Jenifer Rajkumar Interview Transcript

A transcript of The New York Editorial Board's interview with Public Advocate candidate Jenifer Rajkumar.

Jenifer Rajkumar, a State Assembly Member representing the 38th District in Queens and a candidate in the June 2025 Democratic primary for Public Advocate, spoke with The New York Editorial Board on the morning of June 12, 2025. (photo by Liena Zagare)

Participating journalists: Nicole Gelinas, Josh Greenman, Alyssa Katz, Ben Max, Akash Mehta, Harry Siegel, Liena Zagare.

Full Transcript

Role of Public Advocate

Ben Max
Good morning. Thanks for being here. Mayor Adams has often been very frustrated by the way that Public Advocate [Jumaane] Williams has held his administration accountable over this term. He’s pushed back on a lot of the oversight and the ways in which the public advocate has spoken out about the administration’s chaos, corruption, different issues, resignations and so forth. I’m curious: How, if you had been the public advocate during this term, do you think your approach to Mayor Adams and his administration would’ve been different from the current public advocate?

Jenifer Rajkumar
The public advocate should hold the mayor accountable, should hold the president and the governor accountable. The public advocate should be the protector of New York City, but as public advocate, I will be independent. I’ll be the watchdog for the city, no matter who the mayor is.

Ben Max
Are there ways in which you think you would’ve echoed some of the public advocate’s criticism? He’s expressed a lot of concern about all the resignations and, again, the turnover and all the ways in which the administration has struggled in different ways to manage the city. Do you think you would’ve had similar critiques, different? How would you have approached very directly the mayoral administration over these last three-plus years?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think it’s very important that a public advocate does more than criticize the mayor or the governor. It’s not enough to run a remote office and then to write a press release attacking the mayor. That’s not enough. A good public advocate focuses on real solutions, solutions to the mental health crisis, solutions to make our city safer, focusing on affordability. I think, especially in these times, we need a more active and engaged, hardworking public advocate. That’s why I’m running for this office.

Our city is going through too much to have a public advocate that’s not present and that’s not actively working on solutions. Should a public advocate stand up to a mayor and point out what the administration could be doing better? Absolutely, but then you actually have to make it happen. For example, what has Jumaane Williams done to remedy certain bureaucratic failures? There were enough supportive housing units for everyone who needed them, and yet those units weren’t filled. That’s a bureaucratic failure that a good public advocate could work on fixing.

Alyssa Katz
Can I follow up on that and just ask you, how would you do that? As a small office, you don’t have a lot of legal powers there, so what is the mechanism that you would use, given that example?

Jenifer Rajkumar
One mechanism that can be used is litigation itself. Very few people know that, according to the city Charter Section 24, the public advocate can sue on behalf of the public interest. This power can be used to remedy these bureaucratic failures. You can sue city agencies if they are not filling housing at a fast enough rate, and that is a power that I am well equipped to use, as a civil rights lawyer. Stanford Law trained, I’ve practiced law, so I know how to collaborate with other law firms, work with my office staff to use that tool. However--

Josh Greenman
Can I ask a little bit about that?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes.

Josh Greenman
You’ve got a lot of lawsuits that have been filed against the city, many class action suits against the Department of Correction, and against the Department of Education, and against the NYPD, and many consent decrees that city government is always dealing with. What’s the wisdom of having consent decrees, basically filing more litigation that result in more consent decrees? Won’t that make it difficult to govern New York City?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Litigation should be responsible, not reckless, and litigation should be a last resort. It's always better to collaborate first to see if you can work with an agency to make them speed up the process, but if not, I think litigation is a valuable tool. However, you are correct that recklessly suing people is not helping anybody, and suing agencies just to make a headline is certainly not going to help the city. I’m talking about responsible litigation.

Another agency that I think needs to be looked into is the MTA. MTA basically stands for money thrown away. The MTA budget has more holes in it than the BQE. There’s millions of dollars that are spent by the MTA. We don’t really know where it goes, and that has to change. I would make the MTA a priority.

Josh Greenman
Tish James, when she was public advocate, filed a lot of lawsuits as well. Have you looked at those? Have you assessed which one succeeded and which ones didn’t? Can you talk about the ones that you see as models and the ones that you see as frivolous or unwise?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think Tish James focused a lot on tenants' issues and suing landlords and the Public Advocate’s office, since de Blasio, has actually had a 100 worst landlords list. The problem with these initiatives is that it’s often just for show, and what actually happens, 100 worst landlords list, it’s just names on a list, but nobody’s held accountable. Nothing really happens. I believe very strongly that a good public advocate actually gets results because actual lives are on the line. I dedicated my life to public service because I want to get results for real people. I believe that government inefficiency costs lives, and I’m gonna cut through it.

Harry Siegel
Just speaking of actual lives on the line, there’s a lot happening with the Trump administration migrants right now. There are reports that the military, which is in LA, is going to be coming to New York City. Can I just ask, public advocate's role has some powers, but mostly it has a soapbox, what you would be doing or saying if you were public advocate right now and going forward?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think that right now, there’s a lot of chaos around immigration at the federal level. President Trump has just this week banned people from certain nations from entering our country. Sent the National Guard to LA. Congress members have been banned from entering immigration facilities. These are troubling times, and I’m well equipped to stand up to the Trump administration on this issue. I used to direct immigration for the entire state of New York during the first Trump era.

