Housing and land use

What christopher has done

• Organized neighbors to promote and protect community-based zoning and push back against endless luxury development

  • Worked with residents of Two Bridges with severe health conditions to protect their right to clean air by suing the City and the developers’ plans to build four new luxury towers alongside the waterfront

  • Presented alternatives to the proposed mega-jail in Chinatown, working with experts to make the case to the Mayor that the City can close Rikers without building a new jail

  • Collaborated with experts to modernize the Chinatown Working Group Rezoning Plan, presenting it to City Hall so that Chinatown and the Lower East Side can finally have zoning that protects existing affordable housing and creates new opportunities

  • Strategized with supporters of Elizabeth Street Garden in Little Italy to permanently save the garden and allocate funding for new affordable housing to empty and under-utilized lots

  • Held mega-developers accountable in the South Street Seaport, responding to community concern about strange smells coming from a luxury development site that tested for high levels of mercury and toxins

  • Fighting to fully fund 100% affordable housing at the federally owned 5 World Trade Center site

• Served constituents facing eviction, homelessness, and harassment

  • Helped tenants learn their rights, connected them with legal services, organize their buildings, and hold their landlords accountable

  • Investigated corrupt homeless shelters, helped people transfer to safer shelters and permanent housing

  • Held City agencies responsible for upholding the law, making sure that bad landlords were not able to continue to get away with refusing repairs and harassing their tenants

• Defended and funded public housing

  • Allocated more funding to public housing resident associations than ever before, allowing them to host more events and engage more with residents

  • Invested over 1 million dollars in repairing two NYCHA complexes, improving their outdoor space and security

  • Organized, educated, and rallied residents against privatization of NYCHA, which could lead to increased rent, evictions, and instability, while cutting off City oversight