Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Tiffany Cabán for City Council District 22
Candidate Name: Tiffany Cabán
Office Seeking Election for: New York City Council District 22
Campaign Website: https://www.cabanforqueens.com
Campaign Social Media Handles: @tiffany_caban on Twitter and Instagram, @cabanforqueens on Facebook
1. Do you consider yourself a member of the LGBTQ community?
Yes. I am a queer woman.
2. If you answered “yes” to the first question, do you believe members of hate groups should be permitted to join the City Council LGBTQIA+ caucus? Do you believe the Republican party is a hate group? If you answered yes to both questions, do you support ejecting Republicans from the caucus?
I do not believe members of hate groups should be permitted to join the caucus, of which I am a co-chair, but I do not, for the purpose of determinations like this, believe that the Republican Party is a hate group. David Carr, the lone Republican in the caucus, is a good example of why: he stayed in the caucus even after we changed its name and bylaws, has worked productively with us, and has not, to my knowledge, engaged in the sort of hate speech and outright bigotry some of his colleagues have. He was legitimately elected to represent his constituents on the Republican Party line; ejecting him from the caucus for this offense alone would smack of guilt-by-association, rather than a principled
line-in-the-sand.
3. What work have you done on behalf of the LGBTQ community? This can include endorsing LGBTQ candidates, drafting or advocating for legislation directly benefiting the LGBTQ community, working with LGBTQ organizations, allocating funds to LGBTQ organizations, marching in Pride parades, attending rallies/protests/press conferences in support of LGBTQ issues, and/or employing openly LGBTQ individuals.
The work I’ve done on behalf of the community includes all of the examples cited in this question. I’m honored to have had the opportunity to shape the conversation in my capacity as co-chair of the LGBTQIA+ Caucus on many life-or-death issues, including Mpox, Drag Queen Story Hour, the NY Post’s anti-trans propaganda, our colleagues’ bigoted rhetoric, and more.
4. Has Mayor Eric Adams met the needs of the LGBTQ community? Please include “yes” or “no” in your answer, and explain your answer.
No. Quite aside from his appointment of queerphobic bigots to administration positions and his statements against the separation of church and state, he has taken the wrong approach to addressing the current wave of hate violence and hate speech against queer New Yorkers. Instead of increasing investments into education, mental health, and violence prevention programming, he has chosen to rely on policing, prosecution, and punishment. Not only do these fail to protect queer New Yorkers, organizations, and businesses; his
police department has in fact protected the hate groups targeting Drag Queen Story Hour for harassment and intimidation.
5. Would you demand that the Mayor re-institute its office of LGBTQ affairs, with its leader being a member of the LGBTQ community chosen in consultation with the City Council LGBTQIA+ Caucus?
Yes.
6. Have you made requests to the Office of the Mayor to demand inclusion of LGBTQ community in city administration and on city boards? Can you give examples?
Not directly. I have not found making direct personnel requests of the Mayor to be a particularly fruitful course of action, preferring instead an approach aimed at shifting the public’s political paradigm through media, organizing, and coalition-based movement work.
7. Do you support reparations for slavery?
Yes.
8. Do you oppose all efforts to weaken bail reform?
Yes. I have been a loud opponent to the effort to weaken the state’s bail reform laws and will continue to be.
9. Do you support closing Rikers Island? Do you support the administration’s plan to open borough-based jails?
Yes. As the local representative for Rikers Island, I am keenly aware of the torture on the island. I have visited the island 6 times during my first year in office and have used the bully pulpit available to me to deliver honest reports to New Yorkers about the depraved conditions. I have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with family members who have lost loved ones during the most deadly year in Rikers’ history and have worked with local organizations to try to build out a constituent services program for my incarcerated neighbors. All of this work, while important, has further clarified to me that the island simply cannot be reformed – the only solution is full decarceration and closure. I do not support the borough-based jails plan.
10. Do you support legislation outlawing solitary confinement in all jails and prisons, including city jails, and do you support Intro 549 (regarding solitary confinement)?
