Manhattan Borough President Race 2021: Elizabeth Caputo Profile

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 Elizabeth Caputo, a former chair of Community Board 7 on the Upper West Side who currently handles government engagement for the World Economic Forum. She is running to succeed Gale Brewer, who is term-limited as borough president and running instead for her old City Council seat.

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

Age (as of Election Day)

48

Position Sought

Manhattan Borough President

Party Affiliation

Democrat

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

Upper West Side

Family

I live with my partner Jose and our spirited pup, Bruno.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No. My mother was a kindergarten teacher at P.S.166 and my father was a long-time educator, serving as President of Hunter College.

Education

BA and MBA at Harvard

Occupation

Executive at the World Economic Forum

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Chair of Community Board 7

Campaign website

elizabethcaputo.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

As a 3-time elected Community Board chair, leader of DL21C for over a decade, expert in municipal finance, and current executive at the World Economic Forum, l've worked with people around the world and in local neighborhoods to make their communities safer, cleaner, greener, and more accessible for everyone. Over the last 25 years, through jobs, relationships, and many apartments, the Borough of Manhattan has been there for me. Its diverse people and vibrant streets have always given me hope. It's been devastating to walk down Broadway and see my favorite stores boarded up. We need to bring Manhattan back block-by-block, shop by shop.
The Borough President is not a legislator. It's not a stepping stone in a long political career. The Borough President's job is to connect and empower the people of Manhattan to make our lives better. It's a job of building bridges and getting things done. I have been doing this work my entire life. I have the local knowledge and experience to bridge the public and the private, the global and the local, to create a City government that actually works for the people of Manhattan.

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

The single most pressing issue facing Manhattan is public safety. If we are going to emerge from the pandemic, bring back tourists, attract the next generation of workers & residents, & make sure those who already live here stay, we must elect local officials who are ready to take decisive action to make sure every New Yorker feels safe. We also need to prioritize public safety in a way that recognizes historic inequities and relies on community input. As a long-time Community Board Chair, I know that every solution won’t work for every block and neighborhood. As Borough President, I intend on convening with all interested parties, bringing people together to work out the best local solution in a timely manner.

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

The other candidates are accomplished legislators, seeking the next step in their political career. The Borough President’s position is not one of a legislator; it is a convener. It is about connecting and empowering the people of Manhattan to make our Borough better for all who live and work here. The work the Manhattan Borough President does is the culmination of the work I’ve been doing for more than 25 years here in Manhattan and with partners around the world.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

Gale Brewer is a tough act to follow, as she has been a champion for Manhattan neighborhoods these past eight years. A few items I may do differently: I'd like the main Borough President office (or at least where I will base most of my work) at the uptown location on 125th Street. I also plan to host Borough Board meetings each month in each of the 12 Community Board districts - this will bring the work of the Borough President more throughout Manhattan neighborhoods. And as a longtime Community Board Chair - I want to ensure that the boards reflect the diversity of the people who live and work in a CB district - including not just appointing them but allowing them to have positions of leadership.

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

Local officials made a lot of missteps in responding to the coronavirus, not the least of which has been the continued closure of many of our City’s public schools. I am the only candidate in this race who has been standing with our City’s parents and children since last fall when the science and data showed it was safe to return to in-person instruction. Women, in particular, have borne the brunt of these failures and we must all demand transparency and accountability from elected officials to ensure our schools fully re-open this fall.
I have been hard at work filling in gaps left by our elected officials. Early last spring, I coordinated with Gale Brewer, our current Borough President, and private companies to arrange for a donation of PPE to the Rangel Houses. The key is to elect leaders who know how to bridge public and private, global and local.

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

Converting unused office buildings into residential units.

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

Making sure our children return to school full time, have the support they need, and catch up on what they missed.

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?

The next Borough President will need to responsibly reform the ULURP process on Day One. I've run countless land use meetings as a Community Board Chair, and held developers accountable - but we got things done by working with people, not by purity tests. Often the ULURP process is triggered before any community input - and the next Borough President needs to keep the community front and center.

Specific to these three projects: I believe that the revised Soho/Noho and South Street Seaport rezonings, while by no means perfect, should proceed responsibly and only when there is the maximum amount of public and local input, convening the community as the projects continue both during the construction and after they are built.

The Blood Center is important for life sciences research and would provide jobs at a time when Manhattan needs them - but the proposal for its development is deeply problematic, primarily because it would be mid-block, and the contextual zoning proposed would set a dangerous precedent for future projects throughout Manhattan. Additionally, there needs to be a plan to protect St Catherine's Park and the livelihood of the students at the Julia Richman complex, as journalist Nick Garber explains in this article on Patch.com.

There are better locations in midtown - and even other parts of the UES - where the Blood Center could be built as-of-right, or with current zoning in mind - that would still contribute to growing jobs, could be proximate to the world-renowned research institutions like Rockefeller University and our East Side hospitals, and would keep Manhattan a global leader in public health and life sciences.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

With the help of local stakeholders, my team and I have developed an innovative and detailed “21 Bridges” plan to bring Manhattan back, which people can read in full at www.elizabethcaputo.com/issues. Some highlights include creating an early warning system for community boards to alert them to new developments and finally providing free WiFI in public housing.

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

I was the longest serving Chair of Community Board 7, representing the 200,000 residents of the Upper West Side. During my tenure as Chair, I negotiated hearings on Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, successfully implemented the Amsterdam Avenue bike lane, launched the City's first truly inclusive playground, carried out the multi-year review and approval of the American Museum of Natural History Gilder Center expansion, established the Board's first Public Housing task force, and brought Citi Bike to the Upper West Side. I also worked to make the Board more efficient and accessible to its constituents by implementing new processes and technologies – placing community, collaboration, and equity at the heart of my work.
In addition to civic leadership, I currently work full-time as an executive at the World Economic Forum, where for nearly a decade I have been responsible for the Forum's US government engagement. In this role, I connect the government officials at the state, local, and national level with global leaders in business, technology, and academia. My focus has been on engaging cities and states on global issues and emerging technologies, to promote an inclusive and sustainable future.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Two amazing women taught me how to work with people who don't always agree with you: one is our current MBP Gale Brewer and the other was my state senator growing up in Indianan - Sheila Klinker, who was a Democrat in a staunchly red state. These two women know how to build coalitions and to ensure that community-led input is at the heart of their policy making.

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

I have called Manhattan my home for 25 years. I have lived and worked here through our toughest days – during 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, Hurricane Sandy, and now, amidst a global pandemic where New York City was the global epicenter for months. Through it all, I have found ways to build coalitions of people from across our Borough to solve problems and make our home better for all of us. I will bring my experience, dedication, and energy to developing and implementing solutions that will help our City recover and rebuild.