURP applications: SoHo/NoHo rezoning, the New York Blood Center tower, and the 250 Water Street seaport project?

Our land use process is broken.

Council Member’s use the practice of “member difference” to force colleagues to support profit driven planning to print money for real estate developers on whose money they rely for elections or jobs when they are done.

That’s why I’ve always refused real estate money and always will.

In the Council, I’ve been accused by the real estate industry of “breaking” member deference by using it to stop supertalls with empty spaces first in my district then on the Upper East and West Side.

We need to fix the land use process. It starts with comprehensive planning legislation I’ve co-sponsored so every neighborhood builds affordable housing, even wealthy neighborhoods, and my proposal to give the Community Borough and Borough President a joint binding vote on land use so elected officials can no longer ignore residents.

Under my leadership this community board has approved a rezoning to add a new three city block biotech campus for Rockefeller University and I helped secure $9 million for a new biotech incubator there too.

When it comes to the Blood Center, I’ve been supporting community leaders in getting their voice heard, sharing the shadow study for the proposed 334-foot commercial office tower that would leave the only park in the neighborhood in shadow starting at 1pm for much of the year. We’ve suggested the Blood Center use a currently empty lot owned by the city on East 74th Street or a larger site in East Harlem at the Proton Center to no avail. I’ve let the community know about opportunities to make their voices heard and joined them at countless meetings, rallies, and rallies. With Community Board 8 passing resolution shortly, residents should plan to testify before Borough President Gale Brewer this summer. You can add your voice at www.BenKallos.com/petition/BloodCenter

I’ve worked closely with the SoHo/NoHo community to study the impact of the proposed rezoning which threatens to force out existing rent regulated affordable housing in favor of new developments that would not have to build any affordable housing whatsoever. Specifically,

Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Tenants PAC, and others have uncovered that new development expected under the plan would need to demolish 105 buildings with 635 rent-regulated affordable homes without having to replace them. I have posed this exact question to the Department of City Planning which has failed to answer. I support the community plan to rezone manufacturing zones where no housing is currently allowed to provide mandatory affordable housing.

As Borough President I want to end profit driven planning, replacing it with community driven comprehensive planning. We can rezone to stop Billionaire’s Row and require affordable housing in every new building.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

1. AFFORDABLE HOUSING: I’ve been a tenant all my life, shared a one bedroom with my mother, and spent the pandemic in a one-bedroom with my wife and daughter. Things aren’t going to get better with politicians taking real estate money and that’s why I’ve always refused their money. I will stand up to real estate developers to protect rent regulated affordable housing and build new affordable housing in every new development.

2. EDUCATION: Growing up, I shared a one-bedroom with my single mom and as a student at Bronx Science, I was so ashamed to stand on the reduced lunch line that I went hungry. As a Council Member, I won free lunch for all students, and we can make sure no student goes hungry, we can feed everyone 3 meals a day to end hunger as part of universal afterschool. We can make it easier to raise a family with free universal child care. We can even end the schools-to-prison-pipeline with universal youth jobs legislation I carry with Congress Member Ritchie Torress and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams to create a schools-to-jobs-pipeline.

3. ECONOMIC RECOVERY: After Kristallnacht my grandparents fled anti-Semitism in Hungary to find opportunity right here in Manhattan. My grandfather practiced medicine out of the apartment they rented on East 71st Street and my grandmother started a women’s clothing shop called “Skirt and Shirt.” When my mother could no longer afford for us to live on our own and we moved in with them, you better believe they let me know where the food on our plates came from, and it was Skirt and Shirt. The truth is those opportunities are not there anymore. We had a blight of empty storefronts before the pandemic, and it has only gotten worse. That’s why I’ve introduced legislation to force absentee landlords hiding behind LLCs to reveal their names. So we can pressure the people who are leaving these storefronts vacant to finally lower rents and help our city recover starting with small businesses.

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

Over the past seven years no one has worked more closely with Borough President Gale Brewer to win rezoning to fight overdevelopment, build services for the homeless, support our schools and take on quality of life issues.

As Council Member, I’ve been focusing on getting things done, including building and preserving one thousand units of affordable housing (after de Blasio failed to act), adding nine hundred pre-K seats and winning 3K for the Upper East Side and Manhattan, securing half a billion dollars to rebuild resilient waterfront parks, and cleaning up streets with a new trash can on every corner.

As Borough President I’ll keep up my work preserving and building affordable housing, expanding our parks, securing school seats and cleaning up Manhattan.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Never compromise on your principles by sacrificing what you can do in your first term, for a second term, what you could do in your current position as an elected official for the next higher office. Even if you do, by the time you get where you’re going you won’t recognize yourself anymore. The truth is nothing is guaranteed and you must make the most of every moment. If you treat every moment as an opportunity to change the world, you’ll be surprised that you can!

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

Endorsed by The New York Times for his “fresh ideas” and elected in 2013, I’ve worked to make most of those ideas a reality. From my support for congestion pricing, to delivering on the promise of high-speed Internet for low-income New Yorkers, to opening hundreds of thousands of existing affordable housing units for applications, many of my "fresh ideas" that were considered far off back then have become a reality.

As one of the most prolific legislators in the City Council and Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus I have authored more than one hundreds bills and passed more than 40 laws including making the City Council full time by eliminating most outside income, eliminating lulus, and the new full public matching campaign finance system to get the corrupting influence of big money out of politics.

As Council Member I was the first elected official to lead a rezoning alongside Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer to fight supertalls in my district and went on to stop supertalls in residential districts throughout Manhattan propped up on empty voids just to give billionaires better views and leave the rest of us in their shadow.

As a lifelong tenant I spent much of the pandemic in a market rate one-bedroom apartment with my wife and daughter in the neighborhood where I grew up and welcomed his family when they immigrated to flee anti-Semitism in Europe. As a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science I believes in giving every child a world class education winning 1,000 pre-kindergarten seats and funding for 800 elementary school seats. As one of millions in New York City without a car, I rely on public transportation, winning off board payment, bus lanes, and new buses to speed buses along, bike share, ferry service, and even opened the Second Avenue Subway. I’ve secured half a billion for resilient parks and cleaned up the neighborhood with a new trash can on every corner.

With the homeless crisis out of control, I co-founded the Eastside Taskforce for Homeless Outreach and Services (ETHOS) bringing faith and non-profit providers together with government to help the homeless and build supportive housing including for formerly homeless women and children across the street from where I live.

I even opens his office to meet in person with residents on the First Friday of every month and makes house calls for Ben in Your Building, something I will continue as Borough President so that I can meet you and every resident.

Manhattan needs a Borough President who will open up more affordable housing, build new desegregated schools, improve public transit, invest in resilient parks, help our homeless, and clean up our neighborhoods.

We have so much at stake as we seek to recover, we can’t go back to a normal that never really worked for anyone, we can build a better borough that works for all of us.