Tribeca Citizen: City Council Primary 2025: Jess Coleman

April 10, 2025 • Community News

We will have a primary on June 24 for our City Council District 1 seat, currently occupied by Christopher Marte. And since there are a few hot issues right now, I sent the four candidates — Jess Coleman, Elizabeth Lewinsohn, Eric Yu and of course Marte — a short list of questions gleaned from comments, along with a request for an interview. I will run the responses in the order they are returned. So far, this is the only one! See the questionnaire below.

Jess Coleman has always been invested in Lower Manhattan: he lives in Tribeca, grew up in Battery Park City — his parents still live at Gateway — played little league here, helped his parents with their community actions, like the Run for Knowledge to fund the PS 89 library, interned for Margaret Chin in high school, answering constituent phone calls. He joined Community Board 1 in 2021 after then-Governor Cuomo tried to raze a big swath of Rockefeller Park for a hardscape memorial. “I was already following all the issues, but that was the last straw.”

When Trump was elected a second time, he decided it was time to get even more invested. So in January, he quit his day job so he could run for the council seat full time. “I wanted to take this seriously,” he said.

He was also, he said, ready to leave the law. A graduate of Boston University Law School in 2018 (he is 31), he worked for the past five years as a litigator, first at Akin Gump’s bankruptcy group representing the creditors of Purdue Pharma (that case is still going on, since it went all the way up the Supreme Court), then to Veneble where he represented a broad range of clients, then to a small boutique litigation firm called Leader Berkon.

“The law is very procedural and incremental,” he said. “I like to think about the bigger picture.”

He went to PS 89, then Lab for middle and high school, and Cornell for undergrad. On CB1, he is co-chair of the Transporation Committee and serves on the Parks Committee. He and his wife, Jessica, live on Duane Street.

He’s concerned about the fact that the city fails in its low production of affordable housing (“If my wife and I were not both lawyers, we would not be able to live here.), high rate of pedestrian deaths (“We are one of the most walkable cities; we should have zero.”), restrictive and exclusionary zoning laws (“We know outdoor dining supports small businesses but the City Council took away year-round outdoor dining.”).

He also worries that people his age are disengaging — and that makes city government even less out of touch with its constituents. The last primary for City Council elections saw a 7 percent turnout citywide.

“We can fix a lot of these problems,” he said. “We just have to be bold about it.”

SIDEWALK SHEDS
As you know, Tribeca is covered with sidewalk sheds, as is the rest of the city. In fact some sheds have been up for decades! What is your suggestion for a solution? Any input on Local Law 11 reform?

Tribeca’s been buried under sidewalk sheds for way too long — and until recently, there was no real incentive for property owners to take them down. Local Law 11, which requires regular facade inspections, made sense in theory, but in practice it led to sheds staying up for years while repairs dragged on. They’ve hurt small businesses, blocked light, and made our streets feel less safe.

Thankfully, new legislation is finally starting to change that, with stricter timelines and more transparency. It’s a big step in the right direction—but we’ve still got work to do. We should make it easy for the public to track why a shed is up and when it’s coming down, and push for a smarter, risk-based approach to inspections so we’re not treating every building the same.

TOWER PLANNED FOR IPN
Stellar Management and Vornado have proposed a 900-foot tower for the low-rise part of Independence Plaza on Greenwich and Jay. What is your reaction to this plan? How would you get involved in the discussions on this as-of-right development? What is the tallest new building you would support on the site?

I just checked StreetEasy for a two-bedroom apartment under $8,000 in Tribeca. There’s one available. One.

To put that in perspective, a family would need to earn at least $320,000 a year just to afford that apartment without being considered rent burdened. And even at that income level, there’s only one option. That’s not a functioning housing market—it’s a full-blown crisis.
This shortage—illustrated by a historically low 1.4% vacancy rate citywide—is at the center of the affordability crisis, fueling skyrocketing rents and displacement. When young, high earners can’t find places to live, they end up bidding up rents in buildings like Independence Plaza, pushing longtime residents out.

That’s why I support new housing at the Independence Plaza site. We need to build—urgently. But I also believe the public has a right to know what’s coming and have input in the final plan. How much affordable housing will be included? What improvements will be made to the streetscape and surrounding community? The developers have not been transparent, and that needs to change. Still, the bigger picture is clear: after years of inaction, we can’t afford to say no to more housing. We need bold—but responsible—action to fix this crisis.

PARKING PLACARDS
Cars with fake parking placards clog our local streets every day, blocking commercial parking and creating problems not just for residents but for businesses trying to get deliveries. There are times when entire streets are blocked as a result. Do you have a solution for this?