When he enacted the Muslim travel ban, banning people from Muslim majority nations from entering this country, I was leading New York’s charge to push back against that. I built a first in the nation legal defense program to make sure that every immigrant who needed a lawyer in an immigration proceeding had that legal counsel. I was very proud that for the first time, no immigrant was locked up alone in detention, unable to speak the language without representation. I built that program, and I was proud to see cities around the country replicate that program. You can count on me to be on the front lines pushing back against this Trump administration.

Alyssa Katz
Was this under the Cuomo administration?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes.

Cuomo and Mamdani

Alyssa Katz
You worked for Governor Cuomo. How much interaction did you have with him personally or with his office, and how does that inform how you might be a public advocate under a Cuomo administration?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I was appointed by Governor Cuomo to direct immigration to the state of New York. I also did a lot of other work for the governor, and that took me everywhere around the state. I was by the Canadian border, even, knocking on the barn door to talk to 25 Guatemalan immigrants in the North Country. I’ve been everywhere in this state. I have seen how Andrew Cuomo runs his administration. I’ve also seen Mayor Eric Adams. I know what works and I know what doesn’t work, and I’m ready to take our city into the future.

Josh Greenman
Just to follow up on Alyssa’s question, what’s the-- You were a member of the Cuomo administration, let’s just assume that he’s mayor. How does that former association inform the job that you would do as public advocate?

Jenifer Rajkumar
For me, it’s always about the people of New York. That’s what I’m in this for. Sometimes I would agree with Cuomo, other times I would disagree with Cuomo. I would do whatever is best for the people of the city. I think knowing him and having a working relationship with him is always very helpful.

Josh Greenman
While we’re on the subject, you serve in Albany as a legislator, and so does Zohran Mamdani. What’s your impression of him as a colleague in Albany?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think he’s running a very energetic operation right now, so congratulations to him.

Josh Greenman
Anything else about the way he’s behaved as a member of the Legislature that you think positive, negative, indifferent?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think it’s very important that we unify all groups across the city, and that’s what I strive to do as an elected official. Every year, I have a five-borough Ramadan iftar tour with the Muslim-American community around this city, and I also go to Sikh Gurdwaras and I go to Hindu temples. I reach out to the Jewish community all across the city. What we really need now is people that can unite us across all these groups, and that’s my focus.

Josh Greenman
Are you suggesting that he doesn’t do that?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think I will leave that for the voters and the readers to decide.

More on Immigration, Public Safety, Free Speech and Protests

Akash Mehta
One question back on immigration. The mayor has received criticism for cooperating with ICE more than some immigrant advocates think is appropriate. Do you share in that criticism?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes. I think this is New York City, and we get to decide what happens here.

Akash Mehta
What should the mayor be doing?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think, first of all, we are a sanctuary city, and that’s both Republican and Democratic mayors have all agreed that we are a sanctuary city and should remain a sanctuary city. What that means is that police officers should not act as ICE agents. I think it’s very important that all immigrant communities know that they are safe and protected and will have due process rights. Because people are on American soil, they deserve to be treated with a certain level of dignity and respect, and I think that is something that all elected officials must stand up for.

Nicole Gelinas
In terms of protests, where do you see the line, and what is constitutionally protected free speech, and what is illegal and meriting law enforcement intervention? In other words, same question I asked [City Council] Speaker [Adrienne] Adams the other day, if people are blocking a government vehicle with migrants in it, or they’re blocking the federal building, should those people be arrested, or is that peaceful protest?

Jenifer Rajkumar
The First Amendment is a sacred right, but you’re right that there is a line. If speech borders on hate speech or rather becomes hate speech, that is problematic.

Nicole Gelinas
How do you know when it becomes hate speech? For example, one of our candidates said “from the river to the sea” is hate speech. Where does the line fall?

Jenifer Rajkumar
This is a very fact-sensitive inquiry, and you have to evaluate every case, but if there’s organizing and it’s leading to public safety issues, then that’s certainly problematic. If the hate speech is making Jewish students on campuses feel unsafe or Muslim students feel unsafe, that’s also highly problematic.

Nicole Gelinas
Say protestors see an ICE van with migrants in it, and they believe they may be deported to El Salvador. If they stand in front of the van and try to impede that, should they be arrested, or that’s free speech?

Jenifer Rajkumar
If the protestors stand in front of the van?

Nicole Gelinas
Yes.

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think that is free speech, but it depends on are they blocking traffic. If that’s the case, then it has to be dealt with appropriately.

Josh Greenman
A little bit more on hate speech. You said the First Amendment is a sacred right. Hate speech is protected under the First Amendment, right?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think under certain circumstances, but when it borders on violence, then it’s not protected.

Josh Greenman
Harassment or incitement.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes.

Josh Greenman
If somebody writes an op-ed or something like that that cannot be seen shouting in somebody’s face directly, intimidating them as an individual, but they’re saying odious, hateful things, anti, make up your, antisemitic, anti-Black, anti-white, anti-Latino things, you might classify that as hate speech, but that’s also completely 100 percent First Amendment protected.

Jenifer Rajkumar
A lot of forms of divisive speech are protected under the First Amendment, but when it becomes a threat to security threat, then it’s not protected.

