Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Ryder Kessler for NY Assembly District 66
Candidate Name: Ryder Kessler
Office Seeking Election for: NY Assembly District 66
Campaign Website: https://www.ryderfornewyork.com/
1. Based upon your life experiences and accomplishments, why do you believe you are best qualified to represent your district?
I’m a child of the 66th Assembly District: a gay kid born at St. Vincent’s Hospital who played little league basketball at Tony Dapolito and got his Bar Mitzvah cake at Veniero’s. I’ve spent my life here—and my career working to expand opportunity, strengthen democracy, and help this city live up to its promise. I would be honored to continue this work as our Assemblymember.
When my parents moved to 11th Street in 1980, my father was a cab driver and my mother was an artist. Lower Manhattan—and the Village in particular—was affordable and accessible to everyday New Yorkers. It represented freedom: to be where you wanted to be and live how you wanted to live. Indeed, my gay great-uncle brought my mother to Stonewall before the riots while dressed in full drag. Born into poverty, to immigrants who had fled religious intolerance in Eastern Europe, Uncle Jerry could be himself in the Village. Today, the neighborhoods where I played as a kid in the 80s and 90s are at risk of becoming a playground for the ultra-rich, while our fundamental freedoms are under attack. My nephew and nieces will not be able to live here as adults, and they’ll have fewer rights than their grandmother did, if we don’t take action today.
Early in my career, I founded a company that raised millions for low-wage workers and nonprofits. I started working in politics after 2016, joining the resistance to fight back against Donald Trump’s first-term agenda—specializing in voter protection, building teams to protect every eligible American’s right to register, vote, and have their vote counted. In 2018, I joined Manhattan’s Community Board 2 to give back to the community that has given me so much.
I ran for this Assembly seat in 2022 after seeing how Covid-19 left Lower Manhattan reeling—and how little urgency Albany brought to our recovery. I was honored to be the Jim Owles endorsee in that race. Though I didn’t win, I stayed in the work, helping build a community of more than 4,500 New Yorkers newly engaged in local politics to win vital policy wins: protecting congestion pricing, helping pass landmark affordable housing measures, and electing leaders like Zohran Mamdani.
With the incumbent retiring after 36 years, now is the time to finally deliver bold progressive leadership to Lower Manhattan, deliver on the mayor’s affordability agenda, and fight back against fascism—while continuing the proud legacy of gay representation for the city’s historic home of the queer liberation movement.
2. What LGBTQ+ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally?
As a proudly out gay man, I have long been involved in LGBTQ+ organizations and have led my own. For example, I have been a youth mentor at The Center, I launched the LGBTQ+ alumni community for a Jewish nonprofit on whose board I served, and I started the LGBTQ+ affinity group at the Harvard Club of New York.
I have participated in vibrant LGBTQ+ communities as long as I have been out: Out in Tech during my time as a startup CEO, Out in Government as a professional in New York politics, Big Apple Recreational Sports as a multi-season player, and the Stonewall Democrats as my longtime primary political club. More than that, I am proud to create spaces for LGBTQ+ people to be in community when I see that such a space is missing.
Further, the work I’ve done in politics has always prioritized marginalized LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, even when they are not dedicated LGBTQ+ organizations. In 2018, I was the campaign manager for a congressional candidate in upstate New York, an out lesbian running in a red district. Returning to New York, I saw the devastating impact that the housing affordability crisis was having on the city—and particularly on queer New Yorkers hoping to age in place and LGBTQ+ young people who are disproportionately impacted by homelessness.
I have long fought for Haven Green, affordable housing for low-income and largely LGBTQ+ seniors—the only person running in this race who is supportive of that housing. I see taking on the NIMBYism that has led rents in Manhattan to become over $5,700 per month, and to the shortage of safe and dignified housing for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, as core to serving the needs of queer New Yorkers.
My nonprofit, Abundance New York, has led the charge for more homes. I have fought for better services and shelter for unhoused New Yorkers on Community Board 2, where I have authored multiple pro-Safe Haven resolutions; and with Open Hearts, packing and distributing care packages to homeless New Yorkers and volunteering at “free stores” to assist in the distribution of resources while advocating for safe and dignified shelters.
In 2022, when I ran against Deborah Glick, a key differentiator was our approach to issues facing LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. I always supported gestational surrogacy, which she had opposed. I forthrightly championed full decriminalization of sex work, over-policing of which harms queer people of color, which she opposed.