Placard parking is a blatant form of public corruption happening in plain sight. It erodes trust in government, clogs our streets, and creates dangerous conditions for pedestrians.

As co-chair of Community Board 1’s Transportation Committee, I’ve been a vocal advocate for a real solution—citizen enforcement. The idea is simple: the Department of Transportation would create a mobile app that allows everyday New Yorkers to report illegal placard abuse (and other clear violations). These reports would go straight to the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings—not the NYPD—which would determine if a violation occurred, and offer the accused a chance to challenge the ticket. The police are taken out of the equation entirely.

We already have a successful model for this with idling truck enforcement, and it’s time to expand it. The NYPD has made it abundantly clear they won’t police their own. So let’s stop pretending they will—and give New Yorkers the power to hold violators accountable.

NEW WHITE STREET JAIL
The Manhattan site for the borough-based jail in Chinatown is now fully demolished and renderings have been released along with a new cost estimate of $3.7 billion, up from $2.1 billion. And the completion date is now 2032. What is your hope for this site? How should the city proceed?

We should not be building new jails in Lower Manhattan. This is a transit-rich, dense neighborhood that should be prioritized for housing and community resources, not a massive carceral facility. The vast majority of people in our city’s jails haven’t been convicted of a crime—they’re awaiting trial or serving time for technical parole violations. Instead of pouring billions into new jails, we should be investing in clearing the case backlog.

That said, the demolition is done, and our current leadership has failed to stop the project. If the city insists on moving forward, it must come with significant community investment. At the very least, the surrounding area must be reimagined to serve the public: pedestrian-friendly streets, public plazas, and protections for the small businesses that have long anchored this part of our community.

We should push for ground-floor retail or community space, improved lighting and tree cover, and real investment in the cultural fabric of the neighborhood. If this jail is going to cost taxpayers gargantuan sums, the least the city can do is ensure that some of that money goes toward healing the harm done—and giving something back to the community forced to host it.

COUNTERFEIT GOODS SELLERS
The crowds of counterfeit luxury good sellers along Broadway and Canal frustrate residents as much as they seem to attract tourists. Do you think this has to be a priority for local policing? And if so, what is your proposed solution?

Counterfeit goods may not be the most serious issue facing the city, but the explosion of unlicensed sellers hawking fake luxury items along Broadway and Canal is something we can’t ignore. When sidewalks are jammed wall-to-wall with knockoff bags and aggressive sales tactics, it’s not just an eyesore—it’s a quality-of-life issue. It makes public space feel chaotic and unregulated, and it especially impacts seniors, people with disabilities, and families trying to navigate already-crowded streets.

That said, we should be careful not to over criminalize street-level sellers—many of whom are likely just trying to make ends meet. Enforcement should focus on the supply chain and the large-scale operators profiting off these operations, not just the individuals on the ground. In the meantime, we need a coordinated effort to keep sidewalks clear in high-traffic corridors, using city agencies like DOT and DCWP (not just the NYPD) to enforce vending rules and reclaim public space for the people who live and work here.

CONGESTION PRICING
How do you think congestion pricing is working out so far? What are the benefits and issues for the neighborhood, as you see it?

Congestion pricing is one of the clearest examples of how bold, smart policy can deliver real, immediate benefits—if we have the courage to follow through.

In just a short time, traffic is down, crashes have dropped, air quality is improving, and businesses are seeing more foot traffic. Lower Manhattan, long suffocated by bridge and tunnel traffic, is finally breathing again. Places like the Holland Tunnel entrance and the Williamsburg Bridge approach—once overwhelmed by honking, fumes, and gridlock—have seen a dramatic turnaround. This is what progress looks like when we prioritize people over car culture.

I’m open to thoughtful tweaks, like raising the income threshold for resident exemptions, but let’s be clear: this is a major win for our neighborhood, and we cannot let right-wing attacks derail it. I have supported congestion pricing from day one—whether in community board meetings or out on the streets protesting Trump’s illegal attempts to block it. That’s the kind of leadership this moment demands: principled, proactive, and unwilling to back down when the future of our city is on the line.

HOMELESS SHELTERS
As you know, the city’s homeless population has increased in the past year, and this neighborhood has, along with many others, seen an increase in people living on the streets. The city has opened a new Safe Haven shelter in the Financial District and has two more coming online soon in the Civic Center. Residents have been opposed to all three, but most vocally the one site next to the Peck Slip School on Pearl Street. What is your approach to this issue?