Eric Adams

Alyssa Katz
I wanted to ask you, I think the way most New Yorkers know you at this point is not as you as Assembly member, but as that lady in the red dress who stands next to Eric Adams at every press conference. You did stand by him. I can’t say exactly through what date you were visible on camera, but you were there when he was going through a federal investigation, a federal indictment, and then finally he was convicted and then– Please scratch that. That is obviously not right.

He was indicted and then had his charges dropped after the Trump administration made this pretty extraordinary deal around dropping the charges in exchange for his cooperation on immigration enforcement. Why at every stage of this did you stick with Eric Adams and appear with him, given all the questions around his corruption, alleged by federal government and demonstrated in a lot of reporting that a lot of us around this table have done? Why did you do that?

Jenifer Rajkumar
What do you mean by stick with him?

Alyssa Katz
You continue to appear at press conferences. You continue to have your name on press releases. I checked, it was all the way through February of this year, at the very least, you were a constant presence while a lot of questions around influence in his government, around straw donations, and a lot of other very problematic conduct surfaced in the indictment.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Which press releases?

Alyssa Katz
I’d have to go back and look at basic quotes that you contributed and so forth.

Jenifer Rajkumar
So, on press releases, I’m involved on many issues, whether it’s affordable housing or illegal smoke shops, or housing vouchers. So, when I’m asked for comment, I always submit comment, and I submit more comments than probably any legislator. So that’s why you see my name on all the press releases. I am very engaged, and I give 500 percent of myself to whatever I do. That’s how I’ve always been, and New Yorkers see that energy. That’s why they have seen me all around the city.

I have been in the Bronx talking about affordable housing. I have been on 14th Street advocating for public safety. I’ve been in Union Square talking about e-bikes. I’ve been in Queens, supporting the building of new housing. I’ve even been to the South Shore of Staten Island, engaging people on the Island about their concerns. I am proud of that. I am everywhere. That’s the energy that I bring to every job that I’ve ever had, and that’s the energy I’m going to bring as public advocate of New York City.

Josh Greenman
There are lots of legislators and other elected officials who have the reputation of nonstop being everywhere. We've seen plenty of legislators, but it’s a deliberate choice to stand next to Adams so, so, so often in your district, not in your district, on issues that you’ve been closely attached to, not on issues necessarily that you’ve been as closely attached to. What’s that about?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I am very engaged and involved in government. I love government. I love public service. If I have the opportunity to serve people in any area of this city or to be involved in issues to fix some of our biggest crises, I will take that opportunity. I work nonstop. I was like this even before Eric Adams was elected. When I worked for Governor Cuomo, I was also everywhere across the state, from the North Country to the Bronx to Queens. When I was a civil rights lawyer, I went toe to toe with big corporations and brought home remarkable wins for people, including one case that the UN called one of the top 10 cases in the world advancing women’s equality. This is the passion that I bring to the job, and my everywhere, omnipresent status is just indicative of that passion.

Alyssa Katz
How do you square that when you’re a state Assembly member representing a specific district in Queens? How do you square that with your role representing your district?

Jenifer Rajkumar
When I won my position as state Assembly member, I made history as the first Indian-American woman elected in this state. I won by the largest margin of any challenger in the state that cycle against an incumbent. That’s also indicative of the passion and energy that I bring to the job. I won my next two reelections in landslides, and in Albany, have had really impossible wins as a one-woman powerhouse. I passed impossible legislation, literally considered impossible to make Diwali a school holiday in the city of New York, a historic win that celebrated 600,000 New Yorkers that were not seen by their government.

I passed the Smoke Up Act, which I authored, to give the city the power to close illegal smoke shops. Also, historic legislation to give domestic workers, who are mostly immigrant women and women of color, human rights and more. That’s just the beginning. All of these wins also show my passion that I’ve brought as an Assembly member, and you’ve seen my passion all around the city. My record speaks for itself.

Nicole Gelinas
Do you think that your support of the mayor and your visibility with the mayor has paid off for your constituents in terms of extra attention by the mayor for your district, and if so, could you give us an example of that?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes. I’ve been very proud of how I’ve been able to work with the mayor and commissioners to get more for my constituents and to really deliver for them. Mine was an overlooked area of the city, and I changed that, and I’m proud of that. One example is, I brought the NYPD top brass to my district, and we had the largest public safety town hall ever for south Queens, where everyone got to come and directly ask the top brass their public safety concerns and get help right there. That’s one example.

Josh Greenman
You worked for Cuomo, you’re perceived as close with Eric Adams. If the two of them are both in the general election, who do you think is the better mayor for New York City?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I have not thought about it yet. I’ve not made those decisions. I’m focused on bringing fresh new leadership and energy to the city and taking our city into the future.

City’s Biggest Problems

Josh Greenman
Before we started recording, you were saying a lot of your constituents are concerned about crime. We’ve seen many kinds of violent crime decline a fair amount the first five months of this year. What do you think is the city’s biggest problem?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Crime, affordability, mental health crisis. Childcare right now costs more than rent, about $25,000 per year for each child. I also think that housing, as we all know, is completely unaffordable. We also don’t build fast enough. It takes 10 years to build housing. We really need to speed up the process, and what I’m really passionate about is making government work and making it work faster.

First in Line to be Mayor

Liena Zagare
I had a question about public advocate. As first in line to mayor, should there be a crisis and the mayor is removed, how do you see that role, and why should residents feel comfortable in you being able to handle the city in crisis?

