June 16: Will it be third time lucky for Suraj Patel, who came within 4 percent of Rep. Carolyn Maloney when he last ran in the Congressional primaries from New York City in 2020, after losing to her as a debutant in 2018?
Patel has his best chance yet in a newly drawn Manhattan’s 12th congressional district, which would pit veteran Congress members Jerry Nadler and Maloney against each other. His vision for more housing projects – promoting market urbanism, might curry favor with voters in the district.
amNY reported: “The newly drawn district that stretches over Manhattan from Union Square to the northern end of Central Park caused a stir when it became clear it would lead veteran Congress Members Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney against each other.
“Although much of the coverage of the race so far understandably has focused on the contest between the two sitting representatives who have chosen to duke it out in the primary, attorney, activist and persistent insurgent candidate Suraj Patel has a case to make that the younger side of the district could provide him with a path to victory.
“To win this base, he’s been promoting a vision of market urbanism, a theory that encourages the construction of large-scale infrastructure projects and the loosening of zoning requirements to encourage market housing construction and address spiking housing costs.”
Patel told amNY and The Villager in an interview: “Locally, I gotta say this, we’ve reached a high point in this political culture of ‘No’ in Washington and in New York city. It’s led to a livability crisis and a crisis of confidence.”
Patel continued on to say that, yes, he does embrace the term YIMBY, an acronym for the “yes in my backyard” mentality toward development projects.
“I’m proudly a YIMBY. I always have been. I know that that moment has come to some extent.” Patel said.
YIMBYism as a concept has proliferated in hyperlocal policy debates in recent years as a counter-reaction to NIMBYism, (“not in my backyard”) a term that originated to describe movements of neighbors who organize to fight nearby development, be that apartment complexes or infrastructure projects.
Though development has become a preoccupation of Patel’s, he told amNY and The Villager that his top legislative priorities hinge on voter suppression and misinformation. As a means of democratic reform, Patel has pledged to try and ban corporate PACs.
Patel’s campaign is finding takers.
Andrew Yang, who had an unsuccessful bid for New York City mayor in 2021 and ran for president in 2020, endorsed Suraj Patel in New York’s 12th Congressional District on Monday.: Huffpost