Attorney Lakisha Collins-Bellamy, a life-long resident of Yonkers, has embarked on her campaign for City Council President.
Collins-Bellamy upset incumbent Council President Mike Khader in June’s Democratic primary, moving her to the next stage and the general election for council president.
Her Yonkers roots and strong community focus drives her platform of hard work, achieving the “American Dream,” and giving everyone in Yonkers the help they need. As a resident of Cottage Place Gardens housing complex in her youth, Collins-Bellamy understands adversity. In an interview with Yonkers Times, she describes her experience as a child of teenaged parents:
“We moved into Cottage Place Gardens in 1985. I remember having to walk over crack pipes in the hall and the smell of drugs, but it was my home. I was sad to see it come down.”
When her mother won an affordable housing lottery in 1992, Collins-Bellamy and her family moved into the Gaffney Place development in east Yonkers. Despite the move, she was still attached to her childhood home, and maintained friendships and connections there.
“There was a sense of belonging, and community, and a big family,” she said. “My mom got me out because she wanted something different and something more for me.”
Ever since Collins-Bellamy left Yonkers to pursue her education she has been achieving something more. She has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from State University of New York at New Paltz, a Masters of Public Administration from Marist College and Juris Doctor from New York Law School.
Collins-Bellamy described her desire to run and what she hopes to achieve as City Council President.
“I’m running for Council President to show young boys and girls that they can be lawyers and the next Council President. I came from humble beginnings, so this election is bigger than me. It’s about how, if I can do it, anybody can.”