Jenifer Rajkumar
God forbid that ever happens, but if I ever have to step into the role of mayor, I will rise to the challenge. My whole life, every one I’ve ever had has been against all odds. My mom was born in Marha, India. My parents came to this country with $300 in a suitcase, and I’ve beat the odds. I went to UPenn, I went to Stanford, I became a civil rights attorney, and I’ve been able to accomplish a lot. If it ever happened that I’d have to step into the role of mayor, I’m confident that I would rise to the challenge and that my passion, my love for New Yorkers, would see me through.

Liena Zagare
What do you see the role as? Is it a caretaker role? Would you be more proactive in that interim period?

Jenifer Rajkumar
The role of public advocate?

Liena Zagare
Yes. As a surrogate mayor?

Ben Max
As an interim mayor.

Liena Zagare
An interim mayor, sorry.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Your question is, if I became acting mayor, what would that role be?

Liena Zagare
Correct. How do you see that role?

Ben Max
Jumaane Williams has said it’s just a caretaking period until the next mayor gets in there. You just do government stability, you act very carefully, you don’t try to bring your own agenda during that period. What would your approach be?

Jenifer Rajkumar
If I became acting mayor, my first priority would be stabilizing the city, making sure that there’s continuity, that agencies are still able to carry out their functions, and that government is working, but then as acting mayor, I would also be mayor. I would work on attacking our biggest crises. I would be active and engaged on the ground, fighting for public safety.

I would be making sure that, for example, our voucher program is working and working more efficiently. A voucher in a drawer does no one any good, but it takes sometimes over a year to even get a voucher, and then when you do have a voucher, the landlord won’t accept it. That’s an example of bureaucratic failures, that, as acting mayor, I would attack right away.

Bad Landlords, More on Use of Litigation, Broken Bureaucracy

Alyssa Katz
Would you have the authority to go after the landlords, specifically? Would you intend to do that, to actually hold-

Jenifer Rajkumar
As public advocate?

Alyssa Katz
As public advocate, correct.

Jenifer Rajkumar
As public advocate, I would certainly have authority to go after landlords. I could do it in so many ways. I could do it through introducing legislation as a non-voting member of the City Council. I could also do it through litigation itself. I could also use my bully pulpit, power of the media, and organizing power. There are many tools I could use to go after landlords, and I’ll use all of them.

Josh Greenman
You said litigation is a big tool you want to use. Can you talk about-- You have a few lawsuits in mind that, that are queued up, that you would be ready to go with if you became public advocate?

Jenifer Rajkumar
One lawsuit that I would look into initiating is against the federal government because of Medicaid cuts on the horizon. Over half of New Yorkers are on Medicaid in Trump’s big, beautiful bill. There are Medicaid work requirements as part of that bill, which would knock millions of New Yorkers off of their Medicaid and devastate families.

Josh Greenman
Sorry, just on that though, we also have Corporation Counsel, which is one of the best-staffed law departments in America. Very seasoned lawyers. I think your office is a lot smaller than just the corporation counsel. Why should the public advocate take the lead in such a case and not court counsel?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Because I will be the public advocate, and the public advocate is what the office holder makes of it. In an office with little formal power, it really is up to the officeholder to make the most of it. As a civil rights litigator, someone who’s worked with big firms, I can uniquely bring this power to the office. This is also a large part of why I’m running. We need a public advocate with the skills, the expertise, and the dedication to be effective and to really use this $5 million office for the good of the people. That’s really not what’s happening now under the incumbent,

Nicole Gelinas
One of the lawsuits that you mentioned in your platform is suing the DHS for not getting families into permanent housing. Can you tell us which law the DHS is breaking? They do have people in temporary housing, so they’re not violating the right to shelter law, or maybe you think they are. What would your legal strategy be? How would you convince a judge that they’re breaking a particular law?

Jenifer Rajkumar
That’s a great question. I believe that there’s a number of different statutes that they could be sued under. Right to shelter is one of them. Also, New York City human rights law, New York State human rights law, one of the strongest human rights laws in the nation.

Nicole Gelinas
They have human right to permanent housing?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes. That could be one legal theory. I think there’s a bunch of different legal theories that we could potentially sue under. A lot of different options to go with.

Josh Greenman
How many litigation-style lawyers are in that office right now? How many would you need to adopt a much more aggressive litigation strategy?

Jenifer Rajkumar
It’s a staff of 59 people. The current office, it doesn’t have the staff needed for these lawsuits, which is why I would have to collaborate with other lawyers.

Akash Mehta
Do you have a sense of how many of those are lawyers?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Right now, I can’t speak to that number.

Ben Max
I’m trying to square a couple of things here. You don’t really want to say anything critical of Mayor Adams, that’s–

Jenifer Rajkumar
I can if you’d like. Would you like me to? I can happily do that.

Ben Max
Yes, but in answering this— I think you said a couple of things that you—

Jenifer Rajkumar
No, I’m happy to say more if you’re not clear what my differences are.

Ben Max
A couple of things I’m trying to square. You’re talking about broken bureaucracy and inefficiency costing lives, right?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes.

Ben Max
That was part of your pitch when you were initially running for comptroller and now public advocate. This is a key thing, going citywide.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes.

