Michael Blake: Why I am the best candidate for mayor

I’m the only candidate in this race who helped defeat Trump, and the only one with experience at every level of government: federal, state, local, philanthropic, and private sector. I’ve managed teams as large as 15,000 people. I’ve delivered before, and I’ll do it again as mayor.

From Co-op City to Rochdale, Williamsburg to the Upper West Side, from South Bronx to Staten Island’s North Shore, families are being pushed out because costs are too high, wages too low, and leadership too absent. I’m here to change that.

I’ll protect beloved green spaces like the Elizabeth Street Garden, because we shouldn’t sacrifice community gardens for luxury condos.

We’ll lower prescription drug costs, protect Medicare and pensions, improve Access-A-Ride, and invest in intergenerational programs for our seniors and youth.

We’ll finally pay nonprofits their long-overdue contracts. We’ll launch a guaranteed income pilot focused on housing and child care. We’ll help small businesses with grants and slash red tape.

Smarter public safety means treating mental health as a health issue, not a criminal one. That’s why we must close Rikers, build borough based jails, expand crisis response teams and implement precision policing, targeting serious crime and repeat offenders, not vulnerable people in crisis.

We’ll modernize our subways by fixing outdated signals, reduce delays by addressing double parking, and review congestion pricing to ensure fairness.

In education, we’ll guarantee students receive civics, financial literacy, and mental health instruction before graduation. We’ll expand My Brother’s Keeper and My Sister’s Keeper, stabilize housing for homeless students, increase teacher pay, provide later meal options, and strengthen early reading programs.

To pay for these priorities, we’ll collect more than $2 billion in unpaid fines, tax vacant luxury apartments and empty storefronts, reduce NYPD’s $1.4 billion overtime bill, and finally pass fair property tax reform.

Let me be clear: I will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Blackness, anti-Latino rhetoric, or homophobia. The hostages must come home, and hate will not have a home in New York City. We will stand firm on equity and inclusion, jobs and justice, and hold accountable anyone who violates that.

No more corruption. No more cover-ups. No more silence on abuse, discrimination, or injustice. I’m not here to play politics. I’m here to restore hope and deliver results, just as I did during COVID, when I helped feed New Yorkers and provided PPE when others turned their backs.

I’m ready to lead, and focused on affordable housing, the true cost of living, public safety, and defeating Trumpism at home.

Whether you vote absentee, early, or on June 24, rank Michael Blake #1. If not first, then rank me #2, #3, #4, or #5.

My name is Michael Blake, and I ask for your vote to be the 111th mayor of New York City.

Blake, a former Bronx assemblyman, is a candidate for mayor in this month’s Democratic Party primary.