Press Releases
NYU Furman Center to Co-Host First Televised 2021 New York City Mayoral Candidate Forum
March 5th 2021
Eight Democratic Primary Mayoral Candidates to Discuss Policy Platforms Related to New York City’s Growing Housing and Homelessness Crisis
Media Contacts
NYU Furman Center: Charles McNally, furmancenter@nyu.edu, 212-998-6713
New York Housing Conference: Brendan Cheney, brendan.cheney@thenyhc.org, 646-627-6262
Spectrum News NY1: Shari Culpepper, shari.culpepper@charter.com
New York, NY – NYU Furman Center, the New York Housing Conference with the United for Housing Coalition and Spectrum News NY1 will co-host the first televised New York City mayoral candidate forum of the 2021 campaign on March 11 at 7 PM on NY1. Moderated by Spectrum News NY1 Political Anchor Errol Louis, the 90-minute forum will bring together eight leading Democratic mayoral candidates to discuss policy platforms related to New York City’s worsening housing and homelessness crisis.
The participating candidates will include:*
- Eric Adams
- Shaun Donovan
- Kathryn Garcia
- Raymond McGuire
- Dianne Morales
- Scott Stringer
- Maya Wiley
- Andrew Yang
During the forum, candidates will address issues related to housing, including the affordable housing shortage; deteriorating conditions at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA); homelessness; the city’s recovery from COVID-19; zoning and land use; and the connecting issue of racial segregation. Additionally, New Yorkers will have an opportunity to submit questions for potential inclusion in the forum on Twitter using the hashtag #NY1MayoralForum.
Prior to the pandemic, nearly 80,000 New Yorkers experienced homelessness on any given night – a 59 percent increase since 2009 – and nearly one million households were considered rent-burdened (spending more than 30 percent of income on rent). The pandemic’s economic devastation and prolonged unemployment have accelerated this crisis, leaving more New Yorkers housing insecure.
Recognizing these challenges, the New York Housing Conference convened United for Housing, a coalition of more than 80 organizations with expertise in housing, community development, homelessness, criminal justice, healthcare, real estate, finance and other relevant fields to produce a blueprint for housing investment for New York City’s next mayor. United for Housing issued a report with detailed recommendations in December 2020.**
Spectrum News NY1 is available to Spectrum video customers on channel 1 and on the Spectrum News App available to all Spectrum residential customers, including internet-only. NY1 also is available on channels 8 and 98 on Altice systems.
*NYU Furman Center and the New York Housing Conference agreed upon the selection criteria, selecting candidates that have received at least 5% support according to the Public Policy Polling New York City results released December 21, 2020 and/or have raised at least $300,000 in campaign contributions as of the January 2021 filing with the NYC Campaign Finance Board.
**As an academic institution, the NYU Furman Center is not a member of the United for Housing Coalition, and takes no position on the policy recommendations in the United for Housing report.
About the New York Housing Conference
New York Housing Conference is a nonprofit affordable housing policy and advocacy organization supporting decent affordable housing for all New Yorkers. NYHC analyzes public policy, educates and convenes stakeholders and raises public awareness regarding New York’s need for affordable housing.
About the United for Housing Coalition
Convened by the New York Housing Conference, the United for Housing coalition recently released a groundbreaking new report with housing policy recommendations for New York’s next mayor. The coalition consists of more than 80 groups with expertise in a wide array of issues including housing, homelessness, community development, criminal justice, finance, real estate, health care, and more.
