Mark Levine is a NYC Council Member representing the Upper West Side, Harlem & Washington Heights and is running for Manhattan Borough President to succeed Gale Brewer who is term limited. Mr Levine was at the Roosevelt Island Farmers Market today

meeting and talking with residents about local issues.

I spoke with Mr. Levine at the Farmers Market about his ideas to #ImagineABetterManhattan and better Roosevelt Island including bringing a local bank branch to Roosevelt Island, making sure resident needs are prioritized by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) and working to insure that Cornell Tech gives back to the Roosevelt Island Community. Mr Levine spoke of his role as Chair of the NYC Council Health Committee fighting the Covid 19 pandemic too.

Here’s what Mr Levine had to say.

Learn more about Mr Levine’s campaign for Manhattan Borough President at his website.

Mr Levine’s opponents in the June 22 Democratic Party Primary are:

Roosevelt Island will have an early voting site from June 12 to 20 at the Sportspark facility (250 Main Street) for Manhattan Borough President and other June 22 NYC election day contests.

You may ask what exactly does a Borough President do? According to The City:

… A borough president is an advocate for their borough in a number of ways.

First, they have a sizable chunk of change at their disposal to fund local initiatives, groups and projects like buying technology for public schools, renovating local parks or spearheading community health outreach.

Borough presidents share about 5% of the city budget to fund things in their borough about $4 billion among them, according to the citys Campaign Finance Board.

Borough presidents can also introduce bills in the City Council, though they do not get a vote.
They weigh in on land use proposals in other words, development projects that need public approval with an advisory vote and written decision. Their input is not binding, but it can be quite influential if they are staunchly for or against a project and lobby Council members or the mayor.

Working with local City Council members, Borough presidents also appoint all members of community boards, the local bodies that weigh in on everything from new bike lanes to liquor licenses for restaurants. With that power, the borough presidents can exert significant sway over neighborhood-level politics and projects….

Click here for more from The City on NYC Borough Presidents.

And Gothamist has more on what the Borough President doe s.