We know how to address homelessness—it’s not a mystery. Cities across the country have made real progress by embracing a housing-first approach that prioritizes getting people into stable shelter and then connecting them with long-term housing and support services. New York must do the same, with urgency and compassion.

Safe Havens are a critical part of that strategy. They’re designed for the most vulnerable New Yorkers—those living unsheltered and often dealing with mental health or substance use challenges. These facilities offer individualized care and have a proven track record of not only helping people transition off the streets, but also improving safety and quality of life in the surrounding neighborhood. That’s why I’ve supported a pragmatic, solutions-based approach to the new Safe Havens in Lower Manhattan—unlike other candidates who have opposed them outright.

That said, the City has mishandled the rollout. Decisions about shelter siting shouldn’t happen behind closed doors or be treated like backroom real estate deals. We need transparency, early community engagement, and a clear, equitable plan for where and how shelters are distributed across the city. In addition to Safe Havens, we must also expand facilities like the Manhattan Psychiatric Center on Randall’s Island and dramatically increase supportive housing access—many units sit empty today due to red tape and inefficiency. Homelessness is a humanitarian emergency that affects all of us. It’s time we started acting like it.

CRIME
Many readers feel there has been a rise in crime since the pandemic (and statistics support that) and not much has been done about it. What is your approach to community policing? This could include policies to address violent crime, muggings and burglary, as well as “minor” issues like graffiti and other vandalism, public urination, counterfeit sellers who take over areas of Canal Street.

While crime remains low compared to historical highs, there’s no question that many New Yorkers feel a growing sense of disorder—whether it’s in the subway, on our streets, or in our public spaces. That feeling is real, and the data backs it up: we’ve seen a spike in certain types of violent crime, especially felony assaults, alongside persistent quality-of-life issues like graffiti, public urination, and street vending of counterfeit goods. The solution isn’t more of the same—it’s a smarter, more modern approach to public safety that focuses on both enforcement and prevention.

First, our current policing strategies are stuck in the past. We’re not in an era of widespread robberies and burglaries—those crimes are down. What we’re seeing now is more random, often mentally health–driven acts of violence. Traditional tactics like bag checks and turnstile crackdowns won’t fix that. Instead, we need a targeted response built on coordination. Right now, multiple agencies—NYPD, the Department of Homeless Services, the Department of Health, nonprofits—are each doing a little, but no one is leading. We need a unified command structure, with a clear staffing and training plan, especially for areas like the subway, where we know issues like homelessness and mental health crises are most visible. That also means moving away from a system that leans heavily on overtime and undertrained officers, and instead deploying professionals prepared for the realities on the ground.

Second, public safety cannot just be about reacting—it has to be about preventing. That means investing in mental health care, supportive housing, and wraparound services. I support the creation of “diversion hubs”—centralized spaces where people can be assessed and connected with the help they actually need, whether that’s inpatient care, housing, or workforce development. If we keep removing people from the streets or subways without a plan for what happens next, they will continue to come back. A safer city means confronting the problem at its roots, not just managing the symptoms.

SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESS
As you know, Tribeca residents really value our local restaurants and shops, which we believe give the neighborhood much of its character. We are worried about the challenges for them from two consistent forces: real estate costs and city regulations and fines. You can read more about what we mean here and here. Do you have any solutions for protecting small businesses from the pressures of rising real estate costs? Do you have any ideas for addressing retail vacancies?

District 1 leads the city in vacant storefronts—and while the pandemic accelerated the problem, it didn’t create it. Lower Manhattan has long relied on office workers to fuel its daytime economy, and with fewer people commuting in, we need to rethink how our neighborhoods function.

First, we need to support our small businesses however we can. Reforming the outdoor dining program to make it truly year-round is a simple, effective step. It allows restaurants to stay active, keeps our streets lively, and makes neighborhoods feel safer and more welcoming. And yes, it may cost a few parking spaces—but what we gain in vibrancy, walkability, and local business support is well worth it.

Second, we have to take a hard look at the structural challenges. Commercial rents remain sky-high, in part because of a broken property tax code that hits mixed-use buildings especially hard—buildings that define much of Lower Manhattan. On top of that, we have landlords warehousing vacant storefronts, either holding out for speculative rents or sitting on old leases that disincentivize turnover. It’s time to consider a vacancy tax to encourage storefronts to get back into circulation and breathe life back into our streets.

Our small businesses are more than just places to eat and shop—they are the soul of our neighborhoods. They create jobs, build community, and give character to every block. If we want Lower Manhattan to thrive again, we need to support the people who make it worth walking through in the first place.