New York’s path is in our hands.
We’re recommending abundance champions running in the 2025 city primaries to help us a chart a brighter one.
The mayor, comptroller, borough presidents, and city council decide whether we’re going to build enough of everything we need to thrive—and dictate whether the gears of government run smoothly or grind to a halt.
So far, we’ve recommended 17 candidates up and down the ballot. Read more about them below, and check out our methodology to learn more about our process. Finally, fill out our interest form to get more involved in 2025 abundance campaigns!
Citywide and Borough-wide Races
Brad Lander, Mayor
If the current mayoralty has been defined by chaos and corruption, a Brad Lander administration would likely be a paradigm of competence and integrity. As Comptroller, Brad has spotlighted mismanagement that undermines delivery of city services. When congestion pricing was put on pause, Brad spearheaded the litigation to get the cameras turned on. His new plan to build 500,000 new homes aggressively identifies the scale of the problem. He should be ranked on any abundance-minded New Yorker’s mayoral ballot.
Zellnor Myrie, Mayor
State Senator Zellnor Myrie is infusing a much-needed abundance mindset into the mayor’s race. His plan to create and preserve one million units of housing truly meets the moment of our citywide housing shortage and affordability crisis, and he’s bringing a similar vision to childcare and economic opportunity. Zellnor is proactively redefining our politics away from outdated left vs. center paradigms towards a clear choice between small-bore, incremental change and big picture progress like the kind New York used to be capable of—a generational shift in ideas we are eager to uplift.
Mark Levine, Comptroller
Mark Levine has brought vision and passion to the office of Manhattan Borough President. He’s ensured that Community Boards are more reflective of the communities they are meant to represent, and he’s used his role to identify opportunities for more housing growth. As Comptroller, Mark will be able to bring his forward-thinking energy to citywide planning and play more of a role in ensuring city government delivers.
Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn Borough President
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso is one of the most abundance-aligned elected officials in New York, and we’re excited for him to have another term at Borough Hall. As a champion of City of Yes for Housing, comprehensive planning, congestion pricing, street redesign, and bold climate policy, Antonio exemplifies the kind of leadership New York needs.
Keith Powers, Manhattan Borough President
Keith is one of the City Council’s premier abundance champions even when it’s challenging in his district—fighting to build more housing, to shelter unhoused neighbors, to create dedicated busways, to make quality of life improvements to the streetscape, and more. We will be lucky to have him continue current Borough President Mark Levine’s work to lead Manhattan into a more vibrant, affordable future.
City Council Races
Jess Coleman, District 1
Jess, a lower Manhattan native and community leader, has a proven record of standing up to the status quo. Jess stands in sharp contrast to an incumbent who voted against legalizing desperately needed housing—the only Manhattanite to do so—and defends car hegemony. Winning this race would be the most significant step toward better governance that we can hope for this year.
Sarah Batchu, District 2
Five candidates are running to succeed Carlina Rivera, who has supported critical housing and resiliency action in the face of caustic opposition. We strongly recommend Sarah, the one most likely to represent the district with courage and vision. In addition to her City Hall and nonprofit executive experience, Sarah has advocated for City of Yes, congestion pricing, local small businesses, and more as Vice Chair of Community Board 3. We can’t afford to lose bold, forward-looking leadership in District 2, exactly why we need to elect Sarah.
Erik Bottcher, District 3
Erik Bottcher has been a powerful pro-housing voice even when it’s more politically expedient not to be. Erik steered City of Yes for Housing Opportunity to success while supporting more and better housing in the district. More broadly, he has led public education efforts to connect housing abundance, walkable neighborhoods, and the fight against climate change—transcending issue silos to build a bigger vision for New York.
Ben Wetzler, District 4
Ben is a housing policy expert with deep roots in District 4 and the only candidate in the race who has represented New Yorkers in elected office. He’s running on a platform of data-based policy solutions in a six-person field to replace term-limited abundance champion Keith Powers, and we can’t afford to downgrade our representation on the east side of Manhattan.
Shaun Abreu, District 7
We are excited to see Councilman Shaun Abreu continue to represent Upper Manhattan with innovative thinking. Shaun pushed to introduce trash containerization in New York, working to eliminate piles of garbage bags lining our streets and reduce rat sightings. Additionally, he is one of the council’s more pro-housing supply members, backed critical supportive housing in his district, and led on the Council’s fight to lower speed limits in partnership with Albany passing Sammy’s Law.
Pierina Sanchez, District 14
Pierina, a native Bronxite, leads the housing committee in the council, where she was instrumental in securing support for the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. She’s being challenged by her predecessor, who is anti-choice and anti-gay in addition to being anti-abundance.
Amanda Farías, District 18
Council Majority Leader and Bronx native Amanda Farias has been a passionate and effective legislator since her 2021 election. She helped secure passage of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity through coalition building and supporting Community Board education. And she shepherded the Metro North rezoning plan through the council, which will create 7,000 new homes, four new train stations, and 10,000 new jobs—exactly the kind of forward-thinking planning New York needs more of.
Shekar Krishnan, District 25
Councilman Shekar Krishnan has been a bold representative of his Queens district, taking on challenging political battles to push for a more equitable and innovative streetscape. He has championed the 34th Avenue open street and proposed reductions of onerous street vendor licensing rules. Shekar has also helped bring along fellow progressives into the fight for increased housing supply.
Lincoln Restler, District 33
Councilman Lincoln Restler has been a stalwart supporter of bold housing, public transit, street safety and climate initiatives in his district and in the council. An ambitious legislator, Lincoln has carried bills to make government work better, faster, and more transparently in service of climate and transit: accelerating bike lane implementation, enabling citizen reporting of blocked bike and bus lanes, and closing loopholes that exclude buildings from emissions reduction requirements.
Crystal Hudson, District 35
Crystal has been an extremely effective legislator in her first term, leading her Brooklyn district and her colleagues towards more openness to housing density, people-first streets, and transit investments. She is facing a challenge from a NIMBY opponent; her leadership in the council must be retained.
Chi Ossé, District 36
Advancing the abundance agenda requires both legislative leadership and thought leadership. Councilman Chi Ossé has provided both, but he excels in shaping public opinion. His “Why Shit Not Working” video series has educated millions about the government mechanisms—and political culture—that have made it too hard to build housing and transit in New York. He’s bringing abundance ideas to a new generation of New Yorkers while bringing a new generation of ideas to the City Council.
Shahana Hanif, District 39
Councilwoman Shahana Hanif is running for reelection in a hotly contested race, and we are proud to support her bid. Shahana approved the critical Arrow Linen rezoning, legalizing hundreds of new homes in the face of vociferous NIMBY opposition; led the fight to end parking mandates as part of City of Yes; and partnered with transit and safe streets advocates throughout her tenure. We are eager to see the councilwoman continue leading her constituents and the Council’s Progressive Caucus, which she co-chairs, towards a more abundant future.