Dear PSC Members,
“What kind of city do we want New York to be? A city for the few, or a city for the many?” That’s the question asked by The Nation in a recent editorial. The editorial continues: “Only one candidate has offered a consistently compelling answer. That candidate is Bill de Blasio.”
New York City has a once-in-a generation opportunity to make a dramatic change in City government. The candidate for mayor endorsed by the PSC, Bill de Blasio, is now leading in the polls. There is a real chance that New York could have a progressive mayor whose defining commitment, The New York Times reported, is to address economic and educational inequality. The primary election, on September 10, is less than a month away.
I am asking you, even if you have not been active in electoral politics before, to become active now. Sign up here to spend an hour or two—or more—making phone calls to other PSC members or leafleting on your campus. Primary elections in New York City are often won by mere hundreds of votes; every vote counts.
De Blasio, alone among the Democratic candidates, understands the strategic importance of CUNY to the creation of an equitable urban economy. He pledges to increase City funding for CUNY by 50%—money redirected from tax incentives that currently go to real estate and big corporations. He proposes an additional tax on the highest incomes, with the funds redirected to create universal pre-Kindergarten and afterschool programs for middle school students. He is a longtime opponent of racial profiling in stop-and-frisk.
Political change comes from political movements, but the mayor of New York City has great power to define the agenda and shape public policy. With de Blasio ahead in the polls, we have a chance to elect a mayor who believes in an alternative to Bloomberg’s “gilded city where the wealthy prosper and millions upon millions struggle . . . every day to keep their heads above water,” as de Blasio has said.
The PSC has made it easy for you to volunteer: sign up here and pick a time to do phone-banking or leafleting with us. The union has also endorsed progressive candidates for the other two citywide offices, Scott Stringer and Letitia James. Read more about them and our other thoughtful endorsements here.
There is less than a month till the primary. Please join us in support of a new vision for CUNY and for New York. Another New York is possible.
In solidarity,
Barbara Bowen
President, PSC/CUNY
