Dr. LARRY HE is a neighbor, a common-sense Democrat, and a District Leader who fights for our community every day. A first generation immigrant, Dr. He shares our values and is deeply committed to fighting for safer, cleaner neighborhoods, high-quality schools, affordable living, and policies that help small businesses and families thrive.

About Dr. Larry He

Dr. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecological Economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a Master degree in International Economics from McMaster University in Canada, and a Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.

Our Fellows (2025 Cohort) - Bridges Fellowship

Larry He is a first-generation immigrant. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, a master's degree in international economics from McMaster University in Canada, and a Ph.D. in ecological economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

As Chief of Staff to Assemblyman William Colton, he helps thousands of local families by bringing essential services directly into our neighborhoods, including food pantries, neighborhood cleanups, senior services, legal assistance, immigration support, and aid for small businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Larry He works as chief of staff to Assemblyman William Colton.

2026 New York General Election

Define and codify ‘microbusiness’ in New York State Economic Development Law. New York State currently defines a small business as any firm with under 100 employees — treating a one-person bodega the same as a 99-employee company. We will introduce legislation creating a microbusiness subcategory for businesses with 10 or fewer employees, unlocking targeted grants, a 60-day cure period before fines are issued for non-dangerous violations, and a requirement that agencies track violation data by business size. Massachusetts has already done this. New York should too.

Small Businesses

Require budget approvals and payment pathways before contract work begins, and launch ContractStat. In 2024, over 7,000 unpaid invoices worth more than $1 billion sat in the city’s procurement system — approximately 4,000 of them, worth $861 million, owed to nonprofits delivering services in communities like ours. 90% of human service contracts were late-registered, meaning organizations started work with no contract and no pathway to payment. ContractStat will require all contracting agencies to publicly report contract approval timelines, invoice processing times, and reimbursement schedules — creating accountability and eliminating the backlogs that hurt our smallest providers most.

Create and expand Business Improvement Districts in Bensonhurst and Sunset Park. We will revive the long-delayed 86th Street Bensonhurst BID and expand the Sunset Park 5th Avenue BID to 7th and 8th Avenues, bringing supplemental sanitation, graffiti cleanup, trash receptacles, security, events, marketing, and city-agency support to corridors that have gone without consistent maintenance for too long.

What We Will Do

Auto-enroll eligible seniors into rent-freeze programs (SCRIE).

Today, 57.6% of eligible seniors miss out on the rent freeze they already qualify for, not because they don’t qualify, but because the application process is a barrier.

Seniors

Proposes a microbusiness category for firms with 10 or fewer employees, with targeted grants and a 60-day period to correct non-dangerous violations.

Proposes requiring budget approvals and ways to pay before contract work begins and creating ContractStat to report contracting and reimbursement timelines.

Plans to create and expand Business Improvement Districts in Bensonhurst and Sunset Park.

Plans to automatically enroll eligible seniors in the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption rent-freeze program.

- Proposes a microbusiness category for firms with 10 or fewer employees, with targeted grants and a 60-day period to correct non-dangerous violations.
- Proposes requiring budget approvals and ways to pay before contract work begins and creating ContractStat to report contracting and reimbursement timelines.
- Plans to create and expand Business Improvement Districts in Bensonhurst and Sunset Park.
- Plans to automatically enroll eligible seniors in the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption rent-freeze program.

Economy

What We Will Do

Create a year-round SD-17 Civic Stewardship Corps employing local youth to clean their own neighborhood. Working with DYCD and local nonprofits and community organizations, we will establish a paid corps of SD-17 residents aged 16–24 focused on corridor cleaning, graffiti removal, park upkeep, and tree maintenance.

Cleanliness & Safety

Proposes a year-round civic stewardship corps employing local youth for neighborhood cleaning, graffiti removal, park upkeep, and tree maintenance.

- Proposes a year-round civic stewardship corps employing local youth for neighborhood cleaning, graffiti removal, park upkeep, and tree maintenance.

Energy & the Environment

As of September 9, 2026, Larry He’s website did not contain information on this issue.

