The NYC June 2025 Primary Bootcamp is live!
Submit your completed actions for points today.
Today is NYC Primary Bootcamp launch day! Take the next step to build your political influence.
The NYC Primary Bootcamp is for you if you want to do one more thing than just voting.
The NYC Primary Bootcamp is for you if you’ve been wanting to get to know your neighbors better and build more local community. But you need an excuse to do it. And could use some help along the way.
The NYC Primary Bootcamp is for you if you’re feeling overwhelmed by our city’s issues, our state’s issues, our nation’s issues. You’re not sure where to start, but you know you have to get off the sidelines.
Here’s what to do:
Complete Bootcamp Actions (below)
Check your points (Unreviewed Points here | Reviewed Points here)
What next?
🗓 Subscribe to the Primary Bootcamp Calendar to stay in the loop on events I’m hosting and events I recommend.
💬 Join the chat! I’m using Substack Chat as the community space for Bootcampers—a place to give and get resources, ideas, and encouragement. This space isn’t just for announcements— you can start threads with your questions, reflections, asks, or offers. Think of it as your group chat with neighbors who are in this with you to learn, build community, and influence politics. Chime in with whatever is on your mind. Some inspiration:
“Has anyone here ever done [X] before? What was it like?”
“Does anyone have a resource for learning about [X]?”
“I want to host a group to work on [X] together. Anyone want to co-host?”
“I found this great explainer on [X]– sharing here in case helpful for others too!”
Bootcamp Instructions
NYC June Primary Bootcamp is free for anyone to join. I’ll organize some things, but like any bootcamp, you have to put work in to see results. Here’s how it works:
See below for a list of Bootcamp actions. All actions are worth points, some more than others.
When you log an action, you get points. And you get prizes for getting points. You don’t get additional points for doing the same action multiple times.
You can check your points here: (Unreviewed Points here | Reviewed Points here)
Once you reach 70 points, you get a prize and an invitation to the Awards Party on July 12.
The top 5 winners get to join a tea party together at Gracie Mansion 🫖.
Over the next few months, I’ll host regular meetups to celebrate progress and learn from each other. The awards ceremony in July will be the culmination of the bootcamp— the big party at the end where we highlight everyone’s wins.🎉
Bootcamp Actions
There’s lots of ways to grow your political influence. Getting informed and sharing what you know is the best place to start. Think about it: how do you make decisions about who to vote for? You follow the recommendations of people you trust. This Bootcamp is setting you up to be one of those trusted people. Your friends should be asking you: “who should I vote for for Comptroller?”
Learn
5 points for signing up for your community board’s newsletter
5 points for signing up for your city council member’s newsletter
5 points for following both your city council member and state assembly person on social media
5 points for using the city council legislation search to find the bills that your council member is sponsoring (hint: click Advanced Search)
5 points for subscribing to one new local or state news outlet (suggestions here)
10 points for forming an opinion on an office that’s not mayor
10 points for attending a community board meeting
10 points for sharing this substack with someone
Build Community
10 points for creating a Whatsapp group of 5+ neighbors (how-to guide here)
20 points for inviting neighbors over for pastries / happy hour / informal hangout (how-to guide here)
30 points for starting a weekly potluck/picnic/basketball game that includes neighbors (how-to guide here)
20 points for planning a fun meetup supporting a mutual aid group
30 points for planning a volunteer day (e.g. trash pickup, park cleanup)
30 points for starting a newsletter/ Substack/ TikTok channel/ Instagram/ event series
10 points for making a new friend at a local standby (gym, church, coffee shop, park)
10 points for reporting something to 311 (e.g. noise, rats, issues with a bike lane)
10 points for reporting something to the MTA. They have a handy app— it’s easy to use the chat feature to report something. (e.g. There’s needles in this station. Here’s a picture.)
Influence Politics
10 points for registering to vote by June 14– your form must be received by June 14, and don’t wait til the last minute in case you need to mail it in. (instructions here)
20 points for reminding 5 more people to register to vote by June 14. One way to make this easy is to just share with the WhatsApp group you created with your neighbors…
10 points for sharing your “I Voted” selfie on social media
10 points for joining a local civic group (some suggestions here)
20 points for attending an event through that civic group
20 points for attending a NYC Primary Bootcamp event
20 points: Tell a candidate why you’re voting for them. Use any form of communication: Call them, snail mail them, DM them, go to their office in person.
30 points: Volunteer on a political campaign ( read about what to expect when volunteering on a campaign here)
20 points: Pick a race that’s not mayor. Tell 5 friends what it is and why they should care. One way to make this easy is to just share with the WhatsApp group you created with your neighbors…
30 points: Send out your voter guide. Your voter guide should include a rundown of who you’re voting for in the primary and why. I don’t care how many people you send it to or how you send it. But at least some of your audience must live in NYC.
40 points: Host a fundraiser for a candidate or civic group (here’s how)
10 points: Attend a fundraiser for a candidate or civic group
50 points total: Get an ongoing text conversation going with your city councilperson. Or at least make sure they know your name. You get 50 points if you do that via any method. If you don’t know where to start, you can rack up the 50 points by following these steps:
10 points: Reshare an article or post via any platform (e.g. Threads, Instagram, Twitter) and tag your council member. Here’s a template you can use.
20 points: Email your council member and CC their chief of staff, introducing yourself, sharing an issue you care about, and asking if they’d be willing to chat. Your introduction to yourself should include where you live and what you love about your neighborhood. Share a neighborhood issue that gets you in the gut: why do you care about it? Ask for a meeting. A coffee. A walk. A phone call.
20 points: take a selfie with your city council member and share it on any social media
Add your own
Submit an idea I haven’t thought of and I may just give you extra credit! Put your own interests and skills to work here– you might be an artist, or bilingual, or a parent– apply the frame of “learn, build community, influence politics” to your unique context.
Just checking - we can log multiples of the same action, as long as they’re distinct events, correct? Like going to multiple events?
This is awesome! One clarification: are we only counting new actions during the Bootcamp period, or if we’re already signed up for our CB newsletter (for example) should we count that too?