The Lukewarm Seat: City Council Candidate Evan Thies

Evan Thies. Photo by Agaton Strom.

Evan Thies is running for  City Council in Brooklyn's 33rd District, which is basically a gentrification stew consisting of Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Park Slope, DUMBO, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Boerum Hill. We talked to the 29-year-old Williamsburg resident and former senior adviser to current council member David Yassky about responsible development, the particular challenges of setting policy for Williamsburg, and working in Hillary Clinton's office.

For those who don't know, what exactly does a city council member do?
The City Council is fundamentally a check to the mayor, and has power to pass laws, amend and pass City budgets, change property tax rates, and control land use in the five boroughs.  Unfortunately, I believe that the Council has ceded much of this power to the mayor, and does not currently do a sufficient job of raising public debate by taking opposing positions to the mayor, and fighting more often for significant changes to the way this City operates.  A stronger Council willing to take on big fights--whether by opposing re-zonings that are bad for our neighborhoods, by halting tax giveaways, or simply by better debating the details of our $60 billion budget--would mean a stronger New York.

What are the challenges in shaping policies for a neighborhood as young and transient as Williamsburg?
The biggest challenge is getting people involved in the political and government processes.  Although more and more people are staying and making a home for their families in Williamsburg, there are still many residents --especially young adults right out of college, in graduate school, or who have just moved here from somewhere else--who aren't yet putting down roots.  We have to make the case to these folks that local government affects their lives every day, and that their only way to make positive change is to get involved.

How do you define irresponsible development?
Irresponsible development can take many forms. The most common is when a developer breaks the law by building more than they are allowed under the current zoning. Believe it or not, this happens all the time because of lack of enforcement by the City. Through the Williamsburg Watchdog project, which I chair, I have also seen many kinds of other irresponsible and even dangerous forms of development.  These include unsafe construction sites, off-hours construction that wakes people up or ruins their weekends, illegal methods of removing asbestos, destruction of historical elements to buildings, and the damaging of adjacent homes through reckless demolition or construction.

I have proposed a new method of enforcement to stop these crimes before they start by prioritizing besieged neighborhoods called "construction hot zones", which would redirect the Department of Buildings' resources and concentrate them in communities like ours that desperately need protection. I have also proposed making construction fines so costly that bad developers can't just make them part of the cost of doing business.

What's the first issue you would address if elected to the City Council?
My top three concerns are affordable housing, education, and government reform. Also on the list are open space, diversifying our economy, alternative transportation, environmental and energy concerns, community preservation, irresponsible development and many, many other areas in desperate need of attention.

For the 33rd District, however, the most dire concern has to be affordable housing.  We are bleeding affordable units across this City, and every neighborhood in the 33rd is feeling the strain.  In Greenpoint and Williamsburg, there has been a seismic shift in the affordability of apartments, especially since the 2005 rezoning.  We have very quickly moved from a middle- and lower-income set of neighborhoods, to home to some of the most expensive property in the City. Fortunately, when I was working with the current Council member, we were able to win more than 3,000 units of housing for the area--but even that historic number of units will not be enough. There needs to be fundamental change in Albany and at City Hall immediately to preserve the units we do have by changing the rent regulation laws, and to create new, permanent affordable housing through public funding and the leveraging of private real estate interests.  But what makes affordable housing the top priority in our neighborhood, is the fact that we have been guaranteed more of it by the City that has yet to be built. That is an unacceptable problem that the City can quickly fix by keeping its word. Demanding those units should be a top priority any new Council member in this district.

If there is a long recession, how do you think it will affect Williamsburg in particular?
Make no mistake, this recession has been and will be devastating for New York and our neighborhood. Every single person in our neighborhood will be negatively impacted. But I think Williamsburg is actually in a better position than some communities in the City. First of all, we don't rely on the financial sector for jobs the way that those in Manhattan or even other parts of the 33rd, such as Brooklyn Heights, do. There is also a very large population of independent workers in our neighborhood--designers, artists, musicians, small business owners -- who have clients in niche industries who may be less vulnerable to this crisis. There is, however, a tangential effect that those in service industries from Williamsburg will of course feel as a result of the crisis. Also: it will make it much harder to buy a home or start a business as credit remains so scarce.

Could you talk about your experience working in Hillary Clinton's office?
I was inspired by Sen. Clinton's run for the Senate as a college student, and volunteered at her office the day it opened.  From there I went on to work with her on local economic development issues and constituent services, and learned a lot about being responsive to local concerns. Sen. Clinton taught me about effective public service. I am most proud of working on a program to link Upstate farmers with City schools, so that we could improve our regional economy while providing the freshest local produce to students.

Why is it so hard to get high voter turnout in local elections?
City Council members are not as visible as the mayor, the governor, or federal elected officials, and constituents tend to think of them as not as powerful or influential in their daily lives.  The truth is that local elected officials can affect lives in this City much quicker and in a much more direct way than other politicians.  Council members are the direct link between you and the City, and the most effective advocate for you whether you have a problem with trash pick-up, a stoplight, crime on your block, or problems with your child's school. Voters are also not inclined to vote often in primaries--which, in a City full of Democrats, are normally the only elections that matter. New Yorkers need to be better educated by the City Board of Elections about the process, and take the time to become engaged with their government.

The spike in crime has been on many Williamsburg residents' minds lately. What would you do if elected to lower crime in the area?
Most of these crimes are similar: someone alone at night is attacked on a lonely street by one or a few young punks.  There has also been a spike in the number of vandals destroying cars and other property, and apartment break-ins.  Many of these crimes seem like they're done by teenagers and gang-related.  Therefore, I am pushing for more patrols and funding for the 90th Precinct; extra money for community centers so that kids have something to do at night other than roam the streets; and a series of anti-gang neighborhood meetings to educate parents, teachers and residents about the signs of gang activity and ways to prevent it. I am glad that the 90th Precinct has already begun working with community members on some of these ideas, and has recognized what a serious problem this is--now though we have to put real energy and resources into it to ensure that a bad situation doesn't get much, much worse.