‘This is where we are going to change lives’
Progressive star Tiffany Cabán announces bid for northwest Queens City Council seat
BY JACOB KAYE
Tiffany Cabán, the progressive
public defender who ran
for Queens district attorney
in 2019, officially announced
her bid for the New York City
Council on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Cabán, who ran on the
hopes of reforming the criminal
justice system in the borough,
aims to represent City
Council District 22, which
covers parts of Astoria, East
Elmhurst, Jackson Heights,
Woodside and Rikers Island,
the home of the city’s most notorious
jail. The council seat is
currently held by Costa Constantinides,
who will be termlimited
out of office in November
2021.
“This is where the work
is. This is where we are going
to change lives,” Cabán
said. “When the systems failed
to protect us, we witnessed
what was possible when we
decided to protect each other.
When leadership failed us,
we witnessed what was possible
when we became our own
leaders. Who we elect to serve
in our City Council is a matter
of life and death.”
Cabán, who made her campaign
announcement at Katch
Astoria on Thursday, was
joined by many of the same
lawmakers and activists who
supported her run for DA — a
race she lost by a slim margin
and only after a contentious
recount. She conceded the
DA’s race at the same restaurant
around a year ago.
State Senators Jessica Ramos
and Michael Gianaris, as
well as city Councilman Jimmy
Van Bramer, all showed up
to again show support to the
progressive candidate.
“We need policies that reflect
the needs of working
class people in Astoria, Jackson
Heights, East Elmhurst
and beyond,” Ramos said on
Thursday. “It is deeply important
for me to see my hometown
well represented in the
City Council, which is why I’m
here to support Tiffany Cabán
in her candidacy.”
Also at the announcement
were a handful of activists
and current candidates for
public office whose runs were
partially inspired by Cabán’s
grassroots campaign in 2019,
including Democratic nominee
Courtesy of Cabán’s campaign
for State Assembly Jessica
González-Rojas and recently
elected District Leader
Shawna Morlock.
“I had the pleasure of volunteering
for Tiffany from
almost the very beginning,”
Morlock said. “I know deep in
my heart that Tiffany Cabán
represents my values. She’s
fighting for working class people,
she’s fighting for families,
she’s fighting for everyone in
this borough that needs representation
that has been ignored
for way too long.”
Cabán said she sees support
her for and her electoral
runs as support for a broader
coalition and movement.
“Our coalition has gone on
to organize and they helped
really dope people get elected,”
she said. “I just see that
we are building and building.
I think about my work very
simply, it’s locating myself in
the moment and saying how
can I best be of service.”
The Queens chapter of
the Democratic Socialists of
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.2 COM | SEPT. 18-SEPT. 25, 2020
America threw their support
behind Cabán in 2019, endorsing
her and powering much
of her volunteer effort during
the campaign. Cabán has applied
for an endorsement from
the group — whose endorsements
will be announced in
November — in her bid for
City Council, according to
a person with knowledge of
DSA’s endorsement process.
The City Council district
has become one of the more
progressive districts in the
city. DSA-backed Zohran
Mamdani recently was elected
as the Democratic nominee
for the district’s Assembly
seat and a portion of the district
is represented in Congress
by Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez, arguably the face of
the progressive left movement
in the United States.
As a candidate for DA,
Cabán, 33, won around 74 percent
of the vote in the district.
No where else in Queens did
she receive such a high percentage
of the vote.
In the Democratic primary
for the City Council seat,
Cabán will face off against
Constantinides’ Chief of
Staff Nick Roloson, who has
received an endorsement from
the incumbent. Jesse Cerrotti,
a progressive activist, had
previously announced his bid
for the seat, only to suspend
his campaign on Thursday
and announce his support for
Cabán.
Cabán’s DA campaign
focused on reforming the
criminal justice system she
worked in as a public defender
for most of her professional
career. Running as a decarceral
DA, Cabán advocated
for decriminalizing sex work,
ending cash bail and closing
Rikers Island. While her
platform will extend beyond
criminal justice reform during
her bid for City Council,
many of those themes are
likely to remain a centerpiece
of her campaign in the coming
year.
“We cannot thrive if our
families are being criminalized
for being poor, if our
queer or trans family can’t
walk the streets without fear
of incarceration, if our neighbors
— in district, the way —
on Rikers Island go abandoned
and ignored,” Cabán said.
Born in Richmond Hill,
Cabán is a second-generation
Queens resident — her parents
grew up in the Woodside
Houses. She attended P.S. 62
in Richmond Hill, J.H.S. 210
Elizabeth Blackwell in Woodhaven
and St. Francis Preparatory
High School in Fresh
Meadows.
After graduating high
school, Cabán completed her
undergraduate degree from
Pennsylvania State University
and earned her Juris Doctorate
from New York Law
School.
Cabán has spent the past
year working as a national
organizer for the Working
Families Party.
Additional reporting by
Angélica Acevedo.
TIMESLEDGER is published weekly by Queens CNG LLC, 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY.11361, (718) 229-0300. The entire contents of this publication are copyright 2020. All rights reserved. The newspaper will not be
liable for errors appearing in any advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Periodicals postage paid at Flushing, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the TimesLedger C/O News Queens
CNG LLC. 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, N.Y. 11361.
link
link
