Andrew Yang Enters Mayor's Race with Scaled Back Plan for Universal Basic Income

Former Democratic presidential candidate and business owner Andrew Yang officially entered the New York City mayor’s race on Wednesday, his birthday, releasing a campaign launch video directed by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky that includes his pitch for universal basic income, along with plans for high-speed broadband access, smaller class sizes and control of the city’s subway system. Yang will hold a formal announcement event Thursday morning on the Upper West Side.

Yang's entrance into the race was less of a question of "if" but "when," especially after he was spotted across the city recently filming his launch video. What’s more surprising is how Yang plans to take what was his signature proposal on the presidential trail, universal basic income or UBI, and dramatically scale it back to create a municipal-scale plan for the poorest New Yorkers.

According to a source with the Yang campaign, his revamped UBI plan would grant 500,000 New Yorkers in the greatest need an annual $2,000 - $5,000 through a program administered by the city’s Human Resources Administration, the same city agency that administers other benefits programs.

The program will cost an estimated $1 billion a year and will be grown through support from philanthropic organizations that want to end the crisis of poverty in the city. Yang also envisions a “People’s Bank” in connection with the city’s IDNYC, where participants in the UBI program will automatically have an account.

UBI was the centerpiece of Yang’s long-shot, outsider bid for the presidential nomination. While he eventually dropped out of the race last February and endorsed President-elect Joe Biden in March, he outlasted many other contenders including several governors, U.S. Senators and former New York City Mayor and businessman Michael Bloomberg and Mayor Bill de Blasio, amassing a towering 1.9 million Twitter followers including what came to be known as the Yang Gang.

Then called the Freedom Dividend, his presidential UBI plan sought to address the job losses caused by automation was to provide every American over 18 with $1,000 a month which would be paid for by a value-added tax at a rate of 10 percent. He argued it would create a “trickle-up” system that would allow money to circulate through regional economies, create more jobs, make families stronger and ultimately reduce the costs of incarceration, homelessness services and emergency room healthcare.

The idea for UBI has its origins with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who wrote about it in 1967 as a way to address systemic poverty where other policy solutions targeting education, housing and family had failed. While on the presidential trail, Yang often told the origin story of UBI invoking its early support from both Thomas Paine and Dr. King.

In his launch video, Yang previews some likely backers including Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres who tells him, “Your advocacy for universal basic income is so critical. The surest way to end poverty is to put money in people’s pockets, it’s that simple.”

Critics charge that UBI programs don’t work effectively if there is not a broader philosophical approach to how the direct income benefit works in combination with other support systems, and at its worst can lead to cuts to the very social safety net that keeps families afloat.

“Running New York City isn't some venture capitalist scheme. I need you to walk me through it,” said Dr. Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University, who questioned what economist would support a plan on the scale Yang is proposing.

“Because these are people's families. These are people's children. These are people's livelihoods and I need to know that he understands it. And I'm not sold on that,” she added.

Yang will have an opportunity to hear feedback directly from voters on Friday night when he participates in a virtual mayoral forum organized by Reverend Kirsten John Foy, head of the Arc of Justice. During the pandemic, he has been gathering on Friday nights with 750 to several thousand others along with a revolving list of policymakers, influencers, elected officials and experts for wide-ranging conversations about how to fix the city’s deepest problems.

At this week’s event, known as the Justice Clapback Village Mic, Foy said eight of the leading mayoral candidates will take questions from the press for an hour before opening up the conversation to others in the Zoom audience. While he has not endorsed a candidate in the race yet, Foy said he believes Yang brings something vital to the conversation.

“He brings the perspective of a successful progressive from the business community. I think he obviously brings his experience as an Asian American, which is important. I think he brings his understanding of technology, which is going to be critical in repairing and restoring the city’s full strength,” said Foy.

He also noted that Yang is “a family man” and praised his wife Evelyn for helping to bring a doctor who sexually assaulted her to justice. He also acknowledged that Yang understands the challenges of educating his children remotely during a pandemic.

This past week, he came under fire for comments made to The New York Times about his decision to spend more time with his family in their home in New Paltz, NY while the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the city saying, “Can you imagine trying to have two kids on virtual school in a two-bedroom apartment, and then trying to do work yourself?” and later released a statement that explained that they made the move upstate to help his sons, one of whom is autistic, “adapt to our new normal.”

Yang, who was born in Schnectady, now lives between his homes in New Paltz and Hell's Kitchen. He celebrated his 46th birthday on Wednesday tweeting a request in the morning that people save their wishes, and donations, until that night.

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