Curbed

Claire Valdez rents her Ridgewood two-bedroom apartment and is running to take over Nydia Velázquez’s open congressional seat in District 7, which is, like most of the city, a constituency that’s majority tenant. Valdez has fellow democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s support in a primary against Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso. Per the latest polling, Valdez and Reynoso are pulling similar support, though most voters describe themselves as undecided about what they’ll do come the June 23 election.

On Tuesday, Valdez shared her housing plan with us as an exclusive: The 36-year-old assemblymember is running on universal rent control, a federal version of New York’s Good Cause Eviction, the creation of new public housing, and a more aggressive approach to taking properties away from landlords with records of neglecting their buildings.

Some of this aligns with what Mamdani is trying to do in the city, but the particulars are different — how does a federal approach to tenant protections even work? Clio Chang spoke with Valdez about her plan, what she’s learned from the mayor’s short time in office, and how she thinks any of this can actually get done if she makes it to Washington.

Read their full conversation at the link in our bio.

Photo: Karya Schanilec

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