Pete Sikora on how to make activism work

Pete Sikora is the Climate & Inequality Campaigns Director at New York Communities for Change (NYCC).

Before a big mayoral election in New York City, Pete sat down to talk with high school students Helena Rambler, David Case, and Pierce Siegel in Cobble Hill Park on a sunny Saturday afternoon. 

Pete explains NYCC's endorsement of mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, based on Mamdani's platform for working class New Yorkers and his help in a successful campaign to stop a fracked gas power plant in Astoria, which means less air pollution and fewer cases of asthma for Mamdani's Astoria constituents.

Sikora also describes his own career as an organizer and criticizes the influence of money in politics. He explains how sustained activism is the best cure for climate anxiety, and gives examples of real world results won with relatively small numbers of committed members.

Additional interview production: Cindy Ye. The interview took place on May 24, 2025.

https://www.nycommunities.org

https://www.nycommunities.org/climate

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