Another primary election season is upon us!
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez’s announcement last year that she would not seek reelection set off a scramble for power as a handful of challengers look to replace her in New York’s 7th congressional district.
We’re interviewing four of those contenders—Vichal Kumar, Antonio Reynoso, Claire Valdez, and Julie Won. All four are running as progressive candidates. We recently spoke to Julie Won, City Council Member for District 26.
As a reminder, Greenpointers does not take money for political ads from any candidate, ensuring our independent coverage.
Read our most recent interview, with Valdez here.
The primary election is June 23.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Tell us about you, and your relationship to this district.
My name is Julie Won, and I’m currently a third-term city council member, and even though I represent Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, and Astoria, like many of us, we go back and forth through all the boroughs, especially between Brooklyn and Queens. I spend a lot of time in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, especially with my kids at the local parks.
And as a council member, I spent the last three terms focused primarily on housing. We have built and approved 32,000 units of housing, as well as opened up shelters for over 10,000 people so that people have a roof over their head as they transition into permanent housing, as well as investing in our schools and local parks. We have now invested in over 13 acres of new green space, and we’ve also invested in 6,000 new school seats, over 200 3K and Pre-K seats. We’ve just been able to accomplish a lot in a short period of time, and I credit that to having a really strong team, as well as my background in the private sector; I worked in tech as a consultant for 10 years before I pivoted to politics, and if it weren’t for my own lived experiences as an immigrant and as a mother, I think my priorities would have been very different.
I primarily came into government to make sure that low income students—especially in my public housing, because I have the largest public housing in the entire country: Queensbridge houses, right here in Long Island City—have free internet and cable TV during the pandemic, and within six months of being elected, I got free internet and cable TV for all my public housing residents in my district through the Big Apple Connect program, and now citywide, that program is available for all public housing residents, so now everyone living in a public housing unit in New York City has free internet and cable TV.
What are some of your proudest accomplishments on the job?
I’ll say, first and foremost, it’s free Wi-Fi and cable TV for my public housing residents, because that’s why I ran for office. I won against 21 candidates and delivered it within six months. Now 330,000 NYCHA residents citywide have saved about $1,700 per year, which is a lot for those who are living on low income or public benefits.
In addition to that, we passed OneLIC. That’s the largest rezoning in New York City in the last 25 years, and that project had failed four times before us over the last 30 years, and it passed unanimously, which now through that single project will build over 15,000 homes, which 4,300 of them will be permanently affordable and over $2 billion secured to make sure that our district is well-funded from sewage and plumbing, to our waterfront resiliency, our parks, our schools, our public transit, as well as our sanitation and so much more. We’ve also passed 14 bills, half of which were focused on rooting out corruption and having accountability, because as chair of Committee on Contracts, what I witnessed the last four years under Eric Adams was atrocious when it comes to contracts corruption and our taxpayer dollars that are being misspent to line the pockets of their friends.
Obviously affordability is really at the forefront of this election and this district, which some have dubbed the “Commie Corridor” due to its support of progressive politicians. What does your vision of affordability look like for this district?
Our main platform for this congressional race is called A Lifetime of Care, and what that simply means is that from the moment that you’re born until the day that you die that the government should have your back when you’re the most vulnerable. So that means that when you’re too young to work, too sick to work or too old to work, then that is when those safety nets are extremely vital for survival.
So, we are focused on, from the day that you’re born and even when you’re in conception, prenatal and postpartum care because we see high rates of black maternal death, especially in the district, as well in our local hospitals, like Woodhull.
In addition to that, universal child care and universal health care and retirement with dignity, or universal retirement care, because all of those things are what helps us survive in this extremely expensive neighborhood, and that is very connected to our housing policy that I’ve been carrying out for the last three terms as well. Right now, 77% of NY-7 are renters just like me, and most of us who are under probably 45, I don’t even think we have an aspiration to own in this city at all. We’re going to continue to be renters because it’s just so out of reach, and it’s unattainable.
And what I think about is how along the waterfront, from Astoria to Long Island City to Greenpoint to Williamsburg, is that average rents are above $8,000 if you need a two bedroom. So if you have a family and you absolutely need a two bedroom, it is extremely expensive. You might as well have a mortgage somewhere in a big house in the suburbs. But as New Yorkers to the core, I am not leaving the city, and I want to live here and I want to be able to age here, which is why for us, our Lifetime of Care platform makes sure that we are using our taxpayer dollars for what matters the most—for us to have universal childcare, universal health care, retirement care, prenatal and postpartum care, so that at every stage of your life, we know that we’re spending our taxpayer dollars to help us survive and live a good and healthy life, instead of using them for bombs or for unnecessary spending like ICE to terrorize neighbors who are simply just trying to live their life as well.
One of the more hot button issues lately in Greenpoint and Williamsburg has been the Monitor Point project. It’s a city government issue, not necessarily a federal one, but still curious to get your thoughts on the project and whether that would be something that you’d support.
