Julie Menin (
)
Collin Thompson (
)
District 5 is located on Manhattan’s East Side, encompassing neighborhoods including parts of the Upper East Side (including Yorkville, Lenox Hill and Carnegie Hill), Roosevelt Island and parts of East Harlem and Midtown East. The district is currently represented by Council Member Julie Menin who is seeking reelection. [Answers supplied by candidates. Some have been lightly edited for space considerations.]
Julie Menin
Why are you running for City Council?
It’s been an honor to serve the 5th Council District representing the East Side of Manhattan and Roosevelt Island. Before my election, I served as a commissioner of 3 City agencies under 2 different mayors: I have been in public service for over two decades and know how to get things done! Our city faces a myriad of challenges including affordability, public safety, and quality of life and I have been working hard to deliver results for you. In my first 2 terms, I am proud that over 25 of my bills and resolutions have become law or adopted by the City Council. I passed legislation that requires hospitals to disclose their prices, codified reproductive rights, created a one stop shop portal for small businesses to consolidate all permits, and have set New York City on a path to be the first in the nation to have universal child care., I have delivered over $70 million dollars in discretionary funding which will bring significant upgrades to our parks, schools and infrastructure.
What are your top three issues?
Quality of Life and Affordability
Public Safety and Sanitation
Improving Public Schools and Early Childhood Education
What makes you the best candidate for this position?
We are in unprecedented and challenging times that require strong experienced leadership. I have served as Commissioner of three city agencies and successfully sued the Trump Administration on the citizenship census case, which we won at the United States Supreme Court.
We need to be utilizing every tool in our legal toolbox to push back against the Trump Administration’s draconian cuts to federal funding for vital social service programs in our City
Due to my extensive track record, I am honored to be endorsed by Planned Parenthood, the New York League of Conservation Voters, UFT, SEIU 32BJ, DC 37, Hotel Trades Council, Central Labor Council, Sanitation Union, RWDSU, LiUNA, the CWA, NYS Nurses Association. In addition, all the Democratic clubs that cover our district have endorsed me: the Lexington Democratic Club, Four Freedoms, Stonewall, and Jim Owles Democratic clubs.
Background and qualifications:
I currently serve as co-chair of the Council’s Women’s Caucus and as Chair of the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection. I most recently served as New York City’s Census Director and also served as Commissioner of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and as Commissioner of Media and Entertainment.
I have passed over 25 resolutions and bills of which I was the primary sponsor, including the Healthcare Accountability Act which will rein in excessive hospital prices and have codified the right to reproductive health services. At the same time, I have effectively addressed a full range of constituent issues: sanitation and rat-mitigation concerns, street safety, unlicensed smoke shops, robust capital funding for district parks and schools, access to low-cost internet for NYCHA residents, and more.
Collin Thompson
Why are you running for City Council?
Last fall, I read a front-page story in the New York Times that hit me hard: Only 1/3 of incoming NYC public high school freshmen are proficient in reading and math. I already knew the numbers weren’t great, but seeing them on the front page made them impossible to ignore.
Education is just one symptom of broader dysfunction. For the past decade, too many elected officials have taken their eye off the ball—cutting ribbons, chasing headlines, or focusing on issues better left to Washington, all while basic city services erode. City Council has become a political pit stop when it should be a place to roll up your sleeves and get things done.
I call my platform the Solid Six: Schools, Subways, Safety, Sanitation, Shelter, and Small Businesses. These six areas are the foundation and should be the focus of good New York City government.
What are the top three things you aim to accomplish if elected?
My priorities:
Effective government: NYC is $54.5 billion over budget on capital projects, with more than half delayed three years or more. In District 5, park and school improvements are years behind. I’ll modernize procurement and permitting, end wasteful no-bid contracts, and speed up timelines so we can deliver for communities without raising taxes.
Retooling city agencies: If services are slow, broken, or missing, the system needs fixing. We’ll reset the standard so city services are delivered on time and done right.
Accessible representation: City Council should feel like a neighbor. I’ll return calls, hold office hours, involve residents before key decisions, and show up across the district..
What makes you the best candidate for the job?
I’ve spent my entire career doing that work, as a teacher, principal, and strategic adviser to public school superintendents. I’ve led district-wide reform plans for public school systems, helping fix broken structures by listening to educators, families, and students and designing real solutions.
Background and Qualifications:
MS, Johns Hopkins University; BA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Experience: Principal, The Learning Center—Cayuga Centers— Harlem; Education Elements—Based in NYC, national scope strategic adviser to public school district superintendents; Atmosphere Academy Charter School—Bronx, history department instructional leader; Emblaze Academy Charter School—Bronx, history department chair, headed community engagement, government relations, and college prep; AmeriCorps—William Sheppard Public Middle School—San Jose, Calif., National Teaching Fellow; Positive Love—Arusha, Tanzania, co-founder of an empowerment and skills-training program for women living with HIV/AIDS.