Kathryn Garcia held a fundraising event on Feb. 11 over Zoom with her campaign and David Gruber, a Baruch College professor of biology and environmental science

The race for the next New York City mayor is underway with many candidates. There are over 40 New Yorkers who filed campaign paperwork, each wanting to fill the vacancy that will be left by current Mayor Bill de Blasio. With so many candidates, each is trying to prove why they deserve New Yorkers’ votes.

With in-person campaigning limited by the COVID 19 pandemic, candidates have taken to the internet to get word out.

When asked about how to keep the CUNY system funded, Garcia stressed the importance of advocacy.

“When you think about what CUNY students need, one is you have to advocate at the state level, go to the governor, but also to our state legislators who represent us in the city of New York and
having a real fair strategy,” she said.

Garcia also added that she supports CUNY programs that assist students who are in need.

The other thing is we need to support those CUNY students who can’t afford like food or housing right now and ensure that not only are those students getting free tuition, but we are supporting them with what they need to be successful students,” she said.

When asked what he’s looking for in the next mayor, Gruber said that the city needs someone who can get work done while understanding the logistics of what it means to run a city.

“It’s a mixture of nuts and bolts of just running a city with keeping the future in mind; but when also thinking of the entire system. And we need someone with those type of skills,” he said.
“You understand what it takes to build things and the process… You have that forward vision.”

Focusing on her experiences in managing crises, Garcia announced her campaign in December with a series of videos.

“The next mayor is going to inherit a s— show, a deficit that is in the multiple billions of dollars worse than the 1970s,” she said in one video.

She was recently called upon during the pandemic to help out as “food Czar,” combating food insecurity by providing New Yorkers with millions of meals.

For eight years, Garcia worked as New York City Sanitation Commissioner for de Blasio. As the interim chair and CEO of the New York City Housing Authority, her efforts led the city to abate lead paint exposure in children.

She said she feels her management and crisis experience will help her accomplish the list of priorities outlined on her site and promote a greener future for the city.

“We have an obligation to our children and to future generations of New Yorkers to protect this city and to be a leader for the world in fighting climate change,” Garcia’s website reads.

Restoring the recently eliminated composting program she created is one of her environmental policies. Another is to reduce carbon emissions from residential and commercial heating and eliminate diesel by switching to electric vehicles.