Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Jo Anne Simonfor NY Assembly District 52
Candidate Name: Jo Anne Simon
Office Seeking Election for: NY Assembly District 52
Campaign Website: https://simonforbrooklyn.com/
1. Based upon your life experiences and accomplishments, why do you believe you are best qualified to represent your district?
I’ve been a teacher of deaf and deaf-blind children, a disability civil rights attorney, and a progressive Assemblymember passing major laws to improve the lives of New Yorkers. I’ve spent my career fighting for historically marginalized communities, and I bring both that drive and that expertise to my work in Albany and in the district.
I have lived in my district since 1981 and have witnessed the strong community ties that bind together the people living and working in the 52nd. While there has been tremendous change in the district, the heart of the district remains its people and their relationships to each other and to our environment.
I began my activism fighting for responsible and accountable government and continue to take an active role in local development, transit and transportation, environmental justice, and education issues. In 2003-2004, I coordinated 10 neighborhood and community-based organizations to respond to the Downtown Brooklyn Plan, a Community Statement of Needs that was unanimously agreed to by organizations which had historically bitterly disagreed.
As president of the Boerum Hill Association, I created the community planning effort that led to the Hoyt-Schermerhorn plan for 6.5 acres of parking lots to become housing, 37.5% of which was low-to-moderate-income, achieving a city-wide model for community-based planning. When the community is at the table from the onset, they don’t spend the next 10 years fighting amongst themselves.
I have fought tooth and nail to ensure that real affordable housing is delivered in local projects, such as Atlantic Yards.
I led the Gowanus Expressway Stakeholder Group and litigated against the state and federal governments to plan for an environmentally and fiscally just tunnel to replace the aging elevated Gowanus Expressway which has divided and polluted predominantly poor communities of color along the western Brooklyn corridor.
I fought against the closure of Long Island College Hospital, advocated for an environmentally sound rezoning of the Gowanus area, and fought to close Rikers Island and revamp the Brooklyn House of Detention, which is in my district. The new jail is huge and the builders have been problematic, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I believe my experience as a grassroots community leader has given me an uncommonly deep level of familiarity with my district and its people. My experience as Democratic State Committeewoman and District Leader gave me insights into the political workings of our communities and the borough of Brooklyn.
I pride myself on being one of the most accessible elected officials in office today: I am consistently out and about at community events and meetings and rallies; I hold regular meet and greets at local coffee shops where constituents can meet me and my staff and discuss any issue; and I have a storefront office and strong constituent services.
Lastly, I have been able to win critical legislative victories, including gun violence prevention laws, gender equity laws, the state’s first dyslexia law and leading in the creation of a State Literacy Action Plan, mental health reforms, campaign finance reform (closing the notorious LLC loophole) and environmental laws. In 2025, I passed a repeal of the 100-foot rule so that New York utility rate payers will no longer foot the bill when someone else adds a new gas hookup within 100 feet of a gas main. This is not only a major win for the climate, but for affordability as it will save New Yorkers $600 million a year; it also earned me NYLCV’s environmental champion award in the Assembly.
2. What LGBTQ+ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally?
I have long been an ally of the LGBTQ+ community. I am a member of Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, the Jim Owles Board of Governors, and have been a member of Stonewall Democrats over the years. In the early 1990s, I volunteered to draft wills for HIV positive clients of GMHC and won the first succession rights case in DHCR in 1992 for a man whose partner had died of AIDS, thus saving him from eviction.
I have worked with Gays Against Guns on their gun violence prevention efforts and participated in their actions, contributed to GMHC, HRC, and other LGBTQ+ groups. I met my husband at an event in support of an organization that provided meals to people living with AIDS. I am the proud supporter of a trans family member.
As a district leader, I worked to involve LGBTQ+ folks in Brooklyn’s Independent judicial screening process and campaigned for others to become judges.
I also host an older adult resource fair every year, and feature LGBTQ+ groups working in my district and the borough, including SAGE and GRIOT Circle. One of the panel speakers at the town hall portion of the fair was Paul Nagle, Executive Director of the Stonewall Community Development Corporation.
I have co-sponsored many LGBTQ+ supportive bills in the Assembly, including the ban on conversion therapy for minors, GENDA, repeal of the “walking while trans” ban and others. As chair of the Mental Health Committee, I have been working with the Trevor Project to ensure they will have the funds necessary to run the LGBTQ+ hotline and collaborate with 988.
3. What press conferences, demonstrations, rallies and protests in support of LGBTQ+ issues, pro-choice legislation, racial justice, criminal justice have you attended, including rallies specifically against Donald Trump and his policies?
Dozens, probably more! I have attended demonstrations, marches, rallies on all of these issues in Brooklyn, New York City, Washington D.C, Albany, and more.
4. In light of the Trump Administration’s war on women, the LGBTQ+ community, minorities and immigrants, what are your plans to organize and combat the Trump agenda?
I am involved with a group of legislators who are working together to advance bills that will protect immigrants and their rights. Some of these are the NY for All, MELT, RADAR, and Access to representation bills, as well as my bill to ban the use of tear gas and to enforce protections against wage theft which impacts immigrant workers (EmPIRE Worker Protection Act).