Last week, I was the only candidate for NY-7 that was present at the public hearing for Monitor Point, and I heard from neighbors from across the district and across the city on their perspective on this project.
As I’ve shown in my last years in office is that, first and foremost, what I care about the most is hearing directly from our community neighbors on their feedback on what they want to see improved or what they do not support, why they don’t support it or why they do support it. And that’s why I’ve sat there, listened, and also spoke to them afterwards. And I just want to make it clear that first and foremost, the current city council member, Lincoln Restler, I respect him deeply. We’ve worked together on other projects when it comes to land use because Greenpoint and Long Island City, as well as Williamsburg, are the fastest developing neighborhoods in all council districts. So we have worked closely together through very contentious rezonings, and I have my full faith in him that he will do a very good job representing his community, and I will have his back.
And for this project itself, I think we all agree that we need more affordable housing in the city. And we are going to continue to listen and as negotiations happen, I’ll continue to stay up to date. And I want to acknowledge that the concerns about it being a flood zone and having flood risk and environmental concerns are valid, and we should make sure that we’re listening.
I would like to see more funding from the state and the federal government to make sure that there is adequate resiliency in the waterfront. And we also want to see an opening and a connectivity of Bushwick Inlet Park because it is long overdue, and the same way that for over a decade we fought to make sure that Gantry Park and Hunter’s Point South Park is connected to Queensbridge Park, and we were finally able to achieve that last year through the One LIC neighborhood rezoning, I would want the same thing here in Greenpoint as well, to make sure that we’re really fighting for the opening, once and for all, without delays, for Bushwick Inlet Park to be opened, and that it is publicly accessible.
That project and so many others are in the shadow of the 2005 Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront rezoning, which irrevocably changed our neighborhood.
We have three Superfund sites, less open space access per capita than most neighborhoods in New York City, and a still unfinished Bushwick Inlet Park. How would you use this office to advocate for Greenpoint’s environmental needs?
I represent the other side of Newtown Creek, and this is one of the most polluted waterways in the country and has been designated a federal Superfund site. Once I become a congressmember, I would make sure that we fund to have that cleaned up and also to build out the public waterfront access, so that way people can enjoy having access to it.
I also led the council oversight on the 1.9 billion CSO sewer tunnel project that affects this community directly. So we want to make sure that we clean up the creek and across the district, if it’s moving too slowly, we want to have accountability.
For example, there’s a cement factory that’s constantly dumping into Newtown Creek. We want to fund the cleanups of this site, but also hold responsible parties accountable so that it’s not just coming out of taxpayer pockets, and push the [US Army] Corps of Engineers to rebuild the East River waterfront and fund projects like community air monitoring and Clean Water Act.
What I did for the last four years is we have taken an inventory of publicly-owned sites throughout the district and demanded and negotiated, and successfully, we are turning empty lots of city-owned land under the Queensborough Bridge and the BQE to over 10 acres of publicly owned space and waterfront esplanade.
So that’s what we want to do as well in the Brooklyn side: to make sure that Bushwick Inlet Park—it’s been promised for over 20 years—has finally finished and turned over to the public as a park.
But also we want to make sure that we have waterfront resiliency, that there are serious upgrades for sewage and plumbing infrastructure, as well as building a seawall to protect the Brooklyn waterfront and other resiliency measures, as well that most of it does get funding from the feds.
And what we saw is that a lot of the federal funding for resiliency went to lower Manhattan, yet the outer boroughs really saw a lack of investment. So I would champion that as a Congress member to make sure that we are fighting for it and making sure that we continue to do an inventory of publicly owned sites in the district to make sure that we’re fighting for even more open green space to be had.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen so many small business closures. How can we better help small businesses?
There’s a lot more that we have to do. And right now we’re hearing a lot about not just the rent rising for commercial spaces, but also property taxes. And the property taxes that continue to go up, especially in areas like Greenpoint, all of those costs get pushed down to the renters or the leaseholders and small businesses. And it’s really squeezing them. And what we also saw along the Greenpoint waterfront is abrupt evictions. And I think people have different opinions about what qualifies as an eviction but to me, I think about businesses like Stuart Cinema & Cafe. That is a hallmark of our community, and they were pushed to close even after a significant investment to upgrade their theater. So it’s really heartbreaking when that happens, but we were able to find them a new location in Long Island City/Astoria. So we’re really happy to bring them over to the Queens side. And we want to continue to see it thrive and grow. But it’s always heartbreaking when you don’t have enough notice from the landlord of the land being turned over for development, and not a lot of regard for what the community really wants.
So that goes into saying that as a congressmember, I would focus on financing and loans for our businesses at low interest rates because right now, interest rates are just so incredibly high, and as costs just continue to go up with inflation and tariffs, a lot of businesses are struggling to stay afloat. And in addition to that, I think other ways that we can be creative are specialized tech grants to make sure that small businesses have access to set up their own e-commerce shops, as well as learning how to use AI for administrative tasks that they just simply don’t have time for, because they may be a one-man band, or they only have three people on staff, and they really have to be focused on tending to their customers, and also for government contracts.
