{"id":15610,"date":"2025-10-24T23:13:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T23:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/15610\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T23:13:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T23:13:20","slug":"what-would-gale-do-a-call-for-community-first-leadership-on-the-west-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/15610\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat Would Gale Do?\u201d \u2014 A Call for Community-First Leadership on the West Side"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maria Ortiz, a lifelong West Sider, social worker and Manhattan Community Board 4 member, reflects on what true representation should look like as New Yorkers prepare to vote. This piece is written from Maria\u2019s personal perspective as a Chelsea and Hell\u2019s Kitchen resident.\u00a0W42ST welcomes submissions of OpEds on relevant topics for our readers. Please email\u00a0phil@w42st.com<\/a>\u00a0if you have ideas.<\/p>\n

\"\"Maria Ortiz, a lifelong West Sider, who is social worker and Manhattan Community Board 4 member. Photo: Phil O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

When I sit in certain meetings or hear about certain negotiations, I sometimes stop and ask myself a question a friend and I began as a joke: \u201cWhat would Gale do?\u201d This began because local councilmember Gale Brewer has been a consistent example of someone who represents her community with honesty and backbone. She shows up, she listens, and she isn\u2019t afraid to take a stand. That\u2019s the kind of leadership we deserve on the West Side.<\/p>\n

Affordable housing is not an abstract issue for me. It\u2019s personal.\u00a0I grew up in Chelsea\u2019s Elliott-Chelsea Houses, in a tenement in Hell\u2019s Kitchen, and later in the Amsterdam Houses behind Lincoln Center, formerly known as San Juan Hill. In about 2005 I was fortunate to win a \u201clottery apartment.\u201d I know firsthand how much stability public housing and other affordable housing programs can provide for individuals and families with limited income. That\u2019s why I don\u2019t understand the reason, time and again, I see proposals that chip away at affordability instead of protecting it and protecting\u00a0tenants in these homes. For example, why are we so quick to demolish public housing? Why are we so timid about demanding more affordability and higher standards from wealthy developers and the City?<\/p>\n

\"GaleCouncilmember Gale Brewer speaks at an event with Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. Photo: Phil O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just housing. Take the casino proposals for Hudson Yards and Times Square. Many residents were opposed. But where was the firm stance from local leadership? Why weren\u2019t more local voices, beyond political offices, placed on the community advisory boards? Eventually, yes, there was listening and the casinos were not approved in this area. However, leadership must lead, not lag behind the community it represents.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll never forget when I was told that someone in power said, with a laugh, that the City Council seat for this district was considered \u201cthe gay seat\u201d due to leadership for more than 30 years; District 3 has been represented by \u2014 Tom Duane, Christine Quinn, Corey Johnson, Erik Bottcher.\u00a0 I\u2019m proud of our LGBTQ+ community and its history of leadership. But representation should never be reduced to a label, a donor base, or a voting bloc. It should be about passion for the district, about including different voices, negotiating well, and standing firm on behalf of everyone who calls this community home.<\/p>\n

The truth is, many people come through our neighborhoods but don\u2019t remain here. If you do stay, it\u2019s often because you have family roots, are in affordable housing or maybe you\u2019ve been able to buy a home. I want leadership that is committed to all of us \u2014 not just large donors or the biggest bloc of senior voters, but also working families, renters, young people and people of color.<\/p>\n

\"\"Meatpacking District Executive Director Jeffrey LeFrancios, MCB4 Chair Jessica Chait and Councilmember Gale Brewer at the ribbon cutting for Pier 97 in Hudson River Park. Photo: Phil O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

Am I being idealistic? I don\u2019t think so. I\u2019m asking for someone who is straightforward, solution-focused, and committed to leveraging the strengths of their constituents for the good of the community. Someone who can negotiate with power, and do it with courage.<\/p>\n

As we head into the polls this fall, my challenge to West Side voters is simple: ask yourself, when you look at the candidates, \u201cCan this person lead us well?\u201d or \u201cIs this person like Gale?\u201d In other words, will this next representative be willing to\u00a0negotiate, collaborate, show up, speak up and stand up for us all with integrity?<\/p>\n

* Councilmember Gale Brewer is running uncontested for Council District 6 (which includes parts of Hell\u2019s Kitchen). She did not contribute to the writing of this OpEd.<\/p>\n

Early voting will take place from Saturday, October 25 to Sunday, November 2 and the general election is on Tuesday, November 4. Visit\u00a0vote.nyc<\/a>\u00a0to find your polling site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maria Ortiz, a lifelong West Sider, social worker and Manhattan Community Board 4 member, reflects on what true…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63,3842],"class_list":{"0":"post-15610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-manhattan","9":"tag-manhattan-headlines","10":"tag-manhattan-news","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-oped"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}