Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Lindsey Boylan for City Council District 3
Candidate Name: Lindsey Boylan
Office Seeking Election for: New York City Council District 3
Campaign Website: https://lindseyfornyc.com/
1. Based upon your life experiences and accomplishments, why do you believe you are best qualified to represent your district?
I’ve spent my career fighting powerful institutions and standing up for everyday people. I grew up in a family that grappled with addiction, poverty, and the devastating impacts of inadequate mental health care. I saw loved ones criminalized and stripped of custody due to lack of access to support systems. And my mother left high school to raise my sister. That early exposure to systemic injustice instilled in me a commitment to community care and a belief that we must govern with compassion, not punishment. I know what it means to survive in this city, and what it means to be failed by it.
When I worked in state government, I believed proximity to power could be a force for change—even when working for people I disagreed with. But when I came forward as a whistleblower against Andrew Cuomo, I learned that real change comes from organizing, not proximity to power. It was the women with the most to lose, not the most powerful, who stood with me. That experience shaped who I am as a leader and that’s who I’m looking to fight for in City Council—fellow survivors, my trans and queer siblings, our immigrant neighbors, rent-burdened tenants and seniors. I bring courage, integrity, and a deep understanding of how government can work and how it often fails.
I ran New York City's public parks, led the state budget negotiations on housing and economic development where I secured hundreds of millions in funds to NYCHA when the federal government abandoned tenants and helped pass the $15 minimum wage and paid family leave. This combination of lived experience, professional leadership, and progressive bonafides equips me to deliver for District 3—a district that deserves bold, compassionate, and competent representation.
As the only progressive in the race, we need a City Council that will work hand-in-hand with the mayor, one I worked closely to elect, to make sure we fulfill the promises of universal childcare, fast and free buses, and build thousands of new truly affordable housing units.
2. What LGBTQ+ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally?
Pride - supported and walked many years while working with the state and after.
Professional work supporting LGBTQ-related tourism at I LOVE NY and oversight of tourism bureau when I led economic development for New York State.
Various regional economic development programs in NYC and beyond focused on LGBTQ community support and growth through Regional Economic Development Councils at state.
The Door (which increasingly caters to LGBTQ kids turned away by family members).
Long term supporter of various HIV AIDS related charities as I lost my beloved uncle to AIDs related death.
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?
I’m proud to have attended rallies, press conferences, and protests with Hands Off NYC, Protect Trans Kids, No Kings, ending solitary confinement (HALT Act), Tax the Rich, Our Time, Indivisible, NYC-DSA, Planned Parenthood NY, PFLAG NYC, Heritage of Pride, and countless others. I’ve also supported many LGBTQ candidates running for office.
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?
Donald Trump and his allies have launched an all-out assault on our communities—attacking women’s rights, LGBTQ+ dignity, immigrant families, and the basic idea of multiracial democracy. But the frontline of resistance isn’t just in Washington—it’s right here in our neighborhoods.
We need to Trump-proof New York City. It’s a moral imperative to abolish ICE and hold masked federal agents accountable for disappearing and murdering our neighbors. We need to invest in and expand our city’s anti-discrimination protections and the agencies enforcing them.
As a City Councilmember, I’ll fight to make New York a true sanctuary from right-wing extremism by investing in care, community safety, and public infrastructure instead of criminalization and corporate giveaways. That means expanding access to abortion and gender-affirming care clinics, increasing funding for legal defense and wraparound services for migrants and unhoused community members, defending our public schools from censorship, and organizing to resist hate at every level. We’ll pass policies that materially improve the lives of everyday New Yorkers, like a municipal jobs guarantee, universal childcare, senior care and create new truly affordable housing. And we’ll build a deep, grassroots movement rooted in solidarity, because fascism thrives where people are isolated and afraid but we win when we fight for each other and the most vulnerable.
5. Will you seek or accept endorsements from individuals who oppose LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights?
No, I never have and I never will.
6. Do you support the unrestricted right to reproductive care and abortion?
Yes. As a woman, a feminist, and a progressive, I fully support the unrestricted right to reproductive care and abortion. That includes not only the right to choose, but the right to access care safely, affordably, and without stigma.
In New York City, we must treat reproductive healthcare as the public good it is. That means fully funding abortion care at the local level, especially as states across the country strip away this fundamental right. It also means investing in the clinics and providers who serve low-income people, immigrants, trans and non-binary patients, and those most often denied care. I support expanding municipal funding for abortion through programs like NYC Abortion Access Fund, increasing access to gender-affirming reproductive care, and ensuring that all public hospitals provide comprehensive, patient-centered reproductive health services—including abortion, contraception, miscarriage management, and prenatal care. We must also protect providers and patients from harassment and surveillance, and fight back against fake clinics (“crisis pregnancy centers”) that spread medical disinformation while receiving tax benefits.
The right to abortion is meaningless without access. I will fight to ensure that every New Yorker—regardless of income, gender identity, immigration status, or ZIP code—has the power and resources to make decisions about their body, their family, and their future.
