Brad Hoylman-Sigal (Manhattan Borough President candidate) – Meet the Candidates 2025!

The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association reached out to all the candidates running for office in 2025 that intersect our neighborhood (Mayor, Manhattan Borough President, City Council District 2, and City Council District 4, etc.) with questions sourced directly from our members via our Ask the Candidates questionnaire. See the candidate’s answers below.

How you would improve our streets and quality of life?

When it comes down to it, I am running as the quality-of-life candidate. We are facing public safety, affordability, and quality-of-life challenges like we haven’t seen in decades. As a parent raising my school age daughters in Manhattan, I see those problems every day and am deeply invested in the future of our borough. As your next Borough President, I pledge to work every day to deploy the resources of the office to hold government and private actors accountable and improve the overall quality of life in Manhattan.

To put it mildly, the scaffolding in our borough is excessive. I drew attention to this problem by holding “The Sheddies,” an award ceremony for the worst scaffolding project on the West Side of Manhattan. I’ve introduced new legislation with Assemblymember Micah Lasher to address the unnecessary scaffolding projects in New York. The RESTORE Act would create a property tax abatement for the timely completion of building facade repairs and the removal of sidewalk sheds within one year of installation, and would initiate a property tax penalty for failure to remove a shed within 18 months of installation.

I’d create a dashboard on the Borough President’s website to collect real time data of 311 complaints, where they were made, how many were made, and how they are resolved. A publicly accessible dashboard will increase transparency and accountability and will shed light on disparities between the way different neighborhoods’ quality of life concerns are addressed and help provide a human feedback loop to 311 complaints that so often go unresolved. Every New Yorker deserves to have peace of mind when they walk our streets, ride on public transit, and patronize businesses.

I’m also proud to be leading the charge on e-bike safety. I cannot tell you how many times me or a member of my family have just missed being injured by someone whizzing the wrong way down a one way. My office receives more complaints about e-bikes than just about any other issue. This is why I’m proudly sponsoring a bill that requires the registration of e-bikes at the point of purchase. E-bikes, e-scooters, and mopeds must follow the rules of the road, and centering civilian safety is of paramount importance to me.

How are you going to handle the illegal migrant situation that has escalated into NYC?

The migrant crisis has stretched City resources thin and caused concerns for both migrants and the broader community. The City has awarded costly contracts to unqualified vendors, leaving many migrants without proper support and straining neighborhoods. Thankfully, volunteers, like parents in my local school District 3, have stepped into the void and have provided the necessary support to these families.

If the situation isn’t resolved by the time I take office, I will advocate for a central organizational effort from City Hall rather than awarding wasteful contracts to ad hoc unaccountable entities. I also will continue to advocate for legal services for undocumented immigrants so they have adequate legal counsel at immigration proceedings. I’ll push for city work permits (notwithstanding constitutional issues) so they can provide for their families. Finally, we need more housing for immigrants to get them out of the hotels and temporary shelters and into permanent living arrangements. This is a longer strategy, but I plan to be aggressive in my housing goals as Borough President.

As Borough President, I’ll also serve as a watchdog to advocate for responsible spending and demand accountability so that resources are used effectively to support both migrants and the City.

How can housing become more affordable and not just for low income candidates?

We need to take steps to increase the supply of housing in Manhattan that working people can afford. The housing crisis our city faces will not be solved overnight, but we need leaders who are willing to think over the long term. I will continue to champion strong rent protections for existing tenants, affordable housing in new developments, and we must continue to build more housing across all income levels.

As Borough President, I will look for creative solutions to increase the housing supply. For example, I will advocate to convert more unused office space into residential space and update the outdated laws from the 1870s that create unnecessary barriers to those conversions. I’d also seek to employ a real estate financial analyst to help review land use applications and ensure that new housing being built will be affordable for working people. That analyst will help to answer the age-old question that I remember from when I served on a community board: How much profit is a developer reaping from a deal? As Borough President I’d also make it a priority to work with our federal partners to help adjust the definition of what is considered “affordable” according to the area median income (AMI).

How would you address homelessness and mental illness in NYC?

Homelessness, which has skyrocketed to levels not seen since the Great Depression, must be a top priority. As Borough President, I would fight for the state and the city to invest in expanding affordable housing and leverage my relationships here and in Albany to do so.

I’ve long supported the clubhouse model pioneered by organizations like Fountain House in my Senate district to provide support to those with severe mental illness and would support the expansion of its successful model elsewhere in the borough. In Albany, I successfully advocated for a federal Medicaid waiver to allow psychiatric patients to stay longer in hospital. I’ve introduced the Harnessing the Expertise of Licensed Professionals (H.E.L.P.) Act to expand the number of mental health professionals, including psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists and licensed social workers, eligible to direct individuals into mandated treatment. I’m currently exploring legislation to lift the restrictions imposed by private insurance plans that severely limits long-term stays for patients with severe mental illness.

How would you support the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association?

I pledge to consult the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association on local issues impacting your community. Throughout my years in public service, I have prioritized the voices of residents—so much so that my Senate staff often jokes about the framed cross-stitch in my office that reads, “The Constituent is Always Right.” This reflects my deep belief that the best policies are shaped by the experiences and insights of our neighbors. My door is always open to community members, and as Borough President, I would look to Neighborhood Associations for advice on the issues most important to them and their communities.

Bio

Brad Hoylman-Sigal has spent the last decade fighting in the State Senate for a more affordable, safe, and fair New York. He helped lead fights to protect tenants against eviction, crack down on dangerous e-bikes, secure funding for mental health, eliminate illegal guns, fight bias crimes – including antisemitism and anti-LGBTQ hate, and protect our civil liberties from the Trump administration. As Borough President, Brad will bring this same energy and effectiveness to tackle the toughest quality of life challenges for Manhattan’s working families, older New Yorkers, small businesses, and the most vulnerable members of our community.

Brad lives in Greenwich Village with his husband David and young daughters, Silvia and Lucy. Brad would make history as the first openly-LGBTQ official elected borough- or city-wide in NYC.

https://bradhoylmansigal.com/