A Black Agenda
for a Just and Thriving New York City

As a proud Jamaican-American from The Bronx, my life and work have always been rooted in the struggle for justice and dignity for Black people. As a Black man who led African American and Minority and Women Business outreach for President Obama at The White House, I understand how to create jobs and address systemic injustice by opening doors to opportunity and building infrastructure that lasts. As a husband and bonus father to two brilliant Black girls, I understand the urgency of standing up for women’s rights—from economic equity to maternal health and safety. I’ve carried this commitment through every chapter of my public service: helping launch My Brother’s Keeper, co-leading Raise the Age, advancing Diversity in Medicine, and championing MWBE legislation in Albany—all to ensure Black and Brown communities can thrive. As someone who has endured police brutality twice, I know the pain of injustice firsthand, and I fight every day to make sure our future generations don’t have to carry that burden. From the early days of being mentored by Mama Dukes to receiving Sunday civics lessons from President L. Joy Williams, I have stood—and will continue to stand—shoulder to shoulder with our community.

New York City’s Black communities have shaped this city—driving our culture, building our institutions, and powering our economy. But systemic barriers in housing, education, the economy, and criminal justice continue to undermine our collective progress. As your mayor, I will pursue a bold Black Agenda rooted in equity, justice, and economic empowerment, with policies that address long-standing disparities and build toward a city where every New Yorker
can thrive.

HOUSING JUSTICE: A Home Should Be a Right, Not a Gamble

Housing insecurity disproportionately impacts Black New Yorkers. We will reverse the forces that push families out of their homes and neighborhoods by:

• Passing a Middle-Class Housing Tax Break to support middle-income homeowners
• End Credit Score Discrimination in Housing by eliminating the use of credit scores to screen applicants for rental housing or homeownership, breaking down barriers that have long excluded Black families from stable housing
• Implementing a citywide rent freeze for stabilized units and pressing Albany to expand protections for unregulated tenants
• Reforming the Area Median Income (AMI) formula used in affordable housing developments to reflect neighborhood-level incomes, not inflated regional averages that
  exclude the working and middle class
• Ending deed theft by launching a city-led Deed Theft Prevention Task Force and strengthening legal protections for homeowners—particularly in Brooklyn and Queens
• Strengthening eviction protections, making it significantly harder to evict tenants without just cause, and fully funding the Right to Counsel program
• Investing the City’s billions of dollars in pension funds to build affordable housing for New Yorkers, including housing for City employees

AN EQUITABLE ECONOMY: Build Black Wealth and Community 

Economic justice starts with investment and fair access. We will level the playing field and remove bureaucratic and systemic barriers by:

• Ensuring Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) receive a fair share of core government contracts and subcontracts—not just peripheral or small-scale jobs
• Reform the city’s procurement system to ensure nonprofits and small businesses are paid on time and in full. As an Assembly Member, I championed and passed legislation that cut payment wait times for state contractors by 50%, demonstrating a proven commitment to fair and efficient contracting

• Indexing city-contracted wages to the living wage, so workers aren’t locked into poverty wages while serving the public and advocating for a minimum living wage for all New Yorkers
• Eliminating city income tax for lower- and middle-income earners
• Launching accelerators and investment hubs – specifically for MWBEs with direct city support and public-private partnerships to expand capital access and mentorship

JUSTICE & RE-ENTRY: Safety Rooted in Dignity

A just city is one where accountability doesn’t come at the cost of human dignity. We will transform public safety through community investment, not carceral expansion:

• Close Rikers Island once and for all—no delays, no excuses—and replace it with a justice system focused on care, community supervision, and alternatives to incarceration where appropriate
• Fund re-entry hubs across all five boroughs, staffed by credible messengers and service providers, to support returning citizens with housing, jobs, therapy, and mentorship
• Expand restorative justice programs and invest in community-led violence prevention initiatives, giving neighborhoods the tools to build their own safety
• Strengthen police accountability and public trust by expanding the Civilian Complaint Review Board authority and funding, shifting final disciplinary power to the Mayor, and by improving officer training and evaluations, and creating a transparent police misconduct registry

EDUCATION: Inspiring Our Young People

All children deserve an education that affirms their identity and prepares them for leadership. We will transform our schools by:

• Creating Universal Childcare and by Expanding 3K and Pre-K for all families by redistributing tax breaks for wealthy developers and increasing taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers
• Embedding civic education beginning in elementary school, to increase voter participation and leadership among young people
• Confronting Anti-Blackness in Education by eliminating discriminatory discipline practices and investing in schools as safe, affirming spaces where Black students are seen, valued, and empowered to thrive
• Mandating culturally relevant curriculum, so students see themselves in their history, their textbooks, and their future
• Doubling the budget for NYC Men Teach to increase the number of Black and Brown male teachers—role models who reflect and inspire their students
• Expanding My Brother’s Keeper Initiative and the Young Men’s Initiative (YMI) with a stronger focus on mental health, entrepreneurship, school-to-career pipelines, and vocational training opportunities
• Guaranteeing universal after-school programming for all middle and high school students, with a focus on creative arts, STEM, and sports
• Implementing mandatory financial education at every grade level, giving students the tools to navigate and challenge systems of debt, credit, and generational poverty

Health: Protecting Our Communities, Healing Our Future

Black communities continue to face stark health disparities rooted in systemic racism, economic inequality, and decades of disinvestment. We must address the full spectrum of health, including mental health, maternal care, and the protection of life-saving programs like Medicaid and Medicare

• Protect Medicaid and Medicare by opposing any cuts to Medicaid or Medicare and expanding eligibility and coverage to ensure seniors, working families, and individuals with disabilities get the care they’ve earned
• Expand Black Maternal Health by investing in community-based birthing centers, increasing access to Black doulas and midwives, and supporting policies like the MOMNIBUS to address the Black maternal mortality crisis
• Invest in culturally competent mental health care to support more Black mental health professionals, increase access to school- and community-based mental health services, and support peer-led wellness programs tailored to Black youth, men, and families
• Address Mental Illness Humanely: Hire, train, and deploy up to 1,000 mental health professionals—including peer specialists, social workers, and licensed clinicians—to proactively engage individuals experiencing mental health challenges or street homelessness in our subways, transit system and other public spaces. Embed these professionals in 911 response teams and alongside police patrols, ensuring that whenever possible, mental health experts—not law enforcement—take the lead in responding to crises
• Support trauma recovery by expanding access to trauma-informed care for victims of violence, formerly incarcerated individuals, and youth in high-stress environments, with a focus on healing over punishment

This Black Agenda is not just a policy platform—it’s a commitment to repair, invest, and reimagine. We owe it to all our children to make New York a place where equity is not aspirational, but operational.

Together, we will build the New York City we deserve.

We deserve jobs and justice.
We deserve schools and safety.
We deserve the best.