Yes. As one of my first acts in office, I organized a majority of my colleagues on the Council to publicly oppose the Mayor’s decision to revive the practice of mass solitary confinement on Rikers Island. A year later, we are close to taking a veto-proof vote on a law to ban the practice.
11. Will you publicly call on the governor to use her clemency power for the many incarcerated New Yorkers who can safely return home? Will you tweet out your support for this or issue a public statement? Would you be willing to be critical of a governor who does not exercise their power to grant clemencies and commutations to those worthy of release? Have you ever spoken out in such a way?
Unquestionably. I relentlessly mobilize my social media and other avenues of public outreach to agitate for decarceration, de-policing, and investments in the communities that have the highest rates of interaction with the criminal legal system.
12. If elected, will you include in your office’s newsletter instructions for your constituents on how their loved ones can apply for clemency?
Yes.
13. Do you commit to visiting constituents who are incarcerated in state prisons and city jails? When did you do so last?
Yes. I have visited Rikers, which is in my district, repeatedly – most recently in September.
14. Do you believe in the decriminalization of sex work? If so, do you support full decriminalization, including decriminalizing purchase and facilitation? Will you commit to opposing the Nordic model, which continues criminalizing purchase and facilitation while decriminalizing sale?
Yes, I support full decriminalization and oppose the Nordic model.
15. What proposals will you advocate for to protect immigrants and further New York as a “Sanctuary City”?
I support programmatic expansions to support new immigrants and oppose the Mayor’s proposed austerity cuts to critical social services, including our public schools, that would make it impossible for immigrant families to find safety and stability in our city. With other Council Members effectively focusing on using our oversight and legislative powers to ensure new immigrants’ safety, I plan to use the budget process to fight against austerity measures and put forward a vision for the city that is welcoming to new and long standing immigrants alike. That means more investment in affordable housing production and preservation, fully funded public schools with wraparound supportive services and counseling, a divestment from carceral systems that unfairly target Black, brown, and immigrant New Yorkers, and increased funding for job training programs. I was proud to have led the Care for All Families budget campaign last year to finally end the exclusion that has kept undocumented children from accessing subsidized child care programs in New York City. I plan to fight for its expansion this budget season.
16. Did you support legislation, which passed, to allow non-citizen New Yorkers to vote? Do you support the appeal of the case in which the law was held unconstitutional?
I proudly debated in favor of Local Law 11-22 on the floor of the chambers and cast my vote to allow non-citizen voting during the first Stated meeting of my tenure and I will continue to support the appeal and fight for the rights of non-citizen voters.
17. Do you support the establishment of supervised drug consumption spaces in your district?
Yes. Continuing to open new OPCs throughout the state is one of my top priorities and I’ve been fighting during my first term to encourage the city to fund this life-saving infrastructure so that they can remain open. I have been a very vocal supporter of OPCs, talking to my colleagues here in NYC and arranging visits for council members from across the country.
18. Do you support ending qualified immunity for police and other law enforcement individuals?
Yes.
19. Are you in favor of removing police from any of the following? a) Schools; b) Mental health response calls; c) Homeless outreach and social services; or d) Traffic enforcement.
Yes, all of the above.
20. Should law enforcement "Vice Squads" be eliminated?
Yes.
21. Should the Gangs Database be abolished and do you / will you co-sponsor Intro 360 on the subject?
Yes, I am a proud co-sponsor of Intro. 360.
22. Do you support the Progressive Caucus’s requirement that members support cutting funding to NYPD in favor of alternative safety infrastructure?
Yes. I was a member of the Progressive Caucus’ bylaws committee that proposed the new bylaws and proudly stand behind them.
23. What concretely have you done to improve access to reproductive healthcare? If elected, what more will you do? Be specific.
