Who is

Josh Arnon?

Headshot of Josh Arnon in a blue button-up dress shirt and navy blue blazer.

Josh is a Jewish democratic socialist and lifelong New Yorker. He has lived at Waterside Plaza for his entire life and remembers when his formerly-Mitchell-Lama apartment complex was affordable. He had his Bar Mitzvah celebration at the Water Club by the East River and is intimately familiar with walking through Tompkins Square Park and Stuyvesant Square Park, eating at Rosemary’s and Gnocco, shopping for groceries at Gristedes and Trader Joe’s, and frequenting his local AMC movie theater in Kips Bay.

Josh didn’t come from a political background—he studied film and worked for Scott Rudin, the most powerful producer on the East Coast and perhaps the most abusive. He spoke out as part of an exposé by the New York Times, leading to Rudin being exiled from the industry. Josh’s breadth of political activism came to include:

Legislative Advocacy

  • Standing up to then-Governor Andrew Cuomo’s potentially devastating budget cuts at the height of the pandemic as a leader of the successful Tax the Rich Campaign

  • Leading House the Future, an organization focused on creating a Social Housing Development Authority in NY

  • Pushing for the Workplace Psychological Safety Act as State Bill Director, which would make workplace harassment illegal across the board

Community Activism

  • Fighting against construction containing harmful cancer-causing forever chemicals on behalf of the Waterside Tenants Association

  • Securing a union contract for 5 board game cafes in NYC as part of the Tabletop Solidarity Committee

Political Campaigns

  • Electing a Democrat to Congress in Michigan as a community organizer by .34% of the vote during the 2024 General Election

  • Canvassing in Chicago, New York, and New Hampshire for Bernie Sanders’ campaigns for president

  • Volunteering for Zohran Mamandi’s mayoral campaign as a fundraising and field lead as soon as he announced he was running

Nonprofit Work

  • Working for Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) and the Working Families Party (WFP)

  • Cleaning shorelines from debris as part of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Coastal Cleanup program

Baby Josh Arnon sitting on a bench with his father in Waterside Plaza.
Child Josh Arnon in green and raising his arm like the Statue of Liberty while wearing a Statue of Liberty souvenir crown in front of the Statue of Liberty.
Child Josh Arnon wearing a Mets t-shirt and baseball cap, in front of a display of medieval armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met).
Child Josh Arnon in front of a display of two dinosaur fossils posed like they are fighting at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).
Child Josh Arnon looking through a microscope with a scientist at the American Museum of History (AMNH).
Child Josh Arnon in a suit in front of the Central Synagogue's announcement board. The board announces the Bar Mitzvah ceremony for Josh Arnon.
Adult Josh Arnon holding a white dog with a banner that says "Happy Birthday" behind him. His and his dog's sweaters match.
Adult Josh Arnon recreating the pose of a statue behind him at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).
Adult Josh Arnon in a winter coat and hat in the middle of a snowy forest.
Josh Arnon and several other volunteer canvassers for Alexa Avilés and Zohran Mamdani posing in a New York City Park.
Josh Arnon posing with New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mandani.
Josh Arnon and several other volunteer canvassers for Zohran Mamdani posing in a tennis court.