Ben Max
Is it not [Mayor Adams’] responsibility that the bureaucracy is still broken in these areas that you’re mentioning, or do you see it as more of a— Go ahead.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Thank you, Ben.

Ben Max
I’m not just trying to get you to criticize Mayor Adams. I’m saying on the substance of these things you’re talking about, is your opinion that he hasn’t done a good enough job, or it’s a broken bureaucracy that no mayor can really control?

Jenifer Rajkumar
You can do whatever you like. I think the reason that I’m not sitting here attacking Mayor Adams or anyone is because my life focus is on fixing problems for the people of this city. Recklessly attacking people, I don’t think is going to achieve that goal, and that’s not my style. That’s why I think Jumaane Williams has been ineffective because just writing press releases, attacking people all day is simply not enough. However, in terms of policy disagreements with the mayor, one of them is on mental health. He’s emphasized the importance of involuntary commitment, which was passed in Albany.

I think it’s worthy that if someone cannot take care of themselves because they’re so severely mentally ill, that they should be given the care they need. I think that’s a worthy goal, but it’s not enough. That’s one disagreement I have. That’s why I introduced the Empire State of Mind Act in Albany, which is the most comprehensive mental health bill in 60 years. It says that if you’re severely mentally ill, you cannot leave a hospital without a treatment plan. It says that if you’re going into a correctional facility, you should be screened for mental illness, and it says that if you’re in a hospital, you should have a patient advocate.

Another policy disagreement is on the mayor’s decision to switch retirees to a privatized Medicare Advantage plan. I believe that all of our hardworking retirees who have dedicated their life to this city deserve real Medicare and real choices in their healthcare. I am working with the right retirees and fighting for them.

A third difference is on the e-bike issue. The mayor recently said that he’s interested in lowering the speed limit for e-vehicles. While that’s a start, I don’t believe that’s enough. That’s why in Albany I’m leading the charge to regulate e-bikes with license plates, registration, and insurance, because we need to be able to identify the e-bike violators so that there can be proper enforcement. There needs to be order on the streets because people are getting hit right and left. Who here has almost been hit by e-bike?

[a couple of raised hands]

Alyssa Katz
One question on Medicare Advantage. The whole reason that the administration and the unions were moving toward Medicare Advantage was because of collective bargaining agreements to achieve healthcare cost savings regarding hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Have you looked at that issue, and if not for Medicare Advantage, how would you suggest that the unions realize those cost savings, which they can figure that out?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think that the problem here is that the switch to Medicare Advantage is trying to save money on the backs of seniors, on the backs of retirees. In order to achieve these cost savings, we have to do it elsewhere. One of the issues that I always emphasize is education and job training because that fundamentally boosts our economy. I have always advocated for a new deal for CUNY, especially as a former CUNY professor. I think this is very important, and when we invest fully in CUNY, we allow graduates to get fulfilling jobs to make more money.

Also, job training. The people in my working-class district, they work 25 hours a day. They need a way up. They need training, they need education, and they’re hungry for those opportunities.

Alyssa Katz
We’re talking about a different issue. I want to make sure we’re focused specifically on this question. The administration said, "Look, as an alternative to Medicare Advantage, another thing we could do is make current workers pay for their healthcare premiums." Should that be the course of action, or if not, how exactly would you recommend that the unions realize those healthcare savings, if not Medicare Advantage?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think that’s a really good question. I think that we cannot privatize the healthcare of these retirees. We’re just going to have to go back to the drawing board to figure out how we’re going to achieve those savings.

Nicole Gelinas
You mentioned the city’s biggest challenges are crime, affordability, job training, and moving up. Do you think overall on these issues that Mayor Adams has been a good mayor? What should people be thinking about as they look toward the general election in terms of judging Adams’ overall focus?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think that people should be fair and balanced when they try to evaluate this. I think that there have been a lot of impactful initiatives. City of Yes was one of Adam’s key initiatives on housing, and that’s going to allow our city to build a lot more housing in the near future. It updated zoning laws that had been outdated. We have zoning laws from the 1960s, so I think that this is an achievement that New Yorkers should strongly consider when they’re evaluating him. I think he’s had a number of achievements in all of these areas that voters should look at carefully.

Nicole Gelinas
In crime, has he met his promises when he ran in 2021 to make New York safe?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Crime is down now in many categories, and I think that that should definitely be taken into consideration by voters. I think that we have to— When the general election comes, we have to really look closely at his record and be very factual about it and not be colored by other distractions from the federal government.

Liena Zagare
If you were a public advocate right now, would it be the same answer in terms of, how should people like look at Mayor Adams’ record? What would you be concerned about right now?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think as public advocate, I’d be giving you the same answers.

Ben Max
Can I just come back very briefly to my question before. I really appreciate you outlining those policy differences. Just on the question of this broken bureaucracy that you talk about, what is the root there? Because Bill de Blasio used to complain about the city bureaucracy of his own government. He used to talk about being frustrated by how the agencies wouldn’t move things sometimes, and he was— Your long-term view there? Eric Adams promised to come in and be a much better manager than Bill de Blasio was, trying to be in the Bloomberg mold, in a lot of ways. I know you want to litigate some of this stuff, but is it a mayoral management issue? Is it labor contracts? What do you think is at the root of the broken bureaucracy that you are referencing repeatedly is costing lives?

