Resilience PAC, A Member-Driven Political Action Committee Led By Experts In Urban Planning, Climate Policy, Communications, and Climate Adaptation Makes City Council Endorsements
Organization Endorses 11 Candidates, Including Marjorie Velazquez and Wai Yee Chan for Competitive Elections in the 13th and 43rd Council Districts
New York, NY - Resilience PAC, the city’s first political action committee focused exclusively on building climate resilience and ensuring equitable and expansive adaptation to climate change, today endorsed 11 candidates for City Council in the 2023 Primary. In its second election cycle, the PAC endorsed a majority woman, majority person-of-color slate covering The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.
In announcing their selection, Resilience PAC Endorsements Committee Co-Lead Sam Horowitz said: “As climate change impacts intensify, we need forward-thinking leaders prepared to protect New York City communities from the next storm and the storm in 25 years. The candidates we’ve endorsed today have a deep understanding of the risks their communities face, and are prepared to lead on bold solutions that ensure all of New York residents — especially the most vulnerable — can thrive amidst climate change.”
Resilience PAC was founded to educate and elect candidates who will enact comprehensive policies that ensure all of the City’s people—especially people of color and those living in low income communities and neighborhoods—are able to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.
Through extensive research and interviews, the PAC found that the endorsed candidates possess deep knowledge of the risks climate change poses in New York City, have strong positions on actions needed to mitigate these risks, and offer holistic solutions that simultaneously address social, ecological, and physical vulnerabilities. Most importantly, they demonstrate their understanding of the intersection between the issues of climate change and social equity, and present solutions that solve for climate change by building urban resilience in partnership with the communities who are most affected.
Resilience PAC Endorsements Committee Co-Lead Frank Avila-Goldman said: “As a waterfront resident and representative of an affordable housing development on the Lower East Side, ensuring livability for successive generations and advocating for prioritization of vulnerable populations in the context of climate change requires a holistic commitment and investment on an unprecedented scale.”
With the endorsement, the PAC may offer support through policy expertise, volunteers to assist in get out the vote efforts, financial contributions from PAC funds, and encouraging members to donate directly to the candidates.
The 2023 New York City Council endorsements are as follows:
Council District Candidates
MANHATTAN
2 - Carlina Rivera
4 - Keith Powers
6 - Gale Brewer
THE BRONX
13 - Marjorie Velazquez
QUEENS
19 - Tony Avella
22 - Tiffany Cabán
23 - Linda Lee
24 - James F. Gennaro
BROOKLYN
37 -Sandy Nurse
38 - Alexa Aviles
43 - Wai Yee Chan
About Resilience PAC:
The New York City Panel on Climate Change projects that we will see three to six feet of sea level rise, and an increased frequency of heat waves, which, left unabated, will exacerbate inequity. The members of Resilience PAC believe that we must solve all these issues, to solve one. The PAC will achieve this by supporting candidates who commit to 1) Embed climate science and equity in all land use policies and capital planning, 2) Prioritize disinvested communities, and 3) Make government actions transparent and accountable. The organization’s full policy platform can be found here and below. And a list of the founding members can be found here.