Healthcare

Voting & Elections

What We Will Do

Expand LockerNYC secure delivery lockers throughout SD-17. The city’s free LockerNYC program, operated by NYC DOT and GoLocker, already accepts all major carriers — USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL — and has a site in Sunset Park. But SD-17 is underserved.

Package Theft

Package theft costs Americans $16 billion annually, and our older apartment buildings without secure mailrooms are the most vulnerable. We will push NYC DOT to use NYPD theft data to prioritize SD-17 — particularly senior-heavy buildings, dense residential blocks, libraries, and pharmacies — before the DOT’s 2026 program review locks in permanent sites.

Sign-up is currently English-only and online, cutting out much of our 55% foreign-born community. We will require multilingual interfaces and in-person sign-up support in Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish at all SD-17 sites, coordinated through existing immigrant-serving organizations and senior centers.

Replace magnetic-strip SNAP/EBT cards with chip-enabled cards.

Skimming devices on card terminals have stolen tens of millions of dollars in SNAP benefits from New Yorkers, seniors among the most frequent victims. Only two states have acted despite USDA urging. We will co-sponsor and push OTDA to publish a concrete timeline.

Plans to expand secure LockerNYC delivery lockers throughout Senate District 17.

Plans to press the New York City Department of Transportation to use police data on theft when selecting LockerNYC sites in Senate District 17.

Plans to require multilingual LockerNYC interfaces and in-person enrollment support at Senate District 17 sites.

Plans to replace magnetic-stripe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Electronic Benefit Transfer cards with chip-enabled cards.

- Plans to expand secure LockerNYC delivery lockers throughout Senate District 17.
- Plans to press the New York City Department of Transportation to use police data on theft when selecting LockerNYC sites in Senate District 17.
- Plans to require multilingual LockerNYC interfaces and in-person enrollment support at Senate District 17 sites.
- Plans to replace magnetic-stripe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Electronic Benefit Transfer cards with chip-enabled cards.

Public Safety

What We Will Do

Bring a specialized high school campus to South Brooklyn.

Students from Districts 20, 21, and 22, which cover our community, account for approximately 25% of all NYC public school specialized high school admits and over 72% of all Brooklyn public school SHS admits, and in 2024–25 alone submitted 4,385 applications to Brooklyn Technical High School. Yet there is no specialized school here.

Education

Expand access to quality afterschool programs across SD-17.

In New York, for every child enrolled in an afterschool program, four more want to participate but cannot get a spot. More than half of all applications for state and federal afterschool funding in New York were denied in the most recent funding cycle — meaning thousands of children are turned away each year. For SD-17’s 55% foreign-born community, afterschool programs also provide critical language support and family stability.

WHAT WE WILL DO

Fund local organizations to hire neighborhood teens as paid peer tutors during the school year — modeled on SYEP, extended year-round. NYC’s Summer Youth Employment Program served 97,004 young people in its most recent year, paying $139.9 million in wages. But it runs only six weeks in July and August, leaving the school year entirely uncovered. We will secure state grant funding to pay teens in SD-17 the NYC minimum wage ($17/hour) to tutor younger students after school.

Match bilingual tutors to families by language, so students get help in the language they understand. Citywide, only 12.5% of current English Language Learners are proficient in ELA — but students who moved past the language barrier later achieved 72% ELA proficiency. The barrier is language, not ability. SD-17 has a large multilingual teen population in Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic. We will actively recruit bilingual tutors and match them to families who need same-language help, rather than assuming the right tutors will appear on their own.

Plans to establish a specialized high school campus in South Brooklyn.

Plans to expand access to afterschool programs across Senate District 17.

Proposes state grants for local organizations to employ neighborhood teens as paid, year-round peer tutors.

Plans to recruit bilingual tutors and match them with families needing help in the same language.

- Plans to establish a specialized high school campus in South Brooklyn.
- Plans to expand access to afterschool programs across Senate District 17.
- Proposes state grants for local organizations to employ neighborhood teens as paid, year-round peer tutors.
- Plans to recruit bilingual tutors and match them with families needing help in the same language.

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Larry He

Mauricio Mendez

Buket Urgen

Steve Chan

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