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Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. Now we continue our series, 51 council members in 52 weeks. Because most of the New York City Council is new this year, thanks to term limits, and it has a female majority for the first time ever, and of course, there's a new mayor, we thought we would touch every neighborhood of the city this year by having every city councilor on the show during 2022. This is week 10, and we're up to District 10 in upper Manhattan, Washington Heights and Inwood, where the brand new council member is Carmen De La Rosa, the first Dominican-American woman to hold that seat. She had been in the state assembly from the district before that. Council Member, great to have you on. Welcome to WNYC today, and congratulations on your election.

Carmen De La Rosa: Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here with you, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: We're giving the new council members a chance to tell people a little about yourselves. I see you grew up in Inwood, Upper Manhattan. What made you want to go into politics or public service?

Carmen De La Rosa: Yes, I grew up in Inwood. From an early age, my father always was one of those fathers that in the household he spoke a lot about community and politics, mostly politics back in the Dominican Republic. It really sparked my interest not only in politics but also in history. I ended up going to Fordham University. I studied political science and focused really on the eradication of poverty and global poverty. When I graduated from college, I thought maybe I'd take my chance at law school.

While I was figuring all of that out, I walked into an assemblyman's office on the Upper West Side, Daniel O'Donnell in 2007, and I never went to law school. It's history ever since. I started my career working for him in the New York State Assembly in his community office, figuring out how to solve the issues of the constituency on the Upper West Side. I then helped with the passage of the Marriage Equality Act, and really got into just how government and community work together to impact change, and I never looked back. I never went to law school. It's still on my bucket list.

Brian Lehrer: Now that you're in the council, what's the number one reason that constituents contact your office? Is it different than it was when you were in the state assembly?

Carmen De La Rosa: It is much different. Most of the constituents that reached out in the state assembly were reaching out regarding legislative matters. Bills were coming to the floor, or they wanted bills to come to the floor.

I find that at the City Council, it's much more quality of life driven. There's a lot of garbage in the community as you know. There's a ton of quality of life issues, construction happening in Inwood, for example. The situation in our subways is something that constituents frequently have reached out about. We are also getting calls about housing conditions, lack of heat, hot water, for example, in the past few months with the winter upon us. It's much more hands-on in the council. I'm enjoying that. I love the local aspect of it, of being able to impact change right on the block where I live, right in the community where I walk every single day.

Brian Lehrer: You supported Maya Wiley in the mayoral primary. How is Mayor Adams doing so far, in your opinion?

Carmen De La Rosa: I think that we are still experiencing growing pains. I think that there are some issues that he's definitely honed in on that are important, but there are still issues that I think the council is going to have to have major oversight over. For example, we just started the budget hearings at the council. We're looking at serious reductions to headcount across the city.

In the Education Department, for example, we're going to see a lot of positions being cut. We're looking at how those cuts are going to impact our community. I'm on the Public Safety Committee so we're going to be looking at his blueprint for public safety, and that's an issue that I know the community is split about. There are still issues that I think we're going to have to work on. Overall, I see a responsiveness from his staff. I've been on multiple calls with the mayor's office on different issues. I see that there is a desire to work together and so we shall see.

Brian Lehrer: Citywide surveys show crime is people's number one issue right now. Think it's number one for your district?

Carmen De La Rosa: Absolutely, it's on people's minds. When I walk down the street, specifically in the subway stations, I get that most of all. Granted there have been some incidents of gun violence on the streets of our communities. We've heard about just a shooting last week on Dyckman Street, for example, so it's on people's minds. We hear about it a lot, but it's mostly coming from subway riders who are very concerned about their safety once they are on their way to work or on their way to doctor's appointments. It's something that I've prioritized for sure.

Brian Lehrer: Certainly with respect to people experiencing homelessness in the subways, you have the end of the A train up to 207th Street in your district as a terminal station. That's one of the places where homeless people congregate, and that Mayor Adams seems to be focusing on as an advocate for both criminal justice as well as public safety. Are you torn by this policy?

Carmen De La Rosa: That's a tough issue. I am torn, I have to be honest. I also have to say that because we have the end of the A train, but we also have the end of the C train on 168th Street, I think that both of those stations, the issues are compounded there. I'm torn because I do in my heart and in my mind, know that the only way we eradicate homelessness is by ensuring that people have dignified places to stay. I do believe that the shelter systems in New York City are not adequate places for people to be.

There aren't wraparound services when they're needed, there isn't, for example, addiction services readily available for some folks that are here, people who are suffering from mental health issues. I am torn about the response. I don't want to see full sweeps of our train stations that only amount to taking people out of vision, but not necessarily eradicating the problem. I think that as we go towards this budget discussion, that has to be at the forefront of our minds. What are we doing to eradicate the root causes of poverty, of homelessness, of addiction?

Brian Lehrer: What's the number one thing you would do?

Carmen De La Rosa: For me, one is we have to look at the shelter system. We have to look at how we're preventing homelessness in our city. The voucher system is broken. We know, I know. When constituents walk into my office, they usually have a section eight voucher or some sort of subsidy, they're being discriminated against. There aren't enough affordable options for people to stay in their homes. There are landlords that are obviously exacerbating homelessness in our community across the city. We need to start looking at those issues. Also in the shelter system, like I said, we have to offer more dignity, more compassion, more services, to the people that are walking in, that are in need of shelter, so that they can stay in those services and not go back onto the streets of New York City.

Brian Lehrer: What do you think it might mean on the policy level, that the council is majority female for the first time?

Carmen De La Rosa: I know that we're going to see bold transformative leadership in our city. I've already been in these rooms with my colleagues, these women are amazing. They're leading from places of centering the experiences of community, the voices of community. We just, for example, had our-- the Progressive Caucus has just formed itself in the council.

I'm proud to be serving as the vice-chair of that caucus. Of the four leadership position, three are women. We have a very strong speaker, we have a deputy speaker who's a woman, we have a majority whip who's a woman. We are seeing the voices of women now leading these conversations. I definitely believe in their leadership. Just being in these rooms with these women, you can tell that the priority is centering the problems and the people who are in our community.

Brian Lehrer: We're inviting all the council members, as you know, to bring a show and tell item, something meaningful from your district, a virtual one, of course, for this audio medium. What did you bring?

Carmen De La Rosa: Well, I want to talk about my old high school, which is no longer a high school anymore, but I went to Mother Cabrini High School on Fort Washington. Right next to Cabrini is Fort Tryon Park. It's a place that is meaningful for me for my childhood. Obviously, I grew up in a very Catholic home and so my parents put me in an all-girls high school in the top of the Cabrini right here in the Heights. Many days spent walking through Fort Tryon Park.

It was our backyard and the Cloisters are there, beautiful views of the bridge as you walk in that area of the community. It's so meaningful to me. It's one of the best memories before the adulthood set in, where I can think of a time where I was free, where our community is able to enjoy these beautiful natural resources. Investing in our parks will be a priority for me. We have beautiful parks uptown and I just wanted to make sure to highlight them here.

Brian Lehrer: Fort Tryon Park, certainly a gem in upper Manhattan that everyone should see. Folks, you could take the A train up to 190th Street or Dyckman Street. Carmen De La Rosa, New York City Council member from District 10, thanks for joining our 51 council members in 52 weeks series.

Carmen De La Rosa: Thank you so much, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC, much more to come.

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