Mark Levine (New York politician)

Mark D. Levine (born April 30, 1969^[1]) is an American politician and educator serving as the Comptroller of New York City since 2026. He previously served as the 28th Borough President of Manhattan from 2022 to 2025 and as member of the New York City Council from 2014 to 2021, where he represented the 7th district covering Manhattan neighborhoods of Morningside Heights, West Harlem, Washington Heights, and part of the Upper West Side.

Preceded byBrad Lander

Preceded byGale Brewer

Succeeded byBrad Hoylman-Sigal

Preceded byRobert Jackson

Quick facts 46th Comptroller of New York City, Preceded by ...

Mark Levine
Levine in 2023

46th Comptroller of New York City
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2026
Preceded by	Brad Lander
28th Borough President of Manhattan
In office January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2025
Preceded by	Gale Brewer
Succeeded by	Brad Hoylman-Sigal
Member of the New York City Council from the 7th district
In office January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2021
Preceded by	Robert Jackson
Succeeded by	Shaun Abreu

Personal details
Born	(1969-04-30) April 30, 1969 (age 57) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Ivelisse Suarez
Children	2
Relatives	Asher Arian (cousin)
Education	Haverford College (BS) Harvard University (MPP)
Signature
Website	Official website

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Early life and education

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Levine grew up in Columbia, Maryland. His early life was greatly influenced by the social activism of his parents, Marshal and Adele Levine. His cousin on his father's side, Asher Arian, was a prominent political scientist in Israel. Levine majored in physics^[2] at Haverford College and the University of Seville, Spain. He received a Masters in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1995. Levine speaks fluent Spanish and Hebrew.

Career

Levine taught bilingual math and science at Junior High School 149 in the South Bronx from 1991 to 1993.^[3] He was a Teach For America corps member in the program’s early years.^[4]

In 1994 he founded Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union, a cooperatively-owned financial institution serving low-income families in the Washington Heights section of Northern Manhattan.^[5] Levine ran for the New York City Council in 2001,^[6] finishing second in a ten-way Democratic field.^[7]

In 2007 Levine was elected Democratic District Leader in the 71st Assembly District, Part A, representing parts of Hamilton Heights/West Harlem and Washington Heights. He was an early supporter of Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential primary, and ran on Obama’s delegate slate that year in New York’s 15th Congressional District. In 2009 Levine founded the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan,^[8] a progressive, reform-oriented local political club.

In 2010 he ran for the New York State Senate in the 31st District. He finished second behind eventual general election winner Adriano Espaillat in a four-way Democratic primary race, with 38% of the vote.^[9]^[10]

New York City Council

Levine took office in January, 2014.^[11] During his first term he served as chair of the City Council's Parks Committee,^[12] chair of the Council's Jewish Caucus,^[13] and founder and co-chair of the Council's Affordable Housing Preservation Taskforce.^[14]

Levine was lead sponsor of legislation passed in 2017^[15] which established a right to counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction in housing court, making New York City the first place in the nation to grant such a right.^[16]^[17]^[18]

Other issues Levine has focused on include: construction of affordable housing,^[19] greater equity for parks in low-income neighborhoods,^[20]^[21] improved police-community relations,^[22]^[23] safer streets and expanded mass transit,^[24]^[25] dual-language education,^[26] historic preservation,^[27] expanded access to medical marijuana,^[28] and acceptance of bitcoin for payment of NYC fines and fees.^[29]

In addition to chairing the health committee, Levine was a member of the education, transportation, economic development, juvenile justice, and hospitals committees at the end of his term. He was also member of the Progressive Caucus and the Jewish Caucus.

In 2017, Levine won the Democratic primary to remain in his council seat with 75% of the vote over closest competitor Thomas Lopez-Pierre with 25%.^[30]

Levine was a candidate for City Council Speaker in 2017.^[31]^[32]^[33]

In his role as chair of the City Council's health committee, Levine gained wide attention during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.^[34]

Manhattan Borough President

Levine announced his candidacy for Manhattan borough president in January 2020.^[35] Levine was endorsed by Representatives Adriano Espaillat and Nydia Velázquez, among other elected officials, labor unions, and advocacy groups.^[36] He won the Democratic primary defeating New York State Senator Brad Hoylman by 7%, and defeated Republican Lou Puliafito in the November 2021 general election.^[37]

Levine took office on January 1, 2022.

Levine is a member of the Vote Blue Coalition, a progressive group and federal PAC created to support Democrats in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania through voter outreach and mobilization efforts.^[38]

New York City Comptroller

Following incumbent New York City Comptroller Brad Lander's decision to run the 2025 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, Levine opened a campaign account to run for comptroller.^[39]^[40] Politico declared him the winner of the Democratic primary on June 24, 2025.^[41]

Levine won the general election on November 4, 2025,^[42] and was sworn in as the 52nd New York City Comptroller on January 1, 2026.^[43] His office has committed to putting more than $4 billion of New York City's public pension funds towards the financing of affordable housing.^[44] It has also found that the New York City Department of Education failed to seek Medicaid reimbursement for at least $431 million of mandated special education services for public school students with disabilities over a span of roughly two years from mid-2023 to mid-2025, which combined with previous estimates made by the comptrollers' office under previous comptrollers would imply that at least $1.2 billion had not been recouped by the Department of Education since 2011. New York City Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Seritta Scott disputed the assessment, however, claiming that at least $232 million of the claimed $431 million figure was in fact ineligible for Medicaid reimbursement.^[45]