Rachel Honig

Rachel Honig

Education

High school

Cathedral Schools of St. Mary and St. Paul

Bachelor's

Smith College

Personal

Profession

Public relations executive

Contact

Personal website

Rachel Honig was a Liberal Party candidate for District 4 representative on the New York City Council in New York. She was defeated in the general election on November 7, 2017.

Honig also ran as a Democratic candidate for the District 4 seat. She was defeated for the Democratic line on the ballot in the primary election on September 12, 2017.

Biography

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Honig earned a B.A. in ethics and art history from Smith College.

At the time of her 2017 run for city council, Honig was the managing member for the public relations collective Amplify Cooperative. Her experience also includes service as the president of the Smith College Club of New York, a member of the board of advisors of the master's degree program in communications at Baruch College, and a member of the board of directors of She Runs It, and work as the director of special projects for the New York State Council on the Arts, the chief operating officer and co-founder of Digital Power and Light, and the chief operating officer for G.S. Schwartz & Co.

Elections

2017

See also: Mayoral election in New York, New York (2017) and Municipal elections in New York, New York (2017)

New York City held elections for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, and all 51 seats on the city council in 2017. New Yorkers also voted for offices in their boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

Primary elections were scheduled for September 12, 2017, and the general election was on November 7, 2017. Under New York law, candidates who run unopposed in a primary or general election win the nomination or election automatically, and their names do not appear on the ballot. Keith Powers (D) defeated Rebecca Harary (R) and Rachel Honig (Liberal) in the general election for the District 4 seat on the New York City Council.

New York City Council, District 4 General Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Keith Powers	57.20%	16,496
	Republican	Rebecca Harary	30.83%	8,891
	Liberal	Rachel Honig	11.87%	3,422
		Write-in votes	0.1%	28
Total Votes				28,837
Source: New York City Board of Elections, "General Election - November 7, 2017," accessed January 2, 2018

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for the District 4 seat on the New York City Council.

New York City Council, District 4 Democratic Primary Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Keith Powers	40.83%	4,456
Marti Speranza	22.84%	2,493
Rachel Honig	8.69%	948
Bessie Schachter	8.41%	918
Vanessa Aronson	6.84%	746
Maria Castro	4.61%	503
Jeffrey Mailman	4.42%	482
Barry Shapiro	2.13%	232
Alec Hartman	1.00%	109
Write-in votes	0.24%	26
Total Votes		10,913
Source: New York City Board of Elections, "2017 Primary: Certified Results," accessed September 28, 2017

Campaign themes

2017

Honig's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“	SMALL BUSINESS DISPLACEMENT There are far too many vacant storefronts both in our district, and city-wide. City Hall has failed those businesses along Phase I of the Second Avenue Subway line, offering only a waiving of fines (a backwards message) as an abatement. Disruption is inevitable in progress but tax abatements and real marketing programs need to be created along the Phase II and Phase III routes. Those programs need to be created NOW so that businesses along Second Avenue can thrive again. Additionally, a version of the Small Business Jobs Survival Act must be brought to the floor of the City Council for a vote. We need lease protections for small businesses in New York. While an infinite renewal of ten year leases is not realistic, a balance must be forged between a landlord’s ability to maintain buildings at current labor rates and property taxes, and a small business’ ability to thrive and employ our city’s residents. UTILIZATION AND PROTECTION OF THE EAST SIDE WATERWAY I am very much in support of the East Side Greenway project. New Yorkers and particularly East siders need greater access to our waterways. However, we need to see greater plans for protection of the East Side before the inevitable next super storm hits. I know first hand the devastating loss that can occur through natural disaster, and while it is not popular to think about it in fair weather, we must prepare now. As your City Council member I will fight to get strong storm preparedness measures for the East Side enacted and funded. HOMELESSNESS There are 60,000 New Yorkers who are homeless. 20,000 of them are children. While putting these citizens up in vacant hotel rooms gets them out of the elements, out of sight also means out of mind. It does not address the health and service programs needed to get our homeless neighbors back on their feet. A re-evaluation of processes and health and social services must be made to help those already homeless. Affordable housing must be prioritized and preserved to help people stay in their homes and avoid even greater homeless numbers. LEAD IN SCHOOLS It is simply UNACCEPTABLE that high levels of lead have recently been found in the water of our public schools, including in our own district, at PS 6 on East 81st Street. This must be resolved immediately. Funding to replace ancient plumbing infrastructure must be allocated, and consistent standards and regular testing for all of New York City’s public schools must be implemented moving forward. ARTS AND CULTURE Nearly $50 billion dollars is spent by tourists to New York, city-wide. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Guggenheim to Broadway, and from the Museum of Modern Art to the Empire State Building to Central Park, our district is home to some of the most visited venues in the world. It is essential that we continue to encourage and facilitate a tourist economy while continuing to make these cultural icons accessible to residents of New York. SANE SANITATION POLICY Many of us have been dismayed at the developments around the Upper East Side Marine Transfer Station and its proximity to Asphalt Green. This plan is not only dangerous to children in and around Asphalt Green, it is also fiscally reckless. We must have better solutions for waste transfer and removal in the future. As your City Council member I will work with Ben Kallos in the Fifth District to fight to mitigate the dangerous aspects of this poorly thought out development and will do everything in my power to protect our children who play on Asphalt Green.	”
—Rachel Honig's campaign website, (2017)

Recent news

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Rachel Honig - Google News

See also

New York, New York	New York	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

Suggest a link

• New York City Council
• Campaign website
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