State Senator Zellnor Myrie and Michael Blake were the only candidates to show up for the New Yorkers for Reparations mayoral forum this past May 15.
The New Yorkers for Reparations coalition, a local group of more than 100 people, had invited the city’s mayoral candidates to an event titled “Making Equality Real for Black New Yorkers: A Mayoral Forum on Reparations, Healing, and Building Prosperity,” held at Manhattan’s Fourth Universalist Society church. The candidates were asked to present their stance on the issue of reparations for people of African descent.
Most of the people in attendance were advocates of reparations and wanted to hear how seriously the mayoral contenders were taking the issue. “When candidates speak in support of reparations, it actually increases their support among many voters across race, across boroughs, across age,” one of the coalition members said in opening up the forum at the mic. “That means New Yorkers aren’t afraid of the word ‘reparations.’ They’re hungry for leadership with the courage to say it and mean it, and that’s why we’re here tonight, because we’re not just looking for platitudes. We’re looking for partners; for visionaries; for mayors who understand that housing policy, education equity, land access, public memory, and wealth redistribution are all part of a reparations agenda.”
Initially, only three candidates confirmed they would attend the event: Zellnor Myrie, Michael Blake, and Dr. Selma Bartholomew. On the date of the event, only Blake and Myrie actually showed up.
“I have an economic justice agenda and what we’re saying in the core is to repair economic injustice,” Blake said. “That’s why we’re saying reparations have to happen. It is impossible in a $115 billion budget that we cannot find the money for reparations.”
Blake, a former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and who worked in former President Barack Obama’s administration, said he takes inspiration from the reparations program instituted in Evanston, Ill., where reparations funds are distributed to members of the city’s Black community if they can prove their family has been affected by the city’s decades-long discriminatory housing practices. With the high cost of housing and childcare in New York, Blake suggested this could also be a method to move reparations forward in New York City.
“Maybe if we didn’t spend $1.4 billion on NYPD overtime, we could find the money, right? Maybe if we actually implemented a vacant apartment tax, we can bring in $400 million — we would have the money. Maybe if we reclaimed back the $2 billion of unclaimed fees and fines, we would have the money. I’m making the point that we have the money. It’s about priorities and it’s about a city government that has not actually tried to help Black and Brown people, that they’ve made a decision that they will only come to you for your votes … I’ve said very clearly that economic justice has to be at the forefront, and reparations is part of that.”
Myrie arrived at the forum as it was nearing its end, so he only had a few minutes to present his position. He spoke about his support for New York State’s Reparations Commission legislation as a state legislator and his efforts to fund and extend the deadline for the Reparations Commission task force. “[In] this year’s budget, the deadline for that first report has been extended, but also with a $3 million allocation so that they can do the work that I think is necessary,” he said.
Myrie also talked about having set out a “Black Agenda that says we’ve got to provide and put the money where our mouth is to ensure our young entrepreneurs, our people who are trying to get houses for the first time, our young people in need of serious mental health [services], that they would have direct access to that and the city would play a pivotal role in providing that.”
Other candidates who did not show up in person sent statements. NYC Comptroller Brad Lander sent in a video that showed him promising to implement the recommendations of the Reparations Commission and working to close the racial wealth gap.
Zohran Mamdani said he had also supported the Reparations Commission and promised that as mayor, he would champion the progressive goals set out in the Get Free pledge. “As mayor, I will lead with my core belief that our liberation is bound together; redressing slavery’s harms — past to present, is necessary to achieving freedom and equality for Black New Yorkers, and for us all. I look forward to #MakingEqualityReal with you,” Mamdani said.
According to a recent poll, conducted by New Yorkers for Reparations and the group Liberation Ventures, 77% of Black New Yorkers, 41% of white New Yorkers, and high rates of Asian and Latino New Yorkers express support for reparations.