Name 
Farah N. Louis

Party Name
A Unified 45

Current Occupation
Candidate for City Council

1. What would be your top priority as a City Councilmember?
Tackling systemic inequities that still plague the 45th City Council District. First and
foremost amongst them - housing. The district has a tremendous need for affordable
housing and zoning regulations that incentivize affordable housing remaining with
district residents.

2. What do you love about living in Brooklyn?
The diversity of my community. Diversity means a community can thrive and develop
because different cultures can learn from one another, offer differing points of view,
and, most importantly, so much good food everywhere in the borough!

3. What was your biggest challenge in school?
When I was younger, it was a tremendous challenge to start in a school where the
language of the school (English) wasn’t what I spoke at home and wasn’t one that my
parents were fluent in. LIke so many other children of immigrants, I struggled as a
child to learn in English and live through Creole. Over time, that became easier and it’s
helped me understand the unique challenges in New York’s education system for our
student body.

4. How do we improve the public transit system?
Time to do a deep dive into MTA funding and spending practices. While I agree that
other revenue streams would be a tremendous help, if the City has some authority over
the MTA (like the Governor claims…) then we ought to have a real drill down into the
spending by sub-authority in the MTA and the chance to identify efficiencies and
cost-savings that can be applied to the beleaguered subways.

5. What needs to be done to improve conditions at NYCHA complexes?
Unlike the MTA, we absolutely know there isn’t enough funding in NYCHA because the
State has held off on providing hundreds of millions for maintenance and repairs for
years. Moreover, with federal instability to funding for new units and maintenance, we
won’t be able to make a dent in the systemic quality of life issues that are hurting
NYCHA residents. Once funding owed to NYCHA is provided, it’s also time to do a deep
dive into the services that NYCHA contracts for and determine whether the City is
getting the best level of service from vendors that are responsible for critical repairs
and upkeep.

6. Do you cook? What's your signature dish?
I love to cook, and curry shrimp is my signature dish. I can’t reveal all my secrets, but a
healthy dose of some spices and curry powder gives the shrimp a beautiful flavor.

7. If you could have dinner with any celebrity dead or alive, who would it be & why?
Who: Prince. Why: It’s Prince.

8. What your favorite Brooklyn pizza shop? Favorite toppings?
It’s a toss-up! Pizza Studio and Di Fara. Both have their strengths. And simple is best
for me - a margherita pizza is my go-to.

9. What inspired you to get involved in politics?
As a reporter, I often found myself wanting to do more than tell the story of a problem
someone or some institution faced -- I found myself wanting to organize and help the
persons and institutions I was covering. Reporting on problems helped me realize I’d
be happier if I could help solve them. When you cover the issues that affect people, it’s
hard not to see the connection between government and politics and finding
resolutions for people. That’s how I began to transition to public service. Now, I want
to use the exposure I have as a candidate, and hopefully the platform I’ll have as the
45th District’s next Council Member, to ensure folks have access to needed
government services.

10. What’s your favorite movie? TV show? App?
Movie: Another toss-up: School Daze and Coming to America
TV Show: Scandal
App: Pandora

11. How do you like to spend a day off?
Running at Rockaway Beach (followed by a good margherita pizza…)

12. Any hidden talents?
Trained ballet and modern dancer.