Dem Primary Race: City Council District 4

District 4 is located on Manhattan’s East Side, encompassing Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, and parts of the Upper East Side, Midtown East, Turtle Bay, Murray Hill, and Koreatown. The district is currently represented by Council Member Keith Powers who is term limited and is running for Manhattan borough president vs Brad Hoylman-Sigal. Six candidates are contesting the Democratic primary for the seat. [Some answers have been lightly edited for space considerations.]

Vanessa Aronson

Why are you running for City Council?

Life shouldn’t be this hard for New Yorkers. Too many people have lost faith in local government and fear the Trump administration is a danger to their lives. We need local leaders brave enough to fight for our city and experienced enough to get the work done.

My proven record makes it clear that I can be trusted to lead effectively and with deep integrity. I know, despite the challenges we face, together we will build a city that makes us all proud.

What are the top three things you aim to accomplish if elected?

I’m committed to making New York City more affordable. I will protect existing affordable housing, hold HPD and DOB accountable for enforcing affordable housing requirements, enable commercial-to-residential conversions in midtown, prioritize age-in-place housing for seniors, and support development of modern middle-class housing.

As a former public school teacher and current public school parent, I understand the challenges our schools face. I will fight for stronger local protections for public schools, resist efforts that divert resources from them, and be a champion for education funding.

To make the government more accountable and responsive, I propose a series of ethics reforms aimed to end pay-to-play politics, increase transparency, and enhance the city budget process.

What makes you the best candidate for this position?

I have the experience and acumen to build effective coalitions, develop practical solutions, and make a real difference in people’s lives.

I am the only candidate in this race appointed as a full member to Community Board 8 by current District 4 City Council Member Keith Powers. I am an elected member of the New York County Democratic Committee and a New York County Judicial Delegate. I also serve on the New York County Committee Ethics Committee.

Through my work in our community—co-chairing the Tikkun Olam (“repairing the world”) committee at Park Avenue Synagogue; organizing Small Business Saturday, which bring neighbors together to support local shops; leading committees for Community Board 8, and serving as the president of our local Democratic club—I’ve built a strong coalition of local supporters and volunteers.

Background and qualifications:

I am a former US diplomat, former public school teacher who worked at Hunter College and most recently served as the senior director of strategy for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Faith Bondy

Why are you running for City Council?

I am running to enhance the quality of life for New Yorkers. My goals include tackling the affordability, mental health, public safety, and educational crises facing our City. Families should have access to quality local schools from 3K-12 and reliable childcare options. District 4 residents should have beautiful green spaces and clean streets. Everyone should feel safe in our community, and law enforcement should have the funding and resources to engage with and protect our District and combat crime, e-bikes, antisemitism, and hate.

**What are the top three things you aim to accomplish if elected?**Improve Quality of Life: I will prioritize the needs of our community by enforcing stricter laws on mopeds and e-bikes, expanding rat mitigation, and enhancing sanitation to ensure clean streets. My commitment also includes expanding local 3K-12 public school programs to provide comprehensive related services, accelerated, arts, enrichment, and after-school programs, and advocating for increased funding for our children’s success.Increase Public Safety: I will focus on supporting the NYPD to ensure they have the necessary funding and resources to engage in meaningful community policing and retain and recruit personnel. Additionally, I will support the expansion of mental health and substance abuse teams so they are immediately available to assist those in need.Address the Affordability Crisis: I will develop programs that reduce unnecessary fees, living costs, and support homeownership. This also includes plans for more quality public schools, increasing 3K and Pre-K seats where they are most needed, and affordable childcare options.

What makes you the best candidate for this position?

With 25 years of serving this community, I’ve advocated for key issues such as education, public safety, parks, and housing. I am committed to fighting for us on the Council.

Background and qualifications:

I serve as President of the Samuel J. Tilden Democratic Club and as a Board Member and legal advisor for the Sutton Place Parks Conservancy. I am also Secretary of the East Sixties Neighborhood Association, was formerly on Community Board 8’s Street Life Committee, and volunteer with many neighborhood associations. These roles have helped me gain significant in-district support and endorsements from community leaders. As a public school parent with 10 years of experience on the PTA Executive Board at PS 59, the former President of the Salk School of Science Parent Association, and a member of both School Leadership Teams, I have firsthand knowledge of educational challenges. With over 25 years of experience as an active litigator, recognized for my advocacy, I possess a thorough understanding of legislative procedures. I can work across differences to find common ground, essential for effective City Council leadership. This experience enables me to effectively navigate local governance and represent the community’s needs successfully

Virginia Maloney

Why are you running for City Council?

