City Council Survey (District 45): Jumaane D. Williams

Political Parties:
Democratic Party
Working Families Party

http://www.jumaanewilliams.com

Candidate Submitted Biography:

JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS is a first-generation Brooklynite of Carribean parentage. He has spent his career organizing for affordable housing and immigrants' rights.

Jumaane most recently served as the Executive Director of the NYS Tenants & Neighbors, a state-wide organization that fights for tenants’ rights and affordable housing through organizing and advocacy. He was previously the Housing Director for the Flatbush Development Corporation, where he restarted a defunct housing program. Jumaane is a proud product of New York City's public school system, including Brooklyn Tech and Brooklyn College.

It was while earning his Bachelor’s Degree at Brooklyn College that Jumaane began to focus on civic engagement and community empowerment. While at BC, Jumaane honed his skills as an organizer, and went on to pursue a Master's Degree in Urban Policy and Administration while serving as BC's Graduate Student Body President.

After graduation, Jumaane became Assistant Director for the Greater Flatbush Beacon School, at Meyer Levin where he provided leadership for the school's first successful summer program. He then became a community organizer at Flatbush East Community Development Corporation. In this position he worked in the well-known Vanderveer Estates buildings and successfully secured city funding for a new youth program. These organizing efforts taught Jumaane how to help unleash a community’s full potential by finding realistic and effective solutions to local challenges.

Jumaane has years of experience fighting for the issues that matter most to our community. He believes that affordable housing is even more essential than ever in this economy, as is assistance for tenants, small landlords, and homeowners facing foreclosure. Improved health care is vital to our community, which has some of the highest rates of HIV infection and infant mortality in New York City, and expanded job training and opportunities are desperately needed for those struggling to find work. Jumaane's extensive work with youth has shown him that smaller class sizes and larger investments in education are critical for community success, and that after school activities for young people should not be scaled back and blamed on budget cuts. Jumaane’s community organizing work has given him the knowledge and experience to find sensible solutions for all of these challenges, and these are the issues he will fight for as the City Councilman for Brooklyn's 45th Council District.

Jumaane has spent his entire career working to address our challenges in the 45th and has extensive firsthand experience that sets him apart from the other candidates in the race. He has worked with community groups in Flatbush and Canarsie, built connections with city and statewide campaigns to bring resources to the district, and helped to pass laws that benefit our community. Jumaane brings experience that no other candidate can claim - experience that makes him the right leader for the 45th City Council District.

Jumaane is currently the vice-president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Brooklyn chapter, a board member of Community Board 18, The Caribbean International Students’ Alumni Association of Brooklyn College, and a member of The Brooklyn Tech Alumni Association.

City Council Survey (District 45): Jumaane D. Williams

Question 1:
What is the most important transportation need in your district? As a Council Member, how would you work to address this need?

There are several important transportation issues in the 45th council district. First of all, much of the bus service in the district is extremely slow. I’m very encouraged that the City is planning to pilot a Bus Rapid Transit line on Nostrand Avenue, which runs through my district for 2.5 miles, all the way from Beverley Rd to Quentin Rd. I hope that the experiment is successful, and that if it is, it is followed by the creation of more BRT routes, especially some that run East-West through East Flatbush and Flatlands. In addition to slow buses, several areas in the district are highly congested. I am interested in bringing all parties together to discuss possible alterations in traffic patterns at these locations in the interest of reducing congestion and making the streets more enjoyable to be on. In the case of Church Ave, I was not impressed with the DOT's proposal to make it a one-way street. The DOT had not adequately consulted residents and merchants in drafting its plan. It seemed unaware that Church Ave is a major shopping street where people get in and out of their cars regularly. Nevertheless, I appreciate attention being brought to this issue and look forward to working with the DOT, with merchants, and with residents to improve traffic flow on Church Ave.


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Question 2:
The intersection of Utica Ave and Church Ave is one of the most dangerous in your district, where 1 people died and 57 people were injured between 1995-2005 (NYS DOT). As a City Council member, what traffic enforcement policies or physical changes to the intersection infrastructure would you support to make this intersection safer for everyone who uses it (pedestrians, cyclists and drivers)?

The intersection of Utica Ave and Church Ave is indeed a dangerous intersection and steps should undoubtedly be taken to address it. I am not certain what the best alteration would be, though I imagine an increase in turn signals that limit the traffic passing through the intersection at any given point would have the desired effect of slowing down drivers and reducing the number of cars inside the intersection at any given time. If there exists a possibility of altering the physical infrastructure - such as specific types of traffic medians - I would absolutely support looking into such changes, so long as any construction was done in such a way as to minimize disruption to surrounding residents and to motorists who pass through the intersection every day.


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Question 3:
According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles' most currently available data, in 2007 speeding was a contributing factor in over 3,000 motor vehicle crashes in New York City. Furthermore, the same data showed that the top human contributing factor to the 264 fatal crashes in New York City during 2007 was also speeding. Given these figures, what measures, if any, do you support to redress this problem? Finally, do you believe that New York City’s current speed limits are safe?