I have also marched in the AIDS Walk more times than I can count, starting in childhood. My mother started the AIDS Walk team at my elementary school after the death of our art teacher, John Jones, from AIDS. She quickly led it to being one of the top fundraising teams citywide. That model of turning values into action—and for standing up for LGBTQ+ people from before I knew I was one—has informed my politics ever since.
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 have been rallying and protesting injustice my whole life. As a child, my mother would bring me with her to pro-choice protests to advocate for reproductive freedom. We marched down Fifth Avenue shouting “To-may-to, To-mah-to, just don’t say D’Amato.” She volunteered at the homeless shelter run out of my elementary school, teaching me to see our unhoused neighbors as neighbors—not as “others” to be feared and made invisible. She taught me to show up and make my voice heard—something I have only doubled-down on in the face of Trump’s fascism. After the 2016 election, I started working full time to fight the MAGA agenda, leading Democratic campaigns to beat Republicans at the ballot box and building voter protection teams to fight GOP voter suppression and election subversion.
The number of rallies and protests I have been to in opposition to the Trump agenda are truly countless. Recently, I have marched at No Kings, been to Foley Square and Federal Plaza to protest the arrest of Tish James and Brad Lander, to multiple protests against ICE’s activities in Minneapolis and their detention of a City Hall Staffer, to vigils for Alex Pretti and Renee Good, to three events at Stonewall in protest of the Trump administration’s removal of the pride flag, to the protest of SCOTUS cases attacking the rights of trans kids, and much more. These are in addition to actions protesting the murders of George Floyd and Jordan Neely, the Dobbs decision, the Muslim Ban, the exclusion of trans soldiers from the military, and many others.
I do more than protest to fight Trump. For example, I took a month-long sabbatical from my job to live in Wilmington for the final stretch of the 2024 presidential election to join the Kamala Harris campaign’s voter protection team, covering Michigan for the headquarters. Though Harris lost the state, the work we did was critical in making the winning margin for Elissa Slotkin in the Senate race—vital to deprive Trump of a larger majority in the Senate.
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?
We need bold leaders who will fight the Trump agenda and attacks on marginalized communities in Albany and on our streets. In the legislature, we must strengthen all protections for marginalized groups—but we must also use every tool at our disposal to fight fascism. That means withholding funds meant for the federal government if they withhold funds due to us (e.g. through the RECOURSE Act), it means retaliatory redistricting to fight GOP entrenchment of power, and it means suing to prevent Trump’s meddling in our self-governance. On the streets, beyond the actions described above, I recently created and now run the Downtown West group for Hands Off NYC. Our group has over 75 members coordinating anti-ICE action—including recent protection of immigrant New Yorkers on Canal Street. My chapter will be co-hosting a community training for rapid response and Know Your Rights in conjunction with Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen groups on Monday, March 17. I will organize in our communities to protect each other, and I will lead legislative actions to enshrine our rights and to be a bulwark against authoritarianism.
5. Will you seek or accept endorsements from individuals who oppose LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights?
Absolutely not.
6. Do you support the unrestricted right to reproductive care and abortion?
Yes, I am 100% in support of unrestricted access to abortion care.
Further, I have a long record of supporting reproductive healthcare beyond abortion, including broader birth control access and birthing care. For example, when running against Deborah Glick in 2022, I spotlighted her blocking legislation legalizing pharmacist prescription of birth control. Allowing pharmacists to prescribe birth control increases access in lower-income communities with less access to doctors; New York’s efforts to legalize it had been held up over many years in the Higher Education committee that Glick chaired. Many conjectured that the delay was due to her support by donors from groups representing doctors, which wanted to protect their monopoly on prescription. After our campaign, she allowed the bill to proceed and it passed.
Further, I uplifted more expansive birthing options (e.g. midwifery and non-hospital birth centers) that experts support to address the high rates of maternal mortality in marginalized communities. As a staunch supporter of Coverage for All, I believe this care should be available regardless of immigration status or ability to pay.
7. Have you hosted, funded or otherwise supported Drag Story Hours in your community?
I have not specifically been involved in Drag Story Hours, but I am an unequivocal supporter of drag queens. In 2022, two of my fundraisers were headlined by renowned New York drag artists, Kiki Ball Change and Lyra Vega. I will be glad to sponsor Drag Story Hours as an elected official—not only because I support drag queens, but because as a former English Literature PhD student I know storytelling is essential for living rich lives.
