FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 1, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Ramos challenging Peralta for State Senate seat
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Saying that it’s time the district had “a
real Democrat,” Jessica Ramos, a Jackson
Heights resident and former City Hall
staff er, announced on Jan. 25 her candidacy
for state Senator Jose Peralta’s seat.
Ramos held her press conference at P.S.
69 in Jackson Heights, where here two
sons currently attend school. She decided
to make her run offi cial on Jan. 25
because it marks one year since incumbent
Jose Peralta joined the Independent
Democratic Conference (IDC).
Th ough Democrats make up the majority
of the state Senate — they have 32
members, while Republicans have 31 —
the eight-member coalition and Brooklyn
Democrat Simcha Felder, who is not part
of the IDC but caucuses with Republicans,
puts the number of mainline Democrats
in the state Senate at 23.
“One year ago today, politics in our
district changed forever,” Ramos said.
“One year ago today, the bigot in the
White House announced the travel ban
on Muslim majority countries targeting
our fellow Queens residents and making
them feel unsafe. Th at same day, our state
senator who calls himself a Democrat
joined the conference that concedes control
of our Senate to the Republicans.”
Ramos said as part of her campaign she
will seek to educate constituents about
what the IDC is and “that it’s not as progressive
as they claim it to be.”
“Th ere’s a reason that they vote to
empower the Republicans and many of
those are perks that they would actually
probably get if they contributed to the
democratic majority like we voted them
in to do,” she said.
Th ose perks include bigger offi ces, larger
staff and discretionary funding for constituents,
she added.
Ramos left her job as the director of
Latino media at the mayor’s offi ce in
December and said her decision to run
stems partly from realizing the limited
power that the city has over big issues
such as transportation, education and
housing laws.
“It was a very personal decision for me,”
she told QNS. “Working in City Hall, I
understood the limitations that the city
has over many of the things we depend
on every day.”
In 2006, the Campaign for Fiscal
Equity, Inc. v State of New York court
ruling found that city public schools were
underfunded and ruled that Albany pay
$5.6 billion in operating aid or what is
called Foundation Aid. Th e state currently
owes P.S. 69 a total of $1.8 million.
“I am proud of our amazing school,
but I know they would do even better if it
were properly funded,” she said. “But so
far the state hasn’t paid up. As your state
senator, I will fi ght for a school system
that works for every child in every school
in this district and across the state.”
She also said the subway system is “in
crisis,” detailing her experience last summer
when she was stuck on the 7 train for
two hours.
She added that elevators should be
installed at every station and that they
“be built and maintained by people who
are trained and licensed to do the work.”
Ramos also took a dig at her opponent,
whose law to study the levels of lead paint
around elevated train tracks passed the
state Legislature recently.
“I don’t want a study about the level
of lead paint,” she said. “I want the lead
paint to be removed immediately.”
One of her biggest priorities, she said, is
making sure Queens residents, especially
those who rent, can still aff ord to live in
their neighborhoods.
She proposes passing stronger tenant
laws and repealing the Urstadt Law,
which bars New York City from passing
stricter rent regulations than the state.
“I’ve spent my entire career fi ghting for
working people,” she said. “I’ve used my
voice to empower immigrants and workers.
I’ve ensured our communities are
informed about city initiatives and services
but the city can only do so much
when Albany is systematically broken.”
Photo by Angela Matua/QNS
Jessica Ramos announced her intention to run for state Senate on Jan. 25.
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