18 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 3, 2022 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Nolan endorses Sunnyside attorney as successor
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Two weeks aft er announcing she
will retire aft er 38 years in offi ce,
Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan has
endorsed attorney Johanna Carmona
to succeed her in the race to represent
District 37 in Albany.
Th e 32-year-old lawyer is a lifelong resident
of Sunnyside having grown up across
from Noonan Playground and now lives
on 41st Street in the same neighborhood.
Carmona worked in the Kings County
district attorney’s offi ce dealing with special
victims, including children before
she went to work for law fi rms that have
helped 9/11 fi rst responders, workers and
survivors. She also further pursued litigation
against sexual predators.
“Johanna is someone who does the hard
work that makes a diff erence,” Nolan said.
“She will continue work on issues like
paid family leave, which needs additional
support in Albany. She supports funding
for transportation, education and the
labor movement. She knows what needs
to be done to help our families and
students, support our neighborhoods
and rebuild our city and
state. I am proud and happy to
endorse Johanna Carmona to
be our new assemblywoman.”
If elected, the daughter
of Colombian immigrants
would become
the fi rst Latina to represent
the district
that encompasses
Sunnyside, Long
Island City, parts of
Astoria, Maspeth
and Ridgewood.
Carmona is a member
of Community
Board 2 and volunteers
as a bilingual
leader to
improve policecommunity
relations
with the
108th Precinct
C om mu n i t y
Council.
“I love western Queens, and
have volunteered to give back
to a community that has done
so much for me,” Carmona
said.B
efore attending
Queens of Angels School
in Sunnyside, Carmona
had to overcome adversity
as a child when
her mother suffered
a life-altering
stroke. Carmona
and her twin sister,
Estefany, were
just 3 years old.
It created a difficult
financial
burden for the
family, which led
to their father
working multiple
jobs, including
cleaning
medical offi ces
and as an assistant
machine
operator at a
printing company. Th e local community
rallied around the Carmona family and
supported their eff orts to ensure the two
girls had educational opportunities.
Now she fi rmly “believes in giving back
to the community that raised her,” by
fi ghting for housing, LGBTQIA, disability
and women’s rights as well as environmental
justice, especially at the nearby
Newtown Creek. She is knowledgeable
about the healthcare system, understands
its problems and knows “at a deeply
personal level” the community’s healthcare
system.
“Running for offi ce will allow me to
do more for the people of our neighborhoods,”
Carmona said. “I am not a professional
politician, I am a person who
cares about what is happening in our city
and wants to make it better for everyone.
I pledge to serve with integrity and deliver
for our seniors, our veterans, our children
and our families.”
Carmona will likely face Maspeth community
leader Juan Ardila, Sunnyside
attorney James Magee and Long Island
City businessman Vlad Pavlyuk in the
Democratic primary on Tuesday, June 28.
Crowley announces bid to represent newly formed state Senate district
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Former Councilwoman Elizabeth
Crowley launched her campaign for the
state Senate Tuesday in an email message
to her supporters. Th e candidate made
it offi cial aft er recently fi ling to run for
the newly created 17th Senate District,
which encompasses large parts of western
Queens and part of Brooklyn.
Th e Glendale resident said she was running
to ensure that “New York comes back
stronger” from the pandemic.
“As a single mom who is raising her
children in the district and one with the
experience and proven track record, we
need a fi ghter who will address aff ordability
and build opportunity,” Crowley wrote.
During her two terms on the City
Council, Crowley represented the 30th
District which is largely contained in the
newly drawn Senate seat.
“Th is district unites Brooklyn and
Queens,” she wrote. “As senator of the
newly formed district, which covers the
neighborhoods of Greenpoint, Long Island
City, Sunnyside, Ridgewood, Woodside,
Maspeth, Glendale, Woodhaven and
Richmond Hill, I will focus on jobs,
expanded transit, housing and improving
our schools.”
Crowley told QNS that she always
championed policies that benefi t families
and workers, and that her record
speaks for itself.
“In the Council, I addressed
the challenge of being in
the most overcrowded
school district in the
city by partnering to
build the most robust
local school capacity
plan,” Crowley
said. “Together
we created over
6,000 new classroom
seats in nine
years, which was the fi rst school built in
Ridgewood in 100 years.”
Among her other accomplishments
while on the Council,
Crowley points to
two significant
victories in the Ridgewood area.
“I secured a NYC Landmarks designation
of 1100 buildings in Ridgewood, creating
three contiguous historic districts
and the largest in Queens,” Crowley said.
“I partnered with NYC Parks and NYS
Environmental Conservation to restore
and preserve the Ridgewood Reservoir,
now a 50-plus-acre destination.”
Crowley lost her bid for a third
term when she went against current
Councilman Robert Holden in 2017. She
came in second in the 2020 special election
to replace Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz when she stepped down to
become Queens district attorney. Current
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards won that special election and
then held off Crowley last year to win a
full term at Borough Hall.
“Th is Senate seat is an opportunity to
bring much-needed resources to a district
that unites Brooklyn and Queens, and
as senator, I will focus on jobs, expanded
transit, housing and improving our
schools,” Crowley said.
Democratic Socialists of America
member Kristen Gonzalez was the
fi rst to announce a run for the newly
drawn Senate District 17.
The Democratic Primary is
scheduled for June 28, 2022.
Photo courtesy of Carmona campaign
Longtime Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan endorsed
Sunnyside attorney Johanna Carmona in the race to
succeed her in representing western Queens.
QNS fi le photo
Former Councilwoman
Elizabeth Crowley
announced she would
run for the state
Senate in the
newly created
17th District,
which
includes
much of
western
Queens.
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