C RY D E R
P O I N T
JANUARY 10
What you need to know about the
upcoming special election for Queens BP
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
While it is still yet to be determined when the special
election for Queens borough president will be held, one
thing that is becoming clear is that the race to replace
Queens District Attorney-elect Melinda Katz is shaping
up to be another battle between “the establishment” and
the “left-wing progressives” of the Democratic party.
From the moment Councilman Donovan Richards
announced his candidacy for Katz’s seat last fall, with
former Borough President Claire Shulman by his side,
Richards appeared to be the establishment’s choice.
That became clear Monday when Congressman Gregory
Meeks, the chairman of the Queens County Democratic
Committee, announced that Richards was receiving
their endorsement. In accepting, Richards said, “We want
to send an olive branch to people but they have to want
to work with us.”
Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman was the only other
candidate for borough president in the room, and she
promptly announced she would step out of the race and
“stand with the Party” and support the endorsed county
candidate. Hyndman’s decision means that the vote
would not be split in southeast Queens.
The Richards endorsement came a week after Councilman
10 CRYDER POINT COURIER | JANUARY 2020 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM
Jimmy Van Bramer received endorsements from
progressive stars Zephyr Teachout and Cynthia Nixon.
“From defeating Amazon, to defying the party bosses,
to organizing to get money out of politics, Jimmy is the
true progressive choice for Queens borough president,”
Teachout said.
Van Bramer had campaigned for the public defender
from Astoria, Tiffany Cabán, who ran on a radical decarceral
platform and nearly upset Katz, who was seen
as the “establishment candidate.” In the previous election
cycle, Van Bramer supported Alexandria Ocasio-Costez
who upset former Queens County chairman Joseph
Crowley in the Democratic primary for Congress. AOC’s
victory put progressive organizations such as the Working
Families Party and the Democrat Socialists of America
as leaders in the far-left movement in western Queens.
Van Bramer was among the opposition to Amazon’s
plan to build its HQ2 campus in Long Island City, grilling
their executives at City Council hearing.
Richards has made it clear that running Amazon out of
Queens, and taking their promise of 25,000 good-paying
jobs, was not in the borough’s best interests.
If Amazon becomes a flashpoint between Richards and
Van Bramer, Councilman Costa Constantinides, the author
of the city’s Green New Deal, could ride the progressive
wave to Borough Hall. Constantinides became chair
of the council’s environmental protection committee and
has a long history of environmental activism.
He declared his candidacy in September with the
promise of a stronger, more equitable and more resilient
Queens in the face of climate change.
“Queens residents deserve leadership that ensures they
aren’t displaced by rising tides or rising rents,” Constantinides
said. “Sadly, seven years after Sandy killed 11 of
our neighbors, destroyed our coastal communities and
eroded our shores, we are still unprepared for the next
storm.”
Also in the race is former Councilwoman Elizabeth
Crowley and retired President of the Latino Officers Association
Anthony Miranda. Crowley has been pushing
to have passenger service return on the Lower Montauk
Branch of the Long Island Rail Road.
“I don’t think the borough president was bold enough
in her vision in terms of building our transportation infrastructure,”
Crowley said at a Forest Hills candidate
forum in November.
Miranda agreed that transportation had not improved
and that Katz “didn’t do the things that were necessary to
alleviate overcrowding of our schools.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio must announce a date for the
Queens borough president special election within 80 days
after Katz leaves Borough Hall. Insiders expect that date
to fall on Tuesday, March 24, but that is up to City Hall.
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