Mark Levine is a
NYC Council Member
representing the Upper West Side, Harlem & Washington Heights and is
running for
Manhattan Borough President
to succeed
Gale Brewer who
is term limited. Mr Levine was at the Roosevelt Island Farmers Market
today 

meeting and talking with residents about local issues.

#TeamLevine
joined
@MarkLevineNYC
at the Roosevelt Island farmer’s market! We loved talking to residents about
how they
#ImagineABetterManhattan, including public banking, reinvesting in the Roosevelt Island community,
and bike lines.
pic.twitter.com/L1FZKlDzNN

— Team Levine 👟 (@TeamLevineNYC)
May 8, 2021

46 days until the primary, and here’s another idea to
#ImagineABetterManhattan:

==> Let’s make mountains of trash bags a thing of the past
on crowded Manhattan sidewalks. It’s time we catch up to other cities and
install sealed, on-street containers.
pic.twitter.com/QV4d8e0pMM

— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC)
May 8, 2021

I spoke with Mr. Levine at the Farmers Market about his ideas to
#ImagineABetterManhattan
and better Roosevelt Island including bringing a local bank branch to
Roosevelt Island, making sure resident needs are prioritized by the Roosevelt
Island Operating Corp (RIOC)
and working to insure that
Cornell Tech gives
back to the Roosevelt Island Community. Mr Levine spoke of his role as Chair
of the NYC Council Health Committee fighting the
Covid 19 pandemic too. 

Here’s what Mr Levine had to say.

Saw the lovely
@MarkLevineNYC
at the farmers market on Roosevelt island earlier! Even though I can’t vote
cuz of my immigration status I’d still like to voice my support for this guy
for his amazing job over the past few months with covid vax and many other
issues! pic.twitter.com/uSR1SFDNAN

— Robert Yuzhe Song (@astrorobb)
May 8, 2021

Learn more about Mr Levine’s campaign for
Manhattan Borough President at his website.

Mr Levine’s opponents in the June 22 Democratic Party Primary are: 

Roosevelt Island will have an
early voting site from June 12 to 20
at the Sportspark facility (250 Main Street) for Manhattan Borough President
and other June 22 NYC election day contests.

You may ask what exactly does a Borough President do? According to
The City:

… A borough president is an advocate for their borough in a number of
ways. 

First, they have a sizable chunk of change at their disposal to fund local
initiatives, groups and projects like buying technology for public schools,
renovating local parks or spearheading community health outreach.

Borough presidents share about 5% of the city budget to fund things in their
borough — about $4 billion among them, according to the city’s Campaign
Finance Board.

Borough presidents can also introduce bills in the City Council, though they
do not get a vote.
They weigh in on land use proposals — in other words, development projects
that need public approval — with an advisory vote and written decision.
Their input is not binding, but it can be quite influential if they are
staunchly for or against a project and lobby Council members or the
mayor. 

Working with local City Council members, Borough presidents also appoint all
members of community boards, the local bodies that weigh in on everything
from new bike lanes to liquor licenses for restaurants. With that power, the
borough presidents can exert significant sway over neighborhood-level
politics and projects….

Click here for more from The City on NYC Borough Presidents.

And
Gothamist has more on what the Borough President does.