New York State Assemblymember Steven Raga has announced he is backing Mark Levine for New York City Comptroller.
Raga, the first Filipino American elected into office in the state of New York, joins the Filipino American Democratic Club and a growing coalition of AAPI elected officials and community groups that are backing Levine, highlighting Levine’s longstanding commitment to supporting the AAPI community, according to a press statement.
Raga said: “Mark Levine has dedicated his career to fiercely advocating for more housing, stronger tenant protections, and an accountable government. Whether as a teacher, founder of the Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union, City Council Member, or Borough President, Mark has always fought for bettering the lives of New Yorkers. That’s why I am happy to support Mark for NYC Comptroller!”
Levine said, “Assembly Member Raga has consistently delivered for his Queens community, and I am so proud to have a fighter like him on our team. As Comptroller, I look forward to continuing our work together to make sure New Yorkers can afford their apartments, send their children to good schools, and retire with dignity.”
The statement says Levine has been at the “forefront of advocating for more affordable, equitable and healthy communities for nearly 25 years.” He’s a former bilingual math and science teacher in the South Bronx, and he founded the Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union, which today has made over $100 million of loans to local families and businesses in Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx. He served on the New York City Council for 8 years, including as Chair of the Committee on Parks, Chair of the Jewish Caucus, and Chair of the Committee on Health, where he brought his science-based and data driven approach to helping to lead the city out of the worst public health crisis in a century. He introduced and passed transformative tenants rights protections, including the first-in-the-nation Right to Counsel, which guarantees tenants at risk of eviction with legal representation if they cannot afford a lawyer.
In 2022, Mark was elected Manhattan Borough President, where he led the fight to end our affordability crisis. He identified opportunities for tens of thousands of new units of housing, advocated new policies that will help create badly needed affordable housing, and fought to protect tenants so they can stay in their homes. He has launched campaigns to plant a million more trees and deliver millions of dollars of low-interest loans to small businesses, and has pushed the city to improve our mental health system, ensure New Yorkers can travel quickly and safely on our streets, and prepare for climate change.
Mark lives in Upper Manhattan with his wife and two kids, who are studying to be a nurse and EMT. In his free time, Mark spends time with his family and likes to study languages. He speaks Spanish and Hebrew fluently, and is studying Greek and French. Mark graduated from Haverford College with a B.A. in physics and from Harvard University’s Kennedy School with a master’s in public policy.