My office regularly provides folks with information on how to protect themselves and how to aid their immigrant neighbors, including through Know Your Rights Workshops and HANDS Off NYC and participating in various demonstrations and rallies.
I also am part of a group of legislators committed to raising revenue (IONY) and I hold several bills that would raise revenue, which will be critical for combatting cuts to essential services.
I’ve worked with colleagues to pass legislation to ensure the safe and caring delivery of reproductive healthcare to all who come to New York seeking it, and to protect people’s personal information who use such services. I am proud that New York moved quickly after the leak of the Dobbs decision to pass laws that protect those seeking care and those providing it whether in person or through telehealth.
I have demonstrated and rallied against Trump and his minions, including using my platform to call out the nation’s descent into authoritarianism, and will continue to do so.
5. Will you seek or accept endorsements from individuals who oppose LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights?
No. I will not nor have I ever sought or accepted endorsements from any individual or organization who opposes LGBTQ+ and/or reproductive rights.
6. Do you support the unrestricted right to reproductive care and abortion?
I wholeheartedly support the unrestricted right to reproductive care and abortion. I am strongly pro-choice without restriction, believe that abortion is health care and worked for several years (1979-1981) as an abortion counselor at a clinic in Washington, DC.
I co-sponsored the Reproductive Health Act, the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act, and the Boss Bill which prohibits discrimination against employees based on reproductive health choices, and our post-Dobbs bills to ensure that New York is a state where reproductive health care, including abortion is fully accessible. I have worked to raise funds for abortion fund organizations.
I am also working to pass a bill to expose fake “crisis pregnancy centers” including one in my district, and actively fought Trump’s gag rule on reproductive health care to change the Title X Family Planning Program and defund Planned Parenthood. The erosion of individual rights and liberties, including reproductive health care under the second Trump administration has been appalling and frighteningly swift.
7. Have you hosted, funded or otherwise supported Drag Story Hours in your community?
Yes, and I hope to be able to bring/support more to my district.
8. How will you work to enhance protections for immigrants and uphold New York’s role as a “Sanctuary City”?
I was an active co-sponsor of the green light bill and have supported the availability of driver’s licenses for persons who are not documented since former Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed it. I was also a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act. I have actively supported the Legal Aid Society and Arab American Family Support Center which supports immigrants with education, training and legal services including immigration support.
I am a prime co-sponsor of New York 4 All and other bills such as the MELT Act, the RaDAR Act, and the right to representation act. I sponsor a bill to ban the use of tear gas by law enforcement. I am also working hard to get NY to become a Housing First state. We are making progress, but not enough by far.
9. Do you support New York becoming a Transgender Sanctuary State?
Absolutely. I also am supporting JGR’s $8M push for gender affirming care in the budget. And I called out NYU’s recent closure of their trans youth care program, as I did last year when this possibility first came to light.
10. If elected, will you commit to supporting legislation that raises taxes on the richest New Yorkers and large corporations in order to fund the services and investments our communities need?
Yes, as I believe the richest should pay their fair share of taxes and I have been an active member of the Invest in Our New York working group, which is pushing for two bills that would enact these measures (and other revenue raising measures, as well).
I also carry a number of bills that would raise revenue, including the Stop Polluter Handouts bill (which ends $350M in tax credits for the fossil fuel industry), my Medicaid carve-out for behavioral health care bill which would save the state $400 million and cut out greedy health plans as the middleperson between patients and providers, and the EmPIRE Worker Protection Act (which raises revenue by stopping corporate wage theft). The repeal of the 100-foot rule - which was one of my bills last year that was just signed into law - will save New Yorkers $600 million annually on utility bills. The NY HEAT Act, which I also sponsor, would also reduce ratepayers’ costs - or at least stem the tide.
11. How will you represent the most vulnerable, including individuals experiencing homelessness and asylum seekers? Have you ever opposed any shelter in your district?
See above. In the last 6 or 7 years my district has become home to at least 6 more shelters. I have often held community forums to inform the community of incoming shelters, provide a platform to the shelter operator to meet with the community, and welcome the new neighbors. (Many years ago I opposed a shelter near the BQE that was obviously destined to become a death trap for safety reasons; the building has since been declared unusable and remains empty - as it should.)
12. Will you sponsor and support legislation which will ensure that state and local resources are not used to facilitate or cooperate with federal immigration enforcement (New York for All Act) to prevent the funneling of people into ICE custody, and the sharing of sensitive information with ICE?
Yes, and I am a prime co-sponsor of the bills currently before the Assembly.
13. To advance safety and justice, New York must address our archaic sentencing and parole laws. Do you support the following key legislation: 1) Second Look Act (S.158/A.1283), which would allow judges to review and reconsider excessive sentences by considering if incarcerated people have transformed while incarcerated or based on changes in law and norms; 2) Earned Time Act (S.342/A.1085), which would strengthen and expand “good time” and “merit time” programs in prison that encourage personal transformation and reunite families?; 3) Marvin Mayfield Act (S.1209/A.1297), which would eliminate mandatory minimum sentences, thereby allowing judges to consider individual factors in a case?; 4) Elder Parole (S.454/A.514), which would allow incarcerated people over age 55 who have served 15 years the opportunity to go before the parole board?