8. How will you work to enhance protections for immigrants and uphold New York’s role as a “Sanctuary City”?
I will be a legislator who works both in the halls of Albany and on the streets of our district for immigrant communities. In Albany, I would support any legislation to protect immigrant New Yorkers from Trump’s inhumane immigration policy including: New York for All, Access to Representation Act, the New York Civil Rights Act, the MELT Act, the RADAR Act, the BUILD Act, and the Dignity not Detention Act. On our streets, I will continue to organize with community activists, providing services for immigrant New Yorkers and Know Your Rights trainings, among other neighborhood defense tactics.
9. Do you support New York becoming a Transgender Sanctuary State?
Yes, absolutely.
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?
Absolutely.
I support the Invest in our New York Legislative package to ensure the wealthiest New Yorkers must pay their fair share. There is a myth that rich New Yorkers will leave the city because of taxes; in fact, the New Yorkers leaving are fleeing the insurmountable cost of living across housing and childcare. New York families with young children leave at twice the rate of those without. We’re losing our kids and our futures, and they’re going to MAGA states with fewer rights but lower cost of living—handing them more political power in the process.
We can tax the rich to pay for the resources all New Yorkers need to thrive. Higher taxes on the wealthy earners, and higher corporate taxes, capital gains taxes, and estate taxes are all a sensible start. Further, I am open to supporting a wealth tax and to reinstating the stock transfer tax to more profoundly generate funding for working New York families.
11. How will you represent the most vulnerable, including individuals experiencing homelessness and asylum seekers? Have you ever opposed any shelter in your district?
Representing the most vulnerable New Yorkers in our community will be my first priority in Albany. The platform I am running on is centered around the idea of providing more for our most vulnerable: more housing to get folks off the streets and lower costs, universal healthcare and childcare to relieve family budgets, protections for immigrants who enrich our diversity and boost our economy, abundant clean energy to lower costs and emissions, and expanded enfranchisement to make our democracy stronger.
I have never opposed shelters in my district—in fact, I have supported them in the face of backlash from some members of the community. I stood up for 231 Grand Street on the Human Services committee of Community Board 2 and at the full board when it was opposed by hundreds of locals fearmongering about it. I wrote resolutions in support of Paul’s Place, the Safe Haven on 14th Street. And I have frequently rallied and written in opposition to anti-shelter NIMBYism. We need to end the scarcity of psychiatric beds, supportive housing, Safe Haven shelters, and stabilization beds that actually get homeless New Yorkers off of streets and out of subways.
More broadly, homelessness is a result of skyrocketing housing costs. I am unique in this race in supporting pro-housing policies, from Haven Green—supported by Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander, opposed by Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa—to the affordable housing ballot propositions that passed in November. My nonprofit was a major force behind the campaign for their passage, and they are already paying dividends in speeding new affordable housing creation citywide. We cannot afford any more legislators who oppose proven solutions to the affordability crisis: the status quo just drives housing costs up and particularly harms LGBTQ+ New Yorkers.
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?
Absolutely. As mentioned above, I will support policies to protect our immigrant communities including New York for All, Access to Representation Act, the New York Civil Rights Act, the MELT Act, the RADAR Act, the BUILD Act, the Dignity not Detention Act, and more. I would advocate for any legislation that would protect our immigrant communities and ensure a path to citizenship.
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 have long supported these bills and others to end mass incarceration. Additionally, I am eager to support the creation of Mayor Mamdani’s Department of Community Safety at the city level, and to otherwise fund non-police interventions in serving the needs of our vulnerable neighbors who need to be treated with care—not exposure to police and potentially fatal force.
14. Do you oppose the death penalty?
Yes. The state should not be taking lives, period. Further, the death penalty is racist, just like the criminal justice system at large: Black defendants are up 8.7 times more likely than white defendants to receive a death sentence. That is not justice.
15. Do you support outlawing solitary confinement?
Yes. Solitary confinement is torture.
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. Our carceral system is unequal and inhumane—from deaths at Rikers to fatal beatings of prisoners upstate—a moral stain and bad for achieving public safety. I will be a legislator dedicated to getting New Yorkers out of jail and prison, and I will fight against the savagery of the system.
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.
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?
No, I did not rank Andrew Cuomo on my primary ballot. I ranked Zohran Mamdani, Brad Lander, Zellnor Myrie, and Adrienne Adams. I was very vocal in my support for Zohran Mamdani in the general election, and I am dedicated to being a legislator who helps deliver on his agenda in Albany. Further, my nonprofit endorsed Mamdani over Cuomo in our public Voter Guide, whose recommendations were viewed 375,000 times over the course of the campaign.
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?