Jenifer Rajkumar
This is a tough city to manage. I think that the job of mayor is a suicidal enterprise. I think that there’s a lot that he has done to speed up the pace of government. Is it fast enough? No. That’s why I have recently passed a law in Albany to make sure that we can build faster and on time, simply by putting the bidding process online, that shaves off 30 days from designing to actually building.

Josh Greenman
Why couldn’t he get the MyCity up and running? The online portal that was supposed to consolidate lots of-- This was a pretty sizable promise when he ran in 2021.

Jenifer Rajkumar
You’re going have to ask him.

Alyssa Katz
What’s the biggest operation that you have managed ever, in terms of number of people-- How many people were you responsible for organizationally?

Jenifer Rajkumar
So, when I was director of immigration for the State of New York, I interfaced regularly with many corporate law firms. I worked with 27 opportunity centers across our state as a civil rights lawyer. Previous to that, I managed teams as a lawyer as we initiated large lawsuits. As an Assembly member, I have a staff of only seven. That’s as much as the budget allows you.

Campaign History, Diwali, Modi, India, Israel

Akash Mehta
You have also managed campaigns. You ran for the Assembly in 2016. Last year, three of your campaign staffers on that campaign told City & State that you had instructed them to take positions in other campaigns and to spy on them for you. Sending photos of your rival's daily schedules to your campaign, collecting information in their field operations. Your campaign’s only comment for that story was to say that it was a sexist attack on a woman of color. You didn’t address the substance of the allegation, so I want to ask you directly: did your campaign direct volunteers to spy on rivals?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Absolutely not. This was seven years ago. I had a very robust intern operation. I’m a former CUNY professor, I have always sought to give opportunities to young people, and I care a lot about that. Young people on the campaign were told to go to events and to monitor them and let us know what they thought. That’s standard campaign practice. For example, people go and attend debates, and you look at all of the candidates and see what they’re saying. That’s valuable information. You want to know what other people running against you are saying at public events, but that’s all.

Akash Mehta
Your campaign staffers, including Rohan Narine, claimed that they were told to interview for jobs and then ask questions about field operations and come back.

Jenifer Rajkumar
I never asked anybody to do that.

Akash Mehta
Were people like Rohan Narine lying?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I never asked anyone to do that, and that particular staffer that you’re mentioning was only on that campaign for one month.

Akash Mehta
As the deputy campaign manager.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes, for one month before he had to leave.

Akash Mehta
How about the two others?

Jenifer Rajkumar
There was no other staffer mentioned in that article.

Akash Mehta
There were two others, although their names weren't mentioned.

Jenifer Rajkumar
There were not. I think the article referenced interns. It said unnamed interns.

Akash Mehta
Why didn’t you say this at the time to the reporter?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I wasn't given the chance. The reporter just called and said, "We’re going to write something," and they gave me a very vague description of what it was, and I didn’t even know what they were talking about. We just gave the comment that said, "This seems like just another random attack." That’s what happened. Details about this staffer no one asked. I wasn’t given the opportunity to comment much.

Josh Greenman
I know you’re proud of making Diwali a school holiday. We’ve also seen Lunar New Year off. There was recently a little snafu with the Department of Education, giving kids the wrong day off for Eid, and they had to give another day off. Juneteenth is coming up off. What I want to ask is, I understand equity and respecting all religious communities, but this is also a time when the city as a whole is probably becoming a lot less religious. Is there anything odd about giving more days off for religious holidays in an increasingly less religious city, one, is Diwali, where it should stop, or are there other holidays that we should be giving kids off school?

Jenifer Rajkumar
We need to have enough days in the school year. That’s very important, and that’s a concern, but I have to express to you that the Diwali school holiday has meant so much to people all around this city. It has made many communities feel truly seen and heard, and like they have a place at the table. If you go to Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist temples across the city and talk about the Diwali School holiday victory, it is really popular and people are very, very proud of what it means. It was a huge victory.

Josh Greenman
Are there any other groups right now that you think feel unseen or unheard and that their holidays ought to be recognized?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I also want to add that the schools closed on Diwali for the first time just last year. What you saw was even non-south Asian families will come up to me and say, "Oh, schools are closing. How can my own family celebrate Diwali at home?" I was very touched to receive that question.

Akash Mehta
You talked about building unity across all groups, including south Asian groups, Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. Last year, federal prosecutors say the Indian government tried to assassinate a Sikh activist here in New York. You’ve been a leader in the Indian-American community. You’ve also welcomed Modi to New York and Madison Square Garden.

Jenifer Rajkumar
I wouldn't say I welcomed him to Madison Square Garden.

Akash Mehta
OK. I asked the mayoral candidates this as well. If Modi wanted to hold a press conference in New York, would you hold a joint press conference with him?

Jenifer Rajkumar
No.

Akash Mehta
Could you talk about why? And more broadly— you’ve received criticism, which I’d love to give you the opportunity to respond to, for ties to the ruling BJP government in India. You’re also a civil rights lawyer. In this moment of a lot of criticism of that government, could you talk about your evaluation of Modi and his record?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I’m an American citizen born in this country. The only party I’ve ever belonged to is the Democratic Party. Any assertion that I belong to a foreign political party really makes no sense and seems a little bit discriminatory to me, but I do appreciate the question. I think that what you’re referencing about the assassination attempt, or actual assassination that occurred, was very disturbing. It happened in New York and also in Canada. No foreign government should be coming to America and assassinating people. It’s highly disturbing.