Yes, I co-sponsor all four key pieces of legislation.
14. Do you oppose the death penalty?
Yes, I oppose the death penalty as it is not a deterrent to people committing criminal acts. In addition, the death penalty is biased towards people of color and people living in poverty.
15. Do you support outlawing solitary confinement?
Yes, as it is inhumane, cruel, and unfairly administered. It does more harm than good. I am proud to have actively advocated for the passage of the HALT bill and have resisted any attempts to amend it.
16. Do you commit to visit constituents who are incarcerated? Will you work to secure the release of individuals who have demonstrated sincere remorse, worked toward rehabilitation and are not deemed a threat to society?
Yes. I will also work to secure the release of individuals who have rehabilitated themselves and have sent in letters of support for such constituents.
17. Do you commit to make applications for clemencies available to your constituency including a link to an application in a constituent newsletter? Will you submit it to our club?
Yes, I will.
18. Did you rank Andrew Cuomo on your Democratic primary ballot in 2025? Who did you support for mayor in the 2025 Democratic primary and general election?
I did not rank Cuomo at all as I did not think he was fit to serve. I did not endorse in the primary as I had too many buddies running. I was proud to endorse Mamdani in the general election. See my op-ed formally endorsing him here.
19. In view of the fact that Ed Koch has been documented to have caused the deaths of scores of people with AIDS, excused city council members who voted against the gay rights bill and was blatantly racist, would you support and sponsor a bill to rename the former Queensboro Bridge?
Yes.
20. What is your legislative remedy to secure the building of low and moderate-income housing around the state?
Among the causes for extensive delays in building new housing is HPD and difficulty securing financing. Comptroller Mark Lavine agreed with me on this at a recent budget hearing. I believe we have to move the powers that be to expand access to capital for not-for-profit housing developers who can build more reasonably (no profit margins to meet), sustainably, and more deeply and permanently affordable and in areas of the City where large private developers don’t want to build because those areas are less lucrative to build in.
The current practice of including a portion of marginally affordable housing in a luxury housing project is unsustainable and results too often in displacement of folks of color and those of little to moderate means. I have consistently stood up to greedy
mega-developers who ignored the needs of the community and sought to build luxury housing to pad their own pockets - we have to fight to ensure real affordable housing is included in local projects. I have fought tooth and nail to ensure that real affordable housing is delivered in many local projects, such as Atlantic Yards.
We need to closely monitor the efforts of developers to skirt the 485x tax credit by building developments with less than 99 units. There is currently discussion of this in the legislature.
Current efforts to reform SEQRA through the state budget will not make a big dent in NYC where the vast majority of new housing is as of right, but rather will likely make more of a difference in the suburbs and exurbs. The proposal can be stronger and I am working with colleagues to beef it up.
I support AM Gallagher’s efforts to expand social housing. Further, we achieved a great victory last year with $50M to create a statewide Housing Access Voucher program for tenants. I am working with my colleagues to expand the program to $250M.
While in office, I have fought for major protections for tenants, including the strongest rent control laws and tenant protections that the state legislature has ever passed in 2019, good cause eviction, and more.
We also must prevent evictions and protect people in existing housing. I’ve worked with my lower income neighbors facing eviction at 63 Tiffany Place who built their community, just as I’ve stood with older adults facing eviction from their residence at 1 Prospect Park West, and just as I’ve helped deliver supportive housing to prevent homelessness in the district and throughout Brooklyn.
21. Will you refuse donations from AIPAC, SolidarityPAC, police and corrections associations, the fossil fuel industry, and the charter school industry?
Yes, but they are not clamoring to donate to my campaign.
22. Do you support removing criminal penalties for consensual commercial sex work between adults? Also known as Cecilia's Act for Rights in the Sex Trades (S2513 Salazar / A3251 Forrest).
I support decriminalizing consensual commercial sex work. I have been a sponsor of the predecessor bill in the past; there are now two bills seeking to accomplish this, albeit in different ways. While neither model permits trafficking, it happens under our noses all the time; people being trafficked most often deny they are being trafficked because they are traumatized and they are in real physical danger. Accurately sorting between a person being trafficked and someone engaging in consensual sex work is hard to codify so that must be addressed.
23. There is an effort to have mandatory inclusion of the New York State proposal that would require public schools to teach about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, commonly described in the bill text as an “insurrection.” Do you support this proposal?
Yes, and I signed onto a budget letter stating the same.
24. What additional information would you like the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club to consider when we are making our endorsement decision?
In this political climate filled with so much hate and discrimination, it’s even more important to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, celebrate visibility, and fight bigotry as we continue to strive toward full equality. I have been in the trenches doing this work and supporting civil rights for decades and you know I will have your backs.
25. If you receive our endorsement, do you agree to identify the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club on all appropriate literature and electronic materials?
I most certainly would. I am so honored to have had your endorsement in previous campaigns, and I would be honored to have your support again.