By Carlina Rivera
Local elections are some of the most important, and on June 27th I hope to have your vote to continue my last term as your effective and progressive City Council Member. I am Carlina Rivera, a lifelong New Yorker, a daughter of our district – I went to school on Washington Place, would shoot hoops at the Cage, and grew up in the playgrounds of the East and West Village. I met my husband while serving on my community board, and he and I recently welcomed our baby boy as one of the district’s newest residents.

Serving constituents for the past five years in the Council has allowed me to take my passion and pragmatism to be one of our city’s most productive representatives in office – including wins around housing rights, small business support, education equity, public safety improvement, and sanitation services increases. Through my tenure, my team and I have worked tirelessly to resolve thousands of constituent cases involving landlord-tenant issues and making our streets safer and cleaner. And I hope to bring the skills, ideas and partnerships I have cultivated to serve every household of the new District 2 at a time when it is so important to have experienced and effective representation.
It’s been an honor to represent Lower Manhattan and I want to continue the fight for better quality of life for everyone. In my time in the Council, I have secured funding for our libraries, our schools and our Mitchell-Lama residents and NYCHA families, as well as to make our parks more resilient and safer, to plant thousands of street trees and to protect our arts and culture institutions. My work to ensure access to reproductive freedom was lauded by the White House, and I know our most urgent work is needed here at home in our communities. In my tenure, I’ve worked to bring more outreach to people experiencing homelessness and mental health crises. I’ve advocated and won fights for more healthcare transparency, expanded the number of supermarkets and greenmarkets in my district, supported our tireless retirees in their fight to retain their benefits, implemented an improvement program to clean up Tompkins Square Park, and have written and co-sponsored legislation to address noise and sirens, scaffolding standards, and criminal legal reform.
I govern in collaboration, and I am grateful to the coalition of support that has rallied behind my campaign. My supporters include Congressmember Jerry Nadler, Congressmember Dan Goldman, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, Council Member Erik Bottcher and labor unions representing nurses, teachers, carpenters, engineers, as well as advocacy groups organizing for animal rights, environmental justice and disability equity.
My entire career has been dedicated to uplifting our neighbors and ensuring every voice is heard. I hope to continue being that strong and compassionate voice for you in City Hall.
Carlina Rivera is a Democrat running for City Council District 2, which includes Greenwich Village, NoHo, Union Square, Flatiron, East Village, Lower East Side, Gramercy, Rose Hill and Kips Bay. Primary June 27, Early Voting June 17 – 24