Last Saturday, September 13, in front of his home in Clinton Hill, Marlon Rice, flanked by family, friends and supporters, announced his candidacy for State Senate, representing the 25th district of Brooklyn.
In addition to giving the campaign launch a modern urban riff on the old “front-porch” launch strategy, Rice announced his run to the beats of Brooklyn deejay, Goldfinger. Plus, he announced the release of his new long-form digital ad, “The Stoop” highlighting his personal biography and professional journey.
Ultimately, Marlon revealed, he is using his own lived experience to drive his platform which revolves around a passion for preserving the legacy of Brooklyn’s middle-class homeowners and “preventing the further erosion of the middle class while maintaining the working-class character of the neighborhood.”
To that point, he says, he is proposing a temporary freeze of property taxes for homeowners who maintain four rental units or fewer. He looked back to a time in Brooklyn “when the steps of the brownstone were the connective tissue for family, neighborhood and community safety” and the entryways to the soul of community and neighborhood.
“There’s been a lot of talk about freezing the rent, and I think that’s great because rent is too damn high,” he said, adding, “But, if we want to maintain a vibrant middle class in this district, we also need to freeze property taxes for homeowners who have four rental units or fewer. There are 8,000 brownstones in this district – that’s 8,000 families – and while some do not subsidize their bills with rental income, many of us do.”
“My stepfather, Kim Reaves-Bey, purchased the house we are standing in front of in 1979. He paid $28,000,” said Marlon. “His mortgage payments were $230.18 a month. He paid off the house in 10 years. In today’s climate, a working middle-class family cannot afford to purchase their first home in this district. A $50,000 salary isn’t working middle-class in this city anymore; it’s poverty.”
Marlon also called for an extension of income-based utility bill caps to relieve financial pressures on middle-class households. “As utility infrastructure ages and demand intensifies, homeowners are facing increases in utility costs that are largely outside their control,” Rice’s press release notes.
Rice shared real lessons gained from his stepfather at the gathering in front of the family property: “He taught me to love this community – to be present, to serve, and to lead. The right person in this senate seat will ensure that our neighborhoods thrive and maintain our historical significance, while also welcoming new homeownership,” he added.
The father of three and grandfather of two, a lifelong resident of Central Brooklyn, Marlon was raised by his mother Debra Reaves-Bey, a paralegal, and his stepfather, the late Reaves-Bey, a 25-year veteran of the New York Police Department and neighborhood leader.
In addition to his many educational and creative endeavors, Rice is the current director of event services for the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, where he brings his passion for community engagement to life through impactful programming.
He founded Good People NYC, an event production company that “thrives at the intersection of culture, community, and connection.” His Reporter’s Notebook was a popular Our Time Press column for several years before his move to Restoration. Rice’s digital ad “The Stoop” highlights Mr. Rice’s professional journey in its look back “to a time in Brooklyn when the steps of the brownstone were the connective tissue for family, neighborhood and District 25 encompasses several central and eastern Brooklyn neighborhoods, including nearly all of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Ocean Hill, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Bushwick, Brownsville, and Downtown Brooklyn.
–Bernice Elizabeth Green, Feature Story Curator