ISSUES

Stephanie Ruskay talking to a constituent in front of Symphone Space
Stephanei Ruskay sitting with a constituent

Housing

We are in the midst of a housing crisis and there simply is not enough housing to meet the needs of New Yorkers. With a vacancy rate of just 1.22%, we must build more housing to solve this problem. More housing means lower housing costs for everyone. When housing is unaffordable, our institutions crumble. Our neighborhood, our borough, and our City need more housing so that people can afford to stay here. 

    1. Expand the affordable housing revolving loan fund.

    2. Double investment and unit count in the next statewide housing capital plan, to $10 billion over five years, to produce 200,000 units of affordable housing.

    3. Get AI out of housing. Forever. We have to ban AI-generated and AI-altered pictures of apartments, which take advantage of vulnerable populations.

    4. Increase funding for NYCHA to fill the gap left by the federal government, and serve as a fierce advocate for tenants in any development facing a RAD/PACT conversion, including demanding that all tenants continue to receive full Section 9 protections. 

    5. Create a civil right to counsel in eviction proceedings in New York state.  

    6. Strengthen tenant protections and stand up to investors who want to buy up housing and jack up the rent. 

    7. Protect rent stabilization through greater scrutiny of Major Capital Improvements (MCI) applications by landlords of rent stabilized units and enforcement of strong penalties for landlords who fail to maintain their building and obligations to tenants.

    8. Establish maximum rent of 30% of household income for older adults and people with disabilities in the SCRIE and DRIE program. 

Education

Every child deserves a high quality education. It’s our responsibility to ensure it is available and accessible. My boys have received outstanding educations at Booker T. Washington Middle School, the Center School, and now HSMSE and Essex Street Academy. As a working parent, I am familiar with the challenges of long school breaks, piecing together childcare after school hours, and packing nutritious lunches. I live in fear of the cost of a college education. These challenges impact quality of life for all parents and kids in our community.

    1. Increase Universal Pre-K seats in our community, as well as building out 3K.

    2. Continue to be a tireless advocate for public schools. Protect funding, including maximizing current revenue streams and finding new ones.

    3. Increase funding for SUNY and CUNY. Trump’s war on higher education has no place in New York State.

    4. Universal afterschool and summer programming slots through 8th grade. Working parents should have peace of mind knowing their children are safe, learning, and having fun. 

    5. Strengthening religious literacy education in schools, combating hate-based bullying, and supporting educators tasked with this critical work.

    6. Support nutritious school meal programs (breakfast, lunch, and after-school), increased funding for guidance counselors, social workers, paraprofessionals, and staff supporting students with IEPs and 504s.

Immigration

It is absolutely outrageous that we live in a time when people are being picked up off the streets by masked agents of the federal government. One of the chief reasons I’m running for Assembly is because I cannot sit by while our neighbors are disappeared. We must do more to stand up for immigrant communities under attack.

    1. The New York For All Act will protect New Yorkers from deportation by prohibiting local law enforcement from assisting ICE. I’ll advocate for the passage of New York For All from day one. .

    2. The MELT Act will restore accountability over masked vigilantes who work for federal agencies tasked with carrying out President Trump’s immigration agenda. The masks have to come off.

    3. Protect people from arrest within one thousand feet of sensitive locations, specifically schools, hospitals and houses of worship. 

    4. Guaranteeing access to representation for immigrants facing deportation through state grants to local organizations providing legal support.

    5. New Yorkers should be able to sue federal officials — including ICE agents — in state court for constitutional rights violations.

Health

There is a national and local shortage of doctors, nurses, physicians assistants and mental health professionals, and we have an insurance system that does not meet the needs of doctors or patients. The federal government is unwilling or incapable of fixing this broken system. Action must be taken in Albany to care for our neighbors.

    1. Healthcare is a human right, point blank period. I’ll sign on as a sponsor of the NY Health Act on day one.

    2. The NYC H+H system provides a vital safety net for New Yorkers. Robust funding for our public hospitals is essential for a healthier city, and for better health outcomes.

    3. Grow the stable of mental health professionals in New York State.

    4. Access to gender-affirming care is non-negotiable. Transgender Americans are our family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers. They deserve robust allies in state, local, and federal government. I pledge to be a champion for this marginalized community.

    5. Access to safe and affordable reproductive healthcare is paramount. Life-saving medication should always be available to those who need it.

Labor

I will be a strong, consistent supporter of building union power for working people to meet the moment. Unions contribute to the economic vitality of our city by creating high quality jobs that are essential to building communities and sustaining their families.

    1. Expand New York’s Paid Family Leave program. This is personal to me: I helped create my workplace’s first-in-its-industry paid parental leave policy.

    2. Protect teachers, nurses, frontline workers, and other public servants by delivering the retirement security they deserve.

    3. Support Career Pathways Training (CPT) in the state budget to recruit and train thousands of new health, mental health, and social care workers across New York.

    4. Support workplace organizing drives. The right to organize is not only sacred, it’s American.

    5. Enforce strong labor protections, ensure fair wages, and support the unions that protect our workers.

Public Safety

People cannot thrive if they don’t feel safe. As your Assemblymember, I will relentlessly advocate for an expansive vision of safety.

    1. Work hand-in-hand with local police precincts, the DA and other city and state agencies to address crime hotspots and chronic quality-of-life issues that can turn into public safety issues.

    2. Fight back against Antisemitism and Islamophobia. You can count on me to raise my voice loudly against acts of hate. Discrimination and prejudice cannot be tolerated in our classrooms, streets, or neighborhoods.

    3. Shutter illegal smoke shops selling unregulated products, and often operating hundreds of feet away from our schools.

    4. Close Rikers, once and for all. It’s a stain on our city’s history. Over 40 inmates have passed away in the last five years. We have a human rights nightmare in the East River.

    5. Require electric bikes to be registered with the DMV. Harmful delivery app algorithms need to be altered so drivers are not forced to take dangerous routes – for themselves and pederstrians – in order to deliver their orders in an unreasonably short timeframe.

    6. The dearth of fully accessible subway stations on the West Side is unacceptable. I’ll secure funding for these renovations and make sure our commitment to dignity for all New Yorkers is ironclad.

Affordability

Young families are being priced out of our communities. Seniors are struggling on fixed incomes. Every New Yorker is dealing with constantly increasing costs of groceries, child care, and medical debt. It doesn’t have to be like this.

    1. Increase funding for affordable early childcare and early childhood education, and expand access to afterschool options.

    2. Join the chorus of voices calling for a Manhattan Tenants Union. Countless tenants aren’t aware of their rights, especially with the advent of new Good Cause Eviction protections. They should be able to collectively organize against abusive or absentee landlords.

    3. Advocate for robust public transportation. This includes a busway on 110th Street, following the success of the 14th Street busway.

    4. Increase the production of affordable housing units, especially 2 and 3 bedroom units that young families need.

    5. Once and for all, END the punitive Commercial Rent Tax burdening small businesses south of 96th Street.