Kenny Lever’s Priorities for Brooklyn

Kenny is against street changes that make life harder and commutes longer for longtime residents, especially seniors, working families, and people with disabilities. The city's recent redesigns - including lost parking, confusing traffic patterns, and an over-prioritization of CitiBike and rideshare services - have been happening without any real input from the people who live here.

Full community review of all street redesigns, Accessible curb space for seniors, families, and small business deliveries, Safer streets without pushing out car owners or working drivers

A balanced approach that works for transit riders, drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike

Kenny believes streets should serve the people - not corporations looking to make a buck at our expense

Kenny knows what it means to grow up in Brooklyn and fight to stay in the neighborhood you love. He’ll push for truly affordable housing, defend rent-stabilized tenants, and stop the unchecked luxury development that’s pricing families out. Kenny supports policies that keep long-time residents in their homes, not force them out.

The rise of Brooklyn should mean opportunity for everyone, not just developers. Kenny is committed to economic justice ensuring that job growth, new businesses, and public investments directly benefit the communities that built this borough. That means support for legacy small businesses, Black-owned businesses, and programs that help residents build wealth without leaving.

Kenny will work to reform the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) with stronger accountability, better support for families, and improved outcomes for kids. Beyond foster youth housing and education, he is committed to creating job training and workforce development programs that help young people and families connected to ACS build stable, independent futures.

Kenny believes that transparency and community involvement start with clear communication. He will push for city council members and community boards to provide public notice of all upcoming meetings and agenda items, not only through public postings but also via accessible channels like email and text messaging, so every resident has a real chance to participate and be heard in decisions impacting the community. Also would make sure that NYCHA and HRA residents  have a seat on the community boards, their voices will be heard.

Kenny is a proud TWU 100 union worker and former 456 Teamster. He’s a life long working man who will always support the rights of workers to organize, bargain, and be treated with dignity. He’ll push for City contracts that prioritize union labor, fair wages, and real protections for gig and freelance workers. When workers stand up, Kenny stands with them. He will fight to vigorously to change Tier 6 in New York.

Brooklyn deserves reliable, accessible, and affordable public transportation. Kenny opposes congestion pricing and believes in real investment in the MTA, especially for outer-borough residents who rely on subways and buses daily. That includes fighting service cuts, improving station access, and making sure transportation policy serves the people who live here.

CitiBikes on Sidewalks Only Where Safely Accommodated

Kenny stands for smart, community-friendly transportation policies. He insists that CitiBikes should only be allowed on sidewalks wide enough to safely accommodate them and never in the street where they interfere with car and pedestrian traffic. Streets and sidewalks must work for residents first, not just bike-share companies.

Kenny is committed to improving safety at NYCHA and HRA properties by increasing investment in security measures and community programs. He will also champion job training and employment initiatives targeted at public housing residents, helping to create economic opportunity and safer, stronger communities from within.

Kenny will fight for stronger protections against deed theft, which has robbed too many longtime homeowners - especially Black and Brown seniors - of the homes they worked their whole lives to keep. He supports increased enforcement, legal aid funding, and public education campaigns so no one is tricked out of their property.

Kenny believes housing should be for living, not for profit. But right now, corporate landlords, LLCs, and private equity firms are buying up homes across Brooklyn, driving up prices and leaving many units empty. These investors treat housing like a stock market — holding properties just to flip them or sit on them while values rise — while working families struggle to stay in the neighborhoods they’ve called home for generations. Kenny supports a vacancy tax on landlords who keep units empty, a ban on bulk buying by hedge funds, and stronger laws to reveal who really owns what. He’ll fight to keep housing local, support community land trusts, and protect Brooklyn homes from being turned into commodities.

NYC’s tax lien sale program sells off people’s debt to private investors, who then charge sky-high fees or foreclose. Kenny wants to end this program for good and replace it with a system that helps people stay in their homes - not lose them over a missed payment.

Kenny knows that every closed diner, dry cleaner, and hardware store is more than just a business lost - it’s a piece of the community erased. It’s time City Hall backed the people who built this city - not the people trying to flip it. New York City was built by the working and middle class, not luxury developers or tech billionaires. But today, the very people who made this city great are being priced out, fined out, and pushed out. Kenny believes we need to support mom-and-pop businesses, not crush them with endless fees, fines, and red tape. He’ll fight to lower startup costs and reduce unnecessary licensing fees for working-class entrepreneurs, provide grants and legal help to legacy and minority-owned businesses, and preserve commercial spaces for local shops, not just big chains and banks.

Property taxes have gone up for the working class while luxury developers get breaks. Kenny supports reforming the property tax system to bring relief to longtime homeowners and small landlords, not billion-dollar real estate firms. It’s time the tax system stopped rewarding speculation.

Kenny believes residents, not developers, should shape the future of Brooklyn. He supports Community Land Trusts, real public hearings, and legislation that gives more power to neighborhood voices when it comes to zoning and development.

Kenny stands against rezonings like the proposed Atlantic Ave plan that would bring luxury towers and more displacement, not affordability. He’ll fight for neighborhood plans made by the neighborhood, not real estate insiders.

From playgrounds to parks to public parking, too many shared spaces are being leased or privatized without real community input. Kenny will push back on the giveaway of public land and make sure decisions about city property are made transparently and locally.

Kenny will champion protections for seniors, retired homeowners, and longtime renters, including tax freezes, legal aid, and repair assistance, so they aren’t priced out or pushed out in the final chapters of their lives.

Kenny is committed to being the most accessible councilmember in New York City. He’ll hold regular, in-person and virtual town halls in every neighborhood in the district, post consistent updates and explainer videos on YouTube and social media, and maintain open lines of communication through email, text, and phone. He’s not just listening—he’s bringing your voices to City Hall where they belong.