Why I'm Running

My name is Kim Moscaritolo. I’m a journalist, an activist, an advocate -- and now, a candidate for City Council on the East Side in 2021 (running to replace our current Council Member, Ben Kallos, who is prevented from running again by term limits). 

 

I’d like to tell you about where I’ve come from and how it shaped my vision for what New York City can be. 

 

My path to politics was not a straight line. I grew up in Florida, the daughter of a Cuban refugee, and started my career as a video journalist for CNN. I love journalism, but about ten years ago, I began to feel the need to be more than just an observer -- to help make a difference on the issues that I was covering. 

 

That’s when I got involved in organizing and political activism. As the president of Manhattan Young Dems, I organized Democrats to knock doors for candidates who needed support. Since then, I helped found the Four Freedoms Democratic Club, which has become a progressive force for reform. 

 

I’ve also been proud to stand up to the gun lobby while working with New Yorkers Against Gun Violence; protect our environment as a founding board member of the White Roof Project; and promote our local small businesses as the founder of Yorkville Buy Local. 

 

And now I’m running for City Council -- because I believe in the public good. Public libraries, public schools, public art, public transit and public spaces, used -- and funded -- by all of us. This is the heart of what makes New York City so special.

 

We have so much to love in our neighborhoods, from the little to the big: the dog runs at Carl Schurz Park to the biggest museum in the country; hole-in-the-wall restaurants (my favorite is San Matteo) to the first new subway line in six decades. 

 

But we can -- and must -- do better. I love New York City, but the challenges ahead of us are massive -- from climate change to crumbling infrastructure to entrenched special interests. We need leaders with a bold vision for this city, and the political courage to fight for it. 

 

It won’t be easy, but I'm hopeful. I’m hopeful because I know this city has tackled big challenges before. We built the subway system, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building. We created one of the greatest affordable housing programs in the country -- the Mitchell Lama program. We led the fight for workers' rights, for reproductive rights, for immigrants, for children, for poor people. 

 

We are a city that does great things, and we can continue to do great things for the public good. But it will take all of us.

 

I hope you’ll join me in this fight, because I believe it’s one worth fighting.

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