Mayoral candidate Ray McGuire took a walking tour of the Upper East Side on Monday afternoon to speak with local business owners and meet potential voters less than a month away from the June 22 Democratic primary.
The former Citicorp executive took to the streets to discuss his ideas and policy changes with New Yorkers, and most importantly of all showcasing that he will be an accessible mayor.
On the corner of 1150 Madison Ave., McGuire was welcomed by voters with open arms as they cheered him on, stating, “We need a cool mayor like Ray!”
As a businessman himself, McGuire hopes to have more government involvement when it comes to supporting entrepreneurs and businesses, something that he believes the current administration has not performed correctly.
In fact, McGuire believes there are many policies put forth by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office that created, in his view, “a broken system” that hinders public safety. The mayoral hopeful says the economic crisis has been one of the biggest factors contributing to the recent rise in crime, gun violence, and robberies.
“I think public safety has to be one of the highest if not one of the most important issues that we need to address. We need to have an economic comeback, which is a part of my comeback plan and we need to make sure our streets are safe in order to feel safe to come onto the streets. We need to focus on small business. My plan, the greatest most inclusive economic comeback plan in the history of this city, is to go big,” McGuire told amNewYork Metro.
After stressing that businesses are the lifeblood of New York City, McGuire began his tour which unfortunately saw him passing by a slew of vacant storefronts. This is something he hopes to change if elected.
“Small businesses are responsible for half of the jobs of New York City,” McGuire added.
In addition to sharing his plan for an inclusive economic recovery, McGuire also shared his thoughts on the Mayor’s decision to open schools for 100% in-person learning—a feat McGuire says is “Not enough and too late.”
“We have a crisis here. There are a million and half New Yorkers who do not have access to mobile or broadband and the assumption is that we went from in classroom to out. The assumption there is that all children would have access which is clearly not correct. We’ve done nothing to address that. Yet another crisis,” McGuire told amNewYork Metro.
He also shared that de Blasio’s announcement did nothing to reassure parents on protecting their children’s health, which he believes has further eroded faith in the educational system. McGuire calls the disparity in access and opportunity within the different zip codes inexcusable and calls forth for the highest quality education for all students.
“And City Hall has done little to make up for academic losses students experienced as a result of virtual and hybrid instruction, which will only be exacerbated by the so-called “summer slide” when the official academic year ends next month,” McGuire said.
