Issues

Mark is fighting to make sure that local government is responsive to the needs and values of our community. He’s working to help:

Improve our schools

• Every child should have access to a quality after-school program in his or her school.
• Smaller class sizes are needed—especially in the early grades—to ensure that kids get the individual attention they need.
• Support for charter schools, parent-led academies, and innovative small schools.
• Greater school choice for families within the public school system.
• Parents need a greater voice in the decision-making of their schools, the local district, and the system as a whole. 

Preserve and expand affordable housing

• Repeal Urdstadt Law (which denies NYC the right to determine its own rent laws)
• Eliminate vacancy decontrol
• Expand the supply of affordable housing in NYC for low- and moderate-income residents - including preservation and extension of Mitchell-Lama housing
• Aggressive, abusive tactics of landlords seeking to force out low-income tenants must be stopped through stepped up enforcement of existing fair housing laws, and provision of free legal representation to tenants facing eviction.

Strengthen mass transit

• More openness and accountability at the MTA
  
• Fully fund the MTA's capital and operating budgets
  
• Better transit access for New Yorkers with disabilities.
  

Promote a street renaissance

• Create better designed bike lanes, more greenways and convenient and secure bicycle parking.
  
• Make the streets a great place for pedestrians and bicyclists through better traffic enforcement and creative use of street space. 

Defend women's reproductive rights

• Unfettered access to emergency contraception - including dispensing by pharmacists

Marriage equality and LGBT rights

• Freedom to marry for all citizens, including same-sex couples
  
• Support for Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), which will ensure that all New Yorkers are free from discrimination based on gender identity and expression in housing, employment and public accommodations.

Protecting our environment

• "Kill the Drill" - ban on gas drilling in NYC watershed
  
• Increase funding for renewable energy initiatives
  
• Incentivize "smart growth" planning
  
• Retrofit large buildings to be more energy-efficient
  
• Reduce noise in our neighborhoods by limiting car alarms

Improve public safety

• Strengthen gun safety laws - including requiring trigger locks and establishing a ballistics fingerprinting database for handguns

Reform healthcare

• Universal single-payer healthcare system in New York State

Fix Albany

• Non-partisan redistricting
• Campaign finance reform
• More open and transparent budget process
• Empower legislative committees to help shape legislation

Advance humane treatment of animals

• Require fire sprinklers in all pet stores and other facilities in which animals are held
• Enforce existing rules that require teaching a humane curriculum to students in the NYC public schools.