Abortion is healthcare. Healthcare is a human right. And no one should ever be criminalized or shamed for exercising it.
7. How will you represent the most vulnerable, including individuals experiencing homelessness and asylum seekers? Have you ever opposed any shelter in your district?
Housing is a human right and that means we need to treat it as such. We need more wraparound services, supportive housing, and shelters for unhoused individuals, victims of domestic violence and asylum seekers. In this unprecedentedly cold winter we are seeing needless deaths and far too many unhoused people brave the cold. I am proud that our district welcomed asylum seekers and migrants with open arms. And no, I have never opposed a shelter.
8. How will you work to enhance protections for immigrants and uphold New York’s role as a “Sanctuary City”?
I fully support the Safer Sanctuary Act and the NYC Trust Act, which would codify and strengthen limits on NYPD and Department of Corrections cooperation with ICE. No one should fear that calling 911, seeking medical care, or sending their kids to school could lead to deportation. These bills are a necessary step toward ending the criminalization of immigrant communities and making our city’s sanctuary status real.
But it can't stop there. We need to go further by:
Ending all ICE access to city buildings, courts, and jails.
Expanding legal support and rapid response networks for immigrants facing detention or deportation.
Fully funding city programs that offer language access, IDNYC, healthcare, housing assistance, and education without regard to immigration status.
Protecting immigrant workers from wage theft and exploitation by increasing workplace enforcement and access to organizing resources.
Fighting for driver’s licenses and public transit protections to reduce over-policing and surveillance of immigrant New Yorkers.
Refusing to let NYPD operate as a pipeline to ICE, ending broken windows policing and data-sharing practices that disproportionately target immigrants of color.
Ending all city contracts and subsidies that directly or indirectly support ICE, including allowing ICE to park and operate out of Pier 40 and awarding public land and subsidies to companies like Crye Precision—an ICE gear contractor—at the Brooklyn Navy Yard under the guise of women- and minority-owned business programs.
9. Do you support New York City becoming a Transgender Sanctuary City?
Over the past few years reactionary conservatives have attempted to divide the LGBTQIA+ community and isolate the trans community. The Trump administration has initiated a violent assault on trans and queer people in an attempt to force our siblings to go back into hiding and essentially eliminate them. Many Democrats have thrown the trans community under the bus because they think that we must be more like Trump in order to revive the party’s popularity. I won’t allow that to happen on my watch. This district was home to the Stonewall Riots and it’s about time we live up to that legacy. New York City must be a Transgender Sanctuary City, which is why I have proposed creating a $20 million city fund for gender affirming care and a $15 million legal defense fund to protect our trans and queer siblings under federal assault.
10. Have you hosted, funded or otherwise supported Drag Story Hours in your community?
Yes, I’ve both hosted and attended Drag Story Hours in our community.
11. Have you ever opposed liquor licensing for an LGBTQ+ establishment? If so, which and why?
No, never.
12. If elected, will you support raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers and large corporations in order to fund the services and investments our communities need?
Yes, absolutely! Eric Adams left city government with a $12 billion budget shortfall. In order for the city to fill that gap AND deliver on the affordability agenda we need to tax the rich.
I support the Progressive State Income Tax Bill, which would restructure our tax code so that the wealthiest New Yorkers contribute more, not less, than working-class people. I also support the Fair Share Act, which adds new tax brackets starting at $1 million in income and ensures that as people earn more, they pay a slightly higher share. That’s how we raise $21 billion to reinvest in housing, transit, care work, and more. In addition, I support raising the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey’s, ensuring that companies with over $2.5 million in profits—many of whom do business in both states—pay what they owe. Right now, the burden of funding New York’s future is falling on working families, while the ultra-wealthy and major corporations profit from public infrastructure and pay next to nothing for it. That has to change.
13. How will you represent the most vulnerable, including individuals experiencing homelessness, asylum seekers and those living with disabilities and chronic illness including HIV/AIDS? Have you ever opposed any shelter in your district?
My uncle lost his life to HIV/AIDS. This fight isn’t over—not for me personally, and not for our city. In a district with such a powerful legacy of LGBTQ+ organizing and AIDS activism, we must remain committed to protecting and uplifting those still impacted by this crisis. That means the city must provide free and accessible sexual health screenings, free PrEP, and HIV/AIDS treatment to all who need it—no exceptions.
But care must go beyond healthcare. I believe deeply in a care model—one that meets people where they are and treats housing, healthcare, and dignity as non-negotiable rights. Whether we’re talking about asylum seekers, unhoused New Yorkers, or people living with chronic illness or disability, the answer is not criminalization or warehousing—it’s real investment in supportive housing, mobile crisis teams, harm reduction, and wraparound services that allow people to heal, stabilize, and thrive.
I’ve never opposed a shelter in District 3, or elsewhere, and I never will. We are strongest when we reject fear-mongering and fight for policies grounded in solidarity and compassion. That means ensuring there are enough shelters and beds but most importantly prioritizing deeply affordable and supportive housing-first models so people can move into permanent homes, not get stuck in a cycle.
