top of page
shutterstock_785820205.jpg
20210313_170859(0).jpg
Tracey For Queens

Hello!, I am a 17 year resident of wonderfully diverse and vibrant Astoria. I believe that even though we all have different expressions through diverse backgrounds, cultures and experiences I believe that at our core most people (and other species too!) share the same common needs and desires:

 

  • A prosperous economic environment where we can provide a secure and comfortable living for ourselves and our family (without having to work ourselves to the bone.)

​

  • A humane, secure and beautiful environment for ourselves, our children and loved ones.

​

  • Time and energy outside of our work life to spend on the things we love and care about. (Work to live not live to work.)

​

  • A world class, comprehensive education to provide the foundation of a bright future for this and future generations.

​

  • Connection, civic pride and and a sense of belonging and community.

 

I am a natural problem solver and as your elected council member I would strive for these values and goals in the most creative, common sense, evidence-based and pragmatic way possible. Below are some of the example approaches I would take to making life even better in our district.

Convenient Queens

As part of making Queens a wonderful place to live and work, I would propose the creation of convenience services for residents to help make their daily lives easier and more enjoyable:

 

  • Easier parking options: Removal of street cleaning and other restrictions on designated streets and conversion to resident permit parking zones. This would reserve some parking areas for city residents making for easier parking and creating an additional revenue stream for the city.

 

  • Add-on cleaning services: For those residents and business who may not have the time to keep their street section clean, the city will give property owners the option to pay a nominal fee for the city to keep their street area clean and protect against sanitation tickets.

 

  • Add-on flowers and plants service: An optional service to maintain seasonal plants and flowers outside of a property. Beautifying neighborhoods and generating revenue at the same time!

 

  • A free resident portal where residents can raise concerns, vote for their preferences for council projects, see where their taxes are being spent and vote for those projects they view as priorities. An annual survey of residents’ concerns and priorities will be conducted to ensure the city council is addressing residents’ needs.

​

  • Residents will be able to designate a percentage of their taxes to specific areas which they want to support such as the arts, parks, education as per their personal preferences.

​

  • Improved digitization and streamlining of city services 

EdJJ6eRWsAA77Co.jpeg

 

Clean, beautiful and green Queens

  • Clean streets: Too many residents and businesses are not cleaning outside their properties, we need to improve enforcement which will improve street cleanliness and generate additional revenue for the city. We also need better trash cans in our parks to prevent garbage spillage.

 

  • The planting of a tree for every resident of the district: no more concrete jungle: make our streets more beautiful and natural, providing shade and enhanced air quality.

​

  • Cleanup our beautiful East River coast line.

 

  • We need to work with Con Edison to start burying the unsightly and unreliable power lines that Queens residents have to put up with.

​

  • Introduce more pedestrian zones for improved walkability and active commercial districts.

​

​

img_4098.jpg
Compassionate Queens
girlWithPiglet.jpg

NYC has a history of taking care of its human residents. I believe we should extend this strength to include our animal brothers and sisters. Animal agriculture hurts animals, the environment, our health and now it has plunged our world into a pandemic. We need to take steps to move away from all these negatives towards a happier, healthier, humane future:

​

  • Stronger animal protection laws for both companion animals and farm animals.

  • Humane education in schools, teaching compassion and respect for all human and animals and the benefits of plant-based living.

  • Funding for animal therapy programs 

  • Tax breaks and grants to support plant-based businesses.

  • Investment for research into meat alternatives.

  • Cultural grants earmarked for humane education facilities such as farm animal sanctuaries.

  • Economic incentives for business migration from animal based to plant based.

Affordable Queens

  • Home ownerships is a dream that outside the reach of too many residents. I believe we should further incentivize programs which allow residents to get onto the property ladder. Increasing programs such as rent to buy allow tenants to build apply their rent towards down payment, assisting with one of the biggest hurdles to home ownership.

 

  • Enhanced mobility to/from public housing: The average tenancy length in NY public housing is 19 years, more than double the national average for public housing. This produces a huge backlog of people waiting years for public housing. We should improve grants and financial assistance for people who want to transition out of public housing but who lack the means and support to be able to do so.  

 

  • Public housing residents who are waiting for repairs should be given the option to obtain their own repairs for needed fixes and deduct costs from their rent payments.

 

  • Property tax relief for small landlords. The eviction moratorium was needed but it has placed a large burden on some landlords. The city should bear some of this and provide property tax relief to mom and pop landlords who have been impacted.

nycha.jpg
bottom of page