What I did during COVID-19 during the pandemic when a lot of our restaurants were forced to close is we were able to apply for requests for proposals for our city contracts to allow them to get funding for delivering meals to hospitals for frontline workers. And in turn, the small mom-and-pop shop restaurants got government funding to prepare these meals and at the same time we were able to feed our frontline workers, our nurses and doctors and administrators, to thank them for taking care of us during COVID.
So that’s what I would look to do to make sure that a lot of small businesses, even if they don’t have language access—because a lot of the requests for proposals may come only in English— that we’re working with our teams and the government agencies to make sure that all small mom-and-pop shops can compete.
And I’ve even passed a bill in my first term to make sure that we were looking at the insurances that were required by city agencies to standardize them so that it’s easier for small mom-and-pop shops to compete.
What is a local business closure that really bummed you out, and what’s a new opening in the district that has you excited?
Stuart Cinema and Cafe, where my husband and I used to go on dates early on when we were dating before we got married.
What I’m really excited about, it’s not exactly new, but my favorite shop of all time in Greenpoint is The WonderMart (141 India St.). I know a lot of people know Perri because she does all of the things for all small businesses along Greenpoint. But there’s just something about it where there’s something for everyone. My kids love going there because they have a children’s section. I love going there because they have everything, all kinds of trinkets that I can find. And I especially love, which is really rare in all of New York City, is that the Wonder Mart isn’t just knickknacks from other countries at low cost, but they are specially-sourced all by local artisans and merchants across the state of New York. So everything is very unique, handmade, almost feels bespoke, made for me. So I love The WonderMart.
As sad as I am about Stuart Cinema closing, we’re also super excited to have brought them to Long Island City, and we welcome them with open arms. I’m excited for them.
Anything else you want readers to know?
I am currently the only immigrant in the race. I came to this country in 1998 with my family, and I have become naturalized, which means that I personally know the cost of what it’s like to become a US citizen and what that fight is like to become recognized in this country and to really earn your right to vote. And I take it extremely seriously.
And that is why I have also opened up the highest amount of migrant shelters, enrolled the highest amount of students into my local schools, and also started the first ever domestic workers co-op so that migrant women can work legally and pay taxes for the state of New York, sign them up for individual tax ID numbers, and as a co-owner of a co-op, those women also had a pathway to citizenship through an entrepreneurship visa. So that allowed a lot of these women to—within six to eight months—become socioeconomically independent. And they were able to move on from the shelter system because they can work legally as nannies, housekeepers and home care workers.
And for the men, we expanded funding as a City Council to the day laborers co-op so that men can work in manual labor and construction work in the same path of paying taxes, legally to the state of New York for the work that they’re doing, and also be co-owners of their cooperative so they can apply for an entrepreneurship visa as well and have a pathway to legal citizenship.
And we are really excited and honored and proud that our district had the highest amount of neighbors who are trained in rapid response in the sight of ICE so that we can respond quickly and have safety pods all stood up that are organized to make sure that our neighbors are safe.
In addition to rapid response, I’ve set up the first ever free immigrant legal services in my council office to make sure that we have an immigration lawyer free and accessible to folks who walk in, in multiple languages.
We’ve also done Know Your Rights trainings online to keep people safe to make sure that our migrant neighbors and immigrant neighbors know what their rights are.
In addition to being an immigrant, I would say another differentiator for myself is my 10 years of tech experience before I came into this race. I focused on closing the digital divide to make sure that low-income New Yorkers had access to internet because I believe that it should be treated like a utility just like heat, hot water and electricity that every single New Yorker should have access to internet so they can apply to a job, receive government services, or go to school online.
And in that same vein, right now we’re on the cusp of the AI revolution, just like the Industrial Revolution, when a lot of our jobs went offshore for manufacturing. Right now, we’re seeing in the news week after week that hundreds of thousands of people are losing their jobs because of automations with AI. And what I’m currently working on as the first ever workforce development chair of the City of New York, we are looking at ways to make sure that we are upskilling workers to make sure that we are preparing for the age of AI on how we make sure that there’s a baseline of digital literacy for AI.
And in addition to that, I also hold a bill for consumer protection because I think when it comes to AI, there’s negative public sentiment because of two things. First and foremost is job loss and becoming obsolete and not having stability for our economy. And second, it’s also due to hallucinations or faulty actions of this AI platform that you may be relying on or you trust.
So in order to curtail that, what I’ve done is I’ve written a bill for consumer worker protections so that people don’t always have to sue to get their damages reimbursed to them, but they can just report it and instead they can just report it to the City of New York on a very simple form, and as we continue to aggregate that, we can figure out a baseline or a benchmark for a number of reports that come in from the public, and it could trigger an audit and an investigation of a given AI company to make sure that there’s accountability to any sort of harm that the AI may be causing in our consumers because of faulty AIs, which is hallucinations and AI slop.