I’m running to deliver a safer, more affordable, more accessible New York. As a born-and-raised East Sider, I’ve seen how rising costs, unreliable city services, and unsafe neighborhoods are pushing families out of the city we all love. I’ve worked in city government and the private sector, and I know how to get results. In this moment, with our rights under attack from Trump and his allies, we need leaders who will stand up for New York values, defend our communities, and deliver real solutions that improve people’s daily lives. That’s what I’m running to do.

What are the top three things you aim to accomplish if elected?

What are the top three things you aim to accomplish if elected?

1. Make New York more affordable: I’ll fight to preserve affordable housing, protect tenants, expand access to childcare, and ease the rising costs that are forcing working people, seniors, and families out of Manhattan.

2. Improve accessibility: I’ll use my background in tech and accessibility to make city services more effective and equitable including fixing 311, working to increase subway accessibility, updating City websites, and making government more responsive for every East Sider.

3. Make our neighborhoods safer and more livable: I’ll focus on day-to-day issues like clean streets, trash pickup, e-bike enforcement, and public safety. Everyone deserves to feel safe, supported, and proud of their neighborhood.

What makes you the best candidate for this position?

I bring real experience solving problems. At the NYC Economic Development Corporation, I helped expand high-speed internet, support small businesses, and create good-paying jobs. At Meta, I work on accessibility technology that helps people with disabilities navigate the world.

Background and qualifications:

I’m a lifelong East Sider with a deep commitment to public service and the skills to deliver real results. I served as a senior project manager at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, where I ran citywide programs to support small businesses. Today, I’m a product manager at Meta. I hold a master’s in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School, an MBA from MIT Sloan, and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton’s public policy school. I serve on the executive committee of the Lexington Democratic Club and the board of the NYC Foundation for Senior Citizens. I’m proud to come from a family of public servants; I have lived a life rooted in public service for the East Side. I am proud to have received endorsements from labor unions, Democratic leaders and clubs on the East Side, and community leaders and activists—including 32BJ SEIU, the United Fire Officers Association, the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, the Letter Carriers, the Stonewall Democratic Club, the Eleanor Roosevelt Independent Democrats, the 504 Democratic Club, two former City Council speakers and former Council Member Ben Kallos.

Rachel Storch

Why are you running for City Council?

Last spring, my family experienced something that really changed my perspective forever. My daughters and husband were on the subway when several armed men rushed onto the platform. Though my family escaped physically unharmed, both of my daughters were left traumatized.

This was an extremely personal encounter for me, and it revealed a painful truth: My children no longer felt safe in the city they call home. That fundamental sense of security, which every New Yorker deserves, had been shattered. This experience crystallized what I had been observing across the city: We’re facing urgent challenges that require decisive leadership.

**What are the top three things you aim to accomplish if elected?**Public safety and affordability are the issues that come up again and again in this election. The two issues are intertwined, especially for East Side families. Too many longtime residents can no longer afford to live here. The public safety crisis in our city creates unsafe neighborhoods for seniors and unsafe trips to school for kids. New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in their homes, on their streets, and throughout our transit system. As a City Council member, I will support a fully funded, accountable police force. I will advocate for increased investment in mental-health services, both as a moral obligation and as a critical public safety measure.

What makes you the best candidate for this position?

I have a unique breadth of experience—25 years of public service, as a Legal Aid attorney, deputy chief of staff in the US Senate, three-term state legislator, and today as the COO at Fifth Avenue Synagogue. As a progressive legislator, I have fought tough battles and stood up for the values and programs New Yorkers hold dear: reproductive rights, public education, workers’ rights, Medicaid; I know how to take on Donald Trump and stand up for New York City in the face of corruption and chaos from Washington.