We can lower housing costs across the board by building more housing of all types, including through legalizing more density and speeding approvals of the housing we need via the reforms of SEQRA that both the mayor and governor are championing. We can further lower the costs of creating new affordable housing—while also protecting the solvency of rent stabilized housing—by cracking down on insurance companies, reforming property taxes, and subsidizing co-op greening.
In the meantime, subsidizing deeper affordability in new housing requires deeper subsidy. Requiring set-asides for affordable units at lower AMIs would likely mean fewer units overall. Given these tradeoffs, achieving these affordability levels requires looking outside the usual toolkit of MIH and 485x tax subsidy for private developers to create affordable housing.
For example, I support Assemblymember Gallagher’s bill to create a Social Housing Development Authority that dedicates state attention and resources to the creation of housing capping rents at 25% of income, with at least 25% of units set aside for households making less than 30% of AMI.
I support Mayor Mamdani’s plans to facilitate more city-level creation of more deeply affordable homes through the expansion of HPD programs like Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) and Extremely Low and Low-Income Affordability (ELLA), and through the creation of project-based rental assistance that provides a steady and reliable income stream against which to finance housing creation.
On the tenant side, we can empower lower-income households to rent within the existing housing stock with improved voucher values. For example, the Housing Access Voucher Program—which I supported in 2022 and which was passed in an initial form last session—is designed for families at 50% of AMI or lower and caps their rent at 30% of their income. As the next Assemblymember, I will stay closely attentive to the initial $50 million pilot approved for this program and champion its continuation and expansion.
21. Will you refuse donations from AIPAC, SolidarityPAC, police and corrections associations, the fossil fuel industry, and the charter school industry?
Yes. I will also refuse donations from any and all corporate PACs.
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).
Yes. Ending the criminalization of sex work has been a priority since my 2022 race, and was a key point of differentiation between me and my opponent. I am eager to bring true justice-oriented leadership to this district—and to uplift the communities who participate in sex work so that they are protected rather than punished.
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?
Absolutely, yes. On January 6th, I was working on the Georgia Senate runoffs to ensure all ballots cast for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were counted, and that the Senate was secured for Democrats. We looked up from our work to see a violent insurrection at the Capitol–encouraged by the White House.
Despite the chaos and uncertainty, we knew we had to stay focused on behalf of the voters who made their voices heard, and so we went back to curing ballots— understanding that winning one electoral battle in the fight for democracy must not breed complacency in the ongoing war. Teaching the history of this day in our public schools will be critical for preventing another like it.
24. What additional information would you like the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club to consider when we are making our endorsement decision?
My campaign is unapologetically progressive. Beyond that, it is about the need to be more than just progressive: we must be aggressive. This moment of crisis—with our lives and our livelihoods being threatened by authoritarians and out-of-control costs—requires a firm and final rejection of the status quo. That is the perspective I bring to this race, and that I’ll bring to Albany.
I am also best positioned to win. I’m proud of what we achieved in that moderate 2022 election cycle against the incumbent, earning 4,000 votes in a low-turnout primary. Now, in 2026, I am extremely confident about the differentiators from the field that indicate we have the strongest path to victory.
I was in the top five fundraising Assembly candidates statewide at the first filing (number two for non-incumbents)—reporting $128,000 in contributions, completely from individual grassroots donors.
Additionally, I maxed out on the $175,000 in matchable in-district contributions, bringing my total raised to well over $300,000.
We finished the filing period with $100,000 more cash on hand than our most significant competitor.
I’m the only gay candidate in the district that is the home of the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation.
As the endorsee of the Working Families Party, I am the clear match for a district that voted at over 60% for Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander in the primary.
The pro-housing politics that informed my earlier run are far more popular now: for example, the recent ballot question to speed market-rate housing development got nearly 60% of the vote in the district.
I have a clear path to consolidating elected and institutional support after four years of relationship-building and by being the frontrunner in an open race. For example, I was recently endorsed by Comptroller Mark Levine and Assembly Member Keith Powers. I expect to earn support from other elected officials and key institutions over the coming weeks.
The three other serious candidates in this race are from the same small community of downtown Democratic clubs—with similar politics and competing for the same constituency.
I am the only one who has run district-wide before.
This is the moment for our campaign, and I am prepared to leverage it with a high-quality team and broad donor and volunteer base.
25. If you receive our endorsement, do you agree to identify the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club on all appropriate literature and electronic materials?
Yes, I was honored to be the Jim Owles endorsee in 2022. I will proudly feature the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club on my website, literature, and more.