Election Q&A: Meet West Side Candidate Shaun Abreu

HARLEM, NY — Democratic candidate Shaun Abreu is running for City Council in District 7 in New York City's general election on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Abreu, the incumbent candidate, will face off against candidate Edafe Okporo, who is running under an independent party called the West Side United party, and Republican candidate Manual Williams in November.

District 7 includes parts of the Upper West Side through Morningside Heights, West Harlem, Manhattan Valley, Manhattanville, Hamilton Heights, and Washington Heights.

Ahead of the election, Patch posed several questions to Abreu about his platform, priorities, experience, and district. See his replies below.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article contains information about one of several candidates who have announced their campaigns for offices in the 2025 election. Patch has contacted the other candidates with the same questions and will post replies as they are received. None of what Abreu said during this interview has been fact-checked.

PATCH: What neighborhood are you from?

ABREU: I lived in Washington Heights until around age 10, then moved to the Upper West Side.

PATCH: What languages do you speak?

ABREU: English and Spanish

PATCH: Educational background?

ABREU: I attended our local public schools in Upper Manhattan (shout out to Crossroads Middle School), completed undergrad at Columbia and law school at Tulane.

PATCH: Age?

ABREU: 34

PATCH: Renter or owner?

ABREU: Renter

PATCH: Why are you running for City Council?

ABREU: Our country is going through a difficult time. Donald Trump is cutting funding for critical programs, violating laws, and threatening our health and safety. Local government is our last protection against the chaos coming from Washington. A strong City Council can act quickly to fund food banks and afterschool programs threatened by budget cuts. We can build affordable housing to bring down our cost of living, even as tariffs threaten the global economy. We can support schools, libraries, parks, and other institutions that reflect our values, standing strong against the hate and division that comes from the president. I’m running for re-election to protect our neighborhoods and our neighbors.

PATCH: What makes you qualified to represent your district? Share the work and life experiences that prepared you for this role.

ABREU: When I was young, my family was evicted from our home. My family struggled, I was held back in school, and we had to depend on our family and neighbors to survive. That experience drove me to help families like my own–first as a tenant rights lawyer, and now on the City Council. I love that New Yorkers help one another, but that shouldn’t be our only tool for survival. We should have resources to fall back on in times of crisis. And even more importantly, we should have a city where the crises are few and far between. Our economy should have plenty of jobs that pay well, affordable childcare options, schools where every child learns to read, and public transportation that’s reliable. And while we’re at it, we should have clean streets, accessible parks, and a lot less scaffolding cluttering our sidewalks. I’ve made progress on all of these issues in my first term on the City Council, and I know how much further we can take it.

PATCH: What do you see as the three biggest issues in your district?

ABREU: Affordable housing, clean and safe streets, health and mental health

PATCH: How would you address these issues through policy?

ABREU: All of these issues require aggressive efforts, and I’m already pushing forward on a number of policies and initiatives. On affordable housing, we have to build new homes (affordable buildings on underused city property are particularly effective, and we have several proposals in the works), protect our existing affordable housing stock (no frankensteining or warehousing, and clearing up the bottleneck in our housing lottery so that affordable housing doesn’t sit vacant due to a slow bureaucracy, and strengthen city administration of housing vouchers (including by implementing my bill to use modern technology to make these payments, instead of old school checks). For clean and safe streets, we need to get trash bags off our sidewalks (our trash containerization pilot has already reduced rat sightings by over 60%), force scaffolding down faster (a package of bills on this issue passed very recently, revoking scaffolding permits from buildings that aren’t making progress on their work), give kids a safe place to be after school (after school programs or other childcare that keep kids out of trouble), and strengthen local relationships with the NYPD (our neighbors should be comfortable speaking with officers, and they should be responsive to the concerns we raise). On health and mental health, we need to be proactive about helping everyone live a healthy lifestyle, meaning that everyone should have access to quality healthcare, be aware of how to access screening and treatment for common disorders (such as my free screening program for sleep apnea), and be able to get their outdoor time in a well-maintained park.

PATCH: Who did you rank in the 2025 mayoral primary election this June?

ABREU: DREAM Coalition.

PATCH: What’s something that always makes you smile about your district?

ABREU: The people, hands down! I’m surrounded by so many neighbors who I grew up with, as well as plenty of new friends.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.