When Donovan Richards launched his campaign for Queens Borough President at the Unisphere, he had the blessing of Claire Shulman. Now he is endorsed by the Queens
County Democrats. Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
What you need to know ahead of
special election for Queens BP
BY BILL PARRY
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 “leftwing
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
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
TIMESLEDGER |12 QNS.COM | JAN. 3-JAN. 9, 2020
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.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by
e-mail at bparry@schnepsme-
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