QBP candidates clash at Flushing forum
Borough president contenders discuss issues impacting the Asian-Pacifi c American community
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Eight candidates vying for
the office of Queens borough
president participated in a discussion
forum on Tuesday, Jan.
21, with Flushing community
residents on how they would
tackle critical issues in the
Asian-Pacific American community.
The forum, held at Glow
Community Center at One
Flushing at 133-29 41st Ave., was
sponsored by Asian Americans
for Equality (AAFE) and APA
VOICE, a coalition of 20 nonprofit
groups dedicated to voter
education and engagement.
The Asian Pacific American
community is the fastest
growing group in New York
City, now making up more than
26 percent of the population in
the borough of Queens, according
to AAFE. Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders are increasingly
moving into neighborhoods
across Queens, and
are now the majority group in
multiple communities.
“We hope this forum will
help voters make their decision
ahead of the upcoming special
election which is scheduled to
take place on March 24,” said
John Park, executive director
of the MinKwon Center of Community
Action.
The candidates in attendance
included Councilmen
Costa Constantinides and Donovan
Richards, former Councilwoman
Elizabeth Crowley,
Daniel Maio, Anthony Miranda,
Everly Brown, former Assistant
District Attorney James Quinn
and Dao Yin.
The event, moderated by
New York City investigative reporter
Ti-Hua Chang, covered
issues such as affordable housing,
transportation, the controversial
SHSAT debate and
public safety, job creation and
small business development
and immigrant rights.
All of the candidates agreed
that new residential development
needs to include more
affordable housing and higher
levels of affordability, not just
in Flushing, but across Queens.
“Shutting down luxury
apartments or a new building
is not going to do anything, we
have to bring the costs down,”
said Quinn.
In her response, Crowley
said she believes transit drives
Eight candidates in the running for office of Queens borough president speak at the Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) Forum at the
Glow Community Center at One Flushing. Photo by Carlotta Mohamed/QNS
opportunity and affordable
housing. She also vowed to
work with AAFE and other
nonprofit organizations to build
more affordable housing units
in Queens.
“We’re in a very rich transit
area, and in Flushing although
we have the 7 train here, probably
the busiest station in all of
NYC, we still don’t have enough
trains and options,” Crowley
said. “In and around Queens we
can find more space and affordable
housing. We don’t get our
fair share of transit, education,
and we certainly don’t receive
our fair share of affordable
housing.”
Richards chimed in on his
accomplishments as a city
council member bringing infrastructure
developments and
100 percent affordable housing
to the Rockaways and future
plans on tackling the issue.
“The big issue we’ve had
is with supply and demand —
there’s been a lot of demand for
more housing as Queens grows
and New York City … I’m proposing
to create a zoning task
force for us to look at communities
and work together collectively
with communities to
identify opportunities that we
can grow in,” Richards said.
When asked about transportation
in Queens and the No. 7
train in particular, the candidates
disagreed with the new
MTA transit plan that failed
to include community input in
transit-desert neighborhoods in
Queens.
TIMESLEDGER |2 QNS.COM | JAN. 31-FEB. 6, 2020
“The new transit plan
they’re now initiating does
not involve community voices.
They’re eliminating entire
routes without a conversation
with the community that
it’s impacting,” Miranda said.
“They have a plan that they
have not finalized, and will
be coming back to Queens for
input and information, which
was extremely important at the
hearings.”
Constantinides touched
on appointing a member to
the MTA Board representing
Queens families to invest in the
mass transit system in Queens.
“We should be the ones developing
our own transit plans,”
Constantinides said. “Look at
all of our streets, see how we
can do busways, how we can do
things more innovatively and
hold our elected officials, the
MTA, the Department of Transportation,
Albany and City
Hall. But we should be the ones
coming up with these ideas.”
The discussion shifted to
Mayor de Blasio’s elimination
of the SHSAT and the District
28 school diversity plan. Most
of the candidates supported the
standardized testing of students
seeking admission into specialized
high schools.
“We should keep the SHSAT
and we can find a solution by
creating more specialized high
schools. For example, there can
be a Stuyvestant in Queens, in
the Bronx and Brooklyn,” Yin
said. “We need to have a specialized
high school for artificial
intelligence and for physical
science.”
Meanwhile, Richards, Maio
and Constantinides voted in favor
of reforming the measure.
“Not only do we need to keep
the SHSAT as it is, we need to
expand on it,” Maio said. “We
need to have more schools,
more opportunities, more charter
schools, and the children
cannot wait for failing the system.
The SHSAT is a good system
and is working. In the case
of School District 28, the diversity
program is another way of
watering down the system that
moves some of the kids from
lower performing schools just
to improve the scores, it’s wrong
and am going against it.”
In regards to public healthcare
for immigrant communities,
the candidates noted the
importance of funding community
organizations that provide
healthcare services and making
investments in local hospitals
ensuring that residents receive
the best care and service.
‘We don’t have the best hospitals
here in Queens, and in
some parts of Queens people
have to travel to get the care
they need,” Crowley said. “We
need to expand the EMS system
to make sure the average
Queens resident isn’t waiting
for services.”
During the lightning round,
the candidates reassured the
public that their campaign outreach
is working on translating
materials in various languages
spoken in New York City.
In closing, Jennifer Sun, of
AAFE, encouraged attendees to
go out and vote on March 24.
“I think it’s clear that there
is a shared love for Queens and
a commitment by our candidates
for making the borough
better,” Sun said. “Asian voices
do matter and Asian voices do
count.”
Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed
by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4526.
I think it’s clear that there
is a shared love for Queens
and a commitment by our
candidates for making the
borough better.
Jennifer Sun
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