Speeding is clearly a problem in New York City, and unsafe driving poses a risk to all residents and visitors to New York City. The obvious answer is to increase enforcement of speeding laws and to increase penalties for those who violate them. Increased enforcement would require police who are able to issue moving vehicle violations to be present at locations where speeding is frequent. If drivers were more worried about a getting a hefty fine, they would probably slow down. On the whole I think that New York City's current speed limits are safe, but I also think that there are not enough signs spread around the city reminding people of what those limits are. Certain quickly moving roadways within the City move well enough to encourage drivers to think that the speeding limit is higher than it actually is. More frequent posting of speed limit signs might serve as a reminder to drivers to slow down.


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Question 4:
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's website reports: "In New York City, obesity is epidemic: more than half of adult New Yorkers are overweight (34%) or obese (22%). Data show that obesity begins early in life: nearly half of all elementary school children and Head Start children are not a healthy weight. In New York City, 1 in 5 kindergarten students, and 1 in 4 Head Start children, is obese." Do you believe that increasing walking and biking in New York City would improve public health? If yes, how would you work to increase walking and biking in your district?

I of course agree that New York City and the nation as a whole suffer from an obesity problem. My district is no different in this regard. And I absolutely believe that increased walking and biking would improve public health. I believe first and foremost we need to have adequate City funding for recreational activities that give kids the space they need to run around. Programs such as Beacon Schools, which turn public schools into community centers in the evenings, are a good example of how this can work. I was fortunate enough to work at the Meyer Levin Beacon when I graduated from college, where I worked with many young people and encouraged them to stay physically active.
Parents in my district and elsewhere work incredibly hard. For that reason it's critical that there be structured and supervised environments for kids to play in, including gym classes in schools and afterschool programs. I also support adding bike lanes on city streets, though I think it's critical that a variety of stakeholders be brought in to evaluate the locations so we can make sure to choose the best and safest ones.


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Question 5:
Road pricing, including such measures as non-stop tolling, fees based on vehicle miles travelled or entry into a highly congested zone, has been the source of much discussion in New York City and other major metropolitan areas. London famously uses a congestion charge to fund its transit system, Oregon recently piloted a program to replace the gas tax with a fee for miles driven and Seattle recently studied how road pricing could be introduced on a regional basis. Seattle's study, “Traffic Choices Study" (http://psrc.org/projects/trafficchoices/index.htm), found that introducing new tolls on major corridors during peak traffic hours influenced drivers’ behavior and projected that a region-wide road pricing scheme could significantly reduce vehicular traffic congestion. Do you think that introducing a road pricing strategy would change New Yorkers’ travel choices? Do you think that this would be an effective way for the City to reduce backups on high-traffic roadways like the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Gowanus Expressway or the Long Island Expressway? Finally, do you believe there are additional benefits in the surrounding neighborhoods which could be realized from the reduction of vehicular congestion on these routes?

I believe that any proposals designed to reduce congestion - which would be both beneficial to people who have to drive, as well as to the general public in terms of abating our City's impact on the environment and improving health by removing harmful pollution from our air - should be entertained and given due consideration. My principal concern is that any efforts to reduce the number of miles that people drive are all but certain to increase demand for public transit. As in the case of the plan proposed by the Mayor in 2008, improvements in transit were promised for the future, while ridership would have increased more or less right away. It's not fair to existing transit riders or to those being priced out of using their cars to leave them with inadequate options for public transportation. So with that said, I would support efforts to reduce the number of miles people drive in their cars, so long as we find ways to simultaneously increase mass transit options for New Yorkers.


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Question 6:
Do you believe that reducing residential parking requirements as set forth within NYC zoning regulations would affect neighborhood traffic congestion, and if so, in what way?

As a general matter I am not convinced that congestion would be eased by reducing the number of residential parking spaces required by NYC zoning regulations. But I would look forward to hearing more about this proposal.


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Question 7:
The NYC Department of Transportation's Public Plaza Program, Pedestrian Street Program and Summer Streets events are intended to diversify the use of public space and provide more places for New Yorkers to recreate and socialize. Do you support the temporary or permanent repurposing of street space for pedestrians and cyclists?

I am an enthusiastic supporter of efforts to diversity the use of public space in New York City. Good public space is often what makes good cities into great ones. We are fortunate in New York to have myriad forms of space which, with a little imagination, can be utilized in a great many different ways. I absolutely support temporary repurposing of street space for pedestrians and cyclists. If there is a good argument to be made for permanent repurposing of particular streets, I would be open to the proposal, but would insist on a thoroughgoing process that involved any and all stakeholders who would be affected by such a change.


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Question 8:
The City recently released plans for Bus Rapid Transit and expressed interest in bringing a bike share program to New York City. Do you think these new projects would enhance the city's transportation network? Please explain.

As I mentioned in my response to the first question, I am a strong supporter of plans to introduce Bus Rapid Transit to New York City. I am also eager to see a bike share program in New York. There are many occasions when a readily available bike could save a car trip or even a bus or subway trip. I look forward to seeing bicycles for rent in my district.


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Submitted by ted.fertik@gmail.com on Wed, 08/12/2009 - 21:00.
Submitted by ted.fertik@gmail.com on Wed, 08/12/2009 - 17:21.
Submitted by ted.fertik@gmail.com on Wed, 08/12/2009 - 21:00.