Background and qualifications:

A fourth-generation New Yorker raising four children on the Upper East Side, Rachel began her career as a Legal Aid attorney. She then went to work for Senator Jean Carnahan (D-Missouri) as deputy chief of staff for education, public safety, and immigration. Rachel served in the Missouri State Legislature from 2005 to 2011. She became a deputy whip of the Democratic Caucus, leading the fight to protect the right to choose and funding for healthcare and public education. Fifteen years ago, Rachel moved back to the city to start a family with her husband. She is chief operating officer at Fifth Avenue Synagogue and, prior to that, at the 92nd Street Y.

Ben Wetzler

Why are you running for City Council?

Throughout my time as a public servant and an East Side Democratic Party leader, I have been frustrated by how reactive local government is in NYC. We do little long-term planning and only look to innovative policy solutions after problems have turned into full-blown crises. My career has been spent developing data-backed strategies to improve government—particularly in the area of housing affordability—and I want to continue that work on the Council, where it is needed now more than ever.

What are the top three things you aim to accomplish if elected?

My full, detailed platform can be found at voteben.nyc/issues. My top three priorities are:

An ambitious affordable housing plan. This will include protecting rent stabilization, amending the building code to allow more cost-effective mid-rise apartments, and creating a long-term-growth plan for the entire city that moves us away from ad hoc land-use applications. Making streets safer. We need to implement more data-informed policing strategies, focusing on high-crime hotspots like East 14th Street, and we need to improve enforcement of bike and car traffic violations, which have gotten out of control. Improving our public spaces. This means better trash collection, less scaffolding, and repurposing the under-used space along the East River into a waterfront park.

What makes you the best candidate for this position?

I have the most experience in local government and neighborhood politics here on the East Side, and have put together the most detailed policy prescriptions for what’s troubling our city and neighborhood. Between my work on housing policy and my time engaging voters with the local Democratic Party, I know how to navigate city government to get results for the community.

Background and qualifications:

I have more than a decade of experience as a data and policy specialist with the State government, currently serving as the assistant director for policy and program analysis with the State housing department. I was elected Democratic Party District Leader for the East Side in 2017 and spent six years working to engage voters at the grassroots level and reform our local politics, which had become unresponsive to voters’ concerns. You can read more about me at voteben.nyc.

Lukas Florczak

Why are you running for City Council?

— Being a veteran pushed me into running for local office. No veteran has been in the Council in ten years and I felt an obligation to run in order to better help the 250,000 veterans that call New York City home. I’m also running to be a fresh choice for constituents who feel the kinds of candidates tend to be the same year after year. I see things differently. My creative background has not only made me a methodical thinker but someone who looks at issues in a fresh, critical way. My experience in the Marines taught me what it means to represent something bigger than any one individual; to be the embodiment of something more than myself. The ideals of honor, courage, and commitment are qualities I strive to embody daily.

What are the top three things you aim to accomplish if elected?

I will strive to be an ally in office for veterans, providing additional resources to current city organizations, and aiding with coordination between these organizations and local government veterans of the city will surely see an improvement in many facets of life.

Additionally, while crime since the pandemic is declining, there’s always work to be done. I will emphasize police accountability and improve coordination with the NYPD.

Lastly, I will push for stronger community engagement. An engaged community is a vibrant community. By providing outlets in the Arts and emphasizing education our district will become more engaged and flourish.

What makes you the best candidate for this position?

I’m the candidate with personal experience in more than one issue. As the only CUNY graduate in the race, I’d be a valuable asset to the Council in its efforts to reform a higher education system that has the potential to be one of the greatest in the country.

For a city that funds a department for veterans, having at least one in a position of authority to help is critical to a group of people that largely go unseen. This means assistance for the homeless, access to affordable housing, support for medical and mental health issues. Veterans face these issues, as all New Yorkers do.

Background and qualifications:

While I didn’t grow up in New York, I have the same kind of love for this city as any native born New Yorker. I’m a graduate of City College and I’ve led Marines, and have first-hand knowledge in the value the Arts can have in regards to education and strengthening community. When it comes to the rights and safety of New Yorkers, I’m the only candidate who’s previously sworn an oath to protect and defend our Constitution. I’m eager to continue that oath for New Yorkers in District 4.