— Faith —

Faith is the moral foundation of every strong community. Not tied to one religion, but rooted in all the traditions that guide families, cultures, and neighborhoods. Faith is what brings people together in moments of struggle and hope. It reminds us that we are responsible for one another.

—Family —

Family is more powerful than any institution or government program. Family is where loyalty is born, where values are taught, and where strength is passed down. Niccolas believes in the dignity of the nuclear family and the extended families that shape the Bronx, mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings, neighbors who become relatives in spirit.

— Dignity —

Every person deserves dignity, especially the sick, the mentally ill, the vulnerable, and the homeless. The Bronx faces poverty and hardship, but hardship should never erase humanity. A Bronx divided is a Bronx that suffers. A Bronx united is a community capable of lifting its people from despair into hope.

—Work —

Work creates independence, pride, and freedom. Whether it’s a warehouse shift, a union job, small business hustle, or a career that helps a family move forward, work is the path toward stability and financial strength. The system may chase profits, but real communities uplift the people who do the work that keeps them alive.

THE FOUR CORE VALUES

— The Bronx deserves leadership rooted in lived experience, not titles.
These are the issues I dedicate my time, voice, and energy to every day.

— Transit / Subways / Buses

Reliable, safe, clean, and accessible transit for the working people who keep this city moving.

— Affordability & Anti-Gentrification
Protecting Bronx families from displacement, rising rents, and outside forces pricing us out of our own borough.

— Clean Streets
A cleaner Bronx with more litter removal, cleaner corridors, community pride, and respect for every block.

— Safer Streets with Dignity
A safer Bronx through compassion, mental health support, and real community presence—not fear or neglect.

— Quality of Life
Strengthening the everyday experience of Bronx residents: parks, schools, noise control, housing conditions, and community health.

Choose any topic to learn more about how I advocate for our borough.

THE ISSUES:

Clean/Safer Streets with Dignity.

— A clean Bronx is a safer Bronx, and both begin with dignity.
For too long, Bronx neighborhoods have been treated like afterthoughts. Trash piles up faster here. Corridors get cleaned less often. Streets feel neglected. And when communities don’t feel cared for, safety suffers too. Cleanliness and safety are not separate issues—they’re connected. When a neighborhood looks respected, people feel respected. And when people feel respected, the entire community becomes safer.

— Clean streets are a foundation of dignity.

Litter, illegal dumping, overflowing baskets, and dirty transit hubs are not “normal.” They are signs of a city failing to treat the Bronx with the same care it gives Manhattan or downtown Brooklyn. Every block in the Bronx deserves to be clean, bright, and maintained—because the people who live here deserve nothing less.

— I advocate for:
— More frequent sanitation pickups in high-traffic areas like Fordham Road, Grand Concourse, Jerome, and Tremont.
— Stronger enforcement against illegal dumping that targets our working neighborhoods.
— Cleaner bus stops, subway entrances, and commercial corridors.
— Community clean-up partnerships, where residents can take pride in their blocks with support from the city.
— Beautification efforts that signal investment, respect, and stability.

— Safety must grow from dignity, not fear.
Too often, our borough sees enforcement without empathy—policing without services, and punishment where compassion should be. A safer Bronx is one where people feel supported, not criminalized. Where a struggling neighbor is offered help instead of handcuffs. Where safety is built through presence, care, and community connection.

TRANSIT:

— Transit is the lifeline of the Bronx. When it breaks down, working people pay the price.
The Bronx depends on fast, reliable, and dignified transportation. Every day, tens of thousands of us stand on overcrowded platforms, wait for delayed trains, or sit on buses crawling behind cars blocking the bus lane. We deserve better.

— Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

I advocate for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) across major Bronx corridors with dedicated, protected lanes that drivers, scooters, and e-bikes cannot enter. Enforcement must be real, consistent, and strict—because a bus lane that isn’t protected is just paint on the street. When buses move quickly, people get to work on time, kids get to school on time, and entire neighborhoods function better.