Akash Mehta
Given your stature as, as you said, the first Indian-American elected to the state legislature and your concern for human rights and civil rights, and the fact that this is an issue at the forefront of the minds of a lot of south Asians in New York, could you talk about your evaluation of Prime Minister Modi?

Jenifer Rajkumar
As someone who’s on the ground with south Asian communities all the time, no one’s talking to me about Prime Minister Modi. People are talking about education, healthcare, and affordability. It hasn’t come up even once.

Josh Greenman
How do you compare that to the way Israel is an issue in this mayoral race? Do you think, similarly, just let’s put that all to one side in local politics?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think lately, since October 7th [2023], I’m hearing a lot about Israel on the campaign trail. I’ve been hearing a lot from Jewish communities who are alarmed by the rise in antisemitism, and I think this is a real concern.

I think as a former professor at CUNY, one thing that I always encourage my students to do, was think about how they can make peace in the world, what good diplomacy is, because the world really needs that right now. I think that’s more valuable than protesting. That’s a skill that we should instill in young people, is, you have to be the people that are going to fix this world crisis. My concern on the ground has been very much about ending hate.

Since I became an Assembly member, there have been a number of hate crimes against so many groups, against Muslim imams in my district, against the Hindu community. I have stood up against antisemitic hate crimes all across this city since October 7th. My focus is bringing unity here in New York City.

Legislating, Rikers Island, Running the Office

Nicole Gelinas
You can introduce City Council bills as public advocate. What would be the first bill that you introduce to the Council, and how would you convince the council to pass your bill?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think one bill would be a very common-sense bill, and that is simply to fill vacancies in city government. There are a lot of vacancies, and in order for the government to function, we need people working in government. I would set benchmarks, I would say to agencies, "You have to fill this number of slots by this day." Really just to get government moving. Once again, my concern is the government's inefficiency, which I believe costs lives.

Josh Greenman
Shouldn’t that depend upon how, if there are vacancies and if the given agency or office is doing its job effectively, that’s an if, why fill the vacancies? Maybe that’s a sign that you don’t need that many people in a particular function?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Could be. If an agency’s overperforming, then we don’t need to fill the vacancies, but I don’t think that’s where we are right now. I don’t see our agencies as overperforming. I think it would be valuable to fill these spots.

Josh Greenman
To have targets in law that agencies must fill vacancies.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Exactly. Targets in law. Another bill that I would want to introduce is, again, we can try to regulate e-bikes at the city level as well, and then also, subsidizing childcare, I think is extremely important, including for single mothers. Single mothers in this city often work shifts. Not 9:00 to 5:00, late-night shifts. A lot of Black women in this city who are heads of household, they work these other shifts, and there should be subsidized childcare for them.

Nicole Gelinas
What about Rikers Island? The current City Council law is it must close by 2027. If it does not, would you sue the city to try to force that to happen?

Jenifer Rajkumar
No, no, I would not.

Nicole Gelinas
Why is that?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think that right now, I’ll start by saying Rikers Island is a humanitarian crisis. Rikers was named after a slave catcher. It’s been open since the 1600s. It’s crumbling. It’s a devastating place filled with violence. We need to focus on rooting out the main causes of incarceration, breaking the school-to-prison pipeline. We need to focus on the 900 repeat offenders, justice-involved individuals that commit most crimes. That is something that I want to do as public advocate, is focus on this population of 9,000 with targeted interventions.

This population of 9,000 repeat offenders, we could have cut crime by more than half. These were the initiatives that we need to focus on to take on criminal justice. We also need to speed up our courts. Justice delayed is justice denied. People cannot be sitting behind bars waiting for a trial. This is what we really need to focus on.

People think that closing Rikers Island is like a magic trick that’s going to solve criminal justice in this city, but it will not. We have to go to the underlying causes of these issues, including comprehensive mental health care.

Josh Greenman
What ought to happen in 2027? The borough jails aren’t ready.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Correct.

Josh Greenman
Let’s just imagine there’s an incarcerated population of 6,000, 5,000, whatever the number is. Where should those people be, and what should the City Council do or not do about it?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I think the five-borough jail plan is highly problematic. It’s over budget. It’s delayed. We’re spending billions of dollars trying to create these jails, and yet we can’t get to universal childcare. That doesn’t make any sense. I think the five-borough jail plan is not ideal. It also has a lot of opposition from communities around the city. I think it could be worthy to go back to the drawing board and think of another solution besides closing Rikers, besides the five-borough jail plan. I would like to explore that as public advocate.

Nicole Gelinas
Even though, as you say, it’s delayed, the contracts are all signed and they are in some phase of construction?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Even though, yes.

Josh Greenman
How do you decide as public advocate, then, if you have the power to introduce laws and you also have the power to litigate against existing laws? When the law is a thing that you want to reverse in a City Council, and when a law is a thing you want to enforce through litigation, is it just your personal opinion?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes, it’s your personal opinion, but you consult with City Council members. A good public advocate will obviously be consultative, when you’re making these determinations.

