Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
opens state tuition assistance
to undocumented immigrants,
being named in his honor.
In March, as the Jose Peralta
DREAM Act reached the
floor of both houses in Albany,
Cruz gave a tearful salute to
Peralta and "DREAMers" who
struggle for social mobility.
"I had to work two or three
jobs, my mother had to work
two or three jobs so that I could
be here one day as your colleague
and now the DREAMers
don't have to go through that
anymore," Cruz said in the Assembly
chamber the day the
DREAM Act was passed. "Today,
we tell DREAMers: we see
you, we love you and we will
fight for you."
Cruz also has legislation introduced
in both houses that
would make it illegal to levy
unreasonable fees on tenants
to have keys replicated.
But the success of these two
legislators all started with the
unlikely victory of Ocasio-Cortez
over a seeming political giant:
Joe Crowley.
Ocasio-Cortez used social
media and aggressive doorknocking
to spread the word
of her intent to defeat Crowley
across Queens and her native
Bronx in the months leading
up to the June 2018 primary
and shocked the nation when
she came through with the majority
of votes.
After springing the nearly
20-year incumbent from the
seat and position as the fourth
most powerful Democrat in
Congress, Ocasio-Cortez struggled
with acceptance from her
Democratic peers in congress
almost as much as she did with
the Republicans.
Since then, Ocasio-Cortez
has taken a lead role in the discussion
of climate change in
congress with the introduction
of the Green New Deal.
Though it failed to gain
support in Washington D.C.,
the initiative to rejigger the
labor economy around green
infrastructure became a
template for municipalities
across the country, including
New York City.
In April, Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced the NYC Green
New Deal would create jobs
by putting caps the amount
of emissions buildings are allowed
to produce. Building
owners could face fines of up
to $1 million per year for violations.
De Blasio's version of the
initiative, passed into law,
would bring about sweeping
changes to the way the city
gets its power. Instead of electricity
produced from petroleum
plants such as ones in
Astoria, the city would turn to
hydroelectric power, not generally
accepted as renewable,
produced in Canada.
Although 2018 saw distinct
victories for women of color in
government, 2019 would turn
out to be a baptism by fire for
these first-time legislators.
And it is not over yet.
Queens continues to prove
itself to be the epicenter of progressive
action in not only government,
but criminal justice.
The crowded field for
Queens district attorney has
seven candidates including
Tiffany Cabán, a Democratic
Socialists of America member
who is pushing some of the
most far left justice reforms to
make major headlines.
Cabán, of Puerto Rican descent,
is a Queer Latina from
southeast Queens pushing
for decarceration to a controversial
level. She spent seven
years as a public defender before
announcing her run at 31.
The June 25 primary for
DA also featured retired
Judge Gregory Lasak, Borough
President Melinda Katz,
Councilman Rory Lancman,
Mina Malik, Jose Nieves and
Betty Lugo.
State Senator Jessica Ramos
2019 QUEENS TOMORROW 5