Newly-elected City Council Member Carlina Rivera spoke with members of the community media in a round-table discussion this week, covering affordable housing, the plight of small businesses and the transit woes affecting District 2.
Rivera, who took over the seat from Rosie Mendez, who was term-limited after 12 years in office, previously worked with Mendez as her legislative director and is a long-time community activist working in the East Village and the Lower East Side.
One of the subjects she brought up was the new “tech hub” the city is planning on East 14th Street, and Rivera said she wants to make sure affordable housing is factored into the plan.
Community groups and neighborhood residents have been pushing for the area to be rezoned before construction on the project begins but Rivera said that she doesn’t feel rezoning is necessary.
Related to the fight for affordable housing, Rivera also noted that while the conviction of predatory landlord Steve Croman, who owned properties in the district, shed some light on the abusive practices of some building owners, there are smaller landlords that are using illegal tactics as well but are harder to catch.
Rivera reiterated her support for the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, noting that she was encouraged by Speaker Corey Johnson coming out strongly in favor of the bill.
Rivera noted that there are other ways in which City Council can assist small businesses as well, including looking at how taxes are passed on to mom-and-pops, the possibility of creating special districts to curb the influx of chain stores and protect small owners and making sure that the business owners know what services are available to them.
Rivera said that the L train shutdown is one of the major concerns for her district in the coming years and said she feels that the mitigation plan is a work in progress.
She also noted that in the long-run, she is supportive of bringing the Second Avenue subway all the way down to her district but wants to focus on other priorities before that happens.
“We have to take care of existing infrastructure first before we open new stops,” she said.
Rivera also said that she was appreciative of Speaker Johnson creating a new Hospitals committee in the City Council and allowing her to get involved.