Alyssa Katz
Are you thinking about opening any special units? Like, for example, back in the days when Mayor Giuliani was taking a lot of children into foster care, the public advocate’s office started a special ombudsman unit to help families navigate the system and get their kids back. Is there any kind of special unit that you’re thinking about creating?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes. I would like to create a unit on family engagement, specifically to deal with some DOE issues that we have. Specifically, one in three kids doesn’t regularly attend school. There’s chronic absenteeism. Also, over 60 percent of Black and Latino kids are not reading proficient. These problems need to be solved with hands-on leadership and a new division of family engagement. It will be a unit whereby we’ll engage families across the city in collaboration with the DOE to make sure that we’re intervening where families need it, so kids attend school. That will be one unit.

Also, the second is a unit handling public safety. I mentioned the 9,000 justice-involved individuals in this city. I think it’s very important that we focus smartly on this population of 9,000 people and give intervention where it’s needed. I’ll work with the mayor’s office, with the NYPD, with nonprofits to focus on this population.

Rank the Public Advocates, Rank the Mayors

Josh Greenman
This is a ranked-choice election, the primary is. Who are the best and worst mayors of your lifetime, and who are the best and worst public advocates since the job was created?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Well, the first public advocate, Mark Green, was before my time, but I’ve heard very good things. I believe that he established the 311 system and nyc.gov. I think he did a lot to promote transparency and efficiency and was very energetic, from what I hear from people. Also, Betsy Gotbaum, who I did not know when she was public advocate, but have met since, I think did a lot to bring immigrant communities to the table of government to make sure that services were language accessible. She focuses a lot on education. I think her efforts were very admirable. Those are the two public advocates I think of.

Josh Greenman
You’re not mentioning de Blasio, you’re not mentioning Tish James. Is there something negative about either of them or both of them? We know you don’t love Jumaane Williams.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Not particularly. The two that I mentioned are the ones that stand out in my mind right now. I have nothing ill to say about the others. I would say in terms of mayor, Mayor Bloomberg was very notable for the efficient way he ran government and for his managerial style running government like a corporation, which I think is good because you’re cutting through red tape. He took a lot of bold stances, even if they were unpopular, and I respect that.

Josh Greenman
So if you had a ballot, you have to rank the mayors. You put Bloomberg one? Is that what you're saying?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Bloomberg is not running this year.

Josh Greenman
No, but if you had to, would you put Bloomberg one?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes.

Josh Greenman
Who do you put two and three, and then who do you put last?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I would maybe have Mayor LaGuardia as two.

Josh Greenman
Of your lifetime, last five.

Jenifer Rajkumar
I would just do one, Bloomberg.

Josh Greenman
Where would Adams be on that list?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Would Adams be on that list? I don’t have an answer for that right now. I’m usually a one-and-done kind of person.

Shifting Roles, Powers of the Public Advocate

Akash Mehta
One thing that hasn’t come up that I just thought was interesting on your platform was the idea of a people’s forum– sorry, a people’s audit. Could you just talk about that part of your platform?

Jenifer Rajkumar
The people’s audit, that’s not really for a public advocate, but—

Akash Mehta
Oh, I’m sorry, OK.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes, but I think the auditing power is mostly with the comptroller.

Harry Siegel
I think we're getting toward an hour here, so this may be the closing question. You talked about the groundbreaking legislation in the past and the impact you’ve had as a lawmaker. And you were briefly running for comptroller, which has pretty substantial powers. You’ve alluded to how limited the powers of the public advocate are in some ways, but the office and all that, obviously, you and a bunch of the mayoral candidates, this is a free role in a sense, because you still have your job if this doesn’t work out. Can you talk about why you would want to make this move in terms of shifting, in terms of who you would be as a public official?

Jenifer Rajkumar
The public advocate is what the officeholder makes of it, and with all my skills in litigation as a hard-charging lawmaker, as someone who works 24/7, I can bring a lot to this office, and I can protect New York City, I can make government work efficiently. I’ve shown I’m very good at collaborating with governors, with mayors. I’m good at passing laws, and I want to bring these skills to the office. There’s so much you can do with the bully pulpit of public advocate. It takes creativity, it takes hard work, if you really want to make something out of this office, and I’m well equipped to do that. That’s why I’m running for this office, and why I’d be such a good fit for it.

Liena Zagare
If you could amend the charter, are there changes you’d make to the powers of the public advocate?

Jenifer Rajkumar
I’d give the public advocate more auditing power, similar to the comptroller. I think that would be very powerful. Also, make the public advocate an actual voting member of the City Council. Give the public advocate more power. Also, I’d like more staff in the office. A comptroller has, I believe, a staff of 700. So, I’d like the public advocate to have at least 700 staff.

Josh Greenman
Even though you talk a lot about reducing government red tape and making government more efficient, you think this particular part of government should get bigger?

Jenifer Rajkumar
Yes.

Ben Max
You just made a couple points that makes it seem like you should have stuck with the comptroller race. Can you say a little bit about that switch? Because it has more power, you started running for that?

Jenifer Rajkumar
The public advocate is second in line to the mayor. Comptroller’s third. But also the public advocate is not limited to just fiscal issues. The public advocate has a bigger and broader platform. You could be more creative with the platform of advocate, and that’s why I would be such a great public advocate.

Josh Greenman
OK, thank you very much. We thank you for an hour.

Harry Siegel
Appreciate it.

Jenifer Rajkumar
Thank you so much.