Ben is Running to Represent the 4th Council District
Council District 4 covers a long swath of Manhattan's East Side. It encompasses many different neighborhoods, each with their own unique needs, priorities, and profile, and Ben has a personal connection to each of them. Read below to learn about his history in this district and his plans for its future.
Do you live in District 4?
Upper East Side
Carnegie Hill
Lenox Hill
Sutton Place
Ben grew up on the Upper East Side and served as Democratic Party District Leader here. As some of New York’s most historic neighborhoods, these communities present unique challenges in adapting to a changing world. Ben will work with the city to ensure the cost of meeting its ambitious energy efficiency goals are not borne entirely by homeowners, will support innovative infrastructure and improved enforcement to address the danger to pedestrians from cars, bikes, and scooters, and expand the number of zoned high school seats for the neighborhood.
Midtown
Kips Bay
Murray Hill
Tudor City
Midtown Manhattan is the center of the world, but it has undergone rapid changes in response to COVID, a new economy, and the housing crisis. Ben will get ahead of these trends with a proactive plan to transform Midtown into a true mixed-use neighborhood. On the East Side, he will build a network of pedestrian-friendly open streets connecting St. Vartan Park to the East River and complete the East River Greenway. On the West Side, he will facilitate the conversion of office buildings into housing while adding new public green space, making the neighborhood safer, more vibrant, and truly “24/7.”
Stuyvesant Town
Peter Cooper Village
Waterside Plaza
Ben and his partner live in Stuyvesant Town and hope to stay here forever. To protect his family and neighbors from skyrocketing housing costs, Ben will fight to preserve rent stabilization for all STPCV residents and to replace any CUNY student housing displaced by the new Kips Bay science park. He will transform the waterfront areas beneath the FDR viaduct into community space with seating, lighting, and public art; will take a holistic approach to flood management to protect Waterside Plaza from stormwater runoff; and will improve traffic and pedestrian safety along First Avenue.