Omar Mohamad for NY State Senate, District 23

The cost of renting or buying a home in New York is the highest it has ever been, with many New Yorkers being priced out of the neighborhoods that they grew up in. On Staten Island alone, median rent has risen 42% over the past decade, from $1,208 in 2015 to $1,718 in 2024. On the North Shore of Staten Island, the fastest growing part of the island, over 50% are rent burdened. It deeply hurts our families, who spend over 30% of their incomes on rent.

Omar will fight to expand affordable housing in our community by working with city and local partners on building more stock, but by working to lower home insurance costs that make it more expensive for small landlords to rent their units.

Utility costs in New York are already squeezing millions of renters and homeowners, with nearly one in three New Yorkers struggling to keep the lights on. Despite this, the state recently approved Con Ed rate hikes which will increase gas and electric bills.

Omar will fight to lower utility prices for consumers by supporting legislation such as the Public Power Democracy Act and the NY HEAT Act: two measures that will help expand public control over our current utility monopoly. No one should have to choose between paying rent and keeping their home warm.

New Yorkers are being failed by the current healthcare system, which prioritizes profits over patients. With out of pocket costs soaring, families have been forced to forego necessary medication or treatment.

Omar believes that healthcare is a human right, and that no New Yorker should have to choose between quality medical care and financial security or be forced to take on massive debts just to take care of their own health.

In Albany, Omar will back bills that guarantee comprehensive, high-quality healthcare for all New Yorkers, like the New York Health Act. He will fight to make this bill the law, ensuring the elimination of co-pays, deductibles, and prescription costs, and removing barriers to healthcare access that disproportionately impact working-class New Yorkers.

New York's immigrant communities are under attack by the federal government. No New Yorker should live in fear of being detained or separated from their family.

Omar will fight to pass the New York for All Act, ensuring that the immigrants who make this city what it is can live without fear.

He will fight to ensure that New York State resources are never used to aid federal immigration enforcement. He supports legislation like the MELT Act to increase transparency and accountability, including banning face coverings and plainclothes operations by ICE agents.

Our district needs expanded transportation options. On Staten Island, where there is only one train line, residents rely heavily on buses to get to work, school, and other essential services. Despite disproportionately relying on bus service, Staten Island routinely reports the lowest local bus service customer satisfaction scores of the five boroughs.

It's clear that our needs are not being met by what's currently available. Omar will work to expand ferry service to the South Shore and Coney Island. Residents deserve options and everything should be on the table, such as building a light rail system on the existing tracks from St. George to the Goethals Bridge.

Express buses are critical for connecting South Brooklyn and Staten Island to Manhattan, yet its seven dollar fare makes the service inaccessible, placing an additional burden on working people who already face long commutes. Omar will reduce the price of the express bus service to three dollars, the same as any other bus ride. There's no reason Staten Island and South Brooklyn residents should pay a tax on transit just because we live further.