Meet Brian Robinson
Photo Courtesy of Brian Robinson
New York’s neighborhoods are so vastly different from each other, and recently you’ve been campaigning in many of them! What are New Yorkers saying on the streets when you tell them you are running for Jerry Nadler’s office?
Funny enough, most people seem to know who Jerry Nadler is, however they are not aware that he is their actual congressman, and even funnier nobody knows if he is still in office or not. I take this as a bad sign for functional and representative government.
It’s been interesting talking to people in so many diverse neighborhoods and realizing how much all New Yorkers have in common, especially when it comes to public safety and the general uneasiness people now feel while out in the streets.
Whenever I end up meeting people I consider progressives and talk about the disorder and rising crime, it puzzles me that they find guilt in admitting they don’t feel safe when out in public. Nobody should feel guilty about this, just like we shouldn’t feel unsafe when out running errands and trying to live our lives. People are anxious over the rise of random acts of violence, which have unfortunately become normalized over the last 2.5 years.
No disrespect to Mr Nadler, he’s served Washington DC for three decades, however I just don’t believe he has our city’s current needs and best interest at heart. He has perhaps lost touch with the people, and the district clearly is suffering because of it. Jerry is noticeably silent with regards to the public safety crisis and surging violent crimes. Jerry was proudly vocal about reallocating police resources during a time when we saw burning cop cars in Union Square, City Hall completely covered in graffiti, and the entire retail district of Soho in ruins.
Without getting too deep into it, it’s time for change.
City Hall - July 25, 2020. Photo Courtesy of Brian Robinson
Tell us about the current state of NYC’s small businesses, the problems you see, and what would you change immediately if elected?
Even during normal times it’s really difficult to run a small business in NYC. But coming out of the pandemic, for businesses that somehow managed to survive, many of them are still teetering on the edge. Small businesses don’t want to rely on the government for emergency assistance, but between the loss of foot traffic, COVID regulations and declining public safety, the mom and pops businesses that make NYC so special are really suffering. If elected I would empower small businesses by lowering their federal taxes by 6% to promote growth and prosperity.
In a street where half of the stores have rolled down gates the neighborhood loses its character. You really lose the essence of that street or that neighborhood when you cripple small businesses leaving them empty for far too long. It's critical to reverse that.
Abandoned UWS theater -photo courtesy of Brian Robinson
You recently protested against both the new mega-jail and 4 proposed new homeless shelters in Chinatown. Why don’t you support them?
Skyscraper prisons in dense city neighborhoods just sound like a disaster waiting to happen. Imagine all of the things that can go wrong? First of all, they will be ultra-dependant on elevators, which are not easy to maintain in a prison setting. Have you ever read the horror stories about fires in Rikers Island? Well just in case you’re having trouble imagining who lights those fires, prisoners do. Take a moment to close your eyes and imagine a skyscraper on Centre Street engulfed in flames with the statue of liberty in the distance. It’s horrifying. The whole project is an enormous waste of taxpayer money, currently slated to be approved for $8.2 billion dollars for an idea that we have no case study for, no proven example in recorded history. It’s reckless and unfair to the people of Chinatown, to the small businesses that will surely be affected, and to everyone who has roots in this neighborhood.
NUBC mega-jail protest photo courtesy of Brian Robinson
As far as the homeless shelters go, Chinatown already has six, and has seen an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. An alarming amount has been committed by homeless people and recent prison releases. As you are probably aware, the city hasn't taken any meaningful measures to get this situation under control. Our homeless shelters are deeply mismanaged. Adding 4 new shelters without remedying the mismanagement is a dubious proposition that will only lead to more attacks and more suffering, while solving nothing. I love Chinatown and it needs to be protected.
The District you are running for encapsulates all of Fidi, what’s been going on there lately?
Since the beginning of COVID, Fidi has changed dramatically. We saw City Hall trashed by rioters and covered in graffiti for the first time in NYC’s history. One thing about this area is not only are the streets more narrow (forcing people closer to each other) but it’s also surrounded by water on 3 sides. Everything down there just feels tighter than other areas of New York. So obviously when they decided to fill large scale hotels with homeless people and turn a blind eye to public safety, things devolved quite rapidly. DHS placed level 3 sex offenders in homeless hotels near childrens schools and playgrounds despite promising not to.
There’s been frequent stories of stabbings and other violent crimes at the Wall Street subway station recently, and unfortunately crime always rises in the warmer months.
Fidi saw a sharp rise in crime that residents had never experienced before, and locals have every right to feel betrayed by our elected officials: city, state, and national. Fidi is the financial center for the nation. It must be restored to her former glory.
What’s the word on the street lately in Hell's Kitchen?
Hell's Kitchen is a proud and dynamic neighborhood. Small businesses took a hit, as they have in the other neighborhoods in my district, but there are signs of recovery, especially as you walk down 9th avenue and see the restaurants and bars surging back to life. So there are real positives there. On the other hand, I’m hearing first hand stories of members of the LGBT community being assaulted. Longtime residents recall the 1980’s and draw an interesting comparison. They say it was a bit dangerous then, lots of prostitutes but there was a flourishing art scene and people didn’t necessarily feel unsafe. One resident confided in me that THIS is different. There is an unease about living in HK these days, especially amongst the elderly population, who unfortunately make easy targets. So many mention the mismanagement, or just the mere existence, of too many shelters as a major factor in their sense of underlying apprehension.
Tell us more about fixing things from the federal level?
There needs to be Federal oversight of the non-profit state agencies tasked with housing the homeless. Standards and performance metrics must be developed. The city is handing out lucrative contracts in return for subpar, even nonexistent services. The mental health and homeless issue keeps getting worse despite an ever expanding budget devoid of accountability. Perhaps most critical to this oversight would be a mandate that those who seek shelter, who are also involved with the criminal justice system, be evaluated by a physician. We need to protect the 80% of the homeless population that is non-violent from the 20% that are potentially violent. When there is no distinction inside the shelters between those who are down on their luck, and those who are psychotic, diagnosable with antisocial personality disorder, or severely drug addicted, then we are failing to protect the homeless people of this city, not to mention the neighborhoods in which these shelters reside.
Additionally, as a Jewish guy, I’m particularly sensitive to the mammoth rise in violent hate crimes amongst people of Jewish faith and amongst Asian Americans (whose numbers have surged the highest recently). All hate crimes are awful, and we have to do a better job of protecting communities that are frequently targeted. For that reason, I’ll develop a grant that enhances both the categorization, and prevention of hate crimes. Bottom line, we need to re-engineer the illogical policies and toxic rhetoric that has led us down this path of senseless violence, no matter the type. If we address the violence head on, it will create a ripple effect of renewal for the people of NYC. The people will be less anxious, families will want to stay here, and small businesses will thrive again. But to do that, we need to galvanize the established New Yorkers with deep roots who typically ignore primaries because the city ran well for so long against the radicals' highly organized and well-funded political machine.
For more about Brian you can visit his website here, and follow him on twitter at @VoteBrian