— New York City's Department of Transportation.
We need investment from NYC DOT in the same way they invest in protected bike lanes. Bronx bus riders deserve infrastructure that actually speeds up service, not slow, unreliable routes clogged with traffic we didn’t create.

— A Better Subway, A Better Bronx.
And the subway? The Bronx has been ignored for years. Much of our track, stations, and equipment are over a century old. The MTA has prioritized other boroughs while our stations crumble, our trains get older, and our service remains inconsistent. This cannot continue.
— I advocate as a strong Bronx voice demanding:
— Newer subway cars on Bronx lines.
— Renovated stations that are clean, safe, and accessible.
— Track upgrades that reduce delays and increase reliability.
— Fair investment so the Bronx is no longer last on the list.

— What We Must Accomplish?
The Bronx is home to workers who make this city run. We ride the buses early in the morning, we take the trains late at night, and we depend on a system that has too often forgotten us. We must show up, speak up, and remind the MTA that the Bronx deserves the same quality of transit as Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

Affordability / Anti-Gentrification

— Protecting the Bronx means protecting the people who built it—especially Black and Hispanic families who have held this borough together for generations.
Across New York City, we’ve watched what happened to historically Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. Communities with deep cultural roots were pushed out by outside developers, rising rents, corporate landlords, and a wave of displacement disguised as “revitalization.” Those neighborhoods lost their identity, their history, and the people who made them vibrant.

— Not in the Bronx. Not here. Not to us.

I advocate for safeguarding Black and Hispanic communities—the cultural backbone of this borough—from the same displacement forces that reshaped other parts of the city. Protecting our neighborhoods is not about shutting people out. It’s about ensuring that the people who BUILT these communities are not erased by policies and investments that ignore our realities.

— Affordability means protecting the culture, families, and history that already exist here.
It means making sure long-time Bronx residents can keep their homes and stay rooted where their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents lived, worked, and raised families. The Bronx should not become the next borough where people of color are priced out and pushed aside.

— I advocate for:
— Anti-displacement protections in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods that face the greatest pressure.
— Real affordability tied to Bronx wages, not inflated citywide averages.
— Community-led development, where locals—not outsiders—decide what gets built.
— Tenant protections, preventing harassment, illegal evictions, and forced displacement.
— Housing stability for working families, immigrants, and long-time residents.

— What We Must Accomplish?
Preserving the Bronx means preserving the people who give it culture, rhythm, language, history, and soul.

Quality of Life.

— Because the Bronx deserves to live, not just survive.
Quality of life is not some fancy idea for wealthy neighborhoods downtown. It is a basic right—and the Bronx has been denied it for decades. Too many of us wake up, go to work, come home tired, and feel like the city gives us the bare minimum. We get the scraps. We get the leftovers. We get the hand-me-down fixes while other boroughs get the gold-standard treatment.

— Enough.

That ends now.
Because the Bronx is not a burden.
The Bronx is not an afterthought.
The Bronx is home, and home deserves pride, comfort, and joy.

— Quality of life means:
— Housing that’s stable, not crumbling or infested while rent keeps rising.
— Transit that works, so your commute isn’t a battle every single day.
— Clean parks, where kids can play and elders can relax without fear.
— Beautiful streets, not neglected blocks treated like someone else's problem.
— Jobs close by, so residents can earn, grow, and stay right here in our borough.
— Noise control and safer corridors, where families can walk without stress.
— Food access, not neighborhoods where fresh options disappear and bad options multiply.
— Respect, plain and simple—from the city, from services, and from leadership.

— Quality of life is about how we live every day.
It’s the difference between a neighborhood that drains you and a neighborhood that lifts you. It’s the difference between feeling forgotten and feeling valued.
Quality of life is not a privilege for the rich. It is a promise to every Bronx family. And it’s a promise I intend to fight for—loudly, unapologetically, and with everything I’ve got.

Niccolas K. Pearson

The Bronx's Community Advocate

Faith, Family, Dignity, Work.