The first legislative package I authored, passed into law, and enacted was centered on abortion access and care. In the aftermath of the disastrous Dobbs decision, I recognized the importance of City government stepping up to secure abortion access and quickly drafted and introduced a comprehensive package of bills to further cement New York City as an abortion-safe city. The package included: 1) A resolution officially declaring NYC a safe city for all those in need of abortion-related care; 2) A law prohibiting the city from detaining – or cooperating with any person or agency anywhere else trying to detain – someone for the provision of or aid in obtaining a lawful abortion performed here; 3) Lastly, a law requiring DOHMH to work with diverse advocates and experts to produce a
yearly report assessing our city’s capacity to accommodate the increase in reproductive healthcare services, and recommending steps to bridge any gaps that it finds.
24. Do you approve of Mayor Adams’ approach to sweeping homeless encampments?
No. I have been an early, consistent, and outspoken critic of the Mayor’s sweeps on our homeless neighbors. I am the lead sponsor of Intro 0856 which mandates that any homeless outreach initiated by the city is conducted by non-violent service workers trained in trauma-informed care, and requires that residents are provided with tangible support items, such as a pair of socks. The legislation also prohibits the city from issuing tickets or summonses to homeless New Yorkers using materials or parts to create bedding or temporary shelter.
25. Do you commit to speaking with restaurant and nightlife industry representatives before taking a position on any policies that affect their businesses?
Yes.
26. Do you commit to speaking personally with liquor license applicants and license holders before opposing any bid for a liquor license? Likewise for an applicant seeking your support?
Yes.
27. In view of the fact that Ed Koch has been documented to have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people with AIDS, and was blatantly racist, would you support a city bill to rename the former Queensboro Bridge? Do you authorize the use of your name for such a purpose?
Yes, I support renaming the Ed Koch bridge.
28. Do you commit to removing the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle?
Yes, I support the removal of the Columbus statue.
29. Who did you support for Mayor in the 2021 Democratic primary? Did you make an endorsement in the general election?
I ranked Maya Wiley #1 on my ballot. I did not make an endorsement in either the primary election or general election.
30. Are you currently a member of the Progressive Caucus? If you are not currently an incumbent, will you join if elected?
I am currently a member.
31. Do you believe the Progressive Caucus should have qualifications to ensure that its members are actually progressive? Please explain.
Yes, I’m proud of the work I did as part of the bylaws committee, creating a set of standards to ensure that members of the caucus are indeed progressive and, just as importantly, that they attend meetings and actively participate.
32. If you are a sitting Councilmember, name three votes you took in the City Council that differed from the position of the Speaker.
Last year, I was one of only six Council Members to vote no on a budget that slashed funding for public schools and social services. I spearheaded the effort to oppose a measure boosting police pensions, the first bill not to pass in the Council in decades. I voted against a resolution calling for an intensification of US sanctions against Russia, correctly assessing that such sanctions would not end Russia’s war on Ukraine and would instead merely hurt everyday Russians, many of whom were protesting Putin’s military aggression at the time of the vote.
33. The rules of the City Council often make it difficult to get a hearing and/or vote on bills of which the Speaker does not approve. Would you support, and introduce if necessary, legislation that could force the City Council to print, introduce, hold hearings on, and hold votes on legislation.
Yes. More concerning, however, is that the Council currently does have some rules that allow bill sponsors to force hearings, move bills out of committee, and pass bills without the support of the Speaker–but members rarely make use of them for fear of retribution. I support making the body less top-down so that no Speaker could punish a member for utilizing the necessary tools to move their communities’ priorities forwards.
34. Will you refuse money from individuals or Political Action Committees representing the real estate industry or law enforcement unions/associations?
Yes to both.
35. Will you refuse and refund any contributions from executives at corporations who donated funds to any of Donald Trump’s campaigns?
Yes.
36. With the continued boycott of Equinox fitness on the basis of owner Steve Ross’ support of Donald Trump and institution of “Don’t Say Gay” policies in his residential buildings, do you commit to opposing his application for a casino?
Yes.
37. If you receive the Jim Owles endorsement, do you agree to identify the club on all literature and electronic materials where you list endorsements?
Yes.