The city’s current response has too often defaulted to punitive approaches that harm vulnerable people rather than help them. As a Councilmember, I will work relentlessly to fund deeply affordable housing, expand access to disability accommodations and home care (SCRIE, DRIE, and public home care), and push for a housing system designed for the people most often left behind—not the people looking to profit.
14. Will you sponsor and support legislation which will ensure that 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?
Although all of these bills exist at the state level, I enthusiastically support the New York for All Act, MELT Act, and Access to Representation Act so that we can end all collaboration with federal immigration authorities, unmask ICE agents, and ensure New Yorkers have representation in immigration proceedings.
15. Do you oppose the death penalty?
Yes.
16. Do you support outlawing solitary confinement?
Yes, I lobbied for the HALT Act and the closure of Rikers. It’s an unconscionable and inhumane practice that must come to an end.
17. 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, unequivocally. When I ran our city’s parks I was proud to work with re-entry programs to employ formerly incarcerated people. It’s about time we prioritize care over incarceration and rehabilitation over retribution.
18. 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 and yes.
19. Who did you support for mayor in the 2025 Democratic primary and general election? Did you rank Andrew Cuomo on your Democratic primary ballot in 2025? Who did you support for Public Advocate?
I supported Zohran Mamdani in both the 2025 Democratic primary and general elections for Mayor. Zohran has consistently fought for working-class New Yorkers, and I was proud to back a candidate who understands the urgency of this moment—someone who puts tenants, immigrants, and the multiracial working class ahead of real estate, tech billionaires, and police unions.
I was the first whistleblower to come forward as a victim of Andrew Cuomo’s abuse, and what followed was an intense, deeply painful campaign of retaliation and gaslighting. The last five years were some of the hardest of my life, so when Cuomo tried to force himself on our city, I felt it was my obligation to make sure he never touches the halls of power again. Many in politics failed to act with courage when it mattered most—and Cuomo’s continued efforts to reenter public life are not only dangerous, they’re an insult to the countless people harmed by his abuse of power. I worked to elect our new mayor, Zohran Mamdani because it wasn’t just important to defeat Andrew Cuomo. Then Assemblyman Mamdani offered a transformative vision for city government that has all too often failed to deliver for working people. He spoke to the urgency of the moment and unleashed unprecedented energy among New Yorkers hungry for bold change and solutions to the cost of living crisis. I did everything in my power to elect Zohran Mamdani in the primary and general elections and I’m proud to call him my mayor.
For Public Advocate, I proudly supported Jumaane Williams, who has used his office to speak truth to power and push real policy solutions to housing injustice, police violence, and systemic inequality.
20. 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 renaming the former Queensboro Bridge?
Yes.
21. What is your legislative remedy to secure the building of low and moderate-income housing around the state?
Housing is one of the defining crises facing working- and middle-class New Yorkers and our current system is failing us. Much of what gets called “affordable housing” is a mirage, pegged to Area Median Incomes that don’t reflect what most people actually earn. A $4,500/month studio isn’t affordable by any reasonable definition. If you’re working-class—especially if you’re LGBTQ+, living with chronic illnesses, undocumented, a senior, or disabled—finding safe, stable, affordable housing on the West Side is nearly impossible.
We need a new generation of Mitchel-Lama style social housing: publicly funded, permanently affordable, and shielded from speculation. That starts with passing a Social Housing Development Authority at the state level, and backing COPA (Community Opportunity to Purchase Act) here in the city so tenants and nonprofits, not developers, get the first chance to buy their buildings.
We must use public land exclusively for deeply affordable housing, where tenants pay no more than 30% of their income, regardless of income level. I will also fight to expand and fund community land trusts, HDFCs, and limited-equity co-ops that build long-term community power and multigenerational economic justice.
NYCHA must be fully funded, its repair backlog cleared, and its tenants empowered—not coerced into deals that prioritize profit over people. That means tenant organizing, legal support, and real accountability.
This housing crisis is the direct result of decades of disinvestment. It’s time for NYC to lead by taxing the ultra-wealthy and reinvesting in housing as a human right—especially for the communities most at risk of being pushed out or left behind.
22. Will you refuse donations from AIPAC, SolidarityPAC, police and corrections associations, the fossil fuel industry, and the charter school industry?
Yes.
23. Do you support removing criminal penalties for consensual commercial sex work between adults?
Yes, I have long supported the decriminalization of sex work.
24. Will you immediately join the Progressive Caucus upon inauguration?
Yes, it is pertinent that we build a progressive caucus with a majority vote on city council.
25. What additional information would you like the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club to consider when we are making our endorsement decision?
(User note: No additional text provided for this section in the source).
26. If you receive our endorsement, do you agree to identify the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club on all appropriate literature and electronic materials?
Yes and proudly!
Would you like me to go back and apply the numbering to Leslie Boghosian Murphy